1993 Nissan 240SX - Part 3: Making it Stick and Stop! - Ignition Ep. 110 - video Dailymotion

MotorTrend

On this episode of Ignition

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 Welcome to 240SX episode three.

00:05 Finally, we're back.

00:07 It's been a long time coming.

00:09 We've been busy with things like testing the Porsche 918

00:12 and McLaren P1, but now we're back to what's important,

00:16 a 21-year-old Nissan.

00:17 Seriously, we've been dying to work on this car

00:21 for a long time.

00:22 It's been a while, so let's go over what we did.

00:25 We tested it, drifted it, and then it broke.

00:29 With it running on three cylinders,

00:31 we decided, of course, to work on the wheels,

00:33 tires, and brakes.

00:34 It's what you do, right?

00:36 A five-lug hub conversion allowed us to install

00:38 17-inch raised-gram lights, which we wrapped

00:41 with massive BFGoodrich tires.

00:43 And underneath that went big, awesome Brembos up front.

00:47 The cost of those brakes made a lot of people angry,

00:49 as they easily exceeded the value of the car.

00:53 If you're one of those people,

00:54 you should probably stop watching now.

00:56 (engine revving)

01:00 (tires screeching)

01:03 So this week, we're gonna finish what we started last year,

01:19 which is get the 240SX set up for stopping and handling

01:22 before we add what'll probably end up being

01:25 way too much horsepower.

01:26 Mark Lidardon's back with his magical wink of magic.

01:30 Mark knows what he's doing.

01:31 (laughing)

01:32 So all you guys in the forums who complain about our build,

01:35 you can blame me.

01:36 But anyway, let's go over the parts.

01:38 We have coilovers from KW, they're club sports.

01:42 - We also have Injuku Isis,

01:44 their full suspension package.

01:46 - Also, we have a 300ZX set of rear brakes,

01:49 Brembo replacement rotors for those brakes.

01:52 - And as well as these fine Recaro seats.

01:55 - On the bodywork side, we overnighted from Japan

01:58 these fenders from Origin,

02:00 and they'll be nice 'cause they'll make,

02:02 actually, wide bodies are just cool.

02:04 That's why the real reason why.

02:05 Wide bodies are just cool.

02:06 - And plus we have three inches of front tire sticking out.

02:08 - Which is not a bad thing.

02:10 First up, suspension.

02:12 The blue Tokikos are a decent replacement budget shock,

02:15 but we wanted something better, a lot better.

02:18 And KW club sports are a vast improvement

02:20 in pretty much every way.

02:23 KW positions these coilovers as a solution for cars

02:26 prepped for street and track use.

02:28 They're easy to install and look great once in place.

02:31 - So I just put in the KW club sport coilover on this side.

02:35 I took out the old strut, it was an old Tokiko,

02:38 and right off the bat, it saves about 20 pounds.

02:40 That old Tokiko is really heavy.

02:42 One of the big things that's awesome about KW coilovers

02:45 is that these are completely rebuildable

02:46 and you can revalve them to any setting that you like.

02:50 - We're also replacing the tension rods up front,

02:53 the rear tow links, upper control arms, and traction links

02:56 with a kit from Isis and Injuku Racing.

02:58 Though easy on the budget,

03:00 these links are tough and adjustable,

03:02 so we'll be able to tailor caster, tow, and camber.

03:05 Injuku backs them strongly

03:07 and uses them on the company's drift car.

03:09 Installation is simple.

03:11 Unbolt the stock parts and bolt in the new ones.

03:13 It's a good idea to measure the stock arms for length

03:16 before installing the new ones,

03:17 as it'll save you some alignment work.

03:20 We're just about finished with the front end of the car.

03:22 We have the KW Club Sports on, we have the tension rods in,

03:26 and the nice thing is is all the colors match,

03:28 which is very important

03:29 when it comes to suspension design and tuning.

03:32 Well, we've basically finished disassembling

03:35 the rear end of the 240SX.

