New to car modifying. Starting with a 240sx

[wantsa240]

Ok well I am totally new to car modifying and I have a few friends that are really into the scene. They tell me to go with a 240sx and do a motor swap and put in a SR20 engine and go from there. Start with the SR20 and then upgrade the turbo, injectors, etc etc... What do you guys all think. I dont know how to swap an engine but I have a few friends that are doing motor swaps on 240sx's right now, and they said they will do all the work for me and I can help them out so I know how to put together my car. I am just wonder what you guys think I should do with this project. Right now I do not have a 240sx but I will be buying one and then going from there. Thanks!

[TokyoNights]

Umm we dont know what you should do with your project since we dont know what you want to use the car for. Anyway why start with the swap,,everyone allways says that..get tha swap y0! Why not start with suspension.

[wantsa240]

Well I want it to be fastish for drag, and be pretty nice in the turns... I dont want anything too crazy cause I dont want to go crashing my car. What do you guys think a project like that would cost tho?

[MakotoS13]

has anyone noticed the frequency of these kinds of threads on the rise?

kid, the 240 is a great car but you're askin for hell if you want to just into a motor swap as a first mod...

[BoroBoroS13]

Its a good car to build and play with imo. Cheap to buy, cheap to insure, and good after market support. I would do more research and try to find out if a 240SX is right for you first. Just because its the new craze and your friends have em doesnt mean that there arnt other cars out there that you might enjoy more. After that, if you still want a 240, try to find a really clean one and do a full maintance job on it. Dont jump right in and buy a SR20 either. Upgrade your brakes and suspension first so you can enjoy the car more and not just have a car with lots of power in something that handles and brakes like shit. Good luck

[meatish]

Please get new friends.

[p11driver]

Well I want it to be fastish for drag, and be pretty nice in the turns... I dont want anything too crazy cause I dont want to go crashing my car. What do you guys think a project like that would cost tho?


if i were you, i would buy the type of car i like, not from what others tell me to get. you dont need to go crazy modifying a car to crash it ;)

[wantsa240]

Well they reccomended getting the car, clean it up, drive it around and see how I like it. All my friends dont drive 240's just they are working on them right now. One drives a FD and the other drives a Integra. This wouldnt be jumped right into. Im just summing up a year or so into one paragraph. I would start with a stock 240 then I would clean it up and do general maintainance. I would learn more about the car while doing all the fixing up to the car.

[wantsa240]

if i were you, i would buy the type of car i like, not from what others tell me to get. you dont need to go crazy modifying a car to crash it ;)
Well usually the faster you make the car, the more likely you are to drive it fast.

[MakotoS13]

how about you drive it around to see if you like it.... before you buy it?

a few years ago i learned of them and started to get curious. when i got in the position to get another car i checked em out and tada, loved the way it drove and how i had actual room to breath inside it.

be a test drive slut for a while dude.

[NI_YON_Zenki]

Get an S2000, and be done with it.

[Andrew Bohan]

if you want a fastish drag car that can do good in corners, get an integra type r

[wantsa240]

I drove in my friends rx-7 FD... and all I can say is WOW. That car is quick. If my car was 1/2 of that car I would be happy. But I dont have too much money to spend and I dont want to spend too much because it is my first one... would be my third car that I have ever had. Right now I have a grand am (hey it was cheap) its a 2001 and people are telling me to mod this car for a while then finish it off with a supercharger. But I dont think I could ever see myself doing that, although I LOVE the feel of this car even tho its mostly stock.

[thx247]

Buy my car...

[ledzeppelin240]

Well usually the faster you make the car, the more likely you are to drive it fast.

The more confidence I have in my mods the harder it would be driven. After all there are all these crap parts that I see people trying to use them and all they do is fail, or are terrible quality. Know what parts to buy and a car can be driven at redline all day long without missing a beat.

Upgrade the turbo on that tyte SR swap...Do you even know what a compressor map is? Hyundai Santa Fe's are the trendy vehicle right now, modding one of those we be so awesome...

