Newbie section? Or some info/insight

[MikeFullBoost]

Is there a noob section on the forum? I know questions like this are frowned upon but I am going to look to at 91 tomorrow and just looking for some insight. I know on NASIOC a thread like this would get locked but if you can offer any insight I would appreciate it.

First, I am not a noob to cars, I was a toyota tech for 6 years before entering corrections. I know the basics for looking over any car, checking body lines and for vin tags, water marks etc etc etc

This is a run down on the car from the info I have thus far...

1991 with Silvia front clip
Sr20 black top w/ 3" apexi exhaust, intake, HKS FMIC, walbro pump and FPR, stock ecu/tune
SPL coil overs
5 lug conversion
300zx brakes
Kevlar full disc clutch and HD pressure plate
R32 front seats
Painted 05 murano blue not even a year ago, car stored in shop, zero rust and no rust or repairs prior to paint
Rear sub frame bushings
J30 rear

From the few pictures I have the car seems clean thus far. Owner says it was never drifted and was 100% stock when obtained. The owner and his partner run a repair shop and specialize in nissans, car is only being sold to fund an s13 LS project

I don't have mileage on shell or motor, he is getting me that info, I also wouldn't be against asking him to do a compression/leak down test if they were willing to do so. Car is said to be a nice worthy daily driver, I am not looking for drift car or race it. Looking for a clean ride for up coming season while am building the motor in my current car.

I know it's hard to gauge a price on a vehicle as it will fluctuate from location and time of year etc etc. I am just asking as fellow enthusiasts with this given information what would value car worth at high/low end.

Appreciate the help and sorry for the extreme noobness.

-Mike

[brndck]

For a noob, you are surprisingly well informed.
We don't have a dedicated section, we just like to yell "SEARCH" at everyone.
Price ranges wildly when it comes to s-chassis, I don't think there could be any sort of standard other than to say look through our "cars for sale" section and see what comparable cars are going for. A lot of times you can score deals when someone is desparate to get $$$ back out of a project.

[Kingtal0n]

this whole forum is noob section :D

you want real engine advice go to a marine engine website- those take real abuse and make real power uphill.

[MikeFullBoost]

For a noob, you are surprisingly well informed.
We don't have a dedicated section, we just like to yell "SEARCH" at everyone.
Price ranges wildly when it comes to s-chassis, I don't think there could be any sort of standard other than to say look through our "cars for sale" section and see what comparable cars are going for. A lot of times you can score deals when someone is desparate to get $$$ back out of a project.

Thank you sir

I was doing just that, searching the classifieds for 91 year cars with mods close too this one. But as you said, it really really varies which is making it tough. There was a black s13 with a red top, bobo wheels, but very clean with Silvia front clip for 5k in the middle of the country. To me is seemed like a very good deal but like I said I am newb to these . To my knowledge the blacktop is a newer motor with a slightly different turbo and a bit more power if I read correctly. Also a bit more expensive.

This guy is definitely in no means desperate to sell car, he actually responded to my wanted ad looking for a car. He doesn't need to sell it, he already mentioned that he can just keep it as a shop car but if he doesn't part with it it'll be invested into the LS car he is building.

Its going to be hard for me to find a car because I am very specific as to what I want. I really only want an s13 coupe with SR20 and MUST have Silvia nose or 95 s14 with a kouki nose. Since I am in NYS we have the obd II state inspection testing for 96 and newer and I want to avoid that hassle.

I also don't want anything that needs body work or paint as I am not experienced with that. I am 100% mechanically inclined and would much rather a clutch job or blown rear or something.

[MikeFullBoost]

This s13 was fully repainted which makes me happy as I am all about the car being very clean. I feel like some tint and the right wheel combo and the car would look really fresh. I take pride in my clean cars

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/ihaveabruiser/EA5AD9E1-45E2-44FA-9DF6-7D4030BB57F8_zpshmwverie.jpg (http://s.photobucket.com/user/ihaveabruiser/media/EA5AD9E1-45E2-44FA-9DF6-7D4030BB57F8_zpshmwverie.jpg.html)

[fliprayzin240sx]

Looks pretty clean for what it is. Double check for rust (frame rails, under the wheel wells specially under the back rears and under the cowl), check the window seals all all around, peak under the quarter panel glass from the inside if you could pop the interior trims.

