Hello Zilvia

[0kami]

Hi, I have been visiting Zilvia for 3 year's now, dating back to the 8th grade. :) Basically just reading information until I found it was time to get a ride. As of now I have been searching for over a year for a 1990-1994 240SX Coupe, and finally found it. I bought a 89 240SX XE base model as my first car, only problem is the engine needs new piston rings, but looks very old and beat up, the owner claims to have had the car sitting for about a year. It was last painted black, very nice :) the interior is surprisingly in great condition! And all for $400. Here's the thing... now I have $1800 to try to restore the car with, from brakes to engine and suspension. I doubt I can get allot done depending on what engine I choose to go for, so I am asking you guy's which have experienced swapping out a SOHC, is it a good idea to go duel or just replace it with another single cam?, prices would be nice also, depending on the labor me and a friend can pull of the swap at his shop.

Please don’t give me speeches about dropping an SR.. cause I am really sick of that sort thing, and I prefer the money to go on suspension. IF I even have ENOUGH by the end. So I am guessing it will sit for at least 1-2 months, depending on how long I can stand not driving a car I worshiped for over 3 years now. :bowdown:

[0kami]

Note: It came with the hub caps ;)
Check out the pimp interior...

[West]

Welcome! Yaz should have registered back in the day so you could be a Old School Newbie :D hehe, JK.

[0kami]

True, but I would have been a pain asking questions about a car I didn't even own, plus I felt to young for this community back then. :o

Major interior problem, take a look at this picture. It's the downside of a good interior, the driver side carpet is all torn up.

[-E-]

Hey Welcome To Zilvia :)

[llcs-13]

From one newbee to another newbee (actually I am experiencing trouble logging on my old account..so there)

Get some nice floormats. mine looks at least that bad underneath and you cannot tell if you find original floor mats with cinch hooks. Covers all that nastyness right up. Junk yoard. Make sure all your lights work. Interior and dash too! Flush the brake system. You gotta have "stop" before you can have go. Remeber that bike you took off on that had "no brakes"...This is what I am saying.

Lets get the car to drive...shall we? Is it automatic or manual? One thing that is popular in the SR swap and what that really means is you can buy a used good motorset that was a KA pull out on the cheap. I have seen them from 100 to 400 bucks. Just pull outs that got an SR. In Florida, Lots of them laying around.

Based on suspention, their are 2 grand coil overs out there. I like my stock suspention and it is most important to learn the cars ways on stock set-up before you invest in a mod. That way you appreciate the mod. Brakes, just go to autozone and buy some new OEM rotors for now, and pads. This will set you back 70 bucks (front) and have fun putting them in. Until you get a few thousand miles of driving experience with the car, deal with stock. It can be wonderful when you master it. You will need a new set of tires. Until you get rims, stay with stock size. I use 205 60 15 now. I like them.

Get the car reliable. Put some tunes in it and save your dough until the car is quite right in stock form. this way you have solid foundation to mod on. good luck I hope you will look at it from my point of view for now.

[S13SilviaGirl]

Okami~ WELCOME!!!

Well, personally, I have an 89 coupe also!! (YAY 89's!)My SOHC Died on me, so Kevin and I replaced the motor to a DOHC and a 5 speed! I am very happy with it, and if you aren't going to be racing all the hondas you don't need an sr...hahaha. Ok but seriously, we picked up 2 KA's for $400, and spent about $600-$700 replacing stuff like:
water pump,thermostat, radiator hoses, wiring harness(for the DOHC&5speed), DOHC tac, DOHC PS resivoir, gaskets, sparkplugs, spark plug wires(if they are bad on your new/old engine), we made ours OBD1, new clutch, drive shaft (for 5speed) also, if you pick up a HICAS VLSD you need that drive shaft,hmmm we did SOOO much crap in just preventative maintenance to prevent any mishaps...one we should have done while the engine was out was the timing chain, but, alas now we have to do that soon...so maybe you might want to look into that. If you are going to buy the engine from an unknown source you might want to do a compression and leakdown test done. We bought ours from a good source and trust him. But if you don't have that type of trust, be overly cautious! Well, GOOD LUCK and hope you have fun with your car...ours took about a month to get put together, and just fine tuning after that...soooo don't give up on it! If you have any other ?'s just use the search button...if you can't find it just ask!

Lisa:bigok:

[mbmbmb23]

Originally posted by 0kami
True, but I would have been a pain asking questions about a car I didn't even own, plus I felt to young for this community back then. :o

Major interior problem, take a look at this picture. It's the downside of a good interior, the driver side carpet is all torn up.


There are a few places online you can buy new carpet. Here is one.
http://www.autostyles.com/datsuncarpet.htm

I've replaced my carpet and it wasn't that hard, just don't trim off too much initially or you're screwed.

I would swap in a DOHC if I were you.

-m

[0kami]

Originally posted by S13SilviaGirl
Okami~ WELCOME!!!

Well, personally, I have an 89 coupe also!! (YAY 89's!)My SOHC Died on me, so Kevin and I replaced the motor to a DOHC and a 5 speed! I am very happy with it, and if you aren't going to be racing all the hondas you don't need an sr...hahaha. Ok but seriously, we picked up 2 KA's for $400, and spent about $600-$700 replacing stuff like:
water pump,thermostat, radiator hoses, wiring harness(for the DOHC&5speed), DOHC tac, DOHC PS resivoir, gaskets, sparkplugs, spark plug wires(if they are bad on your new/old engine), we made ours OBD1, new clutch, drive shaft (for 5speed) also, if you pick up a HICAS VLSD you need that drive shaft,hmmm we did SOOO much crap in just preventative maintenance to prevent any mishaps...one we should have done while the engine was out was the timing chain, but, alas now we have to do that soon...so maybe you might want to look into that. If you are going to buy the engine from an unknown source you might want to do a compression and leakdown test done. We bought ours from a good source and trust him. But if you don't have that type of trust, be overly cautious! Well, GOOD LUCK and hope you have fun with your car...ours took about a month to get put together, and just fine tuning after that...soooo don't give up on it! If you have any other ?'s just use the search button...if you can't find it just ask!

Lisa:bigok:

Thank you for the info, btw you mentioned getting 2 blocks for $400?
Cause I only need one DOHC engine ( with all the parts needed for install ) How much do you think that will run me?, and the rest of the parts. Also, did you use aftermarket replacement parts? or OEM?
Its also already a 5 Speed.

[mrmephistopheles]

Yeah.. it was two KA24DEs for $400.. special hookup thru friend.
One was '95 one was '92. I used emissions crap from the '92 on the '95, effectively creating a '92 KA with different cams and no secondary butterflies.

KA24DE motorsets generally run for about $3-600 depending on age, condition, mileage, etc..

We used an aftermarket 'OEM replacement' clutch.. Daikin iirc. nothing special, but i swear the pedal feels heavy as hell! haha

[jenne313]

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

welcome okami!

you will love it here, especially now that you're officially "a poster"

this is a great place to learn and laugh.
glad to have you.

jenne:coolugh:

[M.Piedlourde]

COngratulations on the purchase! Looks like an excellent foundation for a project! I originally joined this site with plans for an S14, but the S13's old-school looks keep growing on me.