Project 240SX – Interior Swap

importnut — Fri, 15 May 2020 13:03:18 +0000

Interior Swap – Why?

Simple answer: I couldn’t stand the color. If the 240 hadn’t fallen in my lap, I would not have considered buying it because of the color. What to do? A complete interior swap!

Not my preference.

Sourcing the Parts

Back in the day, before list serves went the way of the dinosaur, I was part of a 240 list. Someone had posted interior parts from an S14a for sale. He had totaled his 240 and was selling a few parts of the interior. The listing was for seats and a few other miscellaneous parts. I emailed him about the rest and he said the car was still accessible. The only other problem was that everything was in Florida and I live in Indiana.

A quick call to a close friend with a truck and we took a road trip. We picked up the seats and miscellaneous parts and headed to the scrap yard where the car was located. Other than the dashboard and driver’s airbag, I picked up everything else including the carpet and seat belts!

Beyond the broken glass that was everywhere, this was a blast!

Sorting and Cleaning

After the long drive home, I couldn’t wait to start installing the parts. I sorted all of the parts and cleaned them. I quickly tore the original interior out and installed the new pieces…at least what I had on hand.

Comparing some of the parts.

The first round of parts did not include the dashboard, column cover and steering wheel. It took me a while to locate more of the parts and I installed them when they arrived. In order to avoid buying a black airbag, I elected to swap in an aftermarket steering wheel. I covered the conversion in another write-up.

Round 1 complete! It took me a while to find the rest of the pieces.

Wrapping it up

Within a few months, I found the rest of the parts that I needed. The time and effort to complete this swap was absolutely worth it! I had a car that I loved and enjoyed driving. I couldn’t believe the difference a color change could make!

Cap off the project with a set of brand new floor mats from Nissan.

Now that I had an interior I loved, it was time for fresh paint. Check out the next installment for the details.

For more pictures and details form the project, check out the pictures below.

Project 240SX – Introduction

importnut — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 01:00:14 +0000

The time I spent with my 240SX was short and long ago, however I think the story is important to share. I say this because the work I did on my 240SX and the write-ups I published, made my site what it is today. Although I did nothing ground breaking at the time, I compiled data, pictures and experiences that weren’t readily available in the early 2000’s. On with the story…

Not too long after I finished the engine swap on my ’95 Civic coupe in 2000, I started to dream up another project. Queue up Nissan’s 240SX. I wanted boost, but not in a Honda. I wanted a fast car, but with creature comforts. Add to that the desire for RWD and I realized why I needed to find a Nissan 240SX. The 240SX is one of the only RWD imports that doesn’t carry the ridiculous price tag of a Supra, RX7 or 300ZX. The car’s chassis is very well balanced and offers a significant level of opportunity.

While researching potential modifications for the 240SX, I discovered a general lack of 240SX information. There are several sites and clubs that provide quite a bit of information but I was still not finding what I needed.

This series of project write-ups is set up to walk you through my time with my 240SX. The modifications, repairs, ideas and so on are all listed here from start to finish.

July 27, 2001 (181,000 miles)

The 240SX…

Through a friend, I was able to locate a ’95 240SX SE with a 5spd. The 240SX had quite a few miles, 181,000 to be exact. The service record on the 240 was flawless. The body was straight and it ran like a top. There was a bit of rust but nothing that couldn’t be resolved with a little care. While driving this high mileage car, I discovered that the suspension had serious amounts of potential. The handling was crisp and very solid even though the shocks and bushings were original and in fairly sad shape. All in all, the only concern that I had was the fact that the interior color was nasty! I address this issue in a later write-up.

After removing the original crusty fake gold emblems, and pin-striping, I used a high speed buffer to bring life back to the original paint.

August 22, 2001 (182,932 miles)

Maintenance

One of the first tasks was to replace the clutch and water pump. The clutch had been slipping long before I bought the car. It was still drive-able, but it wasn’t going to last long. I managed to toast it along with the water pump on one of my power slide attempts.

When I installed the water pump, I decided to leave out the clutch fan and shroud. I didn’t notice any issues with engine temperatures but later realized that the electric fan was not up to the task of keeping the AC working well on hot days. I quickly reinstalled the fan!

Changing the water pump was relatively easy. Not nearly as easy was replacing the clutch.

The original owner said that the clutch slipped a little. I don’t know how gingerly he drove it but this is what it looked like when I took it out. It slipped with the slightest application of throttle!

I installed an OEM replacement clutch and had the flywheel resurfaced. After a couple of day’s work, I finally had a chance to see how much fun it was to drive this car!

September 15, 2001 (185,300 miles)

Although it isn’t really noteworthy, I had the windows tinted. I’ve always appreciated driving a car with tinted glass.

Tint!

In the next installment of Project 240SX, I’ll cover my solution to the nasty greenish/grayish interior.

Project 240SX – importnut.net