akamal92

So my dream was always to have an almost 100% perfect converted 240sx to
180sx but still be LHD. My car started out like almost all 240sx's out there stock white with the wing on it 4 lug and automatic with only 1 owner. That i picked up for a steal of $1200 bucks. The owner had no idea what he let me get myself into. thus car was going to go under a fine knife and be refined to the key. But my plan did not go as i wanted because i lost my job and i had to but the complete restoration on hold and i kinda lost sight of my plan at the begging. But as the months of no job went on i spent hours on hours on the internet to find my perfect setup and i went in like for 180sx look full force when i finally got another job at the local Nissan dealer in the area called Reed Nissan in Orlando, Fl. Where i got most of all the parts i need to get this thing rolling full force.
The car looked like this the day i picked her up all stock wonderful.




My plan was to put an rb25 in it first and paint the bay. Which is what i did and it looked like this. Now this RB25 had all the works the bolt on rb25 would need that i did such as freddy intake mani, arp headstuds, cometic headgasket and upper gasket set, new timing setup, ect ect. But it wasnt right when i started it due to some wiring issues


Then i bought a set of isis coils and rota grids to start it off. And threw on a pig nose front and lip because i just hate the shark nose look.




so i drove the car for a couple of week and it drove underboost fine but never drove in boost okay and felt as powerfull as it should. It came out okay and i was happy with the swap but it never ran right due to a Shop in Winter Garden Florida called Rohtech Motorsports where we did the swap at. He made it look really good under the hood and painted everything but he did something with my harness that i never could get away from causing it runn lean and rich all the time. Untill i got it under control with an AFC Neo. And replacing all the electronics on it like cam angle sensor, coilpacks, ecm, coolant temp, and maf because wiring had these things breaking one after another.

Now that i had it running okay i can start to focus on buying all my 180sx goodies, 5-lug, BC coils and paint for this bad boy.

So i started by selling off the isis coils and wheels and getting my BC coils i was so happy with them but they did not go as low as i wanted so i got swift springs for the front to go lower.



Then i got my first 180sx item which was the front bumper with lights turn signals and extensions but no brackets so i had to rig it up but i hated the fitment. Because my hood latch was all fudged up. Ohh and i got a set of some xxr's just because i always wanted them.



Then i got started on my 5 lug and 300zx brake setup and new wheels which are Miro 398's 18x9.5+15 up front and 18x10.5+17 in the rear and i fell in love with the car again.



After this i picked up a ForceWerks front lip and some oem 180sx Chuki side skirts but i only for a short period of time my OEM 180sx Type-X were on order just waiting on those god damn japs to send them over.




And then one day i came into work and i had a surprise that the parts department guy(Dave) told me he had my 180sx Kouki taillights in stock finally
So i got em and had to put them on the same day



Here is pic of a meet my car was at for a meet called V2labs Mystery Meet in Orlando



Then I got my brand new 180sx Type-x side skirts and 180sx Type-X wing
and decided i needed to go and get this thing painted by the best painter in the state of Florida his name is Clay(same guy who painted Brett Levans Teal 180sx.) and if you want his number PM me.
He took this car in and made it something that people looked at all the time he fixed all the dents and dings and made it his own special thing and i choose the coolest color for a Type-X ever RED

He started by ripping it apart and smoothing it all out fixing the dents from the rear pull.



After that he pulled the doors and hatch and started to prime the body and smooth it out.


Then i left him alone for a couple weeks and then i came back and it was ready to roll but the wing was not ready. But i absolutely loved the car and way it looked.







Once the wing was ready i had to go back and get it put on and i found a friends car there chillin so had to sanp a quick picture


But i love the wing it finishes it off so well.




Next to come is the sad story to this build but a New chapter in the restoration phase stay tuned. Every thing above was the first year i had the car and what did untill the unthinkable happened but unleashed the perfectionist monster inside of me where i am no going HAM lol. I will post pictures and details of that in the next hour. I am basically trying to catch up everything if what i did to get the point of where i am at today. Hope you guys enjoy

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92' 180sx Type-X- (Under Construction)

Reece

Damn, what a nice build so far. Valances would make this car almost perfect.

