Background Info:
I already got a car, i love it, but its no fun to drive, just good for chilling at Tim’s and DD stuff. I go to school and have a poor as job lol. Im moving out to the country soon so im gona be bored and the track is like 5 min away.
Goal:
-----I’ve decide that i want to purchase a 240. I want to swap it. I figure il get a shop to do it (not sure which one, let me know if of any good shops) because i don’t have the tools, much knowledge and i figure the time it will take me i could probably just work instead and get it done by a pro right.
—The next step would be i want to do a turbo upgrade for some serious power 400bhp would be a nice start but im not scared to go for 400whp but its gona be on stock internals and this install work il probably do my self.
----After reaching my power goals then il go into suspension and fixing it up correctly. If Shit brakes due to the power il fix it and upgrade it right.
Action Plan:
1.Get a car, can be a shit box as long as it stays together (aprox. $1500)
2.Engine from this site. sr20DET (aprox. $2000) http://www.jdmracingmotors.com/index.php?area=motors&motor_id=44
3.Turbo Upgrade: Peakboost mani/downpipe/dumptube, wastegate, garette t3/t04e 50trim w.48 a/r (or recommend a better t3/t04e) (aprox. $2500) or recommend better upgrade for similar price.
4.FMIC please recommend nothing crazy, basic one for my setup (aprox. $600)
5.Z32 maf + walbro fuel pump + BOV
6. Boost Controller (aprox. $500)
7. Injectors (recommend the basic no overkill)
8. What electronics am i gona need now ECU, SAFC or what ever to get this baby to run.
9.Tuning= well i have no clue were to start here, so let me know.
Point of this Topic:
Now recommend any basics that i need, give me ur 2cents. Im not trying to make this car 100% reliable cause its only gona be driven the odd day of the week. After this is all done, il start making it reliable and making it something that can go in more then just a straight line as well fix and upgrade the minor items. IF u have an action plan that is better for my goals i want to here it. (This what i have right now is basicly what i’ve gotten from the facts, stickies, and posts that i’ve read for the short time i’ve been here)
why skimp here^? the basis for a good car begins here…
I’n not saying you can’t get a reasonably clean chassis for that price, but if you want to build something up, might as well be nice to start…
And as for 400, an S-chassis w/250-300hp can be surprisingly quick, corvette quick…
Everyone wants crazy numbers, but all the power in the world won’t help you if you can’t turn or stop. I would recomend upgrading everything little by little. Like when you eat supper, eat a lil peas, eat a lil potatoes, eat a lil meat and go in circles until it’s done.
well this car more then anything is just to keep me busy, and to have a little fun. If i spent more on the base of the car, the other things would have to wait alot longer, and i figure that while im building if a better base for my build comes along and i get realy serious about this thing then it shouldn’t be a problem to switch over to a new base. Just means a little more work and extra parts 
Well the reasons for the numbers is simply a goal i have. I believe the true fun and skill comes when the car is going around corners but for me that goal comes 1 step after.
Just keep the opions coming, im a perspective thinker, so i may not agree with some things right away but i do consider them
Oh* and something that i could realy use advice on is electornics. As well i need to get this thing tuned so tips on that as well
You don’t need the slightest bit of power for the track, infact, I’d argue that it will HURT to have it early on. Unless you’re already embarassing the likes of Schumacher and Alonso, keep your car at stock hp, and do other things to it. Pretty much all of the people that learned to drive on a fast car are AWFUL at it. If your car is fast, it will give you no incentive to learn to be fast. Just because you’re beating cars in your 400whp beast doesn’t mean you know the first thing about driving. If you look at people like Sasha and ADAM and think they’re fast due to power, think again, they didn’t start with those numbers, they got there when they learned how to handle their vehicles. ADAM still beats Vipers in his stock KA black car, if that says anything.
Good rubber is a MUST, and I mean R-compound, not street tires. Coilovers are a MUST, at the very least Megans, but you’d be very well off spending a bit more and getting Stance. You also need to be comfortable in your race car, so a GOOD seat is very important too, one that will hold you in nicely so you’re not flying around all over the place. For safety reasons, I can’t reccomend a harness until you have a cage in your car, but a harness will also go a long way toward keeping you in your seat. And please look very carefully for your chassis, you don’t want to spend your precious winter months repairing rust when you could be getting some real work on your car done. Also, avoid HICAS if possible, swapping a subframe to get rid of it is by no means a fun way to spend your time. Also, get a race alignment! Other more experienced people can give advice as to which settings to use, but I can atleast tell you to get one. If you’re going adjustible multi link, that’s cool, but if you can’t afford to do the whole thing, do the rear upper camber arms, so you can fix camber in the back, and adjustible tie rod ends for the front, so you can fix your bump steer problem. You won’t have one if you stay at stock height, but… nobody stays at stock height lol
and if you do go big hp
before you do the motor
do brakes, suspension, rims+tires, differential
then motor
i hate it when people put sr’s into stock cars and then call it a track car
expesially when they have a 89-90 and they keep the open diff. its just a waste of power
i only want 300whp in my 240. And I wanna run low 12s or high 11s, nothing too much you know?
i would say buy a 240sx already with an SR and maybe little things and go from there then you have the motor so do like the other guys said brake, coils, rims and tires or atleast a decent set of tires and a diff if u have an open diff and then add more hp after you have learnt how to handle the car
edited
seems like suspension seems to be the serious thing that needs to be done first. Any recommendations on a reasonable price setup.
