TheMission

Wink 5 Panel is in, as well as getting my keyless entry system up and running. I'll get my window frames in tomorrow and hopefully start work on getting my door seals up and running. My front valance is done, but I want to try to reinforce it before putting it on, so I'll make a little DIY splitter and go with that for a bit to see how it works. The ZCC tubes and plates came today, so I'm planning on giving it a shot with the EMs soon, if I can find a good TIG solution, as I'd like to do it remotely and do most of the prep work myself and just have someone come in and TIG away for an hour or so. Other than that, it's a bunch of little stuff and my goal is to be driving around this month, but who knows if that'll happen yet.

I ended up doing exactly as Crazy Did, with 15x10's and the Ecstas... I really liked the stance with the ZGs and the lowering. I won't go AS LOW though. I got the hood pins on this weekend too, but I had a problem with my scuff plate on the passenger side and had to order a new one as when I drilled through the hood for the screws my bit broke and scratched the heck out of the scuff plate. I ordered two sets as they were cheap and I can replace pins/plates/rods if they wear out or get nasty. I'm half tempted to try the EMUSA coilovers as I'm curious as to how bad they can really be compared to the Megans. My biggest concern is that they are shorter than the Megans and that I'd end up being "TOO" low and not being able to get the 1.75 inches up that the megans can give me over the EMs. I shouldn't be that cheap... I have a Google Doc that I constantly tweak and modify of my TODOs and I'm happy to see it get shorter and shorter...

Wheels shipped today, and the powder coated parts are done today as well. The Wheels will be here Friday, which is good, as I have all the week after that off of real work for fun work on the car and get to the exhaust and wheel shops to get tires mounted and exhaust fabbed up. I'll put the door frames back on tomorrow morning, as well as the side windows and the door seals. If I have time, I may be able to get the handles on too. After I get them all good, I can put my interior panels back on, which I've been waiting for. Then I can take some pics and be happy with it for a while. Itz... I looked at that option for a splitter, so I may get it set up in the future. I think I'm going to fab up a piece with 9.99 home depot wallboard first to see if I like the dimensions and look of it, then go to the more expensive alumalite if I'm happy with it.

^ Exactly... Suspension and Wheels/Tires costs as much or more than the SR20DET engine+trans/ecu in the first place! Paint/Seats/Gauges/Fuel Mods.... and for me, all the aesthetic stuff adds up quick.

It's running now. I took it around the block this week a few times just to check for leaks/etc... I need to bleed the brakes and do a few things before taking it to get the exhaust fabbed up in a week and a half, then it'll be road worthy. The Powder coating was supposed to be done today, so I was going to put my window frames and door handles on tomorrow, but they are delayed till Monday. The wheels are scheduled to ship around Monday from Diamond Racing, so I'll have them mated to the tires in the next week and a half as well. My front valance is going to be painted tomorrow, which is the same one in your pics (xenon). I may or may not install it quick, as I'm thinking about fabbing up a temporary cheap splitter for it to strengthen it and add a decent look. I'll pick it up on Sunday and at least have it around. I have the front FG bumper ready to go on, as well as a JDM licence plate mount I'll install on the side to stay legal here in OR. Tomorrow I'll work on some wiring things that need tweaking, as my prosport gauges are too dim in amber mode during the day, so I'm going to change them to their white mode on a switch to give me better visability. (They are Boost/Vac, Water Temp, Fuel Pressure) The digital ones below are Intake Air Temp, Oil Temp, Oil Pressure, Fuel Level, and Volts. My H/B notification LED needs to be hooked up to the H/B relay and my speedo sensor on the tranny needs to be grounded out and the other end added to the Autometer sender line. The autometer tach was a pain to get working, as the stock sr20det ecu doesn't put enough voltage through the tach out line, so I had to step that line up with a resistor from the 12v supply to drive the tach (Searched around google for a bit for that solution). I'll also add remote battery terminals to the back tomorrow as I have no way of jumping the car if I ever needed to, as well as having an easy place to hook up my battery tender while it's sitting in the garage it's moving to. Next week I'll reinstall the door/window frames, side windows, and door handles and get them all operational with the keyless entry system. I also have to troubleshoot my driver's door window as it binds up a bit when it's close to being fully open and my power window conversion motors don't like it. With the valance and all that done, it should be a quick and LOUD ride to the exhaust shop to get it all fabbed up, then wheels and tires mounted, then ZG flares (Which are painted and waiting) will be installed. I just today received some great welting to make that install look wonderful. With all that done, it should look pretty nice, but it'll be jacked up until I can score some megan's. I made a call tonight to a friend who can get them near cost, so I hope that'll pan out and I can save a hundred or so on them. I've already ordered the plates and tubes from ZCC, so they should arrive next week as well. In two to three weeks I hope to have a nearly presentable Z. After that, it's time to find a friend with a TIG setup and some talent to make the last few mods possible. In the future there are going to be the T3 arms, Subi Diff and Engine Upgrades, but that's just 3-4k of cost for next year. I just want to drive around a bit before winter hits and I mothball the car again.