How are those Miros? High quality for the price?

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GarageMaks14

expected a shit box....left satisfied....that it was not a shit box lol

d_nice

nice build and nice color... good deal looks great

CrimsonRockett

Simple, but very well put together.

I love it.

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-Jspec-
Instagram/CrimsonRockett

greenwood

I do enjoy

akamal92

I know i am on the look out for some valences right now help me find them guys. and the miros are actually better quality then that varrstoen stuff out there right now and paint on them is strong and durable and rims are pretty light.

Bro hearing that come from you is great i always seen your car around here and loved it but i think you guys will like what ihave in store for the car right now.

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92' 180sx Type-X- (Under Construction)

akamal92

so my sob story starts here where i have finally finished this car got my rb running perfect and im driving one of my friends out to my painter to drop the his car off to get beautified. So we get to my painter (Clay the man) and talk shit for a little and drop off my friends s2000 and we leave. On the way home we start to smell something burning we pull over open the hood check it out no burning so we continue to drive home AND BOOOM THE CAR SHUTS OFF

I didnt know what had happened so i coast it to an under pass and open the hood and try to crank the car over but it sound like i had no compression. so i took the front bumper off and towed the car home upset and in depression i loved this thing to death and it turned heads everywhere i went. I hoped for the best when i got home and i found the worst. my greddy timing belt shredded away causing my valves to bend and loose all compression i did not know what to do as this was my daily beauty that i took care of like a princess she was.




As you can see in the picture that all i had left of it when i got it to the shop to tear it apart and pull this motor out and get a new one in there. But at that point i came across a crazy deal to buy a 1996 honda civic as a daily to drive around while i build it back. But this is the first time i have had another car to drive while i build mine. i used to have to bum rides before and hurry up and finish the car. So it hit me it was time to build my dream for my self because now i have the time and the money to do it right and stop the bullshit. My first objective was to get my shitty bay looking right and get it tubbed out by my painter (Clay hmu for his number if you need quality work)
Here are some pics of the engine removal process and tubbing proccess.
I even bought a brand new oem nissan core support because mine was rusted out and it was old you will see in the pictures the new support welded on.


Pulled the scrap metal


Started to strip the parts out of it and pull the whole engine room harness as i replaced it due to the issues of it being cut up.


Cleaned it up under there to get it ready for the my painter to do his magic



Loaded Her Up to head to the shop


So i dropped her off with clay to do his magic on it and he sent me updates religiously but he knows i was very anxious to see this was my first 240sx to have tubs and i always wanted it done one day so here is some progress of how the tubs went.

First thing he did was chop out the wells and the rusted core support
and start mocking up the new tubs


I went kinda crazy with all the holes i wanted to fill in i was texting him almost everyday to tell him new stuff to do with it so it took longer then i wanted but it came out really nice but heres some more progress

Tubs Welded in solid and will be smoothed out




Then he primed both sides and started to block them out with the new oem core support tacked back in to make sure everything was in line


Then he got it ready for paint and set it in the booth and sent me this teaser picture


I was really excited to see the final result of it and he knew so he stayed late that night to finish it up and get it done and i woke up to these pictures waiting on my phone to surprise me.



I was like WOW it was a nice wake up call I couldnt wait to see it in person.

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92' 180sx Type-X- (Under Construction)

va240dude

Hey man looking forward to seeing more! You and I have the same heart for 180 koukis and rb25s haha.

xpinoyxmk

Damn car looks awesome man! Was gonna paint mine red too.... but idk if two red 180's can be in FL at the same time... lol

Might have to get the painters info though. Seems like he does an awesome job.

akamal92

Thanks bro and yes just PM me when you are ready

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92' 180sx Type-X- (Under Construction)

mewantkouki

Orlando here as well... I need my kouki brought back to life. lol It needs paint BAD

akamal92

So now that the car was finished with the tubs i set off to pick up on the trailer this time in style with the CADY. and i had plans to pull the dash out and get my enigne room harness completely removed from the SMG plug and install my new harness i got.