Ok well im almost convinced on the chassis, so im gona spend some more time looking for a good one then.
Getting a cage and a harness… well im gona wait to do that after when i start putting it on the road. I also have no clue in how to purchase a cage or harness setup… so il have to do some research on that.
How about this new action plan
1.240 with good chassis
2.sr20 swap it (if the car didn’t come with it already)and boost controller to up the boost to 10lbs
3.Suspension
4.Harness (by the way how much would a harness setup cost)
5.Turbo upgrade
Hey man, everyone here wants a FAST car. It’s also funny when they usually say, stuff like “I just want to run 12s and i’ll be happy with 300whp”. But honestly, all of that takes money.
If I were you, I’d focus on getting a nice clean chassis to begin with. For me, I thought that I had bought a clean chassis but it turned out to be crappy. And now I have to swap all my shit onto another chassis.
In my opinion, this should be your action plan depending on your budget:
- Get a clean chassis
- If your chassis is not that great, fix up all the rust.
- Make sure everything in the car is fine… suspension, engine, etc
- Once you think your car is fine, get some sort of suspension whether its coilovers or shocks and springs.
- Get a good set of rims and front tires especially. If you can afford it, get rims and good tires for the front and rear.
- Most people would prolly tell you to get brakes but if you decide to get an SR and let’s say it’s a clip, you can use the front brakes from the clip, just change the pads for now.
- If you find that the 180sx aren’t good enough for you, then get brakes.
- upgrade the turbo in the future depending on how your motor is treating you.
NoSkillz, where do you currently live and where are you moving to?
Okay, I’m gonna go ahead and say that going 300ZX brakes right away (like I did) is a huge waste of money. Unless you’re running on a super brake-intensive track, just get a really good set of pads and rotors (like hawk HPS and brembo rotors) and drive it like that.
For suspension, usually you choose between shock/spring & coilovers. Since you said you’re gonna be living near a track, and racing your car often, there really is no choice anymore. Coilovers are a must. Shock & spring is if you had to deal with Toronto’s potholes on a daily basis and the car only saw occasional track use. Since that’s not the case, they’re useless to you.
For coilovers, Stance all the way. D2s and all variations on them are absolute garbage, Megans are decent, but their dampeners cannot compare to the huge ones on the Stance coils. And for 1500 ish in your hand, they’re a bargain. If you have more money to spend on coils, like maybe 3g’s or so, JIC FLT-A2s are a good choice.
For tire, get a set of RA-1s, or V710s. The former lasts more, the latter grips better. If you have MONEY, get Hoosiers, they cost about the same, but you’re gonna be replacing them way more often.
Sways are also a very good idea. Cheapest ones I think are the suspension techniques ones, and they’re pretty good too. Whitelines are a bit better, bit pricier, and are probably the best bang for the buck. Largus is supposed to be the best, but they’re overpriced, imo.
Also pretty good idea to gut the car, or atleast whatever you can part with, and relocate your battery to rear. Maybe even invest in a fiberglass hood.
ive got project mu pads with 180sx brakes and it feels great. ide reccomend something like that if your not looking to go huge.
^Yup, that’s a great choice. Save your money until you really decide you NEED the big Z brakes.
i think when sasha had 326 whp he only ran 12.6 in the quarter
correct me if iam wrong
Solarian---- i think il go with what u said about the brake pads and suspension, my budget for coilovers isn’t to big so il shop around and wait for deals, and il look for the ones u recommended. Rims and tires il wait to choose on depending where im at when i decide to take it to the track. Oh gutting and batery relocating is defiently gona be done.
Birdhou53----- i like the action plan u gave me, im gona try to follow that.
Roast----- I currently live around Orchard Park High School, im guessing u know where that is since ur from the Creek as well. Im moving to Puslinch which is basicly 15 min away from geulph on highway 6. My DD vehical is black 01 accord coupe with unpainted body kit .lol. you’ve probably seen it.
Matty---- those pads will be the one for me then. thanks!
thanks for all the help so far
Man! I goto op. I seen it b4. Put stock bumpers back on and get oem lip kit. ! yeesh. and some TL rims if your car is 5 lug. Have you seen the o3 or 4 with the tl’s and the light blue paint. that car is sick. i think he has a personalized plate like sykcord or smth
I would dissagree with the Z32 is a waste comment. My first 240sx, I was warping stock rotors an all corners avery 6 months, which is BS doing brakes that often. I have a heavy brake foot however.
I love my Z32’s and would highly reccomend them. Stock brakes with regular pads suffer from SERIOUS fade when speeds are above 150km/h and panic stop scenarios.