03:37 It's the second time we've done it,

03:38 and we're getting pretty good at it.

03:39 If we're lucky, we may get to disassemble it a third time,

03:42 maybe a fourth time,

03:43 depending on how things go with the build.

03:45 I'm holding in my hand a upper control arm

03:47 from Isis/Injuku, and it replaces this guy,

03:51 this upper control arm.

03:52 We're also replacing the traction rod

03:55 and the tow control links with components like these.

03:59 These are adjustable, they're durable, they're strong.

04:02 That's why we're using them.

04:03 We've already replaced the 240SX brakes

04:05 with 300ZX brakes, which is nice.

04:07 We've actually replaced the hubs themselves.

04:11 We've got the new dust shield on,

04:12 and we've been able to keep the 240SX knuckle,

04:15 which is nice 'cause the suspension

04:16 will bolt right up to that.

04:18 If you ever find yourself underneath

04:22 a 20-year-old Nissan 240SX,

04:24 you're gonna find that everything's corroded.

04:28 All the bolts are screwed up, stripped,

04:30 because it's probably been stolen

04:32 like this one was and put together.

04:34 Kind of not so great.

04:36 - Not stolen by us.

04:37 - What?

04:38 - Not stolen by us.

04:39 - Not stolen by us.

04:40 That's a very important thing to point out.

04:43 If you find yourself in this position,

04:45 and you need to take apart the rear end,

04:47 start with the lower control arm.

04:50 It's easier.

04:51 - What's really sweet about these

04:53 is that each side is opposite threads.

04:56 One's regular, one's reverse.

04:58 But just to adjust toe, even at this point right now,

05:00 so we can eyeball it, you can just pretty much twist it

05:03 and make on-the-fly stuff real easy.

05:05 - And you lock it with that nut?

05:06 - Yeah, you just lock it with each hex jam nut.

05:08 And the same thing with the upper control arm

05:10 and traction rod, and the same thing with the front end

05:12 with the tension rods and stuff.

05:13 It makes it super easy.

05:15 For the rear brakes, we turned to the second generation

05:18 300ZX, it's a common upgrade for 240SXs.

05:21 We assembled the replacement kit,

05:23 combining used parts and OE hardware

05:25 from Nissan Online's parts store.

05:27 And for pads, we went to Project Mu.

05:30 Despite the fact you're changing

05:31 the entire rear braking system,

05:33 it's largely a simple bolt-on process.

05:36 I'm a huge advocate for functional interiors in fast cars.

05:40 The easier it is to use the pedals, shifter, and wheel,

05:43 the faster you can go.

05:45 Problem is getting decent seats

05:47 that fit into the S13 chassis is a pain.

05:51 There isn't much headroom,

05:52 and most side bolsters poke out past the door.

05:54 Bulges in the floor pan create a fitment problem, too.

05:58 We got a pair of beautiful and comfortable

06:00 Recaro pole positions, which we were told

06:03 would fit low-mount Buddy Club seat rails.

06:05 That's almost true.

06:07 In order to fit the stock mounting holes,

06:09 the seats have to be at the highest position on the bracket,

06:12 which leads to a terrible seating position.

06:15 In order to mount the seats properly,

06:16 we had to weld a tab onto one of the brackets on the rail.

06:19 Doing so allowed us to put the seat at the perfect height,

06:22 giving us a great seating position.

06:24 With all the important stuff bolted together,

06:27 we thought it wise to look at the fenders.

06:29 With the suspension slightly lower,

06:31 we were just at maybe a little bit beyond

06:34 the max tire size the wheel wells would take.

06:37 Just about everything cleared,

06:38 except for the fenders and quarter panels.

06:41 Neither of those are particularly important,

06:43 so we took off the fronts and cut out the rears.

06:46 We also trimmed out more non-essential parts

06:48 from the front wheel wells

06:49 and relocated the wiring harness.

06:51 The fronts replaced the stock units,

06:54 and the rears bolt over the existing quarter panel.

