"Brick in a box" - (1991) 245 "stealth" project car

Current Status: 7/29/16



What it is:
1991 245 DL, power windows, power locks
LH2.4

Suspension:
Front - Stock springs cut 2.5 coils / Bilstien Touring
Rear - stock springs cut 1.5 coils / Bilstien HD (suburban 4x4)
BMW style 5 (16x8 +20) 225/45/16 front / 225/50/16 rear

Engine
1991 B230F block (250k at time to +T)
S60 t5 turbo injectors (white)
S80 t5 lift pump
940 turbo main pump
Custom Hybrid Turbo = Rx7 (Hitachi HT-18s) compressor/wheel mated to volvo .63 a/r turbine housing/wheel
Custom Mitsubishi evo 8 intercooler
Diesel Engine Mounts
"42 Draft Designs" Stealth catch can
Volvo plug wires
"Ghetto Fab" 3" Vband downpipe
"Ghetto Fab" Clearanced M46 crossmember
Denso 100amp alt

Transmission
M46
Hydraulic Clutch Conversion
740 Turbo Clutch/ PP
Mazdaspeed 6 pedals

Interior
"245R" Gauge Cluster
242 Turbo Gauge cluster (Boost/Oil Psi/Volt)
Pioneer 2-way speakers
Seats switched from tan vinyl to Black fabric
Lighted window switches

Exterior
Blacked out USDM headlights/turn signals
Black grill
"Elephant Ear" chrome mirros
Removed PO's surfer girl stickers



How it all started...


This thread well serve as the introduction for both myself and my project:
My name is JP, I live in Jacksonville, Fl and I've been aware of this forum for a few years. A co-worker from years back wrecked his 740 turbo attempting to drift and then purchased a 95' 240sx, which coincidentally my brother now owns and has swapped an RB25 into. Oddly enough, his car before that was a 98' S70 t5, which my mother now drives. Being an rx-7 owner, I was less than interested.

That was until a few weeks back on a run to the junkyard to pick up an engine in a buddy's Ford ranger. We had a 13b and a Honda fit engine in the back (properly secured) and it was a terrifying ride on the interstate. When we arrived at the yard this is what I saw in the parking lot:

(Not sure if this is anyone on here, but kudos if so)

And that got me thinking... Storage capacity has to be similar, handling is bound to be better, and (here's the real revelation) with a little work they can actually look like something I wouldn't be ashamed to be seen in!

So I did a little research and determined that an 1989+ 245 was probably my best bet and the search began. I ended finding one locally advertised for 1500. Accoding to the ad it was a gift from a volvo mechanic she worked for since he was closing his shop to retire.



A/C doesn't work, and theres a dent on the driver rear wheel well, so I paid much less than advertised, plus it came with a full tank of gas.

So far, I'm a happy camper

The suspense is killing me. WHAT DID YOU SEE?!?!?!?!!!!

"Brick in a Box": Goals

Step one....cut a hole in the box..
Step two... lol,

Jokes a aside, my goals for this project are pretty simple:

• Be able to parts/engines without borrowing a truck
• Get better gas mileage (this part alone will pay for the car in short order)
• Daily driver duties (to allow more extensive mods for the 7)
• Some level of asthetic appeal (highly subjective I know...)
• Teach the fiance to drive a manual transmission on a car that won't kill us both
• Moderate straight line performance

Not entirely sure the best route to accomplish all this (and this is where you guys can chime in) but here's what I've come up with so far:

• Diagnose/ Fix A/C
• Upgraded rear shocks/springs (bilstein HD? Suburban? Air assist?)
• M47 swap (perhaps a t5 or even RX7 trans in the more distant future)
• New driver's seat
• 3" drop (not sure if springs will be sufficient or if a coilover will be required)
• FT swap or +T , really just depends on the best deal I find when the time comes.
• Wet sand/buff original paint, remove roof rack, polish head lights, pull dent,
  Strongly considering removing the plastic along the rocker panel, but not sure how much work that would be, or what I might find underneath
• 5x108 --> 5x114 adapters (looking to use wheels with offest between +25 - +35)

As far as the "stealth" portion of the title, it refers both the the obvious fact that you almost have to ram a police car to atract attention in this thing, as well as the fact that my fiance (who despises my RX-7) has embraced this car a "responsible" "cute" and something she wouldn't mind driving". If I work on the 7 i'm "making it more dangerous" if I work on the 245 I'm "keeping an old car in good shape to save gas $$$

The 245 you saw at the yard belongs to a "MrBrown" here on the forums.

http://turbobricks.com/forums/member.php?u=40678

Sweet looking 240 you got there. Time to slap a big turbo, a naruto headband, and a t5 on that "responsible" "cute" car.

What's the mileage? Looks like a great project car. IPD and FCP Euro will be the places to go for maintenance parts, and IPD has the sway bars and springs. 3" drop will require steer correction and coilovers if you don't want to cut springs. http://www.kaplhenke.com/ is the place to go for a great coilover setup, and supporting mods. He makes very good stuff, and his attention to detail is phenomenal. Ben is easy to talk to as well. Real down to earth. Good luck. First step is to Stage 0 the engine and suspension and then work from there.