Engine wise, if you see 150 psi compression across, it should be good to go. I'd ask if they changed the water pump/thermo anytime during the swap. Only thing thats always iffy W/ these engines is the oil pump but that's harder to check on the fly.

Price wise, I'd pay $6k for that, $7k if really like the car and you feel like the seller is real up front with no BS (gives you the warm fuzzy about the car).

[MikeFullBoost]

Looks pretty clean for what it is. Double check for rust (frame rails, under the wheel wells specially under the back rears and under the cowl), check the window seals all all around, peak under the quarter panel glass from the inside if you could pop the interior trims.

Engine wise, if you see 150 psi compression across, it should be good to go. I'd ask if they changed the water pump/thermo anytime during the swap. Only thing thats always iffy W/ these engines is the oil pump but that's harder to check on the fly.

Price wise, I'd pay $6k for that, $7k if really like the car and you feel like the seller is real up front with no BS (gives you the warm fuzzy about the car).

Quality post, thank you for that!

That was what I was looking for, appreciate the knowledge for checking additional areas for rust, I will be sure to check that stuff.

I will see what he says about about WP/Stat as well, I talked to the owner on the phone and he was very upfront about the car over all.

Also appreciate your opinion on the pricing. He gave me his asking price and I just don't want to insult him if the car is what it suppose to be.

Thanks
Mike

[Kingtal0n]

1991 with Silvia front clip
Sr20 black top w/ 3" apexi exhaust, intake, HKS FMIC, walbro pump and FPR, stock ecu/tune
SPL coil overs
5 lug conversion
300zx brakes
Kevlar full disc clutch and HD pressure plate
R32 front seats
Painted 05 murano blue not even a year ago, car stored in shop, zero rust and no rust or repairs prior to paint
Rear sub frame bushings
J30 rear


Ill give you some ideas.
J30 rear is the cheapest limited slip differential there is. Its not a bad thing; it just means that somebody didnt spend the extra $100 to put a real Silvia VLSD in the car. Which says something.

"REAR SUB FRAME BUSHINGS"
This raises an eyebrow. Did he actually pull out the rear subframe, burn out the old bushings, cut out the metal husks and press in fresh new bushings? because that is the high quality work you imply when you throw around a word like "REAR SUB FRAME BUSHINGS". Most people just throw in EZ collars and go. So I would find out for sure, then ask why someone would do all that work then pop in a J30 diff. Thats like spending a thousand dollars on materials and a hundred hours of sanding/priming prep work for a paint job then using rattle cans.

"5 lug conversion"
Was it from a 240 or a Silvia? If its from a 240 the components are more likely to have high mileage. 300Z brakes also says little, they could be iron or aluminum, and are they 30mm if aluminum? Does it matter? not really. But attention to detail is important when you "build a car" and change parts like that. If I found out it had the small aluminum calipers then again someone is trying to save a couple dollars here and there.

"kevlar full disk clutch... "
Again raise an eyebrow. NO NAME BRAND? Someone is trying to save a hundred dollars by using an ebay clutch? Find out the name brand. This stuff adds up.


"HKS FMIC"
If it is actually an HKS intercooler, the question again is why the name brand intercooler but the no-name clutch and cheaper diff. you have to put the clues together and figure out who did what. The present owner may have installed the cheap clutch and done a cheap paint job and put in cheap collars, where the original owner may have cared more about the car and used high quality name brand parts.

A shot of the engine bay and what/how the wiring was done will say alot more. try to get a engine bay photo.

[MikeFullBoost]

1991 with Silvia front clip
Sr20 black top w/ 3" apexi exhaust, intake, HKS FMIC, walbro pump and FPR, stock ecu/tune
SPL coil overs
5 lug conversion
300zx brakes
Kevlar full disc clutch and HD pressure plate
R32 front seats
Painted 05 murano blue not even a year ago, car stored in shop, zero rust and no rust or repairs prior to paint
Rear sub frame bushings
J30 rear


Ill give you some ideas.
J30 rear is the cheapest limited slip differential there is. Its not a bad thing; it just means that somebody didnt spend the extra $100 to put a real Silvia VLSD in the car. Which says something.

