My project:

This is my 240 SX. Its a rust free car originally from Arizona with no accident damage. The picture of the car is from when I purchased it in Rochester, NY about a month ago. Since then I have done a little work to it:

Update May 20, 2006:

Here are some pictures from my spring 2006 Autocross at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The university at which I am currently studying Mechanical Engineering.

Update May 19, 2006:

I am sure you'd like to see the final result of the paint job, well here are pictures of my sullied car, just to give you a taste. In case you were wondering, my car is the black one, next to my buddy Kurtin's SR20DET powered pignose 240SX.

Update May 18, 2006:

WOW! Haven't updated in almost 11 months!!! Anyway, here is a recap of what happened in that time:

I finished the SR20DET install, and had just gotten the car running. It was a rainy night, and the roads were extremely slick. At the time the car was shooting fireballs out of the exhaust on acceleration, due to the timing being off. My friends asked to see those fireballs while they were driving behind me. Being the tired, hungover moron I was, I floored it mid-turn, and accidentally drifted the car into a full size street light which I hit with my driver's side fender. The initial hit caused me to blackout for a split second. Next thing I knew I was spinning on dirt, and all sorts of crap was being thrown into my eyes through my open window. My spinning was halted by a fire hydrant going into the passenger side door and a wooden fence striking the rear of the car. At the time all I could think about was my car, and how lucky I was to have been wearing my seatbelt and glasses. Supposedly, the street light coming down was quite a fantastic sight, as it created a fireworks/lightning show that illuminated the surroundings.

As upset as I was about the accident, I was determined to fix my car. The repairs resulted in some minor frame straightening, and a complete paint job/color change, amounting to 2000 dollars. The car is now completely black, except for the hood, which I may replace with carbon fiber or fix myself someday down the road. I also shaved the rear windshield wiper, and removed the rear spoiler to create a smoother look.

Here are some pictures of the prep work:

Since I haven't been keeping this page up to date I am going to summarize the current modifications to the car below:

-Drivetrain

300ZX Fuel Filter
GReddy Hotpipe
Hybrid Style Front Mount Intercooler (24”x12”x3”)
HKS Style SSQV, with upgraded internals
K&N 6.5 Cylindrical Intake Filter
Megan Racing Turbo Manifold
Megan Racing 3” Turbo Elbow
Megan Racing 3” Down Pipe
Motoria 3” Resonated Test Pipe
Motoria 3” Cat-Back Exhaust
NGK BKR6E-IX Spark Plugs
Nismo Engine Mounts
PC680 MJ Odyssey Dry Cell Battery
Walbro 255lph Intank Fuel Pump

-Interior

Integrated iPod in Alpine CDA-9807 Head Unit
Infinity Kappa 4”x6” Plates all around

-Suspension

Kumho Ecsta ASX 205/60/15 on stock wheels
Energy Suspension Front Sway Bar Bushings
Generic Rear Strut Brace
Valvoline Synthetic Brake and Clutch Fluid

Here is a more recent shot of the engine bay, with almost all the goodies (no manifold yet) installed and performing properly.

Update June 4, 2005:

Sorry people, I am still trying to get the pictures on my laptop. Anyway, I managed to the pull the KA24DE from my car today with the help of a buddy. It took alot of time, but considering neither of us had ever pulled an engine before, I think we did pretty well. It went smoothly, besides the unbolting of the downpipe, which ended up being impossible. So instead we pulled the engine with the pipe still connected.

After pulling the engine I discovered that one of the engine mounts was completely broken. I will be replacing both engine mounts with Gladman Performance urethane mounts, that are lighter, stronger, but not solid. (best of all worlds)

Here is a comparison in between stock and urethane:

I also ordered a downpipe, and it should be arriving this coming week:

Earlier today my BOV came in. It truly is a beauty. I ordered the BOV in red, thinking that I was going to swap in a redtop... oh well... maybe I will have to start a red/black scheme in the engine compartment.

