Zilvia.net Forums | Nissan 240SX (Silvia) and Z (Fairlady) Car Forum

Go Back   Zilvia.net Forums | Nissan 240SX (Silvia) and Z (Fairlady) Car Forum > General > Chat > Builds (and builds only)

Builds (and builds only) Got a build thread? It goes here, build threads anywhere else on the forum will be locked and never moved.


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-27-2021, 11:23 AM   #1
mcoman
 
Join Date: May 2021
Location: Indiana
Age: 35
Posts: 12
Trader Rating: (0)
mcoman is an unknown quantity at this point
Feedback Score: 0 reviews
1989 240sx hatch brought back to life

This past spring I picked up a complete non running 89 240sx SE from a friend who had gotten in over his head/lost interest. This is the first S chassis I have ever owned, however not my first '80s Nissan.
I had a '88 300zx as my first car back in 2006. This 240sx had 225,203 miles on the clock and came with a limited/questionable history. The car had been parked since late 2008 before my friend picked it up
The reason the car had been parked was unclear, my friend told me that is possibly a potential head gasket or head related issue.

Here is what the car looked like when my friend picked it up


The car lived its whole life in North Carolina and is completely stock and rust free. Aside from some a lot pealing clear coat the body is in good shape.
The factory spoiler had rotted out but came with the car.
I downloaded the FSM, bought a battery, and got to work.

This is from when I first started working on the car.


After checking the coolant, changing the oil and doing a compression check I saw no signs of a bad head gasket.


Before the compression check I had squirted some engine oil into the combustion chamber. After the compression check I turned the car over and it sputtered a bit. I added some started fluid and the car briefly started.
I then turned my attention to the fuel system. I pulled the fuel pump and was greeted by the overwhelming smell of varnish. After pulling out 5 gallons of bad gas I was able to see the extent of the damage.
The tank was completely rusted.



Old tank out

I ended up getting a good condition fuel tank, sending unit, and filler neck out of a convertible from a local upick junk yard.
Unfortunately the junk yard had drilled 2 hole in the bottom of the tank to drain the fuel.
I got the holes patched, and the outside recondition at a local shop.
The filler neck mounting location is different on the convertibles so I had to get the mounting tab swapped over from the old filler neck.

At the same time I sent the injectors off to be cleaned


With everything installed and a new fuel pump I flushed out the fuel lines with some fresh gas and went to start it up. It started out running rough on only 2 cylinders but was running on all 4 in no time.
There was some excessive valve noise so I popped off the valve cover to take a look.
It was bad news in there, the rocker arm bolt for the #3 and #4 exhaust valves had backed out.
The retainer was broken, the #3 exhaust rocker has slid out of position on the rocker arm, destroying the lifter, and exhaust valve.

The #4 exhaust rocker and valve are still good.

Here is a collection of retainer, lifter, and rocker arm that were sitting in the cylinder head.

At this time I also discovered that the timing chain guide had fallen off.


At this point I was about 3 weeks away from moving several states away and I decided to ship the car in its current state before I started tearing into the engine.
Here is the car loaded onto the trailer with my 2001 insight.



Some clean interior shorts for no reason:



The drivers seat is in need of restoration

Last edited by mcoman; 10-25-2021 at 06:49 AM.. Reason: more progress
mcoman is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Old 08-31-2021, 06:08 AM   #2
mcoman
 
Join Date: May 2021
Location: Indiana
Age: 35
Posts: 12
Trader Rating: (0)
mcoman is an unknown quantity at this point
Feedback Score: 0 reviews
double post, please delete

Last edited by mcoman; 10-12-2021 at 06:28 AM..
mcoman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-07-2021, 11:53 AM   #3
mcoman
 
Join Date: May 2021
Location: Indiana
Age: 35
Posts: 12
Trader Rating: (0)
mcoman is an unknown quantity at this point
Feedback Score: 0 reviews
double post, please delete

Last edited by mcoman; 10-12-2021 at 06:27 AM.. Reason: double post
mcoman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2021, 06:55 AM   #4
mcoman
 
Join Date: May 2021
Location: Indiana
Age: 35
Posts: 12
Trader Rating: (0)
mcoman is an unknown quantity at this point
Feedback Score: 0 reviews
double post, please delete

Last edited by mcoman; 10-12-2021 at 06:27 AM.. Reason: double post
mcoman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2021, 10:10 AM   #5
mcoman
 
Join Date: May 2021
Location: Indiana
Age: 35
Posts: 12
Trader Rating: (0)
mcoman is an unknown quantity at this point
Feedback Score: 0 reviews
Once I got everything unpacked in my new garage I got started on removing the cylinder head.

