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91 240sx - only driven on Sundays
Last Post 02-02-2011 11:51 AM by Slappy. 12 Replies.
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McCoyUser is Offline
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McCoy

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07-13-2009 09:18 AM  
It's Monty from the SR20forum, finally making my way over here.

Here's my 91 240sx that I purchased off a SR20forum member back 3 years ago (98SR20VE if anyone wanted to know). I've slowly been adding parts to the car since the day I purchased it, trying to get the car to what I envisioned years earlier. The car is street legal, but is only used for HPDE/open lapping days, zero to no daily driving due to having time to get away from the family/work life currently.

Here's how the car sit's in the driveway after a wash last month. Currently on jack stands getting a new motor and a few other goodies.


Safety:

Being a father of two young boys and starting to instruct for the local BMWCCA, I decided to invest in safety. Custom 4pt cage, sorry still got to drive it to/from the track, 6pt autopower harnesses, and Sparco Evo L seats with hand built mounts to get the seats to the floor. My next major purchase will be a new helmet and neck protection (hans probably).


Suspension:

Alot has gone into the suspension. With the exception of the front and rear LCA's all the rubber has been replaced with spherical bearings in the suspension. Progress adjustable swaybars front/rear.

Up front I've gone from Koni 8611-RACE inserts in Deviant housings that help gain some inner tire room, GC hardware, ERS 550lb springs, Vorshlag tophats (built in and sealed torrington bearings, and Tein camber plates modified to gain some camber. The hubs and uprights are from an S14 and I'm using 60mm nismo studs.


In the back I switched the rear uprights to the Z32 to save weight and allow me to run a Koni 8610 insert. GC hardware and ERS 400lb springs along with Tein top hats are all being used. The rear hubs are Z32 and also using 60mm nismo studs. No rear parking brake.. weight savings


Brakes:

I decided to go the cost effective route for now... oem. I've run wilwoods on the sentra and from my track experience realized that the dynalite would not be enough for this car. For now I'm using the 300zx calipers on 350z track rotors up front and the 300zx calipers/rotors out back. For track pads, hawk blues (F/R) have been doing wonders with big RA-1 tires and 250whp, as long as they don't see rain. I'm considering a Forged superlite caliper on the 350z track rotor as a upgrade to this setup, the cost of pads is the main reason, another being the current setup has some issues with pad overhang due to the caliper bracket design used to mate these with the 350z track rotors.

The 1" Z32 BMC feels just right, I ran the S13 auto 15/16 BMC for a year, talk about rear tire lockup :eek:

Fronts


Rear


Wheels/Tires:

For track I'm currently running 17x9.5 +38 Enkei NT03-M wheels with 255/40/17 RA-1's. Another deal that I couldn't pass, and it only takes a 5mm spacer to clear the springs up front. I was running 275 RA-1's last year, but am considering the NT-01 for next year, as for size, I'll probably go back to the 275/40/17 again.

Motor:

Under hood shot as of last month. I've always missed the band wagon it seems. This is the S13 SR20DE motor that I turboed. The bonus going this route was that I got to keep the KA wiring harness with very few mods required to make it work with the SR20DE motor. I reused alot of parts from the turboed sentra I ran for years... B13 JWT ECU, MSD 50lb injectors and rail, Z32 MAF, and JWT S3 cams. The first turbo I found, an S14 T28 survived 7 track days before deciding to take a dump on track, which required me getting a tow home. The current T25 that I found in a pinch only cost me $50, but doesn't have much umph on track.


I pulled the SR20DE about a week ago, low compression in #3 and #4 cyclinders and a major thirst for oil the last few months probably means I'm having technical difficulties with my motor. The lower compression of the SR20DET (8.5:1 vs 9.5:1) coupled with running a larger turbo at lower boost should help with the detonation issue I saw last year on the hottest of track days. New rod bearings went in last week and currently waiting on misc gaskets and o-rings from GregV

I've test fit the new setup and it looks like everything will fit. I know the 2876R isn't the most idea turbo, it was one of those deals I couldn't pass on and figure I'll switch to the T3/T04E 50trim that is in my garage over the winter.


Cooling:

Lots of ducting, stock fan shroud and mechanical fan are doing wonders currently. Once I get the power over 300whp, I'm not sure what will need to happen then. Currently for oil, I'm just using the greddy-like oil pan, on the hottest of days I was getting up to 270F, but since getting my water temps down, oil has stayed under 240F. I have an oil cooler that I'll install if I see a need, but for now I'm holding off.

smartbombUser is Offline
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Mike Kojima

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07-13-2009 10:07 AM  
Thats a sweet, well thought out build so far.
McCoyUser is Offline
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McCoy

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07-13-2009 10:52 AM  

Posted By smartbomb on 07-13-2009 12:07 PM
Thats a sweet, well thought out build so far.

Thanks Mike, what I thought out and what I ended up building are slightly different, but close enough. After driving a 350+ whp 240sx on track last year (GT2871R at 18psi), I never knew it could be that much fun or easy to drive with that much power.

The last major change to the suspension I'm considering is switching to the S14 subframe, as it takes care of some of the anti-squat that the S13 is plauged with.

I also set a firm date for getting all the motor work done. The car has to be up and running by the July 27th track day at Oregon Raceway Park. I gotta a few more late nights ahead of me I guess!

