Post your setup and what you think about the parts

SON240sx Automotive
1

get an idea of what everyones running and how they like it and how they have tested it. or what they will expect of it

footworks: 8/6 coilovers usuailly on the stiffest dampening, aluminum subframe bushings, adjustable rear upper control arms, adjustable toe rods, adjustable traction rods, energy suspension tc rods, engergy suspension swaybar endlinks, hicas rear sway bar, non hicas subframe, rear strut bar, hicas steering rack.

My steering is stiff and responsive and everyone i have ever let drive my car loves it.

my suspension setup has a lot of small bounce shitty dampening from coilovers and shitty coilovers, when compared to other higher end coilovers these have a lot of a swaying bounce eg, after hitting a bump the front end floats up and down, when i compare it to other coilovers the front end hits and is stiff with no bounce.
I installed the non hicas subframe with multi link parts and bushings all at once, I noticed the car felt a lot more “flat” a lot of the rear bounce was taken away i think the thing that makes the most difference in my setup in the rear was the bushings, seem like a very good upgrade for $100.

interior: basically only performance i have in my interior is a momo monte carlo and a short shifter.

I highly recomend gettting a wheel, gave me the clearance i need so my knees dont rub on the wheel and i can see my gauges a lot clearer.

electronics: oldschool safc, turbo timer, hud
not much to say, safc is good, turbo timer is handy, i rarely look at the hud

engine:stock ca18det, stock ar trim ca turbine, full 3 inch exhuast.
its crazy the difference you get from opening up the exhuast i went from making full boost at 4,500 to full boost at about 3 grand.

estimate my setup being about 160-170ish at the wheels might be a little more.

overall, my car needs some minor mods like dual rad fans and a fmic, tires and laser alignment and corner weighted and balanced

should make my car compeditive on the track.

ok someone elses turn.

2

- CP Racing front and rear strut bar (Sept. 16, '03)
Hell of a lot better compared to the other bard I had (Bomz) which was
hinged and didn’t do sh*t for me.

- Whiteline Front & Rear sway Bars (Apr. 21, '04)
If you want to start somewhere in the suspension dept., swaybars is
where it’s at. Night and day difference over stock.

- Whiteline TC Rod Bushings (Apr. 3-21, '04)

  • Whiteline Front Lower Control Arm Bushings (Apr. 3-21, '04)
  • Whiteline Rear Upper Control Arm Bushings (Apr. 3-21, '04)
  • Whiteline Rear Toe Arm Bushings (Apr. 3-21, '04)
  • Whiteline Rear Traction Rod Bushings (Apr. 3-21, '04)
  • Whiteline Rear Subframe Spacers (Apr. 3-21, '04)
    A total pain in the ass if you want to swap your bushings. But the overall
    effect from these is definitely worth it. Car will feel much more
    responsive, and although one of the cheapest mod you can make, it’s
    also one of the most tedious. Don’t believe what others say about using a
    blow torch or drill to remove your old bushings. :hsugh:

- D2 Coilovers - 7kg/mm Front, 5kg/mm Rear (Apr. 30, '04)
I love these things. Made my car so much better. It really omplimented
the rest of my suspension. If you plan to get these, plan to upgrade the
other suspension pieces too (arms, bushings, sways, et.c)

- B&M Short Shifter (Jan. 13, 2004)
Compared to stock, very solid and well worth it. I have felt the other
shifters (Obx/Pilot, and the one Bing sels) and none really compare to the
solid feel to this.

- 300zx brakes w/ Brembo rotors on all 4 corners (with Axxis pads)
Awesome. Pedal feel and stopping response is great.

- 5-lug conversion
Jesus told me it’s the JDM thing to do. :dunno:
Plus it makes my coupe look :wackit:

- Flowmaster 40-series muffler
Let’s move on shall we :ugh:

3

Explain. After all this thread is to help others owners.

4

I was just messin. It acutally sounds nice. Takes some time to break in
to get rid of that rattly can sound. Worthless mod but meh… :dunno:

5

Man I thought this thread was gonna fill up with other people with good stuff…

6

move this thread back to car chat so that people see it. Then maybe it will fill up faster… its an awesome idea for a thread.

7

I agree this is a wicked thread.

I don’t have much done (yet) but here we go:

  • Megan Racing Coilovers
    The most drastic I’ve done since I got the car a few months ago. Can’t beat the bang for your buck with these and if everyone doesn’t already know, the Apex’i D2’s are the exact same product as these. Same color, same product code, same specs, different branding and they sell for a LOT more. I’ve got them set very loose because of my girlfriend who gets carsick easily but even still the handling has increased significantly and everyone who’s driven the car since I installed them absolutely loves them. Speaking from a money-minded perspective these are the best street coils.