I got the head pulled off and sent off to be rebuilt.
The bottom end looked like it was in good shape. So I left it as is


While the head was being rebuilt I pulled the front cover and oil pan in order to replace the timing chain and guides.

All stripped down waiting for the cylinder head.


The water pump impeller had rusted from sitting for so long. A good reminder to flush out the block before risking pushing any crap into the radiator.


I got the head back from the machine shop, I had them do some light porting while they were in there.




Head assembled and installed.


Timing set, front cover and oil pan sealed.


more assembly


and all back together, but will it run?

Last edited by mcoman; 10-25-2021 at 07:03 AM..
mcoman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-15-2021, 01:54 PM   #6
mcoman
 
Join Date: May 2021
Location: Indiana
Age: 35
Posts: 12
Trader Rating: (0)
mcoman is an unknown quantity at this point
Feedback Score: 0 reviews
I didn't take too many pictures at this point as I was very excited to get this car running/drivable for the first time since I bought it, and probably for the first time in over 12 years. I go to start the car and it turs over but won?t start. I double check the wiring and vacuum lines. I notice I forgot to connect the ground wires near the fuel rail, and I realized that I had the vacuum lines mixed up for the fuel pressure regulator, SCV solenoid, SCV actuator, and PR solenoid. I try again and it wants to start but doesn't quite get there.

A good battery charge and some starter fluid later and I get it running. I fix another vacuum leak, exhaust leak, and set the timing. I notice no fluid leaks, it holds an idle, and is holding temp, time for a drive around the block. It feels good to be behind the wheel for the first time, but it sure does feel slow. Like really slow, doesn't want to rev and no power in the higher rpms. I know the kae is no powerhouse, but it can?t be this bad, can it? I open the hood to see how everything is holding up, and I notice oil spraying from the valve cover, and a fuel leak between the injector and fuel rail. I replace the leaking injector o-ring and retighten the valve cover per the FSM. I check all the injectors and fire them by manually applying power. Everything seems to check out. I decide to take it out for another spin, and at the beginning it?s the same as before, slow and does not like to rev, then a slight pop and suddenly there is way more power, the engine revs freely and all seems good. I think one of my injectors was stuck closed and it just took some running to clear up. I was still getting leaks from the valve cover so I applied a little rtv to the cam seals and the corners and that seems to stop the leaks. I am not very happy with the valve cover gasket and cam seals that came in the gasket set so I might need to pick up a better quality gasket in the future.

At this point I decided it was time to wash the car for the first time in who know how long, and while it might look nice in photos its seen better days, there is absolutely no clear left on the hood. I was able to get some of the tree sap stains off the hood but there is still plenty left behind. The front bumper is cracked and missing large sections of paint.







That was about a month ago, and I have just been enjoying driving the car while the weather is still good. I found anther vacuum leak that I fixed. Let that be a lesion that just because the old vacuum lines ?look? good doesn?t mean they are good. I should have just replaced all of them when I had the engine apart. I am really enjoying driving the car right now so I don?t think I will change much until the winter. After driving the car for a bit it is clear that the car was very well maintained before it was parked. There are no squeaks or rattles to speak of and everything feels tight for a car from 1989. There are a few minor issues that I will need to address soon like although the car has brand new tires on it they are from 2008, and are as hard and round as a brick. The cat back exhaust is completely rotted out, the first few times I started the car piles of rust flakes came out of the muffler. Lastly I need to figure out why the washer fluid sprayer isn?t working. I have cleaned out the nozzles and still nothing, so it must be something down by the pump.

There are also some cosmetic things I want to address; the drives seat, drives door card, and drivers side shoulder seatbelt are starting to show their 225k miles. The display on the factory radio doesn?t work, I would like to keep a factory radio in the car but I am thinking of upgrading to a tape deck so I can get an AUX adapter. Lastly I would like to get a crack free pignose bumper and yeah the car needs a new paint; idk if I?m ready to deal with the cost of paint yet. I got one quote that came in quite a bit higher than expected. I am open to doing as much of the prep work as I can, but I have almost zero experience with paint work.

