Project: Just another SR20DET 240Z (huge pics, no 56k)

[casperiv]

Well, I don't think I have ever actually made a post over here (mostly just read and lurk), but I thought I might toss this information up for those who are looking to do the same swap.

I got bored with my S2000 and decided I wanted to have another Z. Traded the S2000 in for a BRZ as my wife's car and started this project. The goal was simple, I wanted over 300WHP (hopefully closer to 380WHP) when it was completely done and a solid daily driver/weekend racer. I initially wanted to build a KA24DET (make it a true 240 again) but after really digging into what it would take to make it as dependable as the SR20DET out of the box, I abandoned it for now (really want to come back and revisit building a KA24DET or maybe a newer Nissan engine). I started out by sourcing an "almost" rust free 73 240Z that looked well enough that I didn't feel I had to dump money into paint and body. I apologize for not getting more pics of before and after as well some specifics of fitment. I know when I started this project I searched high and low for things like shifter placement, then forgot to take hardly any pics of our mock up.

This build could be done for less money if I just fabricated parts as I went, but I wanted to actually try out using pre-made parts and having other people do some of the work (first car I have paid for build work, hope it's a positive experience).

Here are the parts I have already bought (or some of the more notable):
SR20DET red top with transmission.
McKinney Motorsports mount kit.
McKinney SR20 FMIC kit.
McKinney radiator with fan and shroud.
McKinney 3" exhaust and muffler with McKinney SR20 down pipe.
Arizona Z Car brake kit with 5 lug conversion.
Tokico shock and spring kit.
Megan Racing AFPR with ISIS FPR adapter.
Megan Racing short shifter kit.
Circuit Sports Solid Shifter Bushing
Energy Suspension Urethane kit
Hallman MBC.
S15 oil pickup (to replace the common failure point on the S13).
ISIS intake manifold
GKTech eccentric throttle wheel
Circuit Sports baffled stainless oil pan.
New wheels and tires (since I am going 5 lug).
We will be using an R200 long nose, and money willing, it will be rebuilt with a Quaife sometime next year once testing is done.

Planned performance upgrades to come this Fall/Winter once we test the setup through out this year:
EFR 6758
AEM EMS v2
AEM Electronics MAP Sensor Kits 30-2130-50
AEM AIT Sensor Kit
Circuit Sports DIS Ignition System
Jim Wolf S3 Cams 11.2 Lift 260 - SR20DET
Tomei Rocker Arm Stoppers
550cc Injectors (depends what we decide to go for power wise).

The car (I hated the mirrors from the moment I picked the car up).


So I changed those immediately...


Next up, the parts...

[casperiv]

I wanted to use as many pre-made parts as possible so that I could get a realistic build process for those who don't have tools for serious fabrication available. To this end I sourced my mount kit, FMIC, radiator & fan, full exhaust, and a few other parts from McKinney Motorsports (Home McKinney Motorsports) (great guys to work with). I then sourced brakes from Arizona Z Car (Arizona Z Car) (again, awesome). I went back and fourth on the suspension trying to decide if I wanted to jump to coil overs while I was already tearing the underside a part of go with shocks and springs to test first. In the end I decided to use a Tokico kit.

Here's the heart of it all... (James drove over night to SoCal to pick out an engine with the most freebie upgrades and healthiest compression/bits)


The pile of parts...


Transmission brace from McKinney. I don't really have a pic of just the engine cradle but it's a simple cross pipe with mounts and weld/bolt in angle mounts on the end.


Some Arizona Z goodness...



McKinney goodies...






Going 5 lug necessitated some new wheels. Since I didn't want to break the bank on wheels before I had even put the thing together I picked up some cheaper wheels that were in +0 that I thought wouldn't look bad.


A handy craigslist find...

[casperiv]

I also wanted to make sure I didn't rush the build, but at the same time didn't want it to be a multi-year project, so I selected a local Z guy and shop owner James Whitman (JW Sport Cars :: Home) to do work I didn't have time/tools for. Part of the build was intended to extend the life of the car another 40 years, so I worked with him to powder coat pretty much everything under the car that could be removed and undercoat the rest. Unfortunatly we didn't start taking pictures until we were well under way, so I don't have any of the underside ground down before the spray.

A little test fitting...









Shifter placement after shoving it as far back as possible (it will be replaced with a short shifter when we finish it up).

[casperiv]

Here are some pics of the car undercoated...






Cross member is powder coated and trimmed a bit to ensure it doesn't mess with the SR's oil pan.

[casperiv]

Some suspension hanging...





Brakes are making their way onto the car...




Wheel just set on to see how it looks (looks better in person than pics)...






More pics to come. Unfortunately we need to move it to a new location, so James is going to throw wheels on it and get it moved before work resumes.

[tx240ss]

great build... you were lucky to find such a clean 240 to start your project. I like the sr20det and have one in my convertible 240sx, but looking at the engine bay and all the dead space from the pulleys to the radiator bulk head, it sure screams out for a straight 6, maybe a rb25/26? just my opinion... don't take it negatively, as I still think you're gonna build a beautiful, reliable, and fun car that should last another 25-40 years!!

[casperiv]

I thought about doing an RB26DETT, but I wanted to make this car more balanced and daily driver. Going with a RB would have worked better in a high speed road course car or drag car. This SR knocks a fair bit of weight off the car while also moving the motor behind the axle. This should give me more of an S2000 like balance but still give me the power I want so that I can autocross and drive it "spiritedly" daily.

The goal is to get this car to what I wished the S2000 had been as my DD, then come back and build another car to be my more "crazy" weekend ride. My high power car will be in a better chassis than an S30.

[casperiv]

Quick update (I haven't forgot about this thread), we decided to take the car down to bare metal before we start bonding the flares on. This is just after starting the process. All the rest of the paint will be going as well. We are just going to strip it down to the line with the undercoating (since we already did that).

[casperiv]

When we are done there shouldn't be hardly any body fill left. Here are the flares during mock up. We were trying to decide which orientation we liked, where the body lines look best, etc.

[casperiv]

On a side note, I received the Circuit Sports oil pan. I must say, I like it far better than any of the cast options I have seen. I have a lot more confidence in this holding up:

[casperiv]

The flares are on the car...

[aymaeid]

keep it coming! this things sick

[casperiv]

Thanks for the reminder. Here are a few more update pics:









As soon as we finally wrap paint up (it's been delayed a few months) we will get back to putting the engine in, gauges, fuel system, and hopefully be on our way to some videos of it moving.

[casperiv]

Here are a few more of the engine now that it's cleaner and has a few new goodies on it (we will be painting the valve cover too... but after the engine is in the car in case the chains scratch it while it is being installed).

[casperiv]

Just a quick update. The project got set back due to the paint/body guy having some personal problems that messed with the timelines. In the mean time, we resprayed the undercoating a bit to fix a few cosmetic items due to primer over spray and the like, and set the engine and transmission. Hopefully I will have a bunch more to talk about soon.