2010/2011 S14 Build CHANGING OF TIMES

This is my compilation of over a year's worth of work about how I turned my 1995 240sx into the car it is today...For that year this car has engulfed not only my life, but my dad's, my friend's, my girlfriend's & anyone else's who has been there for me.  They've seen me smile from ear to ear because of it, but also lose all motivation because of it.

I picked up this 1995 Nissan 240sx from a guy in downtown Charleston who had owned it for 6 years and had been prepping for a RB swap on 5/16/10. I've built plenty of cars in the past, this being my first Nissan. Well the day came when he needed money for an engagement ring and then I showed up... $3100 later and I rolled away with this. 157,xxx miles, all working power options, a/c, power steering, clean interior. The only downfall of the car being the KA engine and a ding in the hood from somebody backing into him.


Upgrades:
OEM fog lights
OEM lip
Navan side skirts
Silvia grill
B&M shifter
Crush bent 3" exhaust piping
Megan 3" downpipe
Nardi steering wheel
Tien HA coilovers
Nismo power brace
SPL Tension Rods
SPL subframe spacers
Battle Version RUCA's
Grenade 17x9" wheels +15
Koyo radiator
Tein tie rods
SPL braided clutch line

About a month after owning the car and it being slow ass dogshit, I decided to look into swapping it. First off I wanted to go with a nice V8 swap, but quickly released how pricey those came out to be. So I decided to settle with the SR20det, not to mention there's alot of experienced people out there with them.

I ordered the engine, transmission, ecu, harness, etc from Osaka Motors. Picked up a set of Avid billet mounts, Wiring Specialties transmission & engine harness, Koyo SR aluminum radiator, 12" slim fans, 3" Greddy style exhaust, Miata battery, front mount and Greddy blow-off.

I randomly decided to start the swap oneday at around 2pm and had the new engine in around 10pm. Not bad being my first RWD car and having no prior Nissan experience. Here's a few things I learned and would like to pass-on to anyone doing a SR swap....

-Lightly attach the engine mounts to the engine BEFORE installing the engine into the car.

-Take care of the heater hoses running behind the head BEFORE installing it in the car.

-Remove that tube running into your o2 housing BEFORE installing the engine in the car. It hits the steering column and you cannot turn the wheel.

-Take your time installing your intercooler, they easily fit without having to hack-up the front bumper.

Here's a quick tip I'll pass onto ya'll who are going to polish your headlights. I've used the 3M kits with all the different pads and cleaners and this works just aswell. It's Mother's Mad & Aluminum Polish that I always seem to have around. I normally just polish (in small circles) for about 5minutes on the headlight and hand buff it away and it turns out great. Especially since you can have this can around for years and have multiple purposes.

8/14/2010

Today I finally got around to installing a handful of goodies to keep my engine safe.

Greddy (knock-off) baffled oil pan

S14 oil strainer

Oil strainer gasket

Oil change

I was hesitant to purchase one of the knock-off oil pans because of the horror stories I've heard about them in the past. Anyways I did it, cost me $79.00 shipped. I'm almost happy to say it installed fine without any major issues! Just had to grind about 1/4" off one side so that the oil baffle would fit. Also went with the S14 strainer for increased oil flow and it's braced better.

Later that night some guy randomly walked up to me lastnight at a local car meet telling me they had some parts for sale... I walked away with a S14 VLSD w/ complete housing for $70 and a Z32 MAF with pigtail for $60

I installed the LSD today and I love it! It's like having a real rear wheel drive car 

9/21/10

Well I got bored the other day and buffed out the entire car. Also managed to get the month old frog blood off the car (gotta love playing on backroads). I then took it to the engine bay and I was satisfied with the results.

Before:                                                                          After:

10/21/2010
I ended up getting a '95 SE with some work done to it. I've decided to pull everything I want, or can sell off of it and then just sell the whole car to someone. At this point I've removed:
Ksport coilovers
Cusco front strut bar
Z32 front brakes
Braided brake lines
Kaaz 2way
5lug stuff
BBS 17x7.5 rims
Black interior
White face gauge cluster
Corbeau seat
Sparco harness
Various other odds & ends pieces.


I've also installed a Walbro 255 fuel pump onto my car and have a Nismo regulator set aside to ball-park tune with. I've put the 5lug stuff on my car, along with the Z32 brakes, Cusco bar and a set of 17x9 Rota P45R rims (not the pink ones). I even picked up a brand new VIS carbon fiber kouki hood. Soon I'll be starting to swap to a complete black interior. I'm also debating on swapping from the Tien coilovers I have to the Ksports...