"REAR SUB FRAME BUSHINGS"
This raises an eyebrow. Did he actually pull out the rear subframe, burn out the old bushings, cut out the metal husks and press in fresh new bushings? because that is the high quality work you imply when you throw around a word like "REAR SUB FRAME BUSHINGS". Most people just throw in EZ collars and go. So I would find out for sure, then ask why someone would do all that work then pop in a J30 diff. Thats like spending a thousand dollars on materials and a hundred hours of sanding/priming prep work for a paint job then using rattle cans.

"5 lug conversion"
Was it from a 240 or a Silvia? If its from a 240 the components are more likely to have high mileage. 300Z brakes also says little, they could be iron or aluminum, and are they 30mm if aluminum? Does it matter? not really. But attention to detail is important when you "build a car" and change parts like that. If I found out it had the small aluminum calipers then again someone is trying to save a couple dollars here and there.

"kevlar full disk clutch... "
Again raise an eyebrow. NO NAME BRAND? Someone is trying to save a hundred dollars by using an ebay clutch? Find out the name brand. This stuff adds up.


"HKS FMIC"
If it is actually an HKS intercooler, the question again is why the name brand intercooler but the no-name clutch and cheaper diff. you have to put the clues together and figure out who did what. The present owner may have installed the cheap clutch and done a cheap paint job and put in cheap collars, where the original owner may have cared more about the car and used high quality name brand parts.

A shot of the engine bay and what/how the wiring was done will say alot more. try to get a engine bay photo.

Great post! You guys have been very helpful so far.

I have been in contact with a friend locally who used to be into the cars and he has mentioned much of what you have mentioned here.

He said the exact thing about the rear for starters. I to am hoping for more info on clutch tomorrow, from what I am gathering I am thinking its an Exedy oem replacement. Which ironically I hate my Exedy clutch in my Subaru, it's. A stage 2 HD pressure plate with LWF and its awful! I have an Exedy twin disk to go in when I do the motor this season.

Great info on brakes and 5 lug swap, I will inquire on that and on the rear sub frame bushings

Thanks again for all the help, I just want to be as prepared as possible for tomorrow

-Mike

[MikeFullBoost]

Just figured I would update this thread and wanted to thank those who took the time to reply and offer insight on properly looking the car over.

I went to see above vehicle and well...quite honestly, I was more then dissapointed in the car. Ill give you a brief walk around of what I found during my inspection and hopefully it helps another noob at some point that may be looking to pick one of these cars up.

For starters the car was a 93 and not a 91. It was certainly repainted however I would be willing to guess it was just sprayed in a garage or shop and not in a proper paint booth. There was dust and runs in the paint/clear. Paint didn't even make it into lip of fender wells or even all the way onto bottom of rocker panels. Lots of small dings and dents that a paintless dent guy coulda removed no problem before painting. And the over spray was just bad.

Opened drivers door and it sagged roughly a half inch, at a closer inspection of the jams and sills there was clear evidence of bondo in the sills which was beginning to crack. I was told the jams were "blacked" however the "paint" used had a brownish tint such of that color used in under coating.

Moving on, as I looked at the l/r rear quarter it just didn't look right to me, as I looked at trunk the body lines were horribly off. The drivers side trunk to quarter line is so tight that the trunk lid is hitting the quarter when closing it and chipping clear/paint. Upon inspecting inside of the trunk there were non factory spot/tack welds and non factory seam sealer. Clear evidence that the car had a quarter hung on it at some point. Also, the battery was relocated to trunk and was not done "cleanly" or to my expectations...there was a random ground wire spliced off of the existing ground just hanging in the breeze and it was just kinda tossed in the middle of the trunk.

As I moved to passenger side of car I was inspecting floors and rails for rust and the entire floor is rotting out in front of right rear wheel, also entire underside of car was sprayed with what looked like very recent undercoating.


Starting the car up it purred like a kitten and sounded healthy, no smoke at all so one would believe that valve stems seals and turbo seal were in good shape however soon as idle came down and it started to warm up the car did what I like to call the infamous honda idle surge (CTS problem? Low on coolant?) when it started doing that I was informed it was just needed coolant topped off.

All in all the car wasn't what I was hoping it would be, there were a few other quirks like the wipers didn't work and other random stuff. I didn't even get into the brakes and hub conversion because with all the other issues it just didn't even seem worth it.

I am looking for a daily driver and I wasnt expecting a show car but when someone says "no rust" I expect there to be no rust.

At the end of the day it wasn't worth it's hefty price tag, especially with cars that have equal parts in the western part of country selling for 6-6500 and with quotes for a 1100$ shipping (which I had my 83 hilux shipped from CA last year) I would still be 1500$ ahead of the game.

