1995 Nissan 240SX SE from North America - Comments

Exhaust pipe rusted and broke - re-welded - few weeks later - friend "man"drel-bent muffler backing it into a curb; no other damage.

When I bought it - original owner was reluctant to e-test it. Needed replacement of 2 oxygen sensors and some carburetor cleaner sprayed into throttle body.

Heat shields made rattling noise on the stock exhaust so I popped them off.

The only maintenance item I did during the time I used the car was to replace the rear passenger caliper that was seized. And paid 60 dollars for a used one.

Nissan 240 has one of the best / helpful bunch of people / clubs in North America.

Coming over from Corolla GTS (1991 AE92), the KA24DE has much more lower pickup, but is weak and feels deceiving at the upper rpm bandwidth past 5900.

Stock suspension was somewhat mushy, steering is precise, but car does feel heavy, brakes are too small for car this size and can get hot when used too often - aka track conditions.

I think it's a great car and started making some minor modifications to it. Got lowered springs on it, thick rear anti-sway bar, front/rear strutbars - difference was immediate - car has almost no sway and energy transfers through the entire body making end come out more.

Got a T25 turbo setup on it (often referred to as KA-T from KA24DE-T) - together with the suspension setup - right now I couldn't ask for a better ride.

Only weaknesses (to be upgraded) are: clutch (soon), brakes, age of the car (only about 3 cm of rust in one spot, but I know it's just matter of time) and tire wear (hehe).

Update: October 12, 2006 (227,000 km)

Car is very fast, but definitely some bugs to work out with the turbo setup - don't bother with used turbos. Go with rebuilt or new snails.

Also: starter ground point is loose - sometimes the starter rotates normal / slowly - other times it doesn't want to crank over the motor (to be fixed shortly).

Started a thread to help out fellow 240sx'ers listing some of the enduring setup *quirks* and successes for my build:

http://www.makemilk.com/mods/viewtopic.php?t=97.

May 1st, 2007.

Update: I pushed the engine on stock 10:1 fmu to 10.5 psi and it detonated -- piston rings went on the old engine (new years eve + 1 day). The first one was trial run lol.

Now running a newer engine, got all the tuning goodies for it including walbro, 370cc, lc1 wideband... just waiting for install - runs well on fmu 6-7 psi on the fmu so far w/stage 3 clutch.

November 14, 2007.

I've upgraded the setup from FMU to SAFC2, 370cc injectors, Walbro 255 lph fuel pump, LC1 wideband and recently added 3" full exhaust with circuitsports catback.

Pushing 12 psi for over 3 months on T25 now without issues.

Waiting to install.. N60 MAF, MSD Boost Timing Master..

Looking for s15 480cc injectors to max out the t25 @ 15 psi..

November 14, 2007.

I've upgraded the setup from FMU to SAFC2, 370cc injectors, Walbro 255 lph fuel pump, LC1 wideband and recently added 3" full exhaust with circuitsports catback.

Pushing 12 psi for over 3 months on T25 now without issues.

Waiting to install.. N60 MAF, MSD Boost Timing Master..

Looking for s15 480cc injectors to max out the t25 @ 15 psi..

** Oh yeah - I take it back about used turbos - T25's are relatively easy to take apart, rebuild and run again with a kit. I heard people's concerns about balanced shafts, etc. -- good advice but not worth for me to spend 400-600 dollars on. I've done over 14k on my first home rebuilt turbo and no smoke or leaks.. runs fine..