Jump to content

Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...

I've got the project pretty well laid out at this point, with the main points broken down into 5 stages:

Stage 1 will basically consist of a number of minor upgrades found in the replacement of worn out components. New brakes, new tires, adjustable shocks, stiffer sway bars. As it sits, it needs all of those pretty badly, as the shocks are original, the sway bars were never really sufficient for the car's roll control needs, and the tires are 6 years old cheap tires installed by the original owner. And for as long as it's spent sitting, the brake rotors are all pitted and the pads were cheap, dusty, low-performers anyway.

Stage 2 is going to be the engine build. That's the biggest segment of this build, touching on nearly every part of the car, and is going to account for roughly half the cost of the whole project. I'm going to be rebuilding my spare KA24DE and turbocharging it. The goal is 350whp, and I'll be spending close to $8,000 turn-key to make that happen. It took 2 years of waffling to decide on this route.

Stage 3 will see the car migrate to 300ZX brakes, 16" wheels, high-performance tires, and stiffer springs. Where Stage 1 will bring the car back up to snuff and Stage 2 will give it modern power, Stage 3 is really where the car will come into its own, in terms of making the power it's generating turn into speed.

Stage 4, then, is less fun to talk about, but it's going to be the restoration of the car's interior and little things like replacing the broken windshield washer bottle and worn out weather seals. (And sourcing a new stock front lip)

Stage 5, finally, will be to strip the car's paint down, fix the body work again (but professionally this time, and not by the lazy hands of a guy I was introduced to by a former classmate), and paint it Nissan #732 Black Pearl Metallic.

I bought this car in early 2013 for $1200. After $800 in installing the engine it has currently, and around another $500 here and there since, I'm less than $3000 into this 240SX, which is still one of the cleanest I've seen. Uncracked dashboard no less. But all in all, I'm projecting around $18,000 that I'm going to have to spend on this.

I'm calling it

xNksf7B.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Anyone here remember MotorWeek? Back in the 1980s, it was the American alternative to old Top Gear. And while Top Gear has changed dramatically over the years from a traditional video magazine to an off-the-wall stunt show, MotorWeek continues to stay true to its roots by just giving viewers the basics on new car tests.

Unaired Pilot Episode

The Real Pilot Episode

The Most Recent Episodes

Edited by areaseven
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember MotorWeek, Television's Automotive Magazine. John Davis is and always will be a classic name in cars, in my opinion. (Even if John Davis is the most generic name ever)

Their official YouTube channel posts old reviews from the records every so often, in their Retro Review playlist. Lots of classics in there that nobody could have foreseen would be classics. Watching the retro reviews really takes me back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, a lot of the retro reviews are worth checking out, especially the old Japanese cars that have been long forgotten over the years.

Some are simply hilarious. Take this slice of American patriotism, for example.

The Drift Classic.

Hybrids have nothing on this.

Watching this video might make you grow a mullet.

Edited by areaseven
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, and here I thought Porsche couldn't get more boring. Leave it to the Germans to outdo expectations.

Funny you say this, but I thought Porsche did good with this concept, the boring oval headlights are gone and thin light strip at the back looks neat.

But being a concept, you know it's never going to end up like that and we will probably be back to the usual stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's been awhile since I used MWF, but I came back to this thread where I left off (thanks to the miracle of the modern browser) and read it all up to this point.

My news:

I've done some light bolt/clamp/weld on upgrades to my 2014 Ram 1500 Sport. This truck is in around 6,000lbs with me in it, and regularly hauls all my tools in the bed as I work on sites around my region Monday through Friday. I've had a Magnaflow 22" flow through muffler installed, which barks nicely when started and roars at WOT, but settles right down to stock idle noise. The MDS everyone complains about isn't really anything I notice. I also bought a Vararam intake which is essentially a ram air system. Huge improvement in performance, and noticeable (evic) mileage* increase while driving sedately on highways.

Bringing the motor up into 4,000rpms to allow the variable intake runners to function happens at about half throttle, which is a big improvement from full/WOT running 89 octane. I have 20,000kms on my truck, and it is better than ever.

I also just ordered the Diablo sport dcx 1000 to tune my engine for the optimal 89 octane program. I might fiddle around with a custom tune once the 'new' wears off the programmer. :)

*Not actually mileage, as I live in Canada and it measures L/100Km used. I'm getting 7-8 on average.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, a lot of the retro reviews are worth checking out, especially the old Japanese cars that have been long forgotten over the years.

Here's something you don't see often on MotorWeek: A near-miss. Still, the Mazda RX-7 FC is one of the most underappreciated Japanese sports cars (largely because of the FD and the highly collectible SA22C).

