Quarantine S13 Build

[NVSTY]

**Photos are large. My bad. lol**

I've been stuck working at home since March, so I figured I share another financial mistake I've been working on the side while being home.

I used to own a 180sx and before that, I've owned maybe 7-8 S13s. Half were parts cars, and the others were actually driven cars. I sold the 180sx about a year and a half ago and it seems like the prices continue to skyrocket even more.

That being said, I would always browse the FB marketplace for a clean S13 hatch. I knew I wouldn't find anything good in my state, so I decided to look down south.

After searching "240sx" and weeding out the bullshit FS ads, I saw a white S13 hatch for sale in North Carolina. Looked like it was just sitting in the yard. I could easily tell that it was accident free (at least in the front). The gaps between the pop ups, hood, fenders, and bumper were perfect. Bumper was probably never removed. The listing said it needed either a starter or new engine. lol Thats quite a big jump, so maybe the seller wasn't really mechanically inclined.

Even though the car was 5 hours away... I knew right there, this car was too good to pass up.




That being said, I messaged the seller right away. I asked him to take pictures of all the locations where these things rust. He said he would get them for me.

1 day goes by. I follow up and get left on read. 2, 3, 4 days go by and I followed up and I continued to be left on read. Devastated I figured it wasn't meant for me and maybe I shouldn't buy the car... lol

I wake up Saturday morning and check my messages again. The listing said it sold but was up for sale again. So i messaged him one last time and asked him what the deal was with the car. If the rust spots checked out, i would come the very next day and grab the car.

Within 30 minutes he sent me photos and the only rust on the car besides the obvious hatch was a little rust on the strut tower. Everything was clean as hell. Gotta love southern cars!

I call my boss and let him know I wouldn't be working the next day. My buddy and I head to U-Haul, grab a trailer and start driving south about 5 hours into Greensboro, NC.

The seller and I had already agreed on a price since I was taking a risk on the car. He gave me a good deal and I was happy with what I was getting. Upon arrival, we had to bust the ignition switch off. If I'm not mistaken, the key was stuck or it just wouldn't unlock the ignition switch. We head to Harbor Freight and buy a little dremel. We cut some slits in the bolts and use a flat head to unscrew the bolts.




There she is... something about a stock unmolested 240sx that looks sexy as hell. lol

Couldn't leave NC without some soul food of course.



On the way back home, I stopped by Springfield, VA to pick up a crack free dash for $75. Nothing but wins that day.

The goal for this car is just to restore it. I've done it all. SR swaps, gutted interior, welded diff, etc. I just want something clean I can drive. Eventually down the road, I'll do something cool. KA-T, OEM Kouki aero, wheels, etc.

The very few next days were spent trying to figure out why the car wouldn't start. I replaced the ignition switch, fuel pump & filter, spark plugs, and an injector. I also changed the oil and removed an alarm system that was wired up in the car. I also removed the interior to get rid of the sound deadening and cleaning the interior of the car. I'll be replacing the old sound deadening with some dynamat or something.



This car did come with almost a full interior. No back seats, rear speaker covers, or hatch carpet. As of now, the dash is also out.

I finally get the car started and it has rod knock... lol So maybe the seller did know a thing or two about cars.

This was around May when I figured out what was wrong with the car. I took some time to figure out what path I was going to take with the car without breaking the bank.

I settled for buying a replacement KA with lower miles out of a S14. I traveled to Jersey for it. Here it is on the stand ready to be torn down.



In between all this, I have a leak in my garage ceiling due to a clogged AC drain line. Gotta love being a new homeowner.



We removed all the wet drywall and fixed the clog. While there was a big hole in the ceiling, I took advantage and spent a day installing a water line so I could have water in the garage/wash cars.






You can see a new toolbox I purchased in the back as well. 12 years of working on cars and this is my first box. No more tool bags. lol

KA is coming out. About 2-3 hours of actual work, the KA was ready to be pulled. This was on 4th of July. I've gotten complaints from neighbors to the HOA about me working on cars so I had to be sneaky with pulling out the engine.




Meanwhile with the S14 KA... I tore it down and repainted the block, ordered probably everything new. Gaskets, plugs, wires, engine mounts, etc.

Here it is getting the block cleaned and stripped right before paint.




New timing chain installed. The engine is on TDC, but I'm going to redo the upper chain and camshaft positioning like the FSM just so all the markings on the chain are lined up properly. I didn't remove the camshafts just because the head wasn't going to come off when I first did it.



Block painted as well...



A few parts being cleaned... Brackets, oil pan, upper timing cover. etc.


Next step with the car is to prep the engine bay. I'm in the middle of scheduling to have my rust repair and getting some quotes for engine bay paint. I'll be stripping the engine bay completely bare.


Here are some parts that I have for the KA...


These just came in today too... RHDJapan ftw!


Like I said... this will be more of a restoration type build. I will be replacing as much as OEM parts as possible. Weather stripping, carpet, etc. I just want a clean daily for now. I'll be rebuilding the other KA for a KA-T setup in the near future. Either that or have the 13-B in the RX7 rebuilt and ported (you can see it in the background in one of the photos...

Once the engine bay is being painted and the KA is back together, I'll be focusing on the suspension and brakes.

Stay tuned for more progress soon.

[Krusty_s13]

Glad you're resotoring that one! Looks good.

[A DOG 406]

That sucks your neighbors complain about you working on your car. God forbid a man does his own mechanic work in his own domain.

Keep up the oem spec work my dude looks good!

[PoorMans180SX]

Looks pretty cool so far man, I've always liked white hatches.

[NVSTY]

Here we are almost 5 years later. I lost interest for about 2 years and let the car sit in the garage. Finally in 2023 I picked back up where i left off and continue to upgrade the car when I can...



I decided to tackle the sound deadening and apply new sound deadening instead. Was a shit ton of work but was well worth it.






Once that was completed, I started routing all new speaker/amp wiring and did the battery relocation because I am a minimalist when it comes to the engine bay. lol







Painted the carpet back and put it in along with the dash. The interior was finally coming together.... I also had sourced the missing rear interior like seats, speaker covers, privacy hatch, etc. Cleaned the door shell and installed new speakers with tweeters along with new plastic.






Before putting the engine in, I had the engine bay painted. Came out ok. Shop did a shitty job unfortunately. I put the engine in far from completed because I received an HOA complaint.




Spent a lot of time and money buying every bolt still available for the KA which was a big reason why I lost interest. I felt like I was getting into a never ending spiral of spending... lol But honestly, it was worth it.





Finally it was starting to come along. I couldn't believe how clean everything looked. Sometimes having OCD with your car pays off.



Fast forward to 2024/2025.... I gave in. The idea of being stock was out the window. The 16 year old me wanted to build this car the way I dreamed of while browsing NicoClub and Zilvia all these years. Now at 33, I can make it happen.

I splurged on some of my favorite parts and brands. Hours of browsing on Buyee, waking up early to bid, and saving my money left and right and was able to make it happen one part at a time...






Wired up the gauges to an aux fuse box and wrapped the glovebox in confetti material...


Here is how the car sits now...














Thank you for making it this far. The car is fully functional, full interior, working AC/Heat, and is a blast to drive! Every gasket, seal, bolt, sensor, hose, etc is brand new on the KA.

Next on the list is to overhaul the rear suspension.

[Kylerkickass240]

spectacular. engine bay is primo. good stuff man

[tuzzio]

Man this is gooooooood stuff.

[anti tyler]

aye we have the same car pusher at work lol