When i showed up to the paint shop this is what was waiting me


Then we got her on the trailer and strapped her down for the hour an half ride home


So when i got this thing loaded up in the garage i had to throw on the fenders and bumper just to mock it up to see how everything fits with the new tubs and the new core support.




I didnt take any pictures of the dash removal process but believe we all know how to get one of those out. Well i pulled the dash and the front end off again to get this SMJ harness out and put my new one in. And i made my order for all my New OEM under the hood goodies like the hoodprop rod an the little bushing/clip for it, new radiator mounts upper and lower rubbers with the brackets, new hood latch, new hood bumpers, new hood hinges and bolts SON, and the fancy carbon RPS13 rear garnish. Along with a new brake master cylinder from autozone and i was to start on refinishing the brake booster its self.

So my parts started to come in little by little

Ignore the rods and cams they were a friends that were put in the picture but you can see all my radiator and hood rod parts here



Then My rear garnish came in most favorite part i got yet



I got bord one night and had some extra energy after work and refinished the brake booster



I was crusing around the forsale section here and got look at a OEM Type-x front lip that was forsale and i picked one of them up from him asap. So now i have all oem type-x aero no replica nothing over here



Thats all i got for now guys i will be going to the garage to get more pics of the parts i have installed in the car that i have not tooken pictures of while they were packaged still. Stay tuned guys an thanks for looking

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92' 180sx Type-X- (Under Construction)

taran!

Great build my friend, hope to see the car around when its up and running, another Orlando person here. Great job man!

stroked_jz

Ill be honest... Your build has changed my outlook on s13 hatches. Great build, great paint. Look forward to more updates.

greenmachine300zxtt

very nice build. what color red is that from wat color code?

Snatch'D Factory

Super dope dude! Keep going! What part of Orlando,FL are located in?

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Alex Bailey|Snatch'D Factory|(651)-333-7392|Instagram-snatchdfactory

akamal92

Thanks everybody for your positive feedback on the build guys. It gives me more motivation to get it done faster.

Thanks bro and its a BMW crimson red i dont remember the color code off my head. But i can get it later on.

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92' 180sx Type-X- (Under Construction)

akamal92

So now that i got the car back i have been just waiting on parts to come in to put it back together. So thats why i have not posted anything ina couple of days but i finally have had a couple of days off and i got some serious work done on the bay. And the front suspension and brakes.

Got my new OEM Hood Rod Bushing and new oem hood rod in




Put my new oem hood latch and oem hood hinges with new oem bolts for both son.. no more leaning hood




Put my new hood rod clip in to keep that rod straight



Refinished my headlight motors and have new caps coming to go on them



Put my refinished brake booster and new o.e replacement brake master cylinder and clutch master cylinder in.



Installed my new oem upper radiator brackets and lower radiator bushings



Here is a picture of it all put together in harmony it looks so pretty.



So now that i got the bay looking good and put together i had to get moving with renewing my front suspension and getting everything powder coated that looked old. I didn't want to paint the parts i powder coated because i wanted it to be durable and rust resistant and stand the high heat from the brakes. Plus powder coated sounds cooler. When i had the front suspension off i had to clean and undercoat the wheel wells to get it looking newer under there.

Here is a cool pic of the complete front suspension and steering components removed. And you get a look at how nice that oem front lip fits.



Then i cleaned under the wells and got it all undercoated




As i let everything dry for up an harden for a week i took my calipers an front spindles to get sandblasted and powder coated gloss black. along with rebuilding my caliper back with a new oem seal kit. i forgot to take a picture of the calipers before so i just have final products. I also cleaned up my BC coilovers and Isis front tension rods so they looked newer when they went on. Along with those i purchased new O.E replacement front lower control arms with new ball joints and bushings. I also cleaned up my front 5-lug hubs so they looked newish.

The new control arms.