  • Megan Racing Short Shifter
    The install of this thing is completely stupid. It feels like you’re installing some generic universal short shifter, because you are. However, once everything is said and done and you’ve replaced the shitty bushing that comes with it, with a $3 bushing from Nissan, it’s a comfortable, sleek shifter that works ‘ok’ and feels better than stock. They claim a 40% reduction in throw but I measured it before and after and it’s actually about the same, about 5% difference but the shifts are much more solid so it was worth it - again, this MR stuff is very budget oriented and you can’t beat the bang for your buck. However, if you’ve got money to spend on a shifter, get a B&M like Gonad said - I’ve used a B&M quite a bit and it’s waaayyy better.

Soon to come:

  • Megan Racing (wtf am I thinking with this MR stuff?) front and rear strut tower bars
  • Whiteline or Cusco sways (haven’t decided yet but doing a GB here soon of one or the other)
  • Nissan RB20DET (this will be complete during the winter months and on the road with minor bolt-ons in the spring)
8

'96 Blacktop SR20DET engine & tranny [approx. 90,000kms]
T25 turbo @ 8psi
SR Cluster [Japan spec: 9k tach with 7.5k redline & no mph]
HKS front mounted intercooler
A’PEXi N1 3" cat-back exhaust
Megan Racing 3" flex downpipe
Magnaflow 3" high flow cat
Fram Z32 [300zx TT] fuel filter
Walbro 255LPH fuel pump
Saab recirc valve
SPEC Stage 2 clutch [High clamp pressure plate, segmented chatter-free Kevlar disc]
Machined/Resurfaced Flywheel
NGK G-Power BK6RE spark plugs
New pilot bearing [OEM from Nissan]
New clutch pedal mounting bracket [OEM from Nissan]
New “performance” clutch slave cylinder
Front strut tower bar
Rear strut tower bar
Cone air filter
Battery relocated to the trunk
Razo 100g gunmetal shift knob
Autometer Ultra-Lite boost gauge [a-pillar mounted]
Autometer Ultra-Lite air/fuel gauge [a-pillar mounted]
HKS Turbo Timer Type-0 [steering column mounted]
Black mesh wheels with silver polished lip [15x6 +30] and 205/60/R15s up front and 215/60/R15s out back
Sylvania Cool Blue halogen headlights
Switch-operated electric fan
Switch-operated license plate light

Fluids:

Mobil 1 Synthetic 15w50 motor oil
Fram oil filter
Valvoline SynPower sythethic DOT4 brake fluid
Valvoline SynPower synthetic powersteering fluid
Sunoco Ultra 94 gasoline

Will edit post with info on parts tomorrow afternoon!

9

im curious how any one that has installed tc rods likes them? i’m finding my steering to be sluggish and not precise enough although i do need an alignment… and i am thinking about this upgrade… perhaps u can provide some insight jesse…

for people who have done the 300zx brake swap… how did u disconnect the brake line? do you need special line wrenches? i got as far as the brake line and couldn’t disconnect it from the line coming out of the chassis. also, did you cut or remove the watershield? i have mine cut right now, removing looks pretty annoying. any help would be appreciated… thanks.

10

Wow, what a smart idea, “Here are all my mods, please come steal my car.”

11

I have Whiteline TC Rod bushings…great mod. Tightens up the steering/response a decent bit. With this comes the need to be a little more attentive with the wheel when going over bumps because you’re more “connected” with the road. IMO, totally worth it, esp. if your current bushings are “gushers”. :slight_smile:

12

Well, I’m a little bored at works so I’ll just list some mods that I have done over the last few months:

MR Pulleys: certainly nice pieces. The powersteering pulley appears to be slightly mis-alligned (at least in my application) so it is chewing the belt but I’m sure that is more my fault the Megan’s. Overall they are about 1/2 the weight of stock pulleys. I did not really notice any substantial gain, other than a slightly smoother acceleration. Cleaned up the engine a bit too.

Apexi AVCR EBC: Great unit. Install is fairly straight forward. I managed to track down a very rare black AVCR with white lettering. For all those guys that say it is too complicated…you’re an idot. This is as complicated as you need it to be. Simply set your boost preference and let the thing learn. As you get more comfortable, you can mess with gear or rpm dependant boosting, scramble, differerent feedback speeds, whatever. The only thing you need to remember is that it does not measure boost in BAR…so correction is not 1-14.5psi but rather 1-14.22 psi … don’t know Apexi would do that.

