Dopefish

Here is my 1995 240sx, 5spd. I bought it in Feb. of 2005 with 178k miles on it for $1800 as I wanted to retire my 200sx (S12) and I needed a daily driver.

This is the night I brought it home, very nasty... previous owner wasn't very clean... and was a smoker.




I broke my ankle in a motorcycle accident, only three days after I bought the 240, so I couldn't even enjoy it. Even with a broken ankle though I knew it needed to be cleaned up some I set to work on the interior, removing everything and cleaning each piece thoroughly. I ordered some '240SX' floormats and was pretty happy with the end results.



The sound system was hooked up by the monkeys of SoundAdvise (previous owners doing) with a big box that took up the whole trunk and made no bass what-so-ever... they also managed to screw the GND screw all the way through the sheetmetal and into my gas tank I replaced the subs and box with a single 12" Infinity, kept the nice old school MTX amp and bought an eBay special Lanzar to power my mids. The front speakers came from a friend and are MB Quart components while the rear came from a Evo VIII that was going back to stock and they are Infinity Reference-series.

(No pics of the audio stuff, no care)

I spent a short time in a one-man drift team called 'White Fender Racing' due to decimating my original fender. By this time I had also added the 'SE' front lip and foglamps, but I was still rocking the shitty 90's tri-start baller specials... in a DONKALICIOUS 15".







I scored a great deal on some KYB AG-X adjustable shocks and RS*R 'Race' springs with TEIN pillowball mounts for $300 as well as $50 for some S13 'SE' wheels. They are still 15" in size but they are OEM Nissan and didn't look retarded. I joined a new drift squad, 'White Trunk Racing' as well so I could have a factory 'SE' spoiler (w00ts).



Nothing really changed for awhile other than replacing the transmission as the intermediate shaft bearing was chewed up something awful. The transmission I used was from a S13 which uses a different bell. It was a PITA for various reasons but I'm glad I did it as once my trans was apart I could see how bad it really was. The bearing had seized almost completely and sent metal shavings throughout, it even gnarled up the front cover with shrapnel.



I later got my fender and trunk taken care of and was basking in the glory of being one-color again. I kinda like the spoilerless look more, although a lip-style one would be really nice I think

__________________
It never got fast enough for me. -Hunter S. Thompson

Dopefish

I also started a 5-lug conversion with 300zx brakes and 17" Mustang Bullitt wheels



Front swap, still 4-lug but brakes installed -- 1mm of clearance between the wheel spokes and caliper.



Rear, completed



All done, with new tires



I also replaced my gauge cluster with one from a 1995 Nissan Skyline GT-St and upgraded my interior lights to LED.







I've also installed 'SE/LE' rear leather seats, but have yet to find some proper fronts.



I almost forgot my Mad tyte JDM valve cover that I stole from Mugan Racing. It was a dirty secret of theirs that they worked with Nissans before Hondas. :lol:

Before, I wish I had a pic of the engine when I first bought the car, it was black, EVERYWHERE. This is after I cleaned it up the first time.



Valvecover of fury



I removed the upper timing chain guides due to the common rattling issue.



....I actually performed a legitimate modification at one point too! TopSpeed Pro1 cat-back exhaust + mid-pipe resonator





Other then that I've removed the mechanical fan and installed Altima electric fans. There are some other things I can't remember but that is a jist of my 240's little life thus far.

The next chapter....

__________________
It never got fast enough for me. -Hunter S. Thompson

Dopefish

I was finally comfortable with my car's appearance and was looking at paint in the future but had been happy just driving it as was. However, due to an accident leaving OSW, I would have to expel much more moneys again...





...and I happened upon a good deal that matched what it would have cost to fix my existing front-end so I decided to 'upgrade'.





I dropped my car off at the shop and they started work. My front-end is now better then it was when I bought the car as there was still some residual damage on the passenger side that they fixed too. I wish I had a pic of the lower driver-side framerail as it was compressed from a 6" section to a 3" section at the core support which was bending everything else out of place. Thankfully no damage near the suspension or behind it, all cosmetic. With the front straight the new parts can start to go on.





However, the fiberglass fenders that came with the front-end are utter shit, don't fit at the a-piller, don't fit the hood, don't fit at the lights and are narrower then my factory fenders so they wont clear my wheels. W...T...F... No problem says my body guy and he gets to work, he is making fenders from the remains of my original ones and so far it is coming along really good. The great thing is that when these are done they'll be just as strong as OEM since they are made from the same metal, unlike the fiberglass that if someone leaned on it would shatter.





Gotta finish the wiring up for the new headlamps (I did the passenger side last night). I apologize for the newer pics as they all came from my camera-phone and I keep forgetting to bring my real camera. He says the car will be ready for paint by Friday and painted Saturday but I told him no rush considering the amount of work being done.

__________________
It never got fast enough for me. -Hunter S. Thompson

Dopefish

I finished wiring up the headlamps today,



Another bonus that came bundled with the rest of the front-end:



I have both 6000k and 12000k bulbs, I'll be using the 6000k but I'll keep the 12000k ones around just in case.



Here is some more work on the fenders, combining the originals with the fiberglass tips of the 'S14.5 conversion fenders' to shape everything out for the lights.





Test fitting the headlamp with the new buckets cut into the core support as well as assuring the wiring all fits and functions properly. It is sagging a little as only one bracket is holding it up out of the three as well as an additional bolt on the core support itself that will be used in the end.









That's all for now, hopefully the fenders will be done tomorrow, the brackets for the bumper center and headlamps should be done by then too and then all that'll be left is paint.

__________________
It never got fast enough for me. -Hunter S. Thompson

posdriftin

wow comin along nice...

tangch

nice. yeah, you definitely need to make brackets that will bolt to the bottom of the headlight also while you have the car in body shop. If you don't, the headlight will shake crazy while you are on the street. I had that problem, bothered me a lot.

