Well, I guess it's time to officially introduce my "new" car to you guys. But first, let me say something brief about my '94 SE-R that I used to own. In Sept. '04, I lost the SE-R to a semi.


Since then, I had been looking to replace it with another SE-R, but to no avail. So one day (Nov. '04 to be precise), I was looking up the classifieds in the paper and found a 1989 240SX for a good price. It was in so-so condition, so I negotiated with the owner and ended up buying it.


This is is how she looked like when I bought her:



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/photo003.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/photo004.jpg




Not too bad, right? Well, not exactly. After I got around finding time to really check her out, I began to find issues. Here's what I found:


Driver-side rocker panel:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/Body%20Issues/harris007.jpg




Driver-side frame rail:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/Body%20Issues/harris010.jpg



Trunk region:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/Body%20Issues/DSC00804.jpg



After seeing those three critical rust spots, I began to poop bricks. I couldn't believe how bad the shape of the car was. It almost made me regret my purchase, so much so that I had put the car up for sale. On a side note, I had also discovered the severity of the rust on the hatch. Let's just say that it needed to be replaced.


Then came relief. A loyal and very friendly Puerto-Rican customer of mine, Julio, heard of my melancholy, and came to talk to me. It turned out that he did body-work on the side, so he offered to work for a great deal, as long as I spread the word for him. So off went the car to his little shop for a much-needed repair. While the car was at the shop, I started thinking that this would be time when I could go ahead and trying doing the B13 SE-R seat swap that I had been planning ever since I bought the 240 (those with S13s know how much the stock S13 seats suck).


Anyway, here is what she looked like during the redo process:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/Body%20Issues/During%20treatment/DSC00800.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/Body%20Issues/During%20treatment/DSC00799.jpg



New hatch waiting to be painted and installed:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/Body%20Issues/During%20treatment/DSC00805.jpg




The man behind all the work, Julio:



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/Body%20Issues/During%20treatment/DSC00900.jpg

After waiting a month, I finally received the 240. Here she is, in her newfound glory:



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/Body%20Issues/After%20treatment/DSC01079.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/Body%20Issues/After%20treatment/DSC01080.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/Body%20Issues/After%20treatment/DSC01083.jpg



As you can see, all major rust spots were well taken care of (you can't even tell that there was ever any rust on the rocker panel).


Like I mentioned earlier, I also got Julio to install the B13 SE-R seats, which in my opinion are the best OEM seats out there:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/Body%20Issues/After%20treatment/DSC01087.jpg



The rest of the car:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/Body%20Issues/After%20treatment/DSC01056.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/Body%20Issues/After%20treatment/DSC01084.jpg



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/harris81/My%20S13/Body%20Issues/After%20treatment/DSC01085.jpg


Now that the body's all straightened out, I am moving on to the suspension. I'm going to be ordering some cheapo STBs from ebay, I'm getting a good deal on a slightly used set of KYB AGXs w/ Eibach Sportlines from a friend of mine, and I will be ordering a master bushing set from ES very soon. This project is getting to the point where I want it to be, slowly but surely.


Let me know what you guys think. :)

nice man love it. real clean love the silver.

ugh, had to look at the rear agian. love the black out look man. get some black rims and its a wrap.

nice job saving the 240. my frame rails are holy too.

Were the rust areas media blasted before new metal was welded or was the rust cut out? Just curious.

Good job!!!

danm looks nice for an 89

Good buy!

my frame rails are holy too.
Have they been blessed and annointed with some oil by your religious leader of choice?

Sorry, I had to.... :)

Nice job Harris. Clean bodywork! Did I mention that I agree with you on the Classic seats? Oh, wait that was the other thread. ;)

Lookin good, Harris. Don't forget to remove the tape from the trim. ;) I really like the blacked out back. Some gloss black wheels with a polished lip, a little drop and a shiny muffler out back would be bangin!

John

Very nice Harris! Great job :)

lookin good harris I might have to talk to your man Julio about a little touch up work on the NX :). Did he paint it for you too? Thats one heck of a hook up. Congrats.

Oh man my next car will not be from the north that thing was rotten. That looked almost as bad as my old b12 that thing had huge holes in the back rails. I was always scared my rear end was gonna break off if I ever went over a huge dip.

Looks very good Harris.

Thanks for the kind words everyone! :)

coalitionSE-L, the rust was cut out and new metal was welded in.

Big John, let's just say that tape (pinstripe actually) needs to stay there. I won't say why. ;)

TJ, call my cell and we'll talk. Julio will do it for a good deal as long as you are patient with him. Just call me and I'll explain it to you. And yea, he painted it too.

my friends 240 has rust in the same regions as yours and is going to recieve the same treatement. Do you think the new metal is strong enough? We are concerned the metal around it was greatly weakened too... anyway I love the blacked out rear.

Thanks for the kind words everyone! :)

coalitionSE-L, the rust was cut out and new metal was welded in.

Big John, let's just say that tape (pinstripe actually) needs to stay there. I won't say why. ;)

TJ, call my cell and we'll talk. Julio will do it for a good deal as long as you are patient with him. Just call me and I'll explain it to you. And yea, he painted it too.
This is what I tell a lot of B13 guys, it is not that difficult to replace. As long as you undercoat the new metal and use seamsealer.

damn! give your man Julio a pat on the back! (im sure you did) thats awesome he hooked you up, and did a sweet job at the same time!

my friends 240 has rust in the same regions as yours and is going to recieve the same treatement. Do you think the new metal is strong enough? We are concerned the metal around it was greatly weakened too... anyway I love the blacked out rear.



The new metal is definitely strong enough to take some pounding, especially the welding. It won't go anywhere unless I make the mistake of driving it in the snow again. What the bodyshop guys do is literally hammer at the old metal until just the strong part is left in the frame/body. Then they go ahead and do their little magic of cleaning up, welding new metal in, and finishing it up with undercoating.


Like Ian (Pretty White) said, if you do it right, a rusted car can be brought back to like-new condition. If my B13 wasn't as messed up as it got after the semi hit me, I would have been restoring it just like I did with the 240. Do it once, do it right.

Car looks great except...for the love of God, please get rid of those hideous wheels! ACK! Put the ones back on that it came with. YEESH!