Poorboy

Hi Everyone,

I've been a longtime member, troll, and occasional contributor slash marketplace participant, but I've held off posting mainly because my car has been in a state of flux for many years, and even when it was running I felt it wasn't really "build" worthy.

However, I've come to reflect on the fact that I've owned my S14 now for a decade, and I unearthed plenty of photo's of it in various states. I thought it may be fun to chronicle the progression it has taken over the years. I'll do my best to keep things in order and punctuate all of this with some choice throwback thursday worthy photos.

Origin

I'll start at the beginning.

I had wanted a 240sx ever since I rode in a friend's turbocharged S13 coupe in high school. I thought that car was the pinaccle of badass-ness. That is until I saw the S14 kouki cars. I searched and searched in 2005 for a car locally in MN, but even back then they were hard to find. I was finally able to locate a pretty unmolested example from a seller in Michigan. This was geographically about a 12 hour drive from Minneapolis. My dad was gracious enough to make the road trip with me, and after a test drive and once over - I purchased the car for about $6,000. My very first vehicle that I purchased on my own. I was pretty exited, even though the car was a base model with an automatic, I felt like I was driving a suped up muscle car, and probably drove it accordingly. Here's some shots to give you a sense of where it began.





I know. Not pretty. But it hadn't been modded or molested as best as I could tell. 2005 was a better time...a simpler time. Anyways.

I drove it around like this for some time, the handling even in this stock form was entertaining for spirited driving, but I knew sooner or later I would get bitten by the modification bug. It didn't take long.

Stage 1

After my old Nissan Maxima turned into an ICE car, I knew I wanted to focus on handling performance and driving experience with the 240.

I knew I wanted a bronze on black color scheme for the car, and the 5 zigen fn01r-c wheels were both stylish and lightweight. Once I found out that they made a perfect fitting 17x9 version in 4 - lug (remember this car is base model, and no 5 lug swap) I had to have them. I also wanted nice sticky tires to go with the increased contact patch on the road. Some Falken RT-615 tires did the trick. I also added some Tein S-Tech springs to give the car a more respectable stance on the road. Full coilovers were still quite expensive at that time, and the used market was non-existent.




The result was a much improved look and stance.



No this wasn't the final stance....

http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/w...pstcyjqchp.jpg

There we go...

Stage 2

The car stuck to the road MUCH better. I was having tons of fun on windy suburban road, on-ramps, etc. But something about the experience was missing....the shifting!

After much online research I decided to jump into the process of swapping the car to a 5 speed. Being a novice driveway mechanic, this endeavor was a bit frightening at first, but once I got going, I knew I'd be able to finish. Sadly, I wasn't good at documenting that stage of things, and all I have is the finished product.



Stage 3

Driving it as a stick was tons of fun, and it really made the car feel like a proper sports coupe. Sure the KA was still pretty weak, but at least I could enjoy it. There was a desire to do a couple basic things to boost power, so a cat-back exhaust and cone filter were fitted. Visual and audio appeal were both greatly improved! A shark-fin radio antenna seemed a wise choice as well.



I also was able to find a stock front lip for the kouki, to help with the visual appeal...



Stage 4

300zx Brake Swap.

I will update with pics if I can find them, but I sourced a complete 300zx setup from the best year, the year with aluminum calipers with the largest piston (91?) from and rear calipers, rear ebrake setup and ebrake lines....They came painted red. It was a no-brainer.

Stage 5 - lost potential

Enter 2008, I was simultaneously trying to put together a basic KA turbo kit, and had about everything I needed other than a fuel pump and intercooler kit.

Then, adulthood seemed to take hold and I purchased a home. It was the first "setback" that my car experienced, but I knew that boost or no, eventually I'd achieve my goal of bringing the car to the next level with power....

So I drove the car for a few more years in this setup, basic bolt ons, KA, lowering springs, and 300zx brakes. I sold off my turbo parts, but I stashed the cash waiting for the day I could put it towards a new powerplant...