Dopefish

My list is getting shorter... the engine is back together, wires are all sealed up, new battery terminals, soon I'll have an Optima red top in place of the small battery I've been using, and the bumper is done.



Still to do:
-Finish fender tips
-Headlamp brackets
-Middle bumper bracket
-Modify bumper reinforcement + add material to strengthen the to-be weakened areas.
-Polish headlamp lenses

__________________
It never got fast enough for me. -Hunter S. Thompson

devonkyle77

i have front black leather s14 seats if you want them.
do you still have the trunk lid without a spoiler?

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WTB-NARDI wheel & NRG 2.8 QR

EJ253

awesome

fgdf

slideways2004

the r33 cluster is cool

Sag3r

Damn thats looking real good!

Dopefish

Sadly no, I still have the white one with the spoiler though.

What are you looking to get for the seats?

__________________
It never got fast enough for me. -Hunter S. Thompson

devonkyle77

wanted to sell those whole set together, front and rear but message me on aim, we can work something out.

__________________
WTB-NARDI wheel & NRG 2.8 QR

Tops*

Are you going to get new wheels with the S15 face? I don't think the mustang wheels will match the new face IMO (which doesn't matter to you, I know). The bubbly look of the zenki headlights seem to compliment the bubbly look of the mustang wheels well, but with the edgy, more aggressive look of the S15 front, I don't think the mustang wheels will match.

Reminds me of Tokyo Drift. How they put the RB from the S15 in the fastback on Volk GT-7's. What a movie...

Good luck with the rest of the work.

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blu808

lol and high five on your license plate, 5 lug and guage cluster.

But seriously. Mustang wheels and a s15 front is sooo 3 years ago.

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qwikspool

looking nice. change your rims to match the s15 front. keep up the good work

drftkng951

good luck on this...
those wheels do not look so bad on your car but those center caps need to go....

Dopefish

Man, everyone hates on the Bullitts. They work well with the Zenki styling, but since you all are complaining about them so much I'll go ahead and ruin the surprise. I have three 03' 350z 'track edition' wheels, just need one more to complete the set. ..and sorry for not being up with 240 fashion, three years ago I was driving a FD.

I do agree that the Bullitt's don't match the S15 front, they don't really match the S-chassis at all except with the Zenki front that is sort of similar to the SN95 Mustangs.

__________________
It never got fast enough for me. -Hunter S. Thompson

Tops*

Damn mang, people got pretty harsh up in here about your new S15 face and your mustang wheels lol. I just wanted to see what was up and everyone else just cut you down like a tree in the forest. Nice choice with the wheels. I want a set of 06+ (I think) set of Z wheels...

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blu808

Run whatever you have that works for your budget. Im just saying when you can get some gangster wheels.

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ixfxi

ghetto buildup.

car looks too slapped together for my taste.

like the gauge cluster tho

xblack240x

I'm not gonna hate cause I haven't done anything compared to what you are doing... Keep us updated and good luck finding one more 'track edition' 350z wheel...

Dopefish

What's ghetto about it? The fact that my guy is building one-off fenders for me from the OEM ones and only using the cheap fiberglass models as a template? The all OEM upgrades to braking or improvements in handling via the suspension? Couldnt possibly be the OEM bumper, OEM headlamps and OEM-based hood or any of the OEM interior components that have been improved upon. Only portion I haven't considered is the engine swap (zOMG SR20 ghagahagaha!!!!!!111ONElim x>0 sin-(x)/x) ..in that regard the car will stay stock for awhile until I'm ready to sell my FD. At that point I'll be building a RB harness and swapping a RB in.

I'm not offended, I'm just trying to comprehend what is so ghetto about my car. It was a turd when I bought it, as most 240's are since people don't take care of them. Everything I've done has been in the manner of improving it's condition. If you don't agree with the wheels or choice in going with a S15 front, that is fine, but that hardly makes my car ghetto.

__________________
It never got fast enough for me. -Hunter S. Thompson

graymaverick

Good work, keep it up. And question. Im planning on doing a 5 speed swap in my 96 s14. I have a s13 tranny laying around. Do I really have to change the bell housing of the tranny?

ManoNegra

No, only when using a KA tranny with an SR and vice-versa.

KA24DESOneThree

People bitch and moan about a buildup thread like this for the S13 but if it's an S14, they don't care?

There's no originality, just another 240 build.

I'm not trying to be a dick but I am trying to understand the lack of equity.

We need a dedicated build-up forum for all the build-up threads. We also need some rules before a build-up thread is allowed to be posted.

tunerzimage

Lookin good!

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ixfxi

your exhaust is squashed
your license plate is blah
those headlamps are of the ricky chu era, and even back then - i still didnt think they matched the lines of the s14.
hid kits for the loss. amplification of RHD headlamps is a big no no in my book
rhd headlamps in the US - suck.

either way, i like your calipers.. just not a fan of the wheels/tires and work being done on the outside of your car. its not horrible, just not my style. dont take my opinion too much to heart, i'm an idiot - what do i know anyway

Kuzumi

where did you get the front end? looks like one a guy i knew had on it.

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Dopefish

The weekend was kinda slow as some other cars required attention at the shop but there was some progress this afternoon.

The headlamp brackets are finished, the fender templates are mounted into place and some metal and fiberglass reinforcement has been added as well as we test fitted the bumper to make sure no adjustments would be needed to the passenger-side. The fitment is amazing so far, much better then some I've seen in the past where the headlamps are too far forward or the fender tips protrude out from behind the corner of the lamps.





Barring delays, paint should come by Thursday.

__________________
It never got fast enough for me. -Hunter S. Thompson