06:57 If you want to end up with a really nice-looking

06:59 wide-body kit on your car, you go to a professional,

07:02 you spend good money, and you wait 'til it's done.

07:04 If you just care about tire clearance,

07:06 you cut out the quarter panel, you rivet on your overs,

07:09 and you call it a day,

07:10 because there's more important things to do.

07:12 When we left off last year, the 240 was running

07:16 like a Subaru, because it was on three cylinders.

07:20 And we weren't really sure what was up,

07:21 and we didn't really look at it too hard,

07:22 but once we did, we found out that the problem was this guy,

07:26 bad fuel injector.

07:27 We checked the cylinders, and we found out

07:30 it was number four that wasn't firing.

07:32 Mark checked, cylinder was dry,

07:34 so there's no fuel going there,

07:35 so that means either the injector's bad or the ECU's bad.

07:37 - Yep, injector driver, or the injector itself.

07:41 - So next, we moved injectors around,

07:43 and when we did that, we were able to move

07:45 the problem around, so that meant

07:46 it was definitely the injector.

07:49 Tripped the AutoZone, this guy,

07:50 and now we're good to go, purring like a kitten.

07:53 So now you're probably wondering, with these brakes,

08:01 with the suspension, with the tires, with the bodywork,

08:04 why we've done all this.

08:06 - Yeah, why don't we tell them?

08:08 - Well, that's because of what's in this crate.

08:11 In here is a 430 horsepower LS3

08:14 from Chevy Performance Parts.

08:16 It's an E-Rod motor, so it's smog legal.

08:19 We also have a T56 Super Magnum six-speed manual,

08:22 and at the end of this year, it's all going inside the car.

08:26 Looking like it just emerged from the junkyard,

08:28 we were eager to see how much of a difference

08:30 the new parts made.

08:32 Never mind that we hadn't checked the alignment or anything,

08:34 we just went to the test track to see what would happen.

08:36 It's a lesson we learned from our friends at Roadkill.

08:39 Despite installing heavier and stronger parts,

08:42 bigger wheels and brakes, we were surprised

08:45 that the Nissan only gained about 33 pounds.

08:47 That gain was worth it.

08:49 Our best stop from 60 miles an hour dropped to 115 feet,

08:53 which is a huge improvement from the 157 feet

08:56 it took it when we first got the car.

08:58 We noticed the rear brakes locked up before the fronts,

09:01 showing that we're leaving some performance on the table.

09:05 We were feeling pretty good about the braking performance,

09:07 but then we went over to the handling track.

09:09 There, the 240SX was simply hilarious.

09:13 It's the definition of a momentum car.

09:15 The 118 rear-wheel horsepower means it isn't very fast,

09:18 but it's so light and grippy,

09:20 you don't really have to stop for corners.

09:22 And even with those big, sticky tires and no power,

09:25 the chassis was still flexible enough to drift.

09:29 (car engine revving)

09:32 Its best lap at 25.4 seconds matches what we've recorded

09:37 from the Focus ST and Subaru WRX.

09:40 And it's worth repeating,

09:41 this thing dynoed at 118 horsepower.

09:44 It's making up all that time in the corners,

09:47 as evident by its 1.01 G average around the skid pad.

09:51 Over one G, without tuning.

09:57 (upbeat music)

09:59 - Hey Cameron, how was that?

10:14 - Yeah.

10:15 - No, it's not.

10:16 - That was good.

10:17 - No problem.

10:18 (upbeat music)

10:21 (car engine revving)

10:24 (upbeat music)

10:26 (car engine revving)

10:29 (upbeat music)

10:32 (car engine revving)

10:35 (upbeat music)

10:38 (car engine revving)

10:41 (upbeat music)

10:43 (car engine revving)

10:46 (upbeat music)

10:49 (car engine revving)

10:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]

1993 Nissan 240SX - Part 3: Making it Stick and Stop! - Ignition Ep. 110

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