1997 Nissan, 240sx, V8?

It would really raise my spirits right now if someone told me they have spent all day working on their car and got all of nothing done.

I spent all Monday working on the car and all I managed to do was create more work for myself, pinch my trigger finger, and get pissed off.

Yay for projects.

I decided to take Monday off from work and try to get something done, and I got just that, something.

Not much at all. At least by the standards of progress I'm used to.

To start off with, yesterday was very overcast, dreary and wet. This kind of weather makes me sad to begin with, having a car that won't comply with the simplest tasks didn't make it better.

I started off dropping the Mishimoto radiator and fans back in, this was a great investment when I had the KA24DE still in place, those engines are KNOWN for over heating if the smallest of air bubbles isn't bled out, AND it works with LS engines :)

With the radiator back in I focused on the hoses, this upper is from a 2009 Civic I think, I read online that it would fit right up. WRONG. Even when I cut it in half and added the fan controller the hose is taught. I don't plan to leave it this way long term because I don't trust it. But for now, it'll do.

The lower hose is from a 1999 C1500, all I had to do was trim it a little short, otherwise it fits right up!

With the radiator squared away, (yeah I didn't worry with the heater hoses yet, maybe next time) I decided I would go ahead and finish pulling the Nissan engine wiring harness, I've been working around it this whole time and it has to come out. Sadly, this is as far as I got with the wiring, I'm trying to be delicate with the wiring so I can list it for sale, but I lost patience quickly and gave up for now.

I did however notice that my Nissan throttle cable will work with the LS1 throttle body. Just have to make a bracket to hold it when I get a chance.

So first I pulled the column, hoping thats all I would have to pull in order to install the driver side exhaust manifold, after all I need to mock up the exhaust. . .

For the next few hours I would wrestle with the headers, steering rack, back to the headers, back to the rack, headers, you get the picture. I would spend most of my day doing this, pinch my finger between the rack and sub-frame, and end up hating life. But it got done.

Hopefully I get much more done next time :(

Finally got a few days off work to really get some work done, started off by welding on the v-band flanges to the Hooker longtube headers.

Eh, good enough. I'm not a professional welder, so get off my case.

From here back I'll be using a C5 Corvette exhaust I picked up for free, hacking it up of course.

Mocking both sides up, the passenger side will tie into the driver side exhaust piping...

Working with existing bends was tricky, putting it together like a puzzle.

And unfortunately that's where I ran out of pipe :( I need to buy some pipe now. But hey, I got 99% of the exhaust done for free! :)

Shifting focus from the exhaust over to the fuel system, I pulled the stock pump out, which if you've never done this on an S14, have fun. Just remember to have less than half a tank of gas, or be prepared to get your arm soaked in gasoline. After pulling the stock pump and realizing that the Aeromotive Stealth 340 pump I had purchased wasn't a direct replacement, I just started modifying the stock fuel pump hanger.

To give you an idea here is a pic of the stock fuel pump I swiped off of Google

The stock fuel pump is held in place by a rubber busing on the bottom side, and the rubber hose coming out the top. That's it. Because the Aeromotive pump wasn't a direct install I cut the lower flange off the fuel pump hanger and bent it in just a little so it would rest up against the foam on the new pump.

I also made cuts in the hanger and bent the metal in so that the hose clamps I'm using to hold the pump will not slip off. With that the new fuel pump went back in the tank to live a thankless life of service.

One of the forum members on Zilvia turned me onto this Tri-Ax shifter. Originally designed for use in the Ford Mustang, it works great at offsetting the stock shifter location! I used a few washers between the trans and the shifter to space it farther to the right however as when going to second gear the shifter was VERY close to the e-brake handle.

Moving onto the oil lines and remote filter. . . now, from the angle this picture is taken it would look like the oil line is VERY close to the exhaust manifold. In actuality it isn't as close as it looks. It's more like an inch if you look at it from another angle. You'll also notice that the "IN" fitting is missing, I had planned on using two 90 degree fittings there but turns out another 90 won't fit in there. I'm going to have to use a 120 or 150 degree there.