Best of luck.... Expensive learning curve you got there. That's why I'm keeping my feet closer to the ground. I'll be happy with 300-350 tops. More Power=More Problems BTW - Got my build thread back up. Not as much power off the bat, but I've got 3-4k to come up with to even get to 350

Ok, This is my attempt at rebuilding my build thread. My original thread died to to losing all my photos from the host, so I have decided to rebuild from scratch and use my archived photos to catch back up. I'll update this as I continue to build in the next year: Ok, This is my attempt at rebuilding my build thread. My objective was to build up a street/sport SR20DET 240z, trying to make it cleaner, as well as being unique around Portland. Plans were/are SR20DET Powered – Aftermarket Cheapo Intake Plenum and Manifold Vildini Mounts Extigy Clutch Stage 2 Taurus Fan New Fuel Lines / Fuel Cell New Fuel Rail Chassis Wise - Laguna Seca Blue w/Black Accents Shaved – Door Locks, Signals, Logos, Antenna, C –Pillars, Fuel Door ZG Flares / MSA FG Front and Rear Bumpers / ZCC Spoiler / Xenon Front Lip ZCC Tow Hooks Front and Rear Ebay Fender Mirrors Diamond Racing Wheels w/ Kumho Ecsta AST Wheels (props to CrazyOctupus) Coilovers w/ ZCC Adapters Stripped to Minimum – No Fans/Heat/AC, etc… EZ Wiring 21 Wire Harness All New Gauges Corbeau Seats Auto Power Roll Bar I picked up the Z for 500 bucks off a guy named Joe and immediately went to work on disassembly. Here’s what I looked like where I sat: Within two days I was already taking it down to start finding all the rust (and there was a ton) and getting to work on things. The biggest areas of rust were the floors and doglegs. The area under the battery was toast as well, so I replaced that from a donor car. Here are some of the rust issues I faced: I believe at least two months of free time was spent just sanding/repairing/patch paneling different parts of the car. It has new floors, new doglegs, new rear hatch panel, and good front fenders and a good driver’s side door of off donor cars. I built my own rotisserie out of wood and tie downs to work on the floor with POR15 and some good undercoating! I also recoated all the suspension components and cleaned all the grease and gunk off of them I decided to shave pretty much all I could off of the car when it was stripped down, so off when all the logos, the C-Pillar holes, turn signals, and even the fuel door, as I was planning on running a cell. I also shaved what I could in the engine bay by welding most of the holes closed and filling the holes in the firewall I wasn’t going to use. Here’s some of that process: The Fuel Cell Install was pretty straightforward, with a JEGS simple aluminum cell, with applicable support. I essentially cut out the rear floor and welding in new support for the cell, and padded everything and made a cover plate with a fuel door from jerry bickel racing off of dragster style equipment. I also mounted a small area for an optima battery back there to hide under the panel. Then it was just lots of sanding and primer and sanding again to try to get everything ready for paint. My good friend Nick is a painter by talent and his father by trade as he took great care of me by pretty much perfecting my body work and then spraying the whole car, inside and out. It’s not absolutely perfect, but it’s amazing none-the-less Here’s some of it before it went to paint and some right after it came back: Here’s the shots in his driveway as I pulled it out to look at it - I love the tires… I was replacing them anyways, so I told him not to worry about masking them. Then it became engine time: I picked up the engine and trans and went through them pretty well, replacing the water pump, the water neck with an s14 one, the oil pickup and pretty much every hose I could get my hands on. It seemed to be in really good condition and was the only bigger issues were the engine harness and making sure I understood it completely, as there are so many things that are unused and so many wires to take care of. It did look pretty though: I did run all new fuel lines and battery lines to the front to make sure everything had what it needed to run. I also ran a new FPR, and all AN fittings in the engine bay to make things look cleaner in there as well: The Taurus Fan is by far one of the best rated fans out there, so I picked on up off of ebay and cleaned it up all nice: Then it was all wiring - I used an EZ Wiring 21 Circuit kit and set to rewiring the whole car. The dash, console wiring, tail, headlights, and engine wiring to the SR20DET harness and gauges is all new. I fabbed up the whole FMIC setup myself, as well as using bits and pieces of S13 stuff I could find on Ebay to make the intake from MAF work. I also fabbed up a recirc setup for the BOV from piping I fitted from walking around an autoparts warehouse and playing with hoses. The radiator was a simple install and I’m using a fan controller with remote sensor to control the front fan. Most of that work is completed and ready, but the details are what get you. The gauges were just so tedious to get wired up and configured, but the end result I am comfortable with. After that, I pretty much shut down for the winter and didn’t do anything on the car. After the weather made a change, I got started again and cleaned her up. I got some Corbeau Forza seats and they were tough to fit it, as they are a super tight fit, but I’m happy with them and the layout: I’m running G-Force 5 Points on them and had to modify the rear bar to add a harness bar to it, but it worked out really well and the harnesses fit nicely: Because I went cheap, I had to remove the side windows and the door frames and have them fully powdercoated black, so they were removed, and I send the door handles with them as well to be black as well. The chrome just stood out too much on the car with the blue and black everywhere else: I then added the rear battery shut off, as It’d be necessary if I ever really wanted to track or take it down the drag strip someday and got a good deal on a taylor switch. I’m also running remote battery terminals to keep the maintainer connected to and to jump it if I have to. The rear bumper in on and set, but the front valance is still in primer and waiting to be painted, so the front will be done in the next weeks The last touches currently are the fender mirrors. They are the cheapos off of ebay, but I’ll pick up “Real†ones someday. They’ll do the job for now. I have a wink 5 panel mirror to give me good rear visability to add when I have the time. That’s it for catching up. Many things are coming in the next few weeks . Window Frames and door handles are going back on Remote Terminals are Getting Added to the Rear Wheels and Tires are Mounted Exhaust will be Routed Front Valance will be fitted with front bumper I’ve decided to support a local guy and run the ZCC adapter tubes for the Coilovers, so the tubes will be here soon and I’ll have to find a good deal on Coilovers to go with them. Other than that, it’s just smaller things like door panels, interior trim, and tweaks until I can raise the funds to build the engine up further.