Apexi PowerFC: Simple, 2 minute install, all the functionality you need to tune well. Sure, it doesn’t have some of the goodies of an AEM but it is less than 1/2 the price. I got the commander too. My only gripe is that Apexi changed the display on the commander and it is a pretty basic dot matrix design. I think if they come out with a commander that has a display like the AVCR, SAFC, VAFC they will have a winner. I am currently running a base map tuned by Scott Avoy (Enthalpy of FreshAlloy) that is doing well. I’m currently doing some street tuning to get it how I like it.

Deatschwerks 600cc Injectors: Great injectors for a great price. http://www.deatschwerks.com/ These are basically rebuilt and reflowed Nissan injectors. These are my second set. I did have a slight issue with the first set of 550cc injectors I got but Dave Deatsch, owner and 240sx driver (SuperDave on FreshAlloy), was awesome in correcting the problem. The second set I got were in perfect working order and are happy in their new home. Deatschwerks injectors also come completely cleaned, flowed and balanced to within 3% of each other…you can’t beat that. Check out the site if you need injectors…Dave will hook you up.

Zeitronic ZT-2 Wideband: I think this is the best bang for your wideband buck. Not only does is provide realtime A/F data, but allows you to datalog up to 9 hours. This unit allows me to log a/f ratio and lambda, egts, rpm, trottle position and boost.

Z32 MAF: What can I say about this…it’s big. Be prepared to install a reducing coupler to get this thing in there. Wiring is pretty simple… just track a diagram down on the web…I think there is still one on JWT. You’ll need this if you plan on moving some more air.

I’ll update some more over the next week or two…I have two things on the go:

  • I’m just about to convert to a custom external wastegate setup using a Bings manifold, Tial 38mm wastegate and some ceramic coating… I’ll let you all know how that goes shortly.
  • I have some Z-brakes on the way.
13

Update…

Z32 4-Pot Brakes: Wow – definately a nice upgrade…I bought them used but in great shape. I didn’t need to turn the rotors so last Sunday I jacked the car up an slapped them on. Install was a breeze. The only thing that hung me up was trimming and bending the dust sheild. I don’t really have the right tools for that job so got a little brutal with it. Not the cleanest job but it works… at a later date I’ll get an air cutter/snipper and get back into there to clean it up. Braking is much better now. My last brakes were cooked so under hard braking I would get lots of vibration and pulling… no more. Braking now is very straight, predicatable and peddle feel is great. It actually feels like the pad is cutting into the rotor is bites so hard (Hawk Pads BTW).

Russell Speed Bleeders: Decided to try a set of these rather than bug the girlfriend. They worked flawlessly. I got them at Performance Improvements for $25 a set. I’m not sure if I could have found them cheaper but they actually had them in stock so I bought from them. Bleeding was really really fast and easy. About 5 pumps a side and we were all good.

Fireball Ceramic Coatings: Not a part but is just one more step completed in my switch to an External Wastegate setup. These guys did a great job, they coated my manifold inside and out…and thier coatings can withstand 2000degress celcius. Call them at 519-925-6342 or www.fireballcoatings.com

14

Clutchmasters 11lb. Flywheel
Great piece, looked of excellent quality. Noticeable difference? Yup! Insane fast revving, impossible to street? Nope.

I love it.

The real benefit is reaped doing a feathered 2,000-2,500 RPM launch. You just lunge forward SO much faster, and the engine doesn’t bog just afterward, it stays ready to go right to redline!

The car FEELS a bit faster in every gear, about like a flat gain of 10-15rwhp across the board or so. Nothing CRAZY though, but you will notice and like it. Think of it as the feeling of removing about 300 pounds from your car.

Heel-toeing is just…better. Easier.

The revs drop faster, so I wouldn’t advise it if you have stalling issues at lights. Could also pose a potential issue with open-venting blow-off valves.

Driving and launching the car is BARELY any harder at all. The hype about high-revving to launch and bogging etc is for people who cannot drive manual at all.

I love the feel it provides, i’d hate to go back to a stock flywheel.

ACT Clutch - Stage 1 Organic Disc
A nice surprise here; this clutch feels in almost every way exactly like stock. Stock pedal effort and very similar (possibly a bit shorter) pedal throw. No chattering.

