ka24debt

Alright, so this is gonna be a long read so if you dont feel like reading feel free to skim straight through the pictures so here it goes. As we know, every build has a history, a story of how it comes to be so heres my story. In december of 2008 i was just your normal 18 year old kid, a senior in highschool, job, girlfriend, thinking about college yadayada with a pos car whos been into cars since i was born and always wanted to have a car that i could call my own, built and something always admired. I had a 92 maxima, paid 400 bucks it started every single day, had tinted windows, ac and heat just your normal get around car to school/work/gf's house etc. one day in december on my way to my girlfriends house the transmission starts to slip and a few hours later on my way back home the car wouldnt go past 25 mph.. basically the tranny was fried and my normal 35 min trip home turned into over an hour and a half on the highway, fab. upset, annoyed, and short on cash to buy a decent car that would last, i came to the realization that it could have just been a blessing in diguise. i could finally own a car to call my own and actually put together just like my father. i look up to my father alot and the iroc-z that hes owned before i was even born. that car and my father had a bond like no other, modified to his taste and a car that hes owned longer then having me for a son is what i call a true car enthuisast. of course i was brain washed as a kid that chevy was always better then ford and every other car. he always told me would give me the his one day and when i had no car i finally asked him if i could have the keys to the iroc his response was, "NO."
So then began my search to find an iroc. A few weeks in searching and only 1000 bucks.. there was no way in hell i was finding a decent running one for that amount of money. So i gave up on that quest and began to look on ebay for cars, and thats when i laid eyes on it.. a 1992 240sx hatch back that was red and the current bid was $400 with 3 bids on it. At the time it had the original ka with 199k on it, 5 spd, had a apexi n1 exhaust, kyb agx shocks with tein s tech springs, koyo rad, intake, momo steering wheel, clear corner turn signals a tint. long story short janurary 3rd 2009, i wound up winning the bid for $1025 and the car was local. my first thoughts upon physically seeing the car was, "holy shit this car is so low!!(LMFAO.) it sounded nice, it was a hatchback(just like the iroc i wanted) but with flip ups (so i was different and not jocking my dad). and this is where it all begins. W T F did i just get myself into.



So mind you this is my first 5 speed car and my dad drove it home for me, so 2 weeks after snow clears i finally get in my car and learn how to drive it. of course as a n00b, i stall it, i go to start it up again and it wouldnt come back on. and this is where i learned first hand that i was gonna have a special bond with this car(and any 240 because all 20 year old cars have their share of headaches that come with it) dont know why but we wound up pushing it to the gas station and putting gas in. it turned on and i barely brought it back home. a couple of weeks of getting comfortable with the car i finally decide to take it to school and its smoking like holy hell. wound up being there was absolutely no clutch fluid in the car and the clutch is on its last leg. months go by, i begin to learn alot more about my car, modifications.. typical 240 q&a, things to look for (should have researched this before i got the car lol). learning more and more and becoming more hands on with my own car came hand in hand with headaches after headaches. timing chain rattling, foot sized holes of rust under my carpet, frame rails, strut towers and mis matched paint.. sounds like i have a clunker 240. instead of having the joy of wanting to modify whatever i wanted to the car, it seem like instead it knew when my shitty $100-150 pay checks from my $7 and hour job would come in. and by that i mean that my car knew when to fall apart on me. not being discouraged by others i chose to continue to waste my money replacing parts on a total piece of shit car.. why? because i worked hard for it and its something i could call my own and i hoped one day my car would look like this vv



by feburary of 2010.. still replacing every part imaginable the ka clunker decided to knock. 5000 miles of easy driving, it finally let go on the verazano bridge going UP the bridge -_-. i still managed to start right up and drive for about another 1/4 mile before finally coasting downhill.


once again, shit out of luck and 600 to my name, knowing i wasnt going to find another car, i went with the option of finding another clunker ka. turns out my luck could be changing after all. i found a all oem ka rebuild with only 2000 miles on craigslist for 400 bucks.. only con the cam idler gear had stripped on the block. i went to check it out, it was super clean internally and came with paperwork? SOLD! so i brought it to a friends close friend who was mechanically inclined(i def. wasnt inclined enough to do a motor swap) i was shown the ropes and finally for once started getting my hands dirty in my own car.

toodles


new ka


got some love and installed a unorthodox light weight crank pulley, helicoiled and repaired the cam idler gear screw, resassembled the acessories and transmission with an exedy replacement.


a few days later, cleaned up, kinks fixed we're back on the road



finally relieved, i had a perfectly running ka and still working that shitty $7hr job, i attempted to save up for some parts.. here and there i replaced bushings, got a radio, speakers, subwoofer, crappy arms (typical broke 19yr old kid shit while fantasizing about have a sr and coilovers and being one of those cool gangster slammed car was all i wanted to have my car to look)

Around august of 2010 it finally hit me that this love/hate relationship i have with my red s13 isnt going to last much longer.. the rust is getting out of control and this car is becoming a money a pit im either going to
a. buy a whole other car
b. find another shell and make dreams a reality
i chose option b. make it a reality. so i made a zilvia account named ka24debt.. a crappy s13 i put all my money into with a ka that i wanted to boost since it was a fresh rebuild with arp studs and all.