So now my search continues, what I am looking for seems to be hard to find, s13 couples with silvia clips don't exactly seem to be dime a dozen on this coast and a kouki is hard to find as well because I need it to be able to pass the NYS obd II inspection (no MIL/CEL can be on). Ideally a 95 converted would be perfect.

Just wanted to say thanks again for info

Mike

[fliprayzin240sx]

You'd need to start looking down south, like NC and TN down south if you want something rust free.

Second, what's your budget? That will dictate what year chassis, how much mod you could expect to have, etc.

Personally, I looked for a cheap S14 chassis and found one all the way down the NC/SC border for $2500. It was stock with some minor bolt on, no rust but the had a pretty big dent in the rear quarter panel. Shocks were blown and engine had low compression but it was good enough to drive it. Didnt really matter to me since I had a full suspension setup to install and had an RB swap to put into it.

[MikeFullBoost]

You'd need to start looking down south, like NC and TN down south if you want something rust free.

Second, what's your budget? That will dictate what year chassis, how much mod you could expect to have, etc.

Personally, I looked for a cheap S14 chassis and found one all the way down the NC/SC border for $2500. It was stock with some minor bolt on, no rust but the had a pretty big dent in the rear quarter panel. Shocks were blown and engine had low compression but it was good enough to drive it. Didnt really matter to me since I had a full suspension setup to install and had an RB swap to put into it.

I don't have a problem traveling, my stepfather has a mega cab diesel and a open or enclosed car trailer. Half my battle is trying to get people to send me pics of car in its CURRENT condition. It's like pulling teeth in my last few cases. I don't mind traveling but I don't wanna drive 10 hours to show up to a shit wagon. I get pictures from people and they are like oh yeah this is when I had the car painted 2 years ago and my buddy did a shoot with it...okay...great....what's it look like now though ??

My budget is 10gs MAX. I don't see any reason why I can't find a nice clean s13 with silvia nose. with a red top or a 95 kouki converted with a KA-t or SR swap within in that range either. I know the deals are out there but I feel like everyone is also "drift tax" to the price tags as well. I don't mind paying the big bucks as long as its a quality clean build. Hell, I over paid for my Subaru when I got it. Book was 19 and car was 21 had to make up difference myself but it was exactly what I wanted. It was black, 39k miles, moon roof, one adult owner, stock, no accidents etc etc.

Most of what I seem to find local are half assed projects skid cars with welded rears. I'm not looking to get out there in streets like some sort of drift king. I just want a nice cruiser with a bit of boost to get me from A to B and hit up the local cruise nights with.

I also don't want to build it myself, the Subaru needs to be built now since I lost cylinder 1 and with everything else going on its going to take some time and will not be ready for the season. So that's why I am looking for a nice descent 240.

I mean if I am off my rocker here please let me knows, I don't think I'm that far off price range from what I have been searching in classifieds and seeing.

Mike

[blkvrtswp]

If you haven't already, look in Facebook groups. Some NY-centric examples below. I hate the trolls and flat-out mental patients that comment but there are a lot of cars posted with pictures and details. I see cars on there all the time that trigger "If only I had the money/time/space" thoughts. Pricing is all over but if I wanted $6000 for an S13 I would ask $8000 for sure so aim high.

TRISTATE 240sx PARTS FOR SALE / FOR TRADE S13 S14 S15
240sx & RWD Automotive. Buy, Sell & Trade RWD!!
North Jersey S-Chassis
East Coast 240sx Owners
845 people who actually drift
Project:240SX Classifieds

[MikeFullBoost]

If you haven't already, look in Facebook groups. Some NY-centric examples below. I hate the trolls and flat-out mental patients that comment but there are a lot of cars posted with pictures and details. I see cars on there all the time that trigger "If only I had the money/time/space" thoughts. Pricing is all over but if I wanted $6000 for an S13 I would ask $8000 for sure so aim high.

TRISTATE 240sx PARTS FOR SALE / FOR TRADE S13 S14 S15
240sx & RWD Automotive. Buy, Sell & Trade RWD!!
North Jersey S-Chassis
East Coast 240sx Owners
845 people who actually drift
Project:240SX Classifieds


I belong to the 1st one, ill peep those other ones. Thanks dude
Mike