My 240sx Is Finally Going To The Beauty Parlor

Tim_M · Postby **Tim_M** » Thu May 13, 2021 3:23 pm

Brian, believe nearly every pic you post has a palm in the background or reflection...Florida is a nice place!

Car looks brand new!

Solar · Postby **Solar** » Wed May 26, 2021 11:04 am

Planning on doing a major brake over haul on the 240 this holiday weekend, got new rotors, pads, brake lines, and caliper rebuild kits with new steel pistons.

Decided to save a couple hundred $$ by rebuilding my calipers, rebuild kits with steel pistons were $15 each compared to $80 - $100 for a rebuilt caliper. I've rebuilt hundreds of them back in the day so I shouldn't have any issues with them, except the rears are tricky with the e-brake. Luckily I have a Nissan 240SX service manual that covers how to reassemble them correctly.

screenshot program windows

Planning on repainting the calipers and dust backing shields and anything else that shows through the wheels. The rotors come powdered coated, so I won't have to deal with those. I remembered I have Speed Bleeders so thats a plus, and I got some fresh ATE DOT4 fluid (no longer blue) and assembly fluid to make the calipers easy to put together. If all goes well, should be a nice day project, minus beer and food breaks.

Solar · Postby **Solar** » Sat May 29, 2021 9:43 pm

Got almost everything buttoned up, could’ve finished but got a late start and ran out of sunlight. Everything went pretty well except the new front caliper pistons were wrong. Luckily the old front pistons were in good shape, so I was able to re use them. Though thankfully the new rear caliper pistons were correct, and I think I figured out why the left rear caliper was sticking and wearing out pads.

Set up my portable “work bench”, there’s something about sitting down when you take on a job like this. Also a pick tool set comes in handy.

The front calipers went right together with no issues, though getting a bottle of assembly fluid pays off.

Got all the calipers rebuilt and repainted, and also painted the backing dust plates and some of the rear suspension control arms that show through the wheels. Pretty happy with how everything went, the only other issue I have is the left rear hard line fitting to the flex hose has been vise gripped beyond repair. I actually found a OEM hard line to replace it, and to my huge surprise it’s only $18. So I’m going to put the RR all back together tomorrow and bleed the system. I will just have replace the RR hard line and flex hose when I get it in a couple weeks.

Looks great, but in a few months it will be, eh, looks okay.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend.

Postby **Native** » Sun May 30, 2021 10:52 am

Looks great, and probably works a lot better, too!

Solar · Postby **Solar** » Sun May 30, 2021 11:38 pm

Native wrote:Looks great, and probably works a lot better, too!

Thanks Steve! Everything actually worked out well, finished the left rear brakes this morning, bled/flushed the system, changed the engine oil, fixed the rub issue on the left front fender liner. Took it out for a quick drive today, no leaks, no squeaks, no runs, no errors, and did a couple hard stops. Like butter.

My old ASE wrenching days definitely paid off, just rebuilding the calipers saved me a good $300.

Tim_M · Postby **Tim_M** » Mon May 31, 2021 4:01 pm

Brian: nice work...brakes are a great investment and satisfaction - as they look good. Why do you think the brake piston corroded? Not enough brake flushes in its history? Maybe your mileage will go up now?

The post hobby shop had a next generation Silvia from Japan in for work. I briefly spoke to the young chap who imported it recently. Another nice looking design...an auto though...

Solar · Postby **Solar** » Wed Jun 02, 2021 10:21 am

Tim_M wrote: Mon May 31, 2021 4:01 pm Brian: nice work...brakes are a great investment and satisfaction - as they look good. Why do you think the brake piston corroded? Not enough brake flushes in its history? Maybe your mileage will go up now?

The post hobby shop had a next generation Silvia from Japan in for work. I briefly spoke to the young chap who imported it recently. Another nice looking design...an auto though...

Normally when a caliper piston corrodes its from the outer boot leaking and allowing dirt and water into it, and yeah, very old brake fluid starts to adsorb water and will add to the issue. I flushed the system about 10 years ago and its the first time that caliper has been apart in at least ten years or maybe in its life. The fluid in the bore was clean, so that piston was having issues way before I bought the car, plus rear caliper pistons twist and they tend to wear the seals out a little quicker.

I think the Silvia over there was their base model with the 180sx being the performance model, so seeing automatics in Silvias is not uncommon, but yeah, why ? How young was he ? Maybe he doesn't know how to drive a manual ? My "salesperson" at Honda when I bought my Civic a few years ago didn't know how to drive a manual, I had to move the car around the lot for him.

Solar · Postby **Solar** » Thu Jun 10, 2021 8:31 pm

I entered the 240 in a “car show” at Quaker Steak and I won ! My trophy was a roll of shop towels !

I actually like that better than a trophy.

Postby **Native** » Fri Jun 11, 2021 4:22 pm

Now that's entertainment!

Solar · Postby **Solar** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 12:07 am

I put the Steelie wheels back on, just because well.......?

Tim_M · Postby **Tim_M** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 9:12 am

Car looks stunning in either case.

Hard to believe those are wheel covers!

Missed the car show results - hey, something useful - I like it!

Solar · Postby **Solar** » Wed Aug 18, 2021 10:30 am

Thanks Tim, its getting a lot of looks, I like the stock look with the wheel covers, they look good but I doubt you would mistake them for wheels standing a few feet away. I might go to another show tomorrow and maybe bring home another roll of towels

AScoda · Postby **AScoda** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 10:06 pm

Those are some pretty manly towels.
I should take mine somewhere photogenic and take some pics.
Doesn't really look much different. Added hard top and the paint is evenly shiny all over now.
Not quite the transformation yours has gone through.

twistedwankel · Postby **twistedwankel** » Sat Aug 28, 2021 2:54 am

Solar wrote:I put the Steelie wheels back on, just because well.......?

My daughter sold my vette that I find her on EBay. You missed your chance to drive a real car..

Solar · Postby **Solar** » Mon Aug 30, 2021 11:22 am

twistedwankel wrote:
Solar wrote:I put the Steelie wheels back on, just because well.......?
My daughter sold my vette that I find her on EBay. You missed your chance to drive a real car..

When did GM start making real cars ?

twistedwankel · Postby **twistedwankel** » