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Buying a s13 soon

1422 Views 14 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  BoostinIX, 
D
Worked on 2 s13's a few years back for my neighbor. Had to put the engine in 1 to the other because one had a blown engine and the one with the good engine had a twisted chassis. Anyways, I fell in love with the car. They look so good. Well, I'm looking for a car now. I got a few questions. First, whats the ideal year? I been looking for a '91 mostly but there hard to find and the ones in my area are way overpriced... I was gonna do the sr20det swap, then prob in a while put in a rb25det (gotta save up). I also wanted to convert it to RHD because I'm moving back to japan in a few years once I get my bachelors degree. I found a company in LA (I'm in Albuquerque) to do the sr20det swap, RHD conversion, and the s15 conversion. My question is, what exactly is the point of the s15 conversion? I mostly notice the headlights which I kinda like the headlights in...

Yfrog Image : yfrog.com/fv240sxj

Sorry, I gotta go off pictures, I know how I want the car to look in my head, but describing it is kinda hard. Anyways, I like those more then the reg silvia headlights. What exactly are they and can I use them with the s15 conversion? Doubt I can but worth a shot. I don't like the flip up headlights all THAT much and I really don't like the I guess its called sleepy look.

Also, if anyone knows any other companies that do sr20det swaps, RHD conversions, AND s15 conversions, can you post it? The one in LA is team clockwork performance. LA is kinda far from where I live...

Also, I have been researching for some time so hopefully I don't get flamed to bad for meh questions >.>

*edit* ok, I just saw a s14 kouki and holy crap did it look nice... What exactly IS kouki and zenki? I am trying to figure out what I want and I thought s13 hatch looked nice, but I saw the s14 kouki and fell in love... I still wanna do sr20det and in the future maybe a rb25det swap, and make it RHD...
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Panda_Eats_240
If you're serious about moving to Japan then i would not put the work in of doing the swap and conversion and all that good stuff. Because in Japan it will be standard.

.....I really don't know what you're talking about with those headlights and an S15 conversion. Those headlights you pictured are the Eastbear or ABFlug style Flush mounted headlights, for the s13. It would make no sense for S13 lights to fit into an S15 conversion.

You won't be flamed necessarily, we've been doing work to keep this forum friendly to newcomers and old-timers alike. But we will advise you to search before asking any questions. As 90% of your questions will likely have been asked and answered before.

Just read through some general info and move into some more technical stuff as you go.
Start out here: Nissan 240SX - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And when you start getting into technical problems, make sure to keep an FSM on hand: http://www.240sxforums.com/forums/general-tech/97674-get-your-fsms-here.html

Welcome to the forum.
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D
Well, I wont be moving to Japan right away, Ive still got 4-5 years of schooling left. I want a car until then because I currently drive my truck that gets a nice 10 mpg and is really big and stuff (wont sell it, grandfather left it to me in his will when he passed away). As for converting it to RHD and stuff now, I not only wanna get used to it but I think RHD would be pretty neat to have out here. My dad had a LHD ford in japan back in the 80's. He got in an accident and the japanese guy kept telling the cops my mom was driving because she was on the right. Finally my dad showed them and he got out of the entire ticket thing because they were all oogling at his LHD car xD

I just want something to drive and I really like the 240sx. Problem now is I saw the s14 kouki/zenki and zamg, I liked it... But I can't find any s14's in my area and I hear s13's are better for tuning and stuff. And the company I found for the RHD conversion only does s13's... So s13 coupe vs. hb, I like hb but idk, it seems to have a few problems like the hatch leak and stuff. Good thing, I found out sr20det is legal out here in new mexico... maybe not in albuquerque which is where I live atm but i'll just register it in my dads town 15 miles away, no smog laws out there at all.

And I figured those headlights were for non silvia converts. I still dunno though, silvia headlights look pretty good..... Why is there so much stuff you can do with the 240sx, decisions decisions decisions D:
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Panda_Eats_240
That's the great thing about 240sx's. There's so many options and such a huge aftermarket supply.

