JDM180SX

rear suspension setup and fuel cell UPGRADES

the last few nights ive been getting some major progress done. gas tank/suspension & subframe out of car. I took a crowbar to the face when it slipped prying out subframe...had a black eye for a week

the rear brake lines were still original and needed vise grip pliers and pb blaster to free them. i also had to rethread factory subframe studs...a few of them were chewed up. 12mmx1.25 is the die you need.

i scrubbed all the grime and loose dirt out and sprayed rust desolver on all the light surface rust and subframe studs last night.

tonite all the light rust is a solid black surface...most of it was gone completely...did alot of sanding to get the major rust off. spot primed with rustoleum rust reformer.

tomorrow night will be full underbody spray.

im going to order new boots for axles...they are not ripped, buthey are very rough and pitted.


chemicals used in step by step process:






got some work done this week.

- pressed all the bushings out and cut metal sleeves out of rlca. ( airbody saw came in handy )
- had local garage sandblast everything.
- pressed the longer beefier studs from Touge Factory into Z32 hubs







i got plenty of things to keep me busy once again this weekend. i took another week off from car...emptied my paypal account and got a bunch more parts.

it was too expensive to get subframe powdercoated...even at a deal, so i bought a gun and box of walnut shell media from Harbor Freight...spent 40 & change...not too bad. ill spray it with the same epoxy spray i used on other parts.



picked up the driver side subframe stay since i was missing mine...prob explains clunking noise in rear which goes hand in hand with shitty diff bushings.



energy suspension bushings ready for pressing into RLCA & knuckles.



91 front SE-R balljoints which are proven too fit RLCA. they are also greasable which oem were not.



i replaced rear caliper bolts with some ARP bolts...overkill, but i placed them the same time as other bolts from BALLERBOLTS.COM.

AGENCY POWER rear SS brake lines

you can pick up a bag of brake line clips from Advanced for $5.29 bg. my rears were almost rusted in half.

DRIFT FACTORY rear urethane sway bar endlinks. im still researching what size bar i want to go with. i would like too find a HICAS swaybar for cheap.






picked up my parts from FREDERICKSBURG POWDERCOATING today...always impressed with their work. i took them a Super Street issue since i gave them a shout out and they hooked me up on prices...big time!

i used a metallic silver which resembles the coating NISMO uses on all their suspension components. the clear is so thick on these parts...looks like liquid glass.

will make cleaning easier and i also did not want to polish I/C piping.







had a few friends roll down from woodbridge tonite and we knocked all the bushings out in an hour. 6 hands are better than 2. all energy suspension bushings installed and Moog ball joints pressed in. the whole car should be rock solid.

JDM180SX

9/12 & 9/13 update:

sandblaster did alright job...prob need a better media. the coarse walnut shells got the grime and flakey paint off, but it would not strip to bare metal. either way i prepped after blasting and coated it with VHT EPOXY. letting it get a full 24hrs of dry time before i start mounting diff and other suspension components to it.





waited 24hrs for subframe to dry and mounted diff. utilized new bolts and Stance alum bushings...FRESH!





9/26/2010 UPDATE:

well today i got around to finishing up the underbody. herculiner in the wheel areas and undercoat everywhere else.
the plastic fuel tank filler protector was recoated with krylon fusion and new nissan push retainers to hold it in place.

the last major repair of car went under way. this shit has been bugging me for awhile and i didnt realize it was this bad till i started cutting it out. part of the chassis frame above muffler area was cancerous. i guess the heat and moisture contributed to it. i cut most of it out with air saw...i need a sawzall to get the rest. im going to look around for proper size 16ga steel frame this week and get my friend to weld back in place.





pics dont do the powdercoated i/c piping justice, but its super dope. the metallic silver pops out of the clear. im glad i dont have to polish them anymore...just wipe with microfiber cloth.



10/6/2010 UPDATE:

I finally got around to installing some parts last month…not much, but gets them off the shelf. i had local garage service my rear axles and i cleaned off grime/sanded and resprayed. New axles from Advance Auto would have been 150pr…i have less than 90.00 invested. I figured nothing major was wrong with them and i didnt just want to throw away. I also included link to cv boot kits.

http://www.frsport.com/Bay-State-Emp...SX_p_9412.html

installed the 12.9 12pt bolts and locking nuts onto axles from http://www.ballerbolts.com/24axbokit6bo.html

cleaned up the oem bolts with wire wheel and clear coated the heads. i ordered a bag of 12mm x 1.25 flanged nuts from Fastenal to replace the old nuts. went ahead and used red threadlocker and torqued everything down to factory spec. i also used grade 8 7/16 bolts on the front of knuckle since it will be visible and it just looks fresh…imo.