(PICTURES UP SOON)

Update June 3, 2005:

I have thouroughly cleaned the engine, and removed all the cut hoses and wires. I also rewrapped some of the wiring harness with electrical tape to make it look nicer.

I made some big decisions today. I have decided that i am going to get rid of my AC system all together, and my cruise control. Both of these things would just get in the way of the swap and complicate things. Plus the removal of the AC will net me about 15 horsepower to the wheels, and remove almost 20 pounds.

Update June 2, 2005:

My engine came in today. Osaka sent me a S13 SR20DET black top instead of a red top. Why? I dunno, but I am reeaal psyched. The fact that all black tops are newer than the redtops means that the engine will be less abused, and possibly have less miles on it. From the looks of it the engine looks mint, almost like new. I couldn't have asked for better.

(PICTURES UP SOON)

I also started tearing things out of the engine compartement in preperation for the SR20DET swap. I took the stock ecu and harness out of the car, emptied all the fluids. The only thing that is left to do before removal is the disconnection of all the mounts and the driveshaft.

(PICTURES UP SOON)

Update May 31, 2005:

My HKS SSQV style BOV is in the mail, coming all the way from Japan. I bought this on ebay off of "japandy". He responded to my e-mails in minutes, and was very knowledgable. Supposedly he took the HKS SSQV and improved a bunch of stuff on it, making it more reliable and better performing. The majority of the internals are in fact identical to the HKS unit, so in case of failure, replacements can be bought from HKS.

In this picture it is more apparent how identical these two BOVs really are:

Update May 30, 2005:

My automatic tranny has finally shit the bed. I think all my first gear drifting in the rain this past week, and autocross at school have taken their toll on the car. I can now rev the engine in whatever gear the tranny is in and not speed up. And its making this beautiful metal hitting metal sound. Kinda like one of the discs in the torque converter shattered and is now free to fly around inside the casing.

Eitherway, I am kinda happy that this happened. Now I know that my swap has to happen sooner rather than later. As of now, the engine, hybrid intercooler, and walbro fuel pump are in the mail. I am still searching for the front section of a 5-speed driveshaft, and the clutch and brake pedals.

The three things in the mail:

Modifications (to date):

Alpine CDA-9807 MP3/CD player
-Sick sounding head unit, thats not too flashy, and has all the right features.

Four Infinity KAPPA 462.5CFP 4" x 6" 2-Way Plate Loudspeaker
-I love these things, sound amazing, and have good bass for their size.

ToysAuto Rear Strut Tower Brace
-Noticed a ride quality improvement, and more oversteer when I need it. Especially useful for autocross, considering that the HICAS system causes understeer.

Competition:

I compete in Autocross at my school, and my first time out without any prior racing knowledge I pulled off first place in my class. The next time out they had to bump me up a class, so I wouldn't dominate. The car truly handles amazingly for having the stock suspension.

Here are pictures from my first autocross:
(If you see any knocked over cones in any of the pictures, its because they are meant to be that way. They are set up lying on their side, to act as pointer cones.)

Here's the link to my school's autocross homepage:
RPI AutoCross

Summer Plans:

Swap in a Redtop SR20det.
Convert to 5 speed during swap.
A nice front strut tower brace.

Swap will include:
3" Cat-back exhaust
3" Test Pipe
3" Downpipe
3" Turbo elbow
Greddy VSPL FMIC
SSAutochrome tubular exhaust manifold

Future Plans:

5-Zigen FN0-1RC 17", 8" front, 9" rear
225 front, 255 rear, Azenis Sports tires
Megan Racing 32-way Adjustable Coil Overs
Full heim-link and swivel-bearing suspension

If I was ever to get a bodykit, which would be unlikely, I would get the one pictured below. This is PDM Racing's 240SX Race Car.

Boooooost!

Contents of Pages
Page 1 Updates
Page 2 SR20DET Engine Swap
Page 3 Automatic to Manual Conversion
Page 4 Modifications