Vroom vroom, nice edit!

Don't bother with the M47 step if you plan on turboing the motor. Just go for the T5 right off the bat.

centason said:

What's the mileage? Looks like a great project car. IPD and FCP Euro will be the places to go for maintenance parts, and IPD has the sway bars and springs. 3" drop will require steer correction and coilovers if you don't want to cut springs. http://www.kaplhenke.com/ is the place to go for a great coilover setup, and supporting mods. He makes very good stuff, and his attention to detail is phenomenal. Ben is easy to talk to as well. Real down to earth. Good luck. First step is to Stage 0 the engine and suspension and then work from there.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! I'll check that out

JohnMc said:

Vroom vroom, nice edit!

Don't bother with the M47 step if you plan on turboing the motor. Just go for the T5 right off the bat.

Click to expand...

Yea, that seems the most likely solution , although a bit more spendy than I'm looking for for stage 0/1. THe M47 I can get for cheap and from what I've read, I should be able to get it done in an afternoon.....I just really hate autos.

Green on tan is a goofy color combo, but it sounds like you got a good plan to get this thing looking good! Looking forward to seeing progess

I know right? Looks like it should be black interior, but what do I know .

Also, I thought it was interesting that it has a tach and not a clock, even though it's an auto, also it has power windows but manual locks. Could be a result of being a "mechanic car".

Thanks for the encouragement, I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions along the way.

Anyone care to elaborate on this "stage 0" business?

Sharingan 19 said:

Anyone care to elaborate on this "stage 0" business?

Click to expand...

Here's an oldie that covers most of it:

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=28290

Also, a good thread that is rarely referenced, but often should be:

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=271886

^ Performance FAQ

Sharingan 19 said:

Yea, that seems the most likely solution , although a bit more spendy than I'm looking for for stage 0/1. THe M47 I can get for cheap and from what I've read, I should be able to get it done in an afternoon.....I just really hate autos.

Click to expand...

I did the same thing. Replaced the AW71 with an M47.



Then replaced the M47 with a T5 about 9 months later.

The M47 swap cost about $600, got a very complete swap set of parts from 2manyturbos. And had to get a better clutch. Which was really the death warrant signed for the M47. If you can't hold the power levels with a stock clutch, you're just going to break the trans if you put a stronger clutch on.

The T5 swap cost about $1300 all told. Trans, swap kit, new clutch disc, new driveshaft, new shifter (the stock T5 shifter makes it feel like crap).

stage 0 begins

Centason: P.O. estimates 250k, odometer stopped working shortly after she got it however so no way to know for sure.

Walter: thanks for the info, I've started putting together a stage 0 checklist.

Started by removing the badges and all the sufferer girl stickers, then I sprayed the engine bay down with degreaser and took a trip to the junkyard while it got to work.


Not a whole lot there, but the 89 did have a cluster with 158k on it (when do they usually break?) As well as some good a/c vents. I also grabbed a set of lighted window switches.

Lighted window switches don't seem to work. I spent 30 min swapping different switches(I got dune from a 960 and some from a 7xxx) into different locations, but I could never get all of them to work.

Do I need to up the fuse by 5 amps? Are the switches wired for location specific installation? What's the deal?

Dont work as in they dont light or dont make the windows go up and down? The switches are different.....some have 4 pins, some have 5.

Excuse my lack of specificity, they all light up. However some will move the window down only, others not at all, and some are fully functional. Unfortunately it's not as simple as counting the pins, as both 4 and 5 pin switches have achieved full functionality after being swapped to different positions.

The closest I've come is having all lighted switches in the master panel working but the passenger side front switch only works at the door OR at the master panel, as soon as you use one, the other stops working permanently.

So I went to another junk yard and found 2 t5 transmissions already removed. I would prefer to not have to do 2 complete transmission swaps, it's it possible to use the t5 with a white block?

Looks like the answer to that question is yes.

Now, would the t5 conversion be easier if it were previously converted to m46/47 or would you just go straight for the t5?

So I took a month and read as many threads as I could get my hands on concerning whiteblocks, and I can understand why it seems like responses stopped when I mentioned putting one in lol.

Research indicates that the stock redblock is more than enough to accomplish my initial (190-215 whp) goals, so that's what i'll be focusing on. I've secured the M46 trans swap components (Thanks XrayBob!), and I have a line on the full +T components.

Other than that I've been trying to drive it as much as possible to get impressions for suspension upgrades, and evaluate overall roadworthiness.

about that...

coilovers with proper dampers and spring rates and you might have a lot more fun than you thought possible.

then its time for g80 locker, +t, 3" exhaust, bigger intercooler, MegaSquirt n Spark..... its easy to get bitten by this bug. something really attractive about making an ugly slow car do things no one thinks are possible.


fwiw, my 242 has a stock '95 b230f+t, .55a/r t3, 3" exhaust, lh2.4 with no chips, and a few other easy bolt ons and it outran a brand new 370z (still had 30 day tags, he was a little pissed)

have fun!