september 12th 2010, in the cars for sale section i found what would be my new s13. it was a black hatchback with a blown sohc, automatic trans, 131k, NO rust and full interior. on my birthday september 18th i picked the car up for 525 bucks.. happy 20th birthday to me! a black s13 was something i always wanted to own.





impatient and ready to go i knew that this had to gtfo out asap before winter time


removing as much as i could before my friend came with a hoist to remove it


motor was out, a few days of power washing and detailing can make any engine bay look good as new



scrap metal lol


5 months of dreaming, saving i was ready to make it happen. my red s13 finally got to live out its dream.. i had picked up a set of stance gr pro's with swift springs from a friend for a trade of my shock/spring combo and 500 on top


i got to drive my red s13 hatch with the one main goal i wanted to have accomplished.. be "gangster slammed" on some "cool wheels" no regrets, i drove my car home for the last time and before i turned it off, in a sad but optimistic tone i told the car, "thanks for the headaches, im gonna miss you but theres only way to go from here and that is up.. i rubbed my un cracked dash(cleanest thing on that car lawl) and turned it off. i had to stop driving it because my license had become suspended for 3 months starting in janurary.


i became cool with negrosx13 on our forum and he was totally down to help me swap chassis' and thats how our good friend ship began. the winter of 2011 was BRUTUAL. it snowed every single day in nyc and we had passed our snowfall record by almost 3 feet. we got down to business got to work. hours later with jackstands caving thru the car from rust we finally got the ka out with almost 2.5 inches of snow currently falling on us.


with the a actual mindset of where i want to go with this build i knew i wanted i wanted a kouki replication of that black speedhunters s13 but with a slight twist.. a ka-t.

attention to detail on a tight budget my hope of what will set me apart from people with full time careers, homes and these baller builds with close to no budget. mind you im 20, working almost 20 hours a week in a job i hate making shitty pay and still a full time college student.

now down to business. my friend who powdercoats hooked it up with a candy purple valve cover job.


resprayed the intake manifold with high temp paint


changed seals and routine maintence prior to respraying the whole block


woot, back together


parts piling up. got new exhaust bushings, motor and trans mounts, rucas, tension rods, traction rods, rear sway bar, energy suspension full bushing kit and coilovers


installed everything, pushed the car out of the garage, doubled checked that all fuses were good and no electrical issues. seems that everything is good!


get in there! also wound up getting a circuit sports coolant tank, and obx header. emmisions were all deleted before we dropped it back in.


and here we have it, i took whatever parts i needed to complete the 5 speed swap from my red car, all kinks are worked out and we are ready to hit the road!


the day before i got plates


and here we have what was funding any additional parts. i made almost 900 bucks parting out this whole car which i was very excited but sad at the same time. atleast it went to a good cause to help out other s13's!






Good Bye 240sx - YouTube
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so it got to the point where it could stay and i trashed the shell. the next day i got plates for the black s13 and hit the road! but theres always a catch the first time i drive a car for the first time

no idea how the fuck this happened because i triple checked the spacers before i even bolted it on to the wheel and now i have this fucked up fender.. fabolous.. -__-



turns out the lugs backed out and i wound up finding my wheel a half mile down the road.

a few months go by headache free, no issues but all good things come to an end of course. solid motor and tranny mounts were loosening everything imaginable on my car.. vibrations were backing bolts out. my alternator belt flew off on the highway because my tensioner backed out and stripped itself from all the vibrations. fixed all that and 2 days later what seems to be a new trend in my life(you'll find out later why i said that) but driving home from a friends house i smell the firey gross smell on the highway but thought nothing of it. im a few blocks away from home and finally come to a stop at the light. the smell decides to show its face and what i think is a glare from my glasses and the street lights is actually light smoke radiating through the cracks of the hood. i turn my car off, pop the hood and see smoke coming from the engine bay. i make make my way towards to passenger side and im shocked to see that theres a fire. -__- i took my shirt off, tried putting it out and as the wind is redirecting the flames towards the fuel filter. 2 seconds later, smoke goes out, the car wont start so i push the car home and disconnect the battery. next morning i go to re-examine the situation and find this.

the clamp broke off and must have been making contact with other wires.



i was tired of getting pulled over every single day for my apexi n1 so opted to sell it to go with a low profile megan type 2 exhaust which worked out very well(past tense)


now why i said past tense.. never buying crappy parts again. 2 months worth of usage and sick of these solid mounts breaking everything, i sold the mounts, rewelded this shitty exhaust sold it and bought my old apexi n1 back from the guy i sold to. lucky for me the guy never mounted the exhaust on his car and his s13 got stolen, so i bought it back cheaper then what i sold it to him for! score :]

finally i got a much better job work a block away from a local diner. he knew i was into cars and his brother in law has a 240 with a built sr so we had a brief conversation how my project isnt going anywhere due to making crappy money. he offered me to work for him, i said yes, the money was rolling in nicely and i was finally making some decent money!

now its time to have fun :]

this build is up to date as far as april 2011. when i come back from work im going to continue to update where the build has gone from then till as far as today and what will be going down this weekend. hopefully you guys are enjoying this build from where it all began, to the state that the car is(as far as inside this build thread) to what i have done since april and the direction im aiming for 2012