FOR NOW, this is where I'm going to put the remote filter housing. The power steering pump and alternator may force me to move it closer to the radiator, but that's not a huge deal.

So long for now, hope to have more updates soon!

Nice progress on the build! An S14 should have come with something better than the KA from the factory, and that fits the bill very well.

Are those trigger welds on that V-band?

Yes. I used a mig, didn't wanna run a bead due to the merge collector material being much thinner than v-band flange. I'm sure these aren't the best welds, but it'll work.

Cool build. I'm trying to decide if I want to do an LS swap to my 328i or try something more radical.

Got a few hours in on the car today:

I started by bolting the alternator bracket on with the lower bolt then aligning the upper bolt hole with the block. The upper bolt hole doesn't exist on the 5.3 block, so it has to be drilled and tapped for the LS low mount alternator bracket can be used.

Now with everything lined up I needed to mark the hole to be drilled, oddly enough the sharpie was the exact same size as the bolt hole I needed to drill. SCORE!

With hole marked it was time to drill and tap the hole I had marked, I picked up a drill bit, then got to work...

Skipping a step here (I didn't take a pic of drilling the hole or tapping it), BAM! Progress!

I finally got the fuel filter/regulator, my mission was to get it as close to the fuel rail as possible. Using an existing bolt hole on the strut tower I mounted the filter. I may have to change the fitting on the rail adapter to a 45 degree if I have any clearance issues with the hood and fuel line.

Your thoughts on the Sikky kit? I've got an LS1 on my engine stand, and I've been contemplating this swap. My neighbor is apparently a distributor for them, and can cut me a pretty good deal.

Since I didn't go with the Sikky kit I really can't weight in.

The one thing I do know, you pay for Sikky quality.

So far I'm in at a fraction of the Sikky price, and everything bolted right up.

I like this build. Anything with an LS get my ears to perk up. Looks good and doesn't look too far away from driving. But just a word of advise....I wouldn't spin that motor real hard. The truck blancers have been known to break and come apart at around 7000 rpms. I look forward to seeing more.

Thanks for the tip, I actually switched over to the LS1 crank pulley / harmonic balancer in order to run the car accessories.

SO much win in this thread...so much!!!

Brother just finished up this exact same swap. You can find him on tumblr for photos and short descriptions of things he did if you have questions, but I know there is a bunch of information out and about.

http://buildmakecreate.tumblr.com/

In reply to 4cylndrfury:

Thank you sir!

In reply to catapultkid: Thank you for posting that link to his build thread, it's almost crazy how much alike our cars are. Minus the tube front, roll cage, etc. I love the way RPF1s look on this chassis, but I would be lying if I said I hadn't been eyeing the new RS05RR that is only available thru Enkei of Japan. Running these would give me a great excuse to go widebody like I've been wanting to :)

Wow. Very nicely done. Maybe someday I'll get back to my S13 build.

N Sperlo wrote: Wow. Very nicely done. Maybe someday I'll get back to my S13 build.

Do it man!

Speaking of S13 builds... maybe I'll post mine up sometime...

Made 435 whp on 20psi last trip to the dyno. Made changes to it since then, time for a re-tune.

-Matt

You should add to your garage in your profile. I looked any you got nuffin there. I'm curious.

I'll do that at some point, sorry I'm new to this forum and not used to the format. I've been using IP.board style forums forever and got used to them :/

Great build. I would buy a 240sx just to do an LS swap.

Haven't had a chance to work on the V8 car in a while, need to make a list of parts to order. . .

However, I did diagnose the problem on my SR20DET S13 (which I still haven't started a thread for), fired up on the first try with a loaner ecu. Love how fast this thing revs!!!!!!!!!

Wouldn't let me post an embeded youtube vid, here is the link:

First start up in 2 years.

onehundredoctane wrote: Wouldn't let me post an embeded youtube vid, here is the link: First start up in 2 years.

Side exhaust ftmfw. I may just end up buying the Sikky kit. I've got more money than time recently

Please for the love of God, tell me you're keeping this car IRS...

In reply to Conquest351:

Which one?