The catch though, is that this clutch grabs harder than stock, and you can feel it. As well, the “sweet spot”, if you will, is a lot smaller. Takes very little time to adjust, and ultimately this clutch is better than stock but feels the same where it counts. The pedal will not bug you in traffic any more than the stock one will!

Rated at 267 ft/lbs.

I really like it!

Walbro 255 LPH High-pressure Fuel Pump
Installed to prep the car for KA-T.

Car runs just like before, I don’t feel any significant difference. The pump is louder than stock, be aware. Although still quite quiet, it is a noticeable faint humming coming from the back of the car.

In other words, it’s doing its job just fine, so i’m happy with it.

15

i agree however most of you live about 1200 miles or more away from me, plus you havent seen my car yet. if this site was local for me I would never do it but its not

180sx speedo-learning to convert mph to kph kinda sucks at first, but i think most of you guys use kph anyway

redtop SR (front clip)-what cant I say, i replaced my dead KA with a living and healthy motor it is tons better

replace all gaskets-oem
new water pump-oem
new belts-oem
new fuel filter-300zx
thermostat-oem
Blitz radiator cap

Apexi intake-good I wish it would have come with some plugs for the extra holes

greddy headgasket-not installed yet

fuel pump-walboro -okay I guess

boost controller (turbo xs manul) -it was 50 bucks great for the price

downpipe-blitz -nice finish thick metal and flanges

exhaust -5zigen rocket-loud as hell, but i have no cat either

coilovers-jic flt-a2 coilovers-very very stiff, adjusting knob hard to turn at times but very good track coilovers dont buy these if your car is a daily driver, i have heard they have changed the spring rates since I have bought these

T/C-rods-battle version-pretty good parts, nice finish–

tie rods–Tein -survived a rollover-good parts

sway bars-suspension techniques --decent for the money but non adjustable

RUCA–C-tune-very nice quality and finish for the price
strut tower braces-cheapes pilot i think its a STB

diff–Tomei 2 way technical trax advance -makes loud popping noises, sounds like ass, the wife thinks my car is broken, but it works everytime, I love it

rear subframe spacers-ebay cheapes -okay transmit for harshness

Fmic-made my own kit–bad idea-buy one -the piping is sub-par mostly

radiator fans-fal -loud and vibrate your whole car-but work well

radiator–Koyo -survived a roll over and was tweaked a bit after standing on the end tanks it bent back and its nine months later since I bent it back and still is going strong

wheels/tires–falken st -115 235-45-17 on ADR fuels–hey they were cheap -the wheel survived the roll over also and only suffered nicks-surpricing as the car was twisted so bad it broke the windsheild and the hatch would not close

hotpipe-enjuku -nice finish- fitment is okay-but then again see my comments abouot the FMic that could explain the fitment of this piece

clutch-ACT 6-puck unsprung-real good unless you slip it alot and then you have to replace the disc

nismo pivot and slave -could possiably make the clutch more civil

earls clutch line-gets rid of the damn box on the clutch line -actually doesnt create a headace

MR turbo elbo-nice but a fitting for the redtop o2 sensor would have been nice

cheap ebay exhaust mani–placement of one of the runners is poor and melts a coupler on my hot pipe–so I dont run it --the unit may be a MR

urethane filled motor and tranny mounts–as good as the nismo ones-and cost 10 bucks total

signal auto pool cue knob–kicks ass

pivot sleepy eye controller-okay I suppose

HKS-turbo timer–nice but over time the beep starts to sound a little shittier for somereason

Apex’i-SAFC II–okay but for some reason makes my car pop and back fire alot with no change in the settings

HKS EIDS–controls the decel function–replaced it with the SAFC-for sale it is a very good unit

GReddy/grex-RAS-good havent broken

project u pads–okay but the stock brakes suck, I have a set of 180sx brakes I am just lazy and have not put them on

ER cooling plate-nice finish but the upper piece that goes above the latch broke off -

Blitz bov–loud very loud. some say these leak I have not see that issue yet

I have more I think but cannot remember

16

Hmm wondering what exaust works best with the KA?

17

^^^ generally 2.25 - 2.5" piping
I’ll be selling a mandrel bent magnaflow muffler catback soon if you want.
Dual tip, looks almost stock, sounds really nice.

18

Lol I dont even have a 240 yet im just gathering general info

19

don’t run 3"…sneaking into the driveway…make that neigbourhood is impossible with one…on the brightside, if your gf is mad at you, you can’t hear her!

20

tell me about it, just put an RS*R exmag on mine … biggest mistake i’ve mad for a while haha