honest opinions wanted

[sunflower4140]

My 15 yr. old just bought a 90 240 SX w/ 248,000 for $500. We already know the radiator needs replacing, clutch possibly...passenger window motor, needs front end alignment. The motor itself runs good. Some parts have been replaced. I just hope he has made a wise investment. He is taking an auto mechanics course and I was wondering if this would be a good project car for him or will I be putting it in the shop because it will be too hard for him to tackle???

[Tims_240]

id say ur screwed.

























just kidding, replace some internals, and the engine will run forever(or just get a new engine). they are pretty easy to work on actually, if the body is in ok condition i would say $500 isnt bad

[driftking777]

i personally think that the 240 is a decently easy car to work on...the engine compartment is easy to work in and the car is basic...and since there is a decent amount of 240's around parts arent to hard to come by...i think it will make and excellent project car for your son...congrats to him...also 500 bucks for a 240 with minor things wrong is a pretty decent deal...

[driftking777]

dang posted like right when i did...kinda sound repititive now..lol

[TatII]

the 240sx is a very good platform to work on. its pretty easy to work on, and there are tons of engine options.

the typical hooked up 240 that is turboed makes atleast 250hp all the way up to 600+ hp.

since you have a 90 model it comes with the 3 valve single cam engine. there really isn't much parts out for that engine, but what some people do is get the twin cam engine's from a 91-98 and swap it in.

since alot of people are doing engine swaps and taking out the stock twin cam engines to put in the japanese turbo engines, you can usually by a engine and tranny combined at shops taht did engine swaps for around 300 bucks.

my friend just bought a spare twin cam KA engine with tranny with a B & M short shifter in it for only 200 bucks!!! the short shifter alone when its new is around $230!!

so its up to what you want to do with the car. but getting power out of the 240 is pretty easy, and its a car with very very hugh power potential and the chassis can definitly take it since its RWD.

now also you can swap in alot of parts from other nissans. my brakes were 4 piston calipers from a 300ZX twin turbo. they bolt right up. since you got a 90 model though, the rotors won't bolt up because the Z uses a 5 lug bolt pattern while the 90 uses a 4 lug bolt pattern. but shops like www.srswaps.com will see you whole conversion kits along with redrilled rotors.

you can also put in the brake master cylinder from the Z to the 240 since it is a good idea to do it to evenly distribute the brake pressure. look at www.importnut.org for details.

the next thing you can swap in is are limited slip differentials from other junkyard nissans, just as a infiniti j30, or 300ZX again. you can also use brakes from a infiniti Q45. details are in the same website from importnut.

theres alot more stuff you can do with these cars, i just don't have the brain power right now becasue i'm tired.

[D-Bo]

GREAT!! GET 'EM WHILE THEY'RE YOUNG!!
haha just jokin around.. its a great car to start with.
how long you have it in the shop will depend on how much he learns in his auto class. to tell you the truth, i took an auto class in grade 10 and it was a joke. finished all projects with a month and a half to go in school.. BUT i did learn a hell of a lot and i really think thats what tweaked my interest in how cars work.

replacing a rad, clutch and window motor will DEFINITELY help him grasp the concept of how cars run, obviously in somewhat simplistic terms.. not so much the window motor (that'll help him with electronics).. i'd say it was a great investment as long as there's nothing terminally wrong with the car.. you can get him to work on the internals too, which is what i would love to do but time is money (you know what i'm saying).. by the time he's 18, he could potentially have quite the car on his hands!