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Mike Kojima

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07-13-2009 10:58 AM  
I wonder if an S15 subframe will work. That has almost no antisquat. High hp cars are not that hard to drive, the cornering speeds are about the same. You just have to remember to brake sooner and harder!
McCoyUser is Offline
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McCoy

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07-13-2009 11:14 AM  

Posted By smartbomb on 07-13-2009 12:58 PM
I wonder if an S15 subframe will work. That has almost no antisquat. High hp cars are not that hard to drive, the cornering speeds are about the same. You just have to remember to brake sooner and harder!

I guess what I was most surprised with on the higher whp 240 I drove last year was how much power you could put down on corner exit, for some reason I had this mental image of a drift event when it comes to the S13, lol.

As for the S15 subframe, I was thinking the same thing until it was recently [July 1st was the post below] pointed out that the S14 and S15 subframes aren't that different when it comes to the suspension geometry and probably not worth the cost adder of the ever so hard to find S15 subframe.

Excerp from another forum...
After repeating my method of doing vertical projections of the pickup points on both the S14 and S15 subframes, I didn't find any difference between them outside of my margin of error. It may be that the designed-in tweaks amount to millimeters of relocation, but I really can't be sure. Also, looking closely at the stampings that make up the parts of the subframe, they're identical to the S14.

The differences:
- The rear subframe-to-chassis bushings are a lot more substantial. On the top surface, instead of having a cup shape to them, the rubber runs straight across. This is different that the Nismo bushings, so No they didn't just push those in there.
- There is a small tab that triangulates the RUCA mounting tab.
- There is a small tab that triangulates the rear RLCA mounting tab.
- There are no NVH weights on the front subframe points.

ProperOneUser is Offline
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ProperOne

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10-02-2010 04:20 AM  
awesome.. we'll probably have very similar cars when all is said and done. mine was originally built as a low-buck slide practice car so I've got a lot of things to change (suspension, differential) and such.. but definitely a similar route. though i started out with a red-top to take the easy route.

love the car!
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nissannx

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10-03-2010 11:01 AM  
Excellent writeup and a lovely car. Keep us posted.
McCoyUser is Offline
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McCoy

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01-15-2011 10:34 PM  

Been a while since I've done an update... guess now is a good time.

By the end of 09, the S13 SR20DE wasn't doing to good... low compression in cylinders #1 through #3 ended up being some bad detonation that I probably suffered when the fuel pump was failing under boost in 2008. This block was salvaged and I picked up a new S13 redtop head and am rebuilding this motor as a spare.

End of 2009 I pulled the SR20DE and threw in a mostly free redtop SR20DET with some fresh bearings and the following parts:

-Turbonetics T3/T04E 50trim with a .63 AR 4-bolt housing
-JGS SR Log manifold and WG/downpipe piping set
-JGS400 (40mm) wastegate
-JGS400 SBV

Mocked pictures of the manifold/turbo.


Nothing special for the wastegate dump.


Mostly done, also added Nismo 740cc injectors and am running a Calum basic ECU with TunerCode




Found one of those deals last spring that I couldn't pass on... Stack ST8812 (dash + datalogger). Set it up to monitor/datalog lat/long G's, GPS speed, water/oil temps, 0il pressure, boost (GM 3-bar sensor), and 02 (LC-1 wideband). I'll be adding fuel pressure and streering before the 2011 year starts.


Push buttons for the stack dash and network access for programming/downloading of runs. I added the push button and LED for the LC-1 sensor to the center dash. Autometer fuel gauge is accurate enough for my use, oem cluster read 3/8 tank and the autometer reads just below 1/4... better than none I guess.


Since I mostly do DE's and driving schools didn't want to hassle with the beacon setup, so went with the CDS GPS-2 module that uses GPS to give me speed and a lap marker for timing... GPS antenna fit and works fine in front of the window.


And what I love about the dash... sure helps when your building a basemap before the first track day.


Drove at ORP in June of last year for a DE event, car held up great.


Gotta Instruct at PR (Seattle) towards the end of the year and had a great time at PR, hadn't been there in almost 5 years.


Ended my season with the rear diff about on fire at SRP... pinion bearing (180K miles on the diff) gave in a early morning session. I picked up a R32 GTR diff with a nismo 4.63 gearing and the GTR LSD, should be interesting to see how that works for me this year.

Adding some new Wilwood brakes soon, fiberglass hood, oil cooler, and have some general maintenance before the 2011 season starts. Should be a fun one...


 

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Def

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01-16-2011 07:30 AM  
Needs more DefSport.
Benito MalitoUser is Offline
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Ben

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01-16-2011 02:10 PM  
Your car-journal is always great to see and read.
KrashUser is Offline
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Krash

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01-25-2011 01:31 PM  
Man, keep the post coming. i feel like im living my dream through you as i read such an interesting post. Im rocking a 92' coupe myself and yours just looks perfect in my eyes. Great post man.
McCoyUser is Offline
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McCoy

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01-29-2011 08:28 PM  
Thanks for all the comments. With two young boys, it's getting harder to do as many track days as I use to...

2010 was the first year I finally did some video recording. Hopefully I'll purchase the software to allow me to overlap my data on a track video for this year.

June 2010, Spokane County Raceway, my back yard. Kodak HD camera
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FYRok0NBGc

June 2010, Oregon Raceway Park, CCW. First day, 2nd session going CCW so my lines are a little rough. Kodak HD camera
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQuIZdvIHns

August 2010, Seattle Int Raceway. First time in 5 years since I've been here. GoPro HD helmet cam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZhbMB4JZDs

Sept 2010, Spokane County Raceway. GoPro HD helmet cam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iJ8UwbR7iQ

SlappyUser is Offline
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Slappy

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02-02-2011 11:51 AM  

Hey McCoy, i sent you a message on your YouTube channel. Please check it out when you have the free time.

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