Oh yea, I took the car to the track Sunday night and the best run I could pull was 8.42 @ 82.31mph (1/8 mile). Seems pretty descent for me since I'm still on stock boost.

Here's a couple random picture with the new brake setup, 5 lug, rims, etc.










10/28/2010

Anyways.... I had the day off from work today, so I put all my 4lug stuff onto my parts car and was going to swap to the white face gauge cluster till I foundout the tach didn't work. I also painted my Z32 calipers (I'm aware that it's missing a lugnut).




12/2/2010
At the moment on waiting for a descent size order from TheNismoShop to arrive. I ordered up:
JDM Kouki front bumper
JDM Kouki bumper lights
Kouki headlight brackets
Kouki bumper retainer


I picked up this stuff from a local guy for $300:
USDM Kouki front bumper
USDM Kouki bumper lights
JDM Kouki corner lights
JDM Kouki headlights


I went ahead & installed my Apex'i SAFC2 and am currently waiting on my AEM Uego wideband to arrive.


Yesterday I hit the junkyard and picked up a cup holder/tray from an 89-94 Nissan Maxima. For you guys that don't know it's a direct fit in our cars and works perfect! Later on that day I picked up:
Kouki coin pockets
Kouki white face gauge cluster
Kouki tail lights














12/15/2010
Well I finally finished piecing together my kouki front, here's a shot of everything along with the VIS hood. Everything is brand new OEM from Nissan.











Just this morning I dropped the car off at the body shop to have a full respray and everything re-installed, all the body work done and the antenna shaved. I'm very excited to have all this done! Just need S14 silvia rear valence, roof spoiler and a lip and it's complete.

12/23/2010

I checked out the car at the body shop today, they planned on spraying it but have been waiting on fenders. Well the funny thing about that is....I ordered them from NissanPartsZone.com and it took them 3days to send me an email saying that the parts had to be ordered from somewhere else and that they would be to me in 5days (last Thursday). Well Thursday rolls around and nothing, same with Friday. So I gave them a call and I kept getting the runaround about them being out to lunch.  So I had them take a message and I sent a couple emails. I was told by one person that my account will be delayed because the fenders are on backorder....WTF?! I got an email yesterday saying that everything is ready to be shipped but I will have to pay an additional $94.21 to cover extra shipping fees ontop of what I already paid to have them shipped. I went ahead & told them to cancel my order.

Needless to say I will never be doing business with them again. Not only dig they waste my time, tie up $500+ dollars but also have pushed back painting my car and now it's just sitting at the body shop. I just placed another order with TheNismoShop.com

I used them for all my bumpers and the rest of the front end parts and was very happy with their service.

2/10/2011

I got the car out of the paint shop about 2wks ago and it looks amazing! However sadly the VIS carbon hood flew up destroying itself, my windshield and my roof.  Insurance refused to pay for any of it since my coverage was so low.  I ended up paying for the windshield & new hood myself and my roof will stay the way it is till I can replace that.  So we all can learn 2 lessons from this...

#1: Use hood pins!

#2: Keep up with your insurance.

Random pictures from TDC's dyno day.

PHOTOSHOOT DOWNTOWN

4/2/2011

Just a little something I've been piecing together.

S14 SR20det

JUN "style" intake manifold

S13 throttle body (larger than s14)

Peak Boost top mount tubular manifold

Tial 44mm wastegate/dump

Garrett GT3076R .82 turbo v-band

Full 3" v-band exhaust

Wiring Specialties upper & lower harnesses

5/8/2011

Had the front/rear brake calipers powdercoated by Suraco to match my Work lugnutS.


Did the complete swap with Stoptech stainless lines and R33 e-brake cables. Not to mention the set of 18x10.5 RPF1's I'm now rocking on the rear of the car.

Also today my Greddy Emanage Ultimate with MAP conversion came in.

DYNO DAY!

Top Dead Center in Spartanburg, SC was incharge of dyno tuning the complete new setup.  They installed the Greddy Emanage Ultimate and spent nearly 6hrs getting everything worked out just right.  The car made 267 on just 7psi with the stock 390cc injectors at 65%.  I was happy with this very conservative setup since I just wanted the car to be drivable at this point.  Not to mention I was still running on stock head gasket & studs since I did plan on the car being down for this long.  In the 1/8th mile I was able to squeeze out low/mid 7 second passes regularly on street tires.

...and that's basically how the car sits to this day :)