OK so its been awhile a few cars here and there mostly unfinished projects, but i think now that i have the ball rolling its a good time to start a build thread for this ugly yet awesome 1987 200sx hatch AKA the redheaded step child of nissan in the 80’s ;p lol
so this is what has happened since day one
1st thing i did was i got it towed by my good friends a J’N’E recovery (905-562-6000 caa approved).
2nd thing i did was i inspected the car more to see what issuse needed to be addressed first, so i came up with this list of things to do
figure out why this bitch dont run
rip and strip interior out (carpet/sound crap)
address minor body work
find and locate a new heart
get rid of this autotragic tranny.
so from this list of not to many things to do went
getting it running. . .
to get this bitch running i found out the fuel pump was shorting out popping fuses. so i located a used crap stock s13 one i had in my closet of unknown car parts. put it in a pail of gas and sure enough the car ran fine. new solution order a walbro
make this pig lighter. . .
i ripped all the seats out so i could gain access to the carpet and that heavy sound shit they put all over the floors. I got the carpet up and expected to see at least a hole or 2 in the floor seeming how its a 23yr old car only to find the floor was so mint it was like the car was only a yr or 2 old. so after i took all the carpet out and started to work on removing the sound crap they use(i know the word just cant spell it for some reason lol) i didint know were to get dry ice so i tried using a heat gun DONT EVER DO THIS DOSENT WORK MAKES A MESS ! i got mad at my work being slowed down to a pace of like 1 square foot in 20 mins gay so i threw my hammer down on the floor only to have massive chucks fall off, then bam light switch turned on and away i went hammering on the floor lightly till i seen it start to lift then grabbed my scrapper and lifted and i was able to remove the whole car of this shit in about 2hrs and thats front to trunk.
Body work. . .
Ok well there isn’t much, seriously theres little light dots of rust. so i went and talked to my body shop friend and he said when im ready bring the car down and he will just DA sand the rust dots and scuff and paint white again for a couple hundred.
the new heart. . .
well after i got it running so i knew the problem, i desided that i want a better motor then the stock CA20E. but i didnt know which motor to use so i did some research to see what motors can fit with little modification’s. so my options were SR20DET, CA18DET, KA24DE(T), RB20DET, 350, so with these as my options that i would consider i went with the KA24DE as i was reading an artical on the net of this guy named Henry(he’s a robot http://jumbosandbox.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html ) and this sealed the deal along with some info on an s12 forum.
autotragic. . .
gay, needs to go ! problem solved when i purchased my new motor swap
parts i have ordered and or have now
got rid of my tail lights thought they were ugly, bought some 85-86 six pack lights (lol every time i say this or hear it i think the lights are alcoholics)
located stock se side skirts and end caps
located turbo front lip
picked up a s13 ka24de
picked up 5spd trans.
clutch masters clutch
s13 drive shaft( i need front half for swap)
lots of zip ties lol
armor coat rust paint (black for the floors)
shrink tube
soder/and gun
electrical tape lots of it
future parts to get
s13 front end hubs/ spindles (so i can use coilovers)
so instead of taking pictures i desided to put a days work into this today. me and my buddy F_rank got together made a trip to CT got some new crap and practically have the motor ready to be ripped out and got the other motor prepped(remove and capped off lots of useless ka vac lines). then called it a day. i will post pictures tomorrow when i can get some in the day.
how low do you think those Megans go in the rear? im assuming low as it has an adjustable rear pirch for the trailing arm , as for the fronts not worried cause of the s13 conversion. . . . and really i figured with some roll and alot of pull i could do it lol, what sizes for the front do you think i should run and what offset?
I run a 15x7 +0 with a 10mm spacer in the front to clear the brakes. And a 15x8 +0 with a 30mm spacer in the back. The rear doesn’t go as low as you might think. Those adjustable perches don’t adjust height, they adjust preload.
---------- Post added at 09:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:19 AM ----------
Also, when swapping to KA, use the KA mounts with the KA engine mount brackets. S12 mounts are garbage and dont realy bolt up nicely.
ok thanks for the insight Osad. ill hold off on wheels till i figure the suspension and motor stuff.
so im going to do exactly what Henry did in the rear of his s12 he bought these adjustable perches and 450lb springs from day motor sports. and just buy some decent used s13 fronts from some one.
do you have a picture of the rear im curious to see how low or what it looks like.
Henry used the 9500SP im going to use the same. (if i dont go megan) this set up and spring is stiff shit and go’s really low. you’ll have to use some gates fuel hose or something for the springs tho on the top and bottom to help it, i was reading in his build on s-chassis that the rear made a lot of noise he did this and hasn’t had problems since.
Im sure if you retain the OEM upper spring seat you should be fine, I did and have had no issue.
I also dont have any photos of the rear suspension setup unfortunately. It is low, just not slammed. A huge difference over stock. Be VERY aware though of camber in the rear. It gets to very high negative camber the further its dropped. I wish I took photos of my old tires haha.
rmallari - thanks for the pic. from here I can pretty much almost see what I want, thanks for the tease haha.
MP/B240 - I know I know lol… I have just been busy working on the car I neglect to snap some pictures. I’ll snap some today. . . . I hope.
Osad - we will have to get together for sure, and there is always Bings meet. I still have a long ways to go before the car even sees the road.
I had a hard time with those motor mounts, I actually just disconnected them from the block its self then pulled how the hell to get the one bolt. It’s in on a stupid angle and there is very little room. and you cant get at it from the bottom like in 240sx’s, Any insight on this?