- energy suspension urethane bushings pressed in place

- MOOG Sentra SE-R balljoints

- STANCE J30/Z32 solid Diff bushings

- powdercoated knuckles & RLCA ( NISMO SILVER METALLIC )

JDM180SX

I picked up a new Powered By Max shifter and e-brake button for 60.00 shipped. it feels really good in my hand with the contours. the anodized orange practically matches my car too.
http://www.gtfactory.jp/cms/page.php?4




also picked up some Rust Bullet to finish coating rear end of chassis frame before welder goes to work boxing in what i cut out.





i picked up a p/t job at advance auto back in october just to start funding the 240 again. i took advantage of my 20% discount and ordered remanned rear calipers/ new hardware and ceramic pads. i hunted down some caliper brackets through rockauto.com. i need to degrease them and spray with caliper clear to preserve them longer. i also got the rest of my fuel line clips and brackets as well as rubber insulators and caps for rear axle. i always wondered why the old caps where loose and rattled. the rubber insulator cushions against axle nut and makes a snug fit for cap nut. i also resprayed the hubs with S/S high temp spray paint.







ARP CALIPER BOLTS



i can finally say ive placed my last oem parts order through NISSAN OF CHEASAPEAKE. finished out my order with new fender liners/ clips/nylon screw bushings and a few other headlight bits/ fuel line clips/ muffler bracket & sway bar bushings.













picked up a new 12 gallon fuel cell with sender and foam inserts for 100.00 from a friend in NOVA. i also bought a walbro external fuel pump/ w mounting kit tonite for 109.99 shipped. best price anywhere on the web. i still need to get a few connectors, but not too bad considering a new tank/sender/straps/filler neck from NISSAN was over $700.00 lol everyone knows i love oem nissan, but sometimes you have to save money where you can.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWNX%3AIT



GOOD BYE 2pc heavy driveshaft! 1pc steel driveshaft showed up to my work today which i also got a super deal on... $299.00 shipped. most sites like enjuku and fr sport wanted 319-329.99 plus shipping. if you need 1 make him the same offer.

http://stores.ebay.com/ultrarevparts



if anyone is looking for a powdercoat shop in Fredericksburg, VA...check out ACS SOLUTIONS ( 540-898-9370 ). he has better prices than Fredericksburg powdercoating who i always used in the past. i dropped off my rear swaybar/brackets/ & subframe brace mon and picked them up today for $30.00. i might have got a better deal since he was already doing a bunch of parts in gloss black and only needed to run oven once. Noland is a super nice dude and it helps when there is a local shop within 25miles.




i decided not to do DRS. i figure im dumping all this money into it and im just going to slap $500 wheels on it?...pshh
im dead set on CCW CLASSICS in satin anodized black finish. it will go great with my color and black roof.

17x9 +12
17x11 -15

when i found this pic online i was like omg.



i like these too...just dont know how bronze would look against my paint. http://www.rhdjapan.com can get these for me

JDM180SX

/

sumospeed.com

and just think you may have to post all of this again on a blog

Kim Jong Illin'

i love how you meticulously get every little detail about your car.


also: <3 chocowomen

idkmybffEM1ly

sweet build thread my favorite 240 by far

erik02

Thank you for taking the time to post another proper build thread. I have always enjoyed reading your post in the past, and have showed many of my friends this amazing car. Keep it up.

Cobra4B

I think I love you.... not really, but I love your attention to detail. People thought I was crazy when I was cleaning the bolts that I took off my Z06 racecar build. I would de-grease and hit each w/ a wire brush to clean them up. Look over and under the car and there's no way to tell it's a 120k 2001 and not a fresh low mileage garage queen. I have to admit I stopped short of clear coating the hardware. Maybe I read that wrong, but how do you stop the clear from chipping off the bolt heads when torqing the fastener?

Keep up the great work and pics. Oh... any worries on matching the paint?

Tito

i think i might actually like this car now.