Last edited by mcoman; 10-25-2021 at 07:12 AM..
mcoman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-16-2021, 06:45 AM   #7
tuzzio
Post Whore!
 
tuzzio's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Western Mass.
Posts: 2,603
Trader Rating: (3)
tuzzio is close to perfectiontuzzio is close to perfectiontuzzio is close to perfectiontuzzio is close to perfectiontuzzio is close to perfectiontuzzio is close to perfectiontuzzio is close to perfectiontuzzio is close to perfectiontuzzio is close to perfectiontuzzio is close to perfectiontuzzio is close to perfection
Feedback Score: 3 reviews
Pictures don't work. Try imgur.
tuzzio is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 10-25-2021, 07:12 AM   #8
mcoman
 
Join Date: May 2021
Location: Indiana
Age: 35
Posts: 12
Trader Rating: (0)
mcoman is an unknown quantity at this point
Feedback Score: 0 reviews
Quote:
Originally Posted by tuzzio View Post
Pictures don't work. Try imgur.
Thanks for the heads up, all the photos should be fixed now.
mcoman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-29-2021, 08:33 AM   #9
Thursday7
Zilvia Addict
 
Thursday7's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: PA
Posts: 799
Trader Rating: (8)
Thursday7 is close to perfectionThursday7 is close to perfectionThursday7 is close to perfectionThursday7 is close to perfectionThursday7 is close to perfectionThursday7 is close to perfectionThursday7 is close to perfectionThursday7 is close to perfectionThursday7 is close to perfectionThursday7 is close to perfectionThursday7 is close to perfection
Feedback Score: 8 reviews
Beautiful. I have the same car in the same condition but chuki and base model. Enjoy it!
Thursday7 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-01-2021, 03:37 AM   #10
ingmar F
Zilvia Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: holland
Age: 36
Posts: 160
Trader Rating: (0)
ingmar F is a jewel in the roughingmar F is a jewel in the roughingmar F is a jewel in the roughingmar F is a jewel in the roughingmar F is a jewel in the roughingmar F is a jewel in the roughingmar F is a jewel in the rough
Feedback Score: 0 reviews
really cool to see an unmolested car! really cool that you brought it back to life!
do you plan to keep it 100% stock?
ingmar F is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-01-2021, 09:00 AM   #11
mcoman
 
Join Date: May 2021
Location: Indiana
Age: 35
Posts: 12
Trader Rating: (0)
mcoman is an unknown quantity at this point
Feedback Score: 0 reviews
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thursday7 View Post
Beautiful. I have the same car in the same condition but chuki and base model. Enjoy it!
I have been enjoying it as much as I can, with a higher mileage chassis I'm not worried about putting some miles on it. Unfortunately the weather has started to turn here and it is probably parked for the winter now.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ingmar F View Post
really cool to see an unmolested car! really cool that you brought it back to life!
do you plan to keep it 100% stock?
Thanks, I was very lucky to have found an untouched factory manual car, and one that appears to have been really well cared for before it was parked. I do plan on keeping it almost 100% stock. Everything I am think about doing would be largely "unseen". Powertrain wise the cat back exhaust on the car is toast and needs to be replaced, but its already not stock. In the maybe category would be cam regrind, an OBX header and a tune. No real plans for the chassis/suspension other than maybe some NISMO subframe bushings as I can feel the whole rear suspension shift over large bumps.

I mostly just want to fix up a few minor issues, like getting the AC working, new sunroof seal, the drivers door card and seat, an uncracked pignose bumper, and paint. Also the display on the factory radio doesn't work, but I would like to upgrade that to a factory tape deck.
mcoman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-02-2021, 11:20 AM   #12
Knownworldwide
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: Bay Area
Age: 38
Posts: 6
Trader Rating: (0)
Knownworldwide is an unknown quantity at this point
Feedback Score: 0 reviews
Looks good. Keep it up.
Knownworldwide is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-03-2021, 08:03 AM   #13
ingmar F
Zilvia Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: holland
Age: 36
Posts: 160
Trader Rating: (0)
ingmar F is a jewel in the roughingmar F is a jewel in the roughingmar F is a jewel in the roughingmar F is a jewel in the roughingmar F is a jewel in the roughingmar F is a jewel in the roughingmar F is a jewel in the rough
Feedback Score: 0 reviews
ah cool !! sounds good!
ingmar F is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-23-2022, 11:19 AM   #14
mcoman
 
Join Date: May 2021
Location: Indiana
Age: 35
Posts: 12
Trader Rating: (0)
mcoman is an unknown quantity at this point
Feedback Score: 0 reviews
I finally got around to replacing the exhaust on my hatch. After failing to find a local custom exhaust shop that wanted to do the work I decided to just go with a HKS Sport cat-back that I paired with a used hotshot header that recently popped up on ebay, and a Magnaflow 3 Inch High Flow Catalytic Converter. I would have liked to keep the stock look with a dual tip muffler but there just weren't any off the shelf systems that I liked. Overall I'm happy with the setup, I don't notice much of a performance gain but I wasn't really expecting too.

Here is what the old exhaust looked like. On top of that the muffler it self sounded like a maraca.


New exhaust




mcoman is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:54 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
vB.Sponsors
Copyright ? 1998 - 2022, Zilvia.net