The more underappreciated the FC is, the better. I need them to stay cheap so I can buy another one. If they start inflating like the FD did, I'll never be able to own a good rotary again. I miss my FC so much. Maybe more than I love my S13.

But they did get a total miss on the FC. That car turned out to be, I think, even more memorable than the 944 it was made to trump.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hehe! compared to today's standards, those Camaro Z28 & Mustang GT are slower than a wet week! 145 & 157 hp.. what a joke! Geez they must have still be so emissions strangled back then..

My uncle had a turbocharged FC RX-7 and it was a really nice car! Just had things going wrong all too often..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hehe! compared to today's standards, those Camaro Z28 & Mustang GT are slower than a wet week! 145 & 157 hp.. what a joke! Geez they must have still be so emissions strangled back then..

My uncle had a turbocharged FC RX-7 and it was a really nice car! Just had things going wrong all too often..

My FC was bulletproof. It was NA, granted, but it was reliable and fun. Until I planted it in a wall. And now I'm sad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My FC was bulletproof. It was NA, granted, but it was reliable and fun. Until I planted it in a wall. And now I'm sad.

Cars and walls don't go well together.. I feel your sads.. :(

well actually cars and pretty much anything solid don't go well together!

This is what was left of my Commodore after sliding off the road and head on into a power pol! I really liked that car too.. :(

post-21335-0-99062600-1442826196_thumb.jpg

Edited by spanner76
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This was my RX-7 after putting it into a wall:

3ilLpZ0.jpg

Actually, surprisingly, there was no mechanical damage. Considering I was doing about 80 undisclosed units of speed when I lost control of the rear end, and around 40 undisclosed units when I hit the wall facing the other direction. To clarify: I aimed at the wall. It seemed like a much softer target than the oncoming Toyota Highlander. I also nearly missed a fire hydrant. I actually have a history of near-misses. Perhaps I'm so unlucky in most areas, because it's saving itself for when it counts.

In any case, I wasn't hurt, nobody was behind the wall I hit, the damage was minimal, and I ended up selling the car for only marginally less than I'd bought it for. (When I say marginal, I mean marginal. Like $65 marginal) I suppose I could have fixed it, but it wasn't going to be street legal without that headlight, and the bulk of the repairs would have been needed to get the headlight working again, which I simply could not afford at the time. And I needed a daily driver.

Still, I loved that car. I miss having an RX-7. I occasionally consider selling my 240SX to buy one. Cecilia is a fickle girl who takes joy only in getting my spirits up, and then dashing them. Even now, after fixing all of the problems that could have possibly caused the stumbling and hesitation it was having, after a period of sitting, the stumbling is back, as bad as ever. And the projected cost of all the stuff I want to do to it is in the $20,000 range. I don't know if it'll be worth it at that rate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe I should give up my long-held view that externally linked images are better than attachments. Sure, they're not invisible to people who aren't signed in, but MWF's software also does a mediocre job of dealing with them.

I dunno. What I do know is, I miss my FC too much not to get another one, but I'm too attached to my S13 to let it go, and I can't afford to buy, work on, or even store another project. Woe is me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This was my RX-7 after putting it into a wall:

*pic removed*

Actually, surprisingly, there was no mechanical damage. Considering I was doing about 80 undisclosed units of speed when I lost control of the rear end, and around 40 undisclosed units when I hit the wall facing the other direction. To clarify: I aimed at the wall. It seemed like a much softer target than the oncoming Toyota Highlander. I also nearly missed a fire hydrant. I actually have a history of near-misses. Perhaps I'm so unlucky in most areas, because it's saving itself for when it counts.

In any case, I wasn't hurt, nobody was behind the wall I hit, the damage was minimal, and I ended up selling the car for only marginally less than I'd bought it for. (When I say marginal, I mean marginal. Like $65 marginal) I suppose I could have fixed it, but it wasn't going to be street legal without that headlight, and the bulk of the repairs would have been needed to get the headlight working again, which I simply could not afford at the time. And I needed a daily driver.

Still, I loved that car. I miss having an RX-7. I occasionally consider selling my 240SX to buy one. Cecilia is a fickle girl who takes joy only in getting my spirits up, and then dashing them. Even now, after fixing all of the problems that could have possibly caused the stumbling and hesitation it was having, after a period of sitting, the stumbling is back, as bad as ever. And the projected cost of all the stuff I want to do to it is in the $20,000 range. I don't know if it'll be worth it at that rate.

Damn that sucks eh.. such a nice car..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...