I plan on getting a 240 and doing an sr20 swap on it. I have the whole car and list of mods pretty much planned out. After I add it up with install and everything it comes to a lot more money then what there being sold as. What do you think about buying an already swapped and turboed 240?
Just looking for some opinions here.
If you’re just after the car, you’re right buy something already done, if you want to learn, if you’re into building, if you want a project etc etc, build it up, the satisfaction of doing your own work is a reward in itself.
You don’t have to go out and spend all that money in one shot, take your time with the project have fun with it.
Get the car running, do suspension work, get your engine, slowly do some mods until you’re happy with the results.
my suggestion.
If you have no desire for this and just want a done up car, go out and buy something already done. There are many for sale.
I’d rather build it myself vs buying one done…
Reason I say this is because I’d rather that the car was put together by me and know that I didnt miss or over-look anything. It also gives you a better understand of things go and how they work so if you do run into problems, solving them can be quite a bit easier if you already understand how it works or what its suppose to do etc…
When people build cars they build them to suit their goal. So some might want a show looking car and will only care how it looks from the outside but mean while the underbody/enginebay/interior may not be up to pair. I have seen or know of a few people personally who did SR20 swaps while their frames or struts where almost completely gone, so what was the point in doing the engine swap if the chassis wont even last ?
Plan out what you want with the car, and try to get a car that matches your goals. I think buying a mildly modified car makes much more sense than buying a stock one, but I would steer clear of heavily done up ones.
buying the car and doing it to your taste in my opinion gives you the satisfaction and more love for the car, but buying it with some mods already saves you some headache and money. ultimately your decision.
Assuming the parts listed on the car are in your plan, buy modified and save money.
You want to learn?..take it apart afterwards and check things out. You learn just as much re-and-reing as you do buying new parts and installing them.
dont buy a stock car.
if you want an SR then buy one of the many SR powered cars here, test drive it, comp test it etc.
I would never do over what i have gone through with my car.
Let someone else make the mistakes, go through all the pain and lost sleep, let them lose money on the sale.
Buy something that has most of what you want and go from there.
Learning is way over rated. How practical is it to know how to re & re a turbo charger? How much value will you really get over your lifetime from knowing how to install a set of coilovers properly?
not much, unless you do it professionally, in which case you wouldnt need to learn it, you’d already know.
i think u shud build it urself ul like the car more and ull get a chance to see everything on the car so yeah, its just a different feeling knowing you worked on it.
I agree, it is a different feeling. It’s a feeling of bitterness. When I sold my car, I was so pissed about all the work and money that went into it, and the fact that I could’ve had so much more for so much less had I not wasted my time and done it myself. When you grow up and get a job, you won’t have time to work on the car anyway. Save your money and use it on shit that matters like trackdays, booze and hoes.
buy an unmolested, 100% stock car in good condition, you WILL thank yourself later.
i have worked on/driven a LOT of modified cars in my day and with the exception of a very select few (maybe 2% of them), they are all total fuck bags with many problems. these problems get amplified when you modify things.
IMO people who mod cars care more about modding them than maintaining them. either that, or because they are “car guys” they think they know what’s wrong with their car and refuse to take it to a mechanic to get it fixed but they actually don’t know how to do anything besides installing sweet lip kits and JDM rims.
If I wasn’t into the tech side of cars and not doing auto tech in school I would definitely buy a modded one already. But since I enjoy working on cars I like the satisfaction of modifying the car myself.
hmmm thanks for all the comments guys. I think you all made pretty good points. The stuff about loosing all the money and having the headaches of doing all the work is pretty discouraging when I think about it. Maybe it is better to buy something that is already swapped and is close to my goals, and then go with it from there. Anyway, that put a new perspective on things for me, thanks guys.
Make sure it was truly stock, and not just returned to stock… Look for holes and stuff like in bumper rebar for intercoolers, and places where guages may have been installed, just to name a few. Starting from scratch would be your best bet, I learned the hard way…
i remember when i waslooking for a my second 240 i went to this guy to see his 240 there was so much problems, he was young prolly around 19 hes like i have my mechanic liecence so i was like yea thas cool, i didnt believe him in knew he was bulshiting. anyways i saw the car the bumper wasnt even mounted on properly it was loose u can pull it forward and when i checked the frame and stuck my hand in a hole lol, i asked him if he knew about it and hes like yea its normal all 240s have it . i was like ur a moron in my head and i just told yea nice car ill prolly grab it.
LOL, man, people are too nice nowadays. I’ve told two people that I straight out don’t want their car for any price. One was a Lexus SC400 that had obviously been in a horrible accident because all the panels were misaligned, the whole car was shifted to one side. The other was an mr2 that had more rust than an S13, refused to go into 3rd gear, A/C didn’t work, and the guy kept telling me they never came with power steering, even though I DROVE one with power steering the previous day.