[smellslikecurry]

i say buy the car, preferably mine cuz its only 800 bucks and it runs, learn how to drive the bitch stock, when your comfortable with how it handles and when you really learn the car, start doing suspension mods. Theyll be your best friend. then drive some more and learn how to tune your suspension, save money up for alignments and tires, cuz ull need a lot of both and then when your comfortable with what you have buy the engine, learn how to swap it in yourself with some help and then learn how to drive that, in the future you can start moddign to bigger turbos, but dont do any of that shit right after you get the car, thats just asking for trouble. be smart dont listen to your friends...they know nothing

[rupertaker1]

Why is everyone being such an asshole? It's not like he showed up saying he wanted to build a drift monster..


Wantsa240,

Definetly the smartest thing to do would be what you have already mentioned--get a S13 in decent shape and just do general maintenance on it. Learn the car and learn general upkeep--odds are it is over twelve years old and over 100k miles, lots of things will be breaking. I wouldn't even bother with an engine swap--just get some nice tires and some basic suspension, and it will be a totally different car.

Good luck.

[driftracer]

Yes, as others have said, it's best to get a feel for the car first. That's what I did for a whole year now...before i even join this forum. It's best to work on suspension parts and get it all in working order. Take your time deciding what you want to do, because it's an investment for anyone. A motorswap isnt something to take likely...you may decide down the road that it's not something you even want. I would do as others more experienced on these forums have said and just get a feel for the car.

Just out of curiosity, how did you hear about zilvia.net because if your friends told you about it, they surely would have told you that you might get flamed for asking such a broad and redundant question?

Anyhow, good luck whatever you decide to do :)

[420sx]

Well I want it to be fastish for drag, and be pretty nice in the turns... I dont want anything too crazy cause I dont want to go crashing my car. What do you guys think a project like that would cost tho?

sell your car. get a mustang. uncontested torque/dollar ratio. bish

[nismo2491]

just remember that sr20 isn't god's gift to cars.
KEvin

[Phlip]

So what you're saying is that you are being told by individuals who do not own 240SXs to purchase a 240SX? I would be a little wary about taking instructions on how to cook a steak from a vegetarian... I suggest getting what YOU want and not what your friends want you to have, either that or just modding whatever you have if all you want to do is modify a car.

[nismo2491]

why are you talking about steaks dude? we're talking about cars here.









j/k yeah just do whatever you want to do, do you actually want a modified car? it sounds to me that you don't really know that much about cars so probably never really took interest in them. do you want one so it can be cool or because you have a love for motorsports (be it street or track though I urge you to keep it off the streets). if you want a car because other people will think its cool get like a bmw or something like that, not a 240sx. especially if you don't know anything about cars 240's break a lot.
KEvin

[theronin]

if u want a drag car get an older mustang. save the 240's for those of us with a brain of our own.

[wantsa240]

Well I have always had a small passion for cars my whole life... since they have always been in my life (parents owned a body shop.) for about 2 years now I have really started to get into cars and reading about possible ones that I want. I read about 240's for a while and when my friends told me thats a good one to get for cornering I started to read about them. And I know anytime you swap a motor it gives your car more chances to break down. Im not really worried about my car breaking down since I already have a daily driver, and if its not something I can fix, my dad can fix it. Mainly I am just getting ideas on a future car to get (in about a year). My plan would be to buy the car completely stock and just do general maintainance on the car to learn about everything inside of it. Then I would later do the swap and whatever mods I want to do to it.

[ledzeppelin240]

Understandable, how old are you by the way? Drive the car for stock then go from there. I have driven my car stock for 2 years now and just bought a 1989 240SX which will be built to what I want. Over the 2 years I have gained alot of knowledge and have changed my mind some 10 times on what to do with the engine. But thanks to waiting I didnt jump into something I might want to take back later on. knowledge is power...

[nismo2491]

just a word of advice, if you want to call it that. basic automotive knowledge transfers to every car out there, from yugo to aston martin. I'd suggest doing the basic maintenance on your daily driver that you currently have too (if you already don't). other than that your plan sounds like you are doing it fairly smart. just be sure to help your dad out if its something you can't do that way you gain the knowledge. the best way to get auto knowledge is to just hop in there and do it.
KEvin