I agree that the price there is crazy... no way I was paying that much for most of that. I used a standard cheap cable of off ebay and it doesn't "look" as good as the mc setup, but it works perfect. I'm also using a cheap aluminum radiator with no problems, but can't imagine running with no fans... I overheated without fans working just idling (as I was troubleshooting the fan controller), and can't imaging getting stuck in traffic and having that happen. The fan I'm running is cheap as all getup on ebay and runs more air then you could ever need. I think you'll end up with more costs that just come up as you are playing, but you're in the right ballpark. I still think you'll end at 4-5, but you have saved some significant monies with getting the whole deal for FMIC, piping, and such all in one package and cheap. I blew money on powdercoating and fuel setup that just was more aesthetic than anything, but I was also watching Blakt Out's thread and he just kept inspiring me to try to do some of his really awesome looking stuff on the cheap. His AMAZING thread is here, but it's what happens when you spend an near unlimited amount of money and have most, if not everything done by a really amazing shop http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/74214-full-on-resto-mod-of-a-240z/ I've also seen some really bare minimum swaps and they look like they could have been on the cheap as well. I'd still spend some money on that SR20 just to refresh it and clean it up before you drop it in... as well as on the bay while it's empty to clean it up, maybe shave some holes that you wont use and make things pretty when you surely show it off!