The coated front spindles



And the final product



All i need to finish up the completed front end suspension and brake rebuild is
rotors, pads, rack an pinion with tien hardened inner tie rods and spl pro outer tie rods along with a new steering column bushing, and a new front sway bar with endlinks and bushings.
After i finish the front suspension rebuild i will be moving to the rear subframe to get that completed and eveything powdercoated and replace bushings and arms that need to be done and get that dialed in. after that process is completed i will buy my new wheels and get the motor for this thing and get it started to roll on the streets and i will be saving to get it painted once again, so that it will be perfect. Because i have just made my order for all new outer window moldings and trim that come in the factory black color from Nissan. And weather stripping for the doors and hatch. I will post pictures of those when they come in.

Ohh and i felt baller this week and picked up the last set of brand new driver and passenger door windows in the USA for a s13 240sx due to the fact my windows were scratched and i hated looking out them. and a new windsheild just because i have to pull the windows out anyways to get it painted perfect.

my windows just chillen

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92' 180sx Type-X- (Under Construction)

R_Rod_s13

Wow it's coming out great man ! Keep it going.

M374llic4

Fucking amazing so far man, I am going to sub to this thread simply to see how she turns out!

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va240dude

What did you use for the undercoating?

tricky_ab

I'm glad to be surprised of this build.

Keep up the great work my man!

akamal92

One of my favorite perks of working at a Nissan dealership and owning a Nissan is being able to get all the cool oem parts for the cheap prices i always wanted.

Earlier in the build thread i mentioned how i was going to start ordering all the new door moldings and trim pieces outside the car to freshen it up to look brand new when it gets painted again. These items i believe give the car that final look of perfection where most build fail to do because race car lol. but i like those speed builds to but i really want to just have a clean perfect looking car thati can take to anyshow and get respect as a builder/restorer.

But in the mean time while i waited on the parts to arrive i took the interior apart to clean the floor board and re-coat it with an undercoat product from 3M. That also serves a sound deadener to keep it quite inside and keep the floor from rusting out in the future. and it looks a lot better the shitty stuff that is there now.

A picture of the floor before the clean up and coating.



Then i spent about 2-3 hours just cleaning the floor board and removing all the seat belts out and i let the coating start and here was the final product



I think it came out really good. It gets pretty hard when it dries up. The can says 2-3 hours dry time but i left it for a good day to dry before i touched it and i laid it down thick so it wanted to be sure it was going to be dry. I like how it stayed black and didn't turn a different shade through the drying process.

So after a week passed i got some cool stuff in at work i thought i would share with you guys an gals out there.

New Drivers and passenger outside door moldings, B-pillar trim, and upper weather stripping retainer. everything is so nice an black an shinny in person its like im a kid in a candy store



New weather stripping for the doors and window for both driver and passenger
(No more wind noise an leaky water hopefully)



New headlight bezels with no cracks or fading they look amazing.



New OEM rear lower control arms w/ new ball joints and bushing.



Then here is my interior that is going to all be getting refinished in a SEM product. Along with my first uncracked dash that will be getting redyed black to make it look brand new and give the interior that new look.



Newer A/C vents that don't look to aged picked them up for a steal and none of them were cracked.



Then here is a picture of my new radio i got on black friday for $20.00 so i can vibe to my music when i ever do get to drive this thing.



My next steps in this build process is the get the whole rear end done and refinished so when i put my motor in the car it will be solid and ready to handle power and drive comfortably. But today i made an order for all my new interior bits an pieces that will finish off the interior nice when it is all put back together. I sometimes feel this car is going to be the death of me at times lol but i love it and i will continue to build it up hopefully it will be done and ready to go in the next couple of months. and i can show it off at the upcoming shows here in Florida.

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92' 180sx Type-X- (Under Construction)

Ramonesfreak2010

Wow man looking REAL good!

akamal92

I used a 3M rubberized professional under coat for the wheel wells and my floor board

Thanks bro

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92' 180sx Type-X- (Under Construction)

Lockiess15

Looking bloody good

DILLONDILLONDILLON!

akamal92 did you use the 3m undercoating that they use for the 99-02 pathfinder strut recalls? just curious wanted to do this to my interior as well I work at Nissan World in NJ and I know how useful getting that 10% over cost is ;]

S T Y L E S

Car looks amazing!! Props man

EDacIouSX

beautiful car, keep up the expensive hobby.