SR20DET 240sx build thread.

[s13envy]

So I know this isn't very uncommon or anything but I figured I would still share my build with you guys. The car started out as a stock as can be 1990 240sx. I'm gonna go back a bit and start from the beginning of when I got the car.

I picked the car up about 3 years ago after my brother took my 1993 240sx out for a drunken joy ride and wrecked it.

Here is the damage after the wreck



So then I had to find another donor car. Picked up this lil beauty for around $1k, drove it home.




After about 2 weeks. I swapped everything over, did some more mods



Been through 2 stock SR turbos, 1 FP Big28, 1 GT2871R .86, then just about 7months ago I had valve spring failure which dinged up a piston. So I decided to build or buy a built block. Found a built block, bought it and thats where my current project begins.

Here is some pics of the car before I started to tear it all down one more time



only had the sc61 on the stock block for a few weeks before the valve spring broke

woot woot!


Picked up a built long block.

Motor- Built by big tom from www.bigtomsgarage.com. motor runs extremely well.
JE 87mm pistons
Scat rods
new oil pump
new rings
new oem bearings
ported head- by big tom as well, as well as a heat coating
JWT C1 cams
JWT springs
BC retainers
new OE valves with heat coating
Greddy oil pan
nismo thermostat
Greddy oil cap (true performance right there!)
Cometic high hp head gasket
ARP head studs
new water pump
new timing chain guides
ALL new bolts and hardware through out the motor!
Motor is now rebuilt, with 0 miles on it. just had new bearings, rings, and a new headgasket put in the motor




Picked up a Peakboost exhaust mani for the setup.



Mounted up intake, exhaust mani, and turbo on the motor.




I've got the front end of the car completely torn down right now. Basically everything will be sanded down and repainted. Alot of the parts are getting powder coated. I sometimes think that I've gotten in over my head. I've never had a car apart like this. Hopefully things will go back together better than I expect.



Damn 19 year old cars!!!

I've got parts laying everywhere!!!!



here are some of the new parts I've got for the front end of the car. Along with the powder coated parts.




New, inner tie rods, new lower ball joints, new steering rack boots, energy suspension steering rack bushing and front control arm bushings, nismo power brace, cold pipe for greddy IM. All the IC piping will be powdercoated the same color as the rest of the parts. My z32 calipers, front cross member, brake booster and many other parts will be going to the powder coater as well.

I still need to get either the mazworx adapter or the xcessive adapter for my z32 trans. I know the mazworx is quality but I have never heard anything about the xcessive kit. I know with mazworx, you have to send them the bellhousing. with the xcessive kit, you do not. So thats a plus. Anyone heard anything on the xcessive kits?

I think I'm going to be painted the car a deep midnight blue or something. Can't really decide on a color. I also think I'm going to have the engine bay painted body color.

This is still a long long way from being completely but I hope to have the body work done, painted, and driving by may/june of 08.

So thats is basically how my car is sitting right now. I would like to have the frame rails cleaned up and painted enough so i can get the front crossmember back in the car and have it mobile again by next weekend. then start fixing the engine bay and get it painted. Check back for updates!

[2fast240]

Looks good man. Cant wait for more updates

[RPS1392]

Looking good, +1 for powder coated parts. Wish my wife would let me use the oven so I could do my VC and LCA's. Shes funny that way, prob because I use the dishwasher now and again to clean engine parts. I have to do it when shes not home.

[DisEpyon]

Very nice build, from the looks of it, seems like everything will turn out great.

My only question is, on the downpipe you have shown in the picture, are you going to be putting a flex in there somewhere, or maybe you already have plan for that?

[GSXRJJordan]

Yup, a flex section in the DP is always a good idea, but lots of em don't have it.

Build looks pretty serious! What's the specs on your SC61?

[s13envy]

Originally Posted by RPS1392

Looking good, +1 for powder coated parts. Wish my wife would let me use the oven so I could do my VC and LCA's. Shes funny that way, prob because I use the dishwasher now and again to clean engine parts. I have to do it when shes not home.

thats fucking funny right there powder coating is actually really cheap. there is no reason not to have it done. I have a sand blast cabinet so i can blast them and drop them off at the coater. and since i wanted just the semi gloss black they were done cheap and still look good.

Originally Posted by DisEpyon

Very nice build, from the looks of it, seems like everything will turn out great.

My only question is, on the downpipe you have shown in the picture, are you going to be putting a flex in there somewhere, or maybe you already have plan for that?

i hadn't planned for it. I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea though. My plans are to make 2 exhaust for the car. they will bolt on via v-band. 1 will be a side exit for when i'm feeling frisky and the other will exit out the back

Originally Posted by GSXRJJordan

Yup, a flex section in the DP is always a good idea, but lots of em don't have it.

Build looks pretty serious! What's the specs on your SC61?