Yep... The wheels should be ready to be shipped this week or next. I have the tires already. The door window frames and c pillar window frames, as well as the door handles are at the powder coater and should be ready next week too. This weekend the hood goes back on, and hopefully the front Xenon lip, but it's up to my friend's schedule to see if he can paint them on time. Then it's to an exhaust shop, as I need a 3 inch fabbed from the turbo elbow back and then I'll be at least road worthy. Then it's 1-2k in suspension mods after that to be where I want it on the outside, plus tint, touch up paint work and interior work to be done. It's not been THAT expensive, but it adds up. I spread it out over years, so it's much easier to stomach piece by piece. There are so many threads on this conversion out there, especially in the Ratsun forums as well, as 510 guys have had a good time with these swaps too, so the search is your friend...

ZG Flares or Wide ZG Flares are the best option. Otherwise IMSA Wide Kit. Wide ones are here - http://www.zforceproductions.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15&Itemid=56 Regular ZG are at MSA

^ Agree. To those who see them, and even notice, it's a good conversation point.

Oh, the venerable Miata. LoL. I love them too, but could never get over the feminine design that I saw... Killer little cars in Auto-X though. I went for the S2k when I went through my 2 seater convertible phase. Decent enough performance, but man did it look good. If I ever do a little car again I'll go back to original minis with the honda swap in them... they are insane! I ran a ol' school mini for a while, but budget killed me at the time. I think a lot of the SR20Z guys are similar in their car tastes though... younger guys who love the old styling, but like the modern ECU'd turbo'd cars and the endless fun they have in such a small package. Timing Chain busting without damage... we can hope for miracles... I've seen a ton of belts break in the VW world and it's rare to come out unscathed.

That's my build, so PM me if you have any questions regarding... I'm a few weeks from being road worthy if I'm lucky. But, I still have a ton more to do to get where I want upgrade wise. There are a lot of ways to save money, most by doing it yourself, but there is a heck of a lot of research out there to do to pull it off nicely. Also, if you only want to remain at stock SR20DET hp, there isn't much to do, but it's a heck of a lot easier building up things for later now that doing it later when it's all in. I did a lot of stuff I wanted to do for the heck of it and to clean things up visually that you don't have to do, but it's sure nice to have the battery under the back, with a nice shaved outside and a really clean engine bay. If you want to run more than stock HP someday, I'd look at the fuel situation and at least run better lines and a surge tank off the main (There are a ton of threads that talk about that setup). I found it cleaner and easier to just cut the rear out, lay in a cell, and have at it with new lines and fun. It was easy enough and will get me to 400 easy if I ever want to go there. The things you don't think of are endless - Radiators and Fans, Controller for Fans, FMIC, FMIC piping and the custom work there, Mounts, Shaft, Throttle Cable Mods, Rear Diff for the future. Plus, almost any SR20 should be redone with new seals, new hoses, and a good run through... This is my favorite thread in that regard: http://www.240sxforums.com/forums/sr20det-engines/107130-my-s13-sr20det-prep.html If you want the car to look pretty as well, heck, it's a whole bunch more money too. Just slapping in a SR20 and doing the bare minimum is possible though and cheaper, but 5k seems like a decent and reasonable estimate for the basics.

I'm sure he'll dig up a block around... heck, cheap shouldn't be an issue now. There's at least 12k or so in that thing now even at cost and without labor. Wilwood, BRIDE, NARDI, NRG, T3... forget about how much it costs to get a new block as far as you've spent already, that's change. Heck, sell the seat and get 2 blocks. There are places if you just want big power you could or could have trimmed cost wise to get you there and keep you there. I seem to see you want to be more functional go orientated... but God help me if you run takata harnesses with those BRIDE seats, as that's just $$$ for more HP and less bling! It's a nice build, but man is there a lot of money in it, even while getting things at cost.

edited.

If you want to be cheap... don't do SR20 LoL. But, if you want to go the SR20DET route... you'll want an JDM S13 Redtop SR20DET for the lowest costs associated, but with low knowledge of the SR platform, make sure to read read read, and there is a ton of info, especially from all the 240sx swap guys as well.

Here's a good link for the alternator wiring - http://datsun1200.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=61774 The only things I wired on my trans are the reverse light switch and the speed sensor and I start up just fine.