I'm an s13 man myself, so of course i would tell you to get an s13. To me they're just small, tight and snappy, and just have that special overall look and feel to them. They really remind me of everything about Japan, and i love it.

So i would say whichever you prefer, coupe or hatch, go for it. I'm a hatch man. And the problems you will have are no different. Mine didn't come with a spoiler so there's no worry about any water leak, and I'm sure you could come across some without spoilers too if you're that worried about it.

But honestly any 240sx you get for a cheaper price will have the same usual problems that we all come across. But the good thing about that is that they're so common that you can search and find answers to everything about how to fix them efficiently.


Game Plan:
1.) Search around and find a deal on a 240sx
2.) Find one thats a good bang for the buck
3.) Buy it
4.) Be happy
5.) Bitch to us about problems it has, but still love it
6.) Start your build. (Fixing rust, electrical problems, mechanical problems, body, paint)
7.) Be Happy
8.) Crash it
9.) Be sad
10.) Buy another one
11.) Repeat steps 1-10
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Panda-Eats-240 said:
That's the great thing about 240sx's. There's so many options and such a huge aftermarket supply.

I'm an s13 man myself, so of course i would tell you to get an s13. To me they're just small, tight and snappy, and just have that special overall look and feel to them. They really remind me of everything about Japan, and i love it.

So i would say whichever you prefer, coupe or hatch, go for it. I'm a hatch man. And the problems you will have are no different. Mine didn't come with a spoiler so there's no worry about any water leak, and I'm sure you could come across some without spoilers too if you're that worried about it.

But honestly any 240sx you get for a cheaper price will have the same usual problems that we all come across. But the good thing about that is that they're so common that you can search and find answers to everything about how to fix them efficiently.


Game Plan:
1.) Search around and find a deal on a 240sx
2.) Find one thats a good bang for the buck
3.) Buy it
4.) Be happy
5.) Bitch to us about problems it has, but still love it
6.) Start your build. (Fixing rust, electrical problems, mechanical problems, body, paint)
7.) Be Happy
8.) Crash it
9.) Be sad
10.) Buy another one
11.) Repeat steps 1-10
Click to expand...
That sounds good, except steps 7 and up. I was looking at the hatch because thats the very first one I saw that I loved. I'm not to big for a coupe, the s14's look nice though. I like the way they look with a spoiler. I haven't really seen any s13's with spoilers other then the little one that they come with. I found one without the spoiler on craigslist for not to much money. What exactly is the leak from? I searched and there are a lot of different things on google about it...
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BoostinIX
Probably from the spoiler mounts.

Couple key issues:

S14's (US or Jap spec) are just fine for tuning, nothing better/worse than the S13....it's the same KA motor.....(exception to the SOHC). Now, if you're referring to the SR's, then meh. The redtops are MUCH more popular here primarily due to price. For those building it and swapping turbos, they don't need the upgraded turbo's on the S14+ blacktops.

Don't do the SR and then do the RB, that's a gigantic waste of money. Decide which you're doing, and do it.

Most import shops (of quality) will do swaps, and with the how-to's, body shops can do the S15 swap no problem. Yes, you want a body shop to do it. No kit will fit 100%.

If there's not one in your area, leave your area to get one. I drove 5 hours for mine, and that's the 2nd shortest road trip I've done for my cars/customer cars (when I was buying for people). Not uncommon to fly out to pick up a car. Safe as long as you've done your homework.

S15 has 1 headlight style - factory.

Last but not least - The RHD awe wears off after your first blind left turn. RHD cars are suited for RHD roads. Sure you have the cool factor, and having driven RHD here, it's fun for a bit. Being different and getting looks is nice, but it's not worth it IMO. You also have to consider that's a lot of interior bits to make it work, and on an S13....gonna be harder to come by. What about when you need parts from your steering system replaced? Someone hit you and did some damage, but now you've got to find RHD parts to fix your car. Not to mention the massive attention you'll now get from law enforcement.