I'm pretty sure its the one that support 680hp. not sure of the specs. this one is Ball bearing though. .70a/r comp .63a/r turbine

[awesomenick]

+1 for anything from big tom. He's a local, and a total bad ass.

[s13envy]

My goal this weekend is to have the frame rails cleaned up and put the front end back together. Crossmember and some other misc parts are getting powerder coated right now. bushing and ball joints are pressed in the control arms, steering rack is painted. Will be repainted the calipers and brake booster. Then we'll start on the rest of the engine bay.

I need a opinions. Paint the engine bay black or body color?

[red s14]

for local guy. good luck cole and i can't wait to see it around town.

[burnsauto]

nice build. engine should be pretty sick once its up and running.

[waynehead05]

That's going to look sweet! Good stuff bud.

[s13envy]

totally forget that i posted this here ... so i figure i would post up to date information with my progress? this has been copied from my other forum i post at more frequently

here's my updated posted from my buil:

been working on the car a little here and there. I've completely stripped down the engine bay, fixed some rust on the strut tower, shaved the heater core and a/c holes in the firewall, sanded, primed and painted it all with a low gloss black. I dont plan on driving the car when its very cold and plus my heater hoses are a PITA so thats why i decided to get rid of the heater core. I also removed the whole HVAC system behind the dash. No blower motor or anything. maybe saved 50lbs, maybe. Also got the IC mounted up. next couple days I'll be putting everything back in the engine bay (brake booster, master cylinder, ect) Then when I figure out what I'm doing with this trans, its time to get the engine off the stand, mate the trans to it and drop it in. I can't wait!

I also have to admit, that this was my first time really trying any welding and body work. it definitely could have been done much better, but I'm still happy with the way it turned out.

Here are some pics:






Here is what I'm talking about with the trans. I dont know what all is supposed to be in there. With the way it is now, the shifter will not shift the gears.


been working on the car a little here and there. I've completely stripped down the engine bay, fixed some rust on the strut tower, shaved the heater core and a/c holes in the firewall, sanded, primed and painted it all with a low gloss black. I dont plan on driving the car when its very cold and plus my heater hoses are a PITA so thats why i decided to get rid of the heater core. I also removed the whole HVAC system behind the dash. No blower motor or anything. maybe saved 50lbs, maybe. Also got the IC mounted up. next couple days I'll be putting everything back in the engine bay (brake booster, master cylinder, ect) Then when I figure out what I'm doing with this trans, its time to get the engine off the stand, mate the trans to it and drop it in. I can't wait!

I also have to admit, that this was my first time really trying any welding and body work. it definitely could have been done much better, but I'm still happy with the way it turned out.

Here are some pics:






Here is what I'm talking about with the trans. I dont know what all is supposed to be in there. With the way it is now, the shifter will not shift the gears.




so instead of piecing together my current trans (even though i bought most the parts i needed already) I got out the credit card and bought a used trans from Brickyard. Only wanted $400 for a z32 trans (not too bad considering its Brickyard). I took the trans over to George to have him take it apart and inspect it to make sure it was in good working condition. The trans looked brand new inside. all we had to do was swap the bellhousings.

so saturday night we decided to work on the car. I had to finish up some small things on the motor (coolant lines, heater hoses, ect) then took a break to play some volleyball. didn't get back to working on the car till around 11pm.

so we are back out working on the car and while trying to get the trans to mate up to the motor the power goes out! son of a bitch. so we pull some cars around and continue to work. the trans was being a bastard but we finally got it on.




here you can see how i got rid of my heat



Also picked up an aluminum radiator + 2 12" fans off ebay for $200. quality seems to be pretty good to me.




Doesn't something belong here?



O yeah, much better



there is that strange oil pan again



I'm hoping to get out there this weekend and finish up a few things. fuel lines, install diff and driveshaft, fill with fluids, ect. I'm gonna have to make some intercooler pipes and I'm gonna need someone to fab a dumb tube for my WG. Anyone have a portable TIG welder? But all the big stuff should be outta the way. Does anyone on here have any 2.5" or 3" bends I could use to make my piping?

Hopefully its running with a couple weeks. depends on my money situation.

got the car running finally. I think the timing is waay off. we had to turn the CAS all the way clockwise to even get it to run decent. I didn't install the CAS so i dont know if it was done properly or not. I will probably check that next weekend. Still need to button up a few things. I need to get someone to modify my downpipe and dumb tube (fathouse, robbie??) Should be able to drive it in a couple weeks as long as i can find someone to modify that for me. Here are some pics and a vid.





MySpaceTV Videos: first drive in almost a year by I may be ugly but atleast I ain't got no money

[s13drob]

nice build. glad u didnt go with the freddy blue pullies. lol. looks sexy. what did u use 2 shave the ac/heater holes? bondo? i still have yet 2 do the same since i removed HVAC as well


as 4 the trans ur missing the little shifter attachment. heres a FSM pic

[s13drob]

lol o yea. sorry bout using #'s for words everybody. how about spending more time on ur ride instead of trollin zilvia for grammar. lol tools

[AznDrftr.]