Stage 6

I had subscribed to Sport Compact Car for many years, and one day they ran an article about a VQ swapped S14. Suddenly, I had a new goal. Get my 240sx a heart transplant from a 350z. I kept my eye on craigslist and local forums, and one day I found the perfect deal. A motor and transmission set for $1,200. I had the motor inspected and compression tested. The owner even threw in his test pipes, cone filter, accelerator pedal, harness, and almost everything else I would need.

Then I began the process of tearing apart my S14. It was heart wrenching to know it would be down for so long, but I hope that the result would be worth it. I sold off my KA and transmission, and started clearing out the engine bay. Once I did, I started to find rusted through areas that I couldn't stomach leaving alone. I knew I had to fix them and get the bay painted before I could do much else. But why stop there??



I started reading rear subframe threads, and inspired by them I decided to drop my subframe and refresh everything from the bushings, to the arms, to the differential. After all, the differential was a stock OEM Open Diff, and that would just not do once the VQ was in.



The arms were rusty, the OEM diff had to go, the knuckles were in terrible shape...so why not refresh them all??

So I did.







Rebuilt and repacked the front bearings with some upgraded grease. Painted them with Ultra High Heat Rustoleum made for grills...tough stuff.



Did the same for the rears knuckles and rear hubs - but the bearings aren't serviceable so just removed the rust and painted them.



Then I did the same for the front spindles and rear knuckles - the same paint but in silver.



Then my diff arrived...S15 Spec R. 3.69 gearing and a helical limited slip. Should be perfect for street and occasional track use.

Fitment is perfect. We'll see if I can wire up the ABS sensor for a speedo...



Repainted the rear arms, sprayed down the subframe with rust converter for all the surface rust, and then some chassis paint. Had to source new eccentric bolts because Michigan winters had rusted the originals and I had to destroy them when I tore the subframe apart.



Painted other items like the differential bushing washers, brake sheilds, and purchased poly bushings for the differential and for the subframe. After cutting too far into the inner cages on the subframe, I had to opt for Whiteline bushings which come already in a metal sleeve. Once I had everything, the subframe really came together and looks like its ready for another 18 years!




New ebrake hardware kit...



The subframe went back into the car at this point.

Back to the engine bay.

I'd been learning to do some basic flux welding, and cut some patches for the rust holes. I can't say this car will ever win a show, but the holes are patched and I got the rust either ground down or sprayed with rust converter. The engine bay was degreased with Simple Green, then took a rag and hand washed it with paint deglosser to remove any remaining dirt or wax. Then I went about painting the wheel wells, the engine bay, and then applying rubberized undercoating to the front wheel wells.




Now the engine bay is painted and ready, but what about the engine?

Well, Minnesota winters are cold as F***. so I had moved the engine inside on a stand, after realizing that it had a leak from the Rear Main Seal, and that it would require dropping both the lower and upper oil pain. Before and After




Note to anyone needing to do this...You can NOT replace the Rear main seal without removing the upper oil pan. I ruined one trying to pound it into place while the upper pan was still in place. That did not end well. Just pull both pans, remove all the old gasket material and lay some new gasket material, then install the rear main seal.

While I had the engine indoors, and the front crossmember was also removed, I mocked up the engine as low and far back against the crossmember and started cutting templates for engine mounts.



Along the way I also read up on VQ power making mods, and found that VQ37 headers will fit with only needing to swap two studs. An ebay find for $60, and I had a fresh set. The side by side comparison is pretty telling.




VQHR headers....looking like a LOT better flow....



So this is about where the car stands. There are a few other things that I have in store, but the plan going forward is to test fit the motor and trans, weld up the mounts. Then go about finalizing the rest of the swap. I'll try to keep this updated. Hope you enjoyed it!

Reece

Cool to see another Minnesota member. Let me know if you ever want to sell those FN0s!

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Poorboy

Highly unlikely. If you aren't a member of MNNI you should find them on Facebook. I'm not an active member, but once I'm up and running i plan to be.

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