My .02: Go find the car you want, go get it, learn to drive it. Pick 1 motor swap to do, do your front end conversion if you like, enjoy. ____. Profit.

Welcome.
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Well, my main reason for wanting to do sr now and then rb later is I hear rb's are a bit more expensive then SR's and money is my prob atm. I'm thinking of transferring to surveillance (I work in a casino) I'll make more money but I gotta wait for a job opening which may be a while. Also, I heard the blacktop is more electronic, thats why I was gonna go with it. I have a friend that builds crappy little volvo station wagons that smoke porches. I was gonna have him do what they call mega squirt (wierd name, I know). But what they do is they remake a wiring harness from scratch and build a computer program and install it on one of those tiny little laptops and it makes it so you can monitor every single little thing in real time and lets you tune EVERYTHING. Hence, the more electronics the better. But when I looked at it in this shop, the sr20det swap for an s14 was like, 1k more...

I'm rethinking the RHD part, I still wanna do it, but idk, I haven't found a shop that will do it in an s14 though. Only an s13. Also, I still dont exactly get WHAT the silvia conversion is... I look at the head lights and they look pretty identical. Also, why does everyone rage at silvia swaps on s13 hatches... the flip up lights are kinda neat but idk, I like the s15 lights more. They look cleaner and if you buy aftermarket lights to go there they can look pretty sick. But I was thinking of just gettin rid of the flip light part and putting in a solid looking one like in my original pic, I like the way it looks...

Also, still dunno about the spoiler. The s14 looks pretty good with a decent sized wing on the back, I haven't really seen a s13 hatch with a spoiler though, only the really small ones =S

Also, noone has posted on craigslist in like, a week for 240sx's... kinda makin me mad. I emailed a few people but they dont email me back =_=
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BoostinIX
Sigh, here we go.

RB swaps are QUITE a bit more expensive, generally.

That original pic is just a factory front with ebay-ish headlight covers. Please don't...

A S13 silvia swap would have solid headlights, as well as the S15 swap. Neither would have even a space for the flip-ups, they relocate to the front.

You REALLY need to do more reading.

We know what mega squirt is.

You need to go to people/shops that know how to tune and work on 240s. I wouldn't have trusted him on my STi, don't give a shit how fast his Volvo is. Same as I wouldn't trust my friends that tune with standalones on their teggy's with it. Every setup is unique, and you need someone familiar with the quirks of your motor and car to be effective. There's a reason people pay 500+ for 1 quality map....

Standalones are readily available for your car. (AEM, Greddy, etc.). It's not really REMAKING the harness, it's throwing their sensors on it and using their ECU. You won't need that for quite a while. A piggyback, reflash, or a power FC will be just fine.

Simply having a standalone doesn't increase power or do anything special. It controls all the crazy and kickass stuff you put on the car.

PLEASE research some more.
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Hi again. I started looking up motors again and oh man does my head hurt... I would want the silvia conversion front end because I like the look of the head lights. Anywho, back to motors, I was gonna do an sr20 but then I started looking up stuff. The rb motors seem pretty nice so I looked up rb20 vs. 25. I looked on jdmsource.ca and got-jdm.com. The sr20 was 1700, rb20 was 1200, and rb25 was 2300. It looks like it comes with a lot of the stuff. No motor mounts, idk if it comes with the trans and I hear you can use the stock drive train. We would be doing it at my dads shop so wont have to pay labor. The rb25 looks like the biggest bang for the buck and I hear they sound smexy. All that other stuff is in the future though. I mostly wanna get the car, its hard finding an older 240 that isn't butchered, drop an engine in, then work on the other stuff before I start hardcore tuning. I wanna get the suspension and breaks up good. As for the mounts and such, I want to get actual real mounts. I don't wanna skip on anything. I hear the only bad thing about rb25det is the weight of it unbalances the front end pretty bad.