Oh this is nice.

What kind of turbo is that?

Also how did you mount up the fmic?

[SexPanda]

wow. Nice buildup so far.

[s13 @ fullboost]

I really like what your doing it is coming out to be really nice =]

[gregfarz78]

wow that motor is purdy...how much did you spend on the built long block if you don't mind?

[Style]

where did you buy the Intercooler from??

[s13envy]

I just cut out two small circles of metal and welded them over the holes then covered them with bondo. I will say that the pictures make the engine bay and bondo job better than it actually looks in person lol. it was my first time welding and bondoing

I bit the bullet and decided to buy a whole other trans so i dont have to worry about the missing pieces anymore. Anyone need an almost complete z32 trans?

the turbo is a ball bearing sc61. .70a/c on the comp and .63a/r on the turbine.

to mount the IC i just used to L brackets on the bottom then ran a piece of straight aluminum from one headlight bracket to the other, drilled to holes in that piece and used two more L brackets. Its SOLID!

Lets just say the long block with a few accessories was somewhere in the neighborhood of $4k

bought the IC off ebay. Godspeed. hopefully it turns out to be a decent core. we'll find out i guess

[redclaw05]

car looks freaking sick. I am in the process of swapping out my SMIC, for a FMIC. I am prob gonna pick up the ebay FMIC. for example the godspeed ones.

good luck man... and i love the oil pan, no oil starvation for you!

[s13envy]

guess i'm behind on updates...i'm just going to copy and paste these from another site....

well i went out and worked on the car last night and this morning. buttoned up a few things. bled the brakes and clucth, put the wheels on, filled radiator, changed the oil, wired up my fans. After almost a year, i drove the car down the road for the first time!!! It was awesome....UNTIL, my voltage started dropping. got it back to my buddies and tested the alt. 11.8 volts. I must not have put something back correctly when i took it apart. stupid me for taking it apart. the car was running lean, weather thats due to the "old" tune or the low voltage to the fuel pump, i'm not sure. the tune i have in the car is for a stock compression, stock bore, stock intake mani, diff size cams motor. I know it needs replaced before i do any real driving but I just wanted to get it down the road. it didn't see above 15% throttle.

so now on my things to do list are:

get a retune
check timing
fix alt.
install fpr with gauge
...drive the damn thing!!!!

08-04-08
will post a vid in a few of it moving under its own power for the first time in a year :lol:

[s13envy]

08-27-08

ok, so here's a few updates. I thought i had a bad alternator so i bought one for a KA24DE. I drilled out the top hole and swapped pulled. Still didn't fix my problem. also notice that for some reason the DE alternator doesn't line up correctly with the other pullies and made the belt sweak very badly. so after checking some things, i found that for some reason the casing of my alternator had voltage to it. very strange. After talking to some guys about it, i decided to try and adding a ground from the frame to the alternator bracket. problem solved.

after fixing the alt problem i thought everything was gravy and I could drive off into the sunset lol. NOPE! something is still very wrong with the tune, timing or something. after searching around, i see fuel leaking from under one of the injector caps. pulled it out and found a bad top o ring. took the others out and found 4 of the 8 orings were bad. guess i should have been more careful when installing the injectors huh? so i bought all new orings, put those in and still having problems. so i take the valve cover off and check the mechanical timing. it was off quite a bit.

now here's where i really fucked up i took the cam gears off and as i was doing that, dropped the god damn washer from a cam gear down into the front cover. so I grab my magnet, reach down in there, grab ahold and as i'm pulling it out, for some reason i comes off and drops back down in to there. I try to grab it again but it wont budge. the fall somehow wedge the washer down in there. I figured it was just stuck between the front cover and the front of the block so after trying to pry it and get it loose i finally do. i thought at that point i had it, but of course i was wrong. turns out i just pushed it passed the point where it was wedge down into the front cover further. its actually stuck down below the timing chain guide to the right of the gear if you're looking down from the front of the motor.

I'm at the point where I cannot stand to work on this car and these little problems anymore. I just want to drive the damn thing.

Is there anyway i can get that front cover off without removing the head and the oil pan? I thought about maybe using a file to get rid of some of that material that caused it to get wedged in the first place. any ideas???

also while taking a break from trying to dig the washer out, i got the timing set back perfect where it should be. I'd like to start the damn car and see if this has fixed my running problem, but i can't do shit with that washer still in there.

[Om1kron]

Originally Posted by s13envy

Is there anyway i can get that front cover off without removing the head and the oil pan? I thought about maybe using a file to get rid of some of that material that caused it to get wedged in the first place. any ideas???

haha good luck, I dropped the stupid washer for the large cam sprocket down in the front cover and I heard it fall into the oilpan. So luckily for me my engine is not in my car.

[jakethesnake]

looks really nice man good job

[ZX88]

damn thats a huge fmic!! looks so good keep up with the updates!