Crap, lost my hosted pics. Please lock for posterity sake! I'll rebuild the original with a new thread I guess... Until then... Click here for my rehosted thread on another forum

WoW... Looks like mine! Although the color looks a little different for some reason... Can't put my finger on it. I like that you shaved a bit as well. I have a very simliar setup paint wise, as my painter friend is going to run my hood, bumpers, flares, and valance in black this week... I'm glad you ran the spoiler in blue, as I was curious as to what'd it'd look like. I think I'm going to run it in black to offset the blue in back. I have those same fender mirrors, but probably going to buy the real ones... as they are crappier plastic than they looked like online.

Got the master disconnect on and up today... looks nifty

I've been building up my list again, so it's up to another 20 items plus to do. It never seems to get close to ending. I've ordered up the consult connector and software for the diagnostic ability and ECU connect, which will help insanely with tweaking things and later upgrades as well. Here's a part of my current list, which never seems to get shorter. Not on it are the wheels/tires/coilovers and the modifications neccesary to make them all work. Ugh. Fill Bumpers /Sand / Re-prime Hand Sand Fender Flares / Prime Wire Battery / Install Master Disconnect Switch in Rear Wire Fan Controller Permanently Wire Turn Signals/HB LED light indicators in console Wire Consult Female Connector to ECU Measure /Mark Location for Roll Bar Harness Bar Location at 20 degrees below harness holes Remove Roll Bar Get Harness Bar Added to Roll Bar (Fabshopz?) Reinstall Roll Bar Mount Harnesses Paint Top Dash Plate/Install Plate Test Mount Rear Bumper Buy Shift Boot Install Shift Boot Plug in window switches Secure Center Console Install Carpet Install Side Kick Panels Install Shift Knob Install Tach Order Speedo / Install -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon Consult Plug Arrival - Check Sensor Operation within specs Check / Adjust Timing Check Codes Install Front Valance/ Reinforce Install and Wire Front Signals/Marker Lights Install Hood / Hood Pins Install Front Bumper Install Exhaust

I think it's the progressive improvement over stock... Stock can't be adjustable up and down and up, camber not easily adjustable... Paying 800 plus another 300 for tubes to run megans or stance is out of the ballpark for most pocketbooks so the option of paying 500 or so for something and not having to buy the 300 tubes is a lesser alternative. I don't think anyone is saying they are getting the best product, but many are saying, "It'll do". For me, heck, if they are bad, I'll deal with them for a bit and when other project costs are done, I'll sell them to some 240sx guy for cheap and upgrade later. Heck, half the guys here are running Rotas and they are like the bastard child of the wheel world in tuner forums, so suspension should be able to go ghetto too!

I PM'd him and asked how it went and he says it's running perfect and that he just cut off the rears and ran them in the back and used the fronts like the install here. I'm waiting for EMusa supplies to get refreshed and then going to run those with the ZCC megan tubes, as I really can't get over the look of running the front lower mounts with the brackets on them and like the pnp of the ZCC stuff/

Got the seats in today, plus the front grill on. Started her up and she ran decently, I had to tighten up the line to the clutch slave cylinder and a coolant line, but it pulled out of the garage and moved on it's own, which is a first. Once I get the new odyssey battery hooked up I'll take it to an exhaust shop and have the system fabbed up. (I'm waiting for the taylor master disconnect switch for the rear of the car in order to finish the battery wiring, plus the G-Force harnesses prior to driving it around) Here's some nice pics -

I like all the colors but the red... I was originally looking at running the color of the lamborghini lp640, but went with a simpler and much cheaper paint option. This last weekend I was able to get the passenger seat mounted (with barely anything to spare). I'll try to get the driver's seat in and take some pics, although I still have them wrapped up in the bubble wrap. (Corbeau Forzas) The odyssey pc680 battery is in its home under the hatch plate near the fuel cell, but I still haven't got it secured in yet, but I'll work on that this week. The fiberglass bumpers, fender flares, hood, and front xenon valance are still waiting for paint, but I hope in the next few weeks I can get my painter friend to finish them all up and get them mounted up and the front valance lights wired up and good to go. Autometer SportComp electric tach and speedo should be on their way soon and wired up. Then it's just bit and pieces of interior stuff to work on, and cleaning up things here or there. My list is getting shorter of what I'm looking at picking up before I'm comfortable taking it out: Coilovers ZCC tubes and plates for the Coils PDK rear strut bar/harness bar Harnesses Wheels and Tires Exhaust System