Anyone know of these sites or know a good site to buy rb25det with EVERYTHING or nearly everything I need? I know thats prob been asked before but when i google it I get a lot of crap answers =/
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BoostinIX
Try to stay focused. Your posts go all over the place and it's hard to follow.

Most of our vendors can get 90% of what you need, but the issue is there's a lot more custom work needed for the RB, not to mention the extra $$$. I.E. mounts, driveshaft, wiring, issues like the steering hitting, etc. It's nowhere near the basically-plug-and-play SR swap.

Don't forget, you can't slap a motor in right off a truck. It's going to need to be rebuilt. More $$$.

Also need to consider who's doing your "hardcore tuning."

For the love of whomever, please don't base your motor decision on "I hear they sound smexy"
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I have read things on sr20 vs. rb25 and people prefer the rb because it has more stock power and can handle more. From what I understand, the drawbacks are weight. With the rb weighing more it unbalances the car and makes it handle slightly different but when mounted correctly with the right motor mounts you hardly notice it. I def wanna rebuild the suspension anyways so I could figure out how to make it compensate maybe? Rb is more expensive but seriously, the actual motor doesn't seem to be THAT much more then the sr... the rb20 is even less then the sr. My only problem is I'm unsure of what modding needs to be done and any extra things I may need. Motor mounts prob aren't cheap... I'm also worried about time it takes to install. I'm off on wed and thurs so those would be the days we install it, we could spend all day working on it. I'm just worried it wont be ready by the time I have to go to work next... Oh well I guess. It will also gimme prob the only rb25 in my whole area as I see a few SR20's on craigslist.

There was a 91 240 on cl a few days ago clean. No mods on it. I wanted it so bad cus I know it wasn't gonna be all hacked up and stuff from people trying to set it up for drifting and not doing it right and stuff... Sorry for the jumping around, I have a lot of questions so I end up forgetting some to remember a few, then I remember the other ones later.
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Panda_Eats_240
Your best bet is to just go with the SR if you're dead set on a swap. All that custom work and money, and parts finding for the RB will get your panties in a bundle. But in all honestly i would stick with the KA. They are great motors and very under-rated.

I plan on a KAT in the future. But if there's problems with this motor and i cant find any other motors locally, then the SR would be my last option.

But all in all, if you want a swap, and there's some on craigslist around you, then go for it. Just be sure to do your homework and ask them questions before you buy to make sure you aren't leaving with a motor that's gonna take a shit on you in the near future.
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BoostinIX
Either way, with all the $ you're spending on McKinney mounts, driveshaft, wiring...you need to refresh the motor at the very least. Anyone (here or japan) with an RB has no doubt used it. RLong's seen first hand the cars they come out of. With that much invested to make it work, you need to factor costs of rebuild too.

No RB swap, especially your first, can be done in 2 days without knowledgeable help.
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RikRong
First off, listen to everything that Boostin has said. Second, a SR can handle power just as well as a RB. Lastly, if you are doing this to save gas over the truck you have, good luck. You drop a motor like this into a 240, your foot will always be in the floor. Bye-Bye mileage!

Oh, just buy a junker Honda, that gets 30 MPG, to tide you over until you graduate. Then, you can come to Japan, walk to a used car lot and lay down $10K for a cherry S15, with $5K+ in mods already done to it (hell, they will probably even be less than that, by the time you make it here). Also, if you build this little 240 of yours, good luck on getting it here. It's just as hard to import a car into Japan, as it is to export one from here.
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BoostinIX
^Dingdingding. My first idea.

And nothing wrong with DD'ing a honda ;) I get 40mpg thank you lol
(Beats the 17mpg on 93 that the STi was getting.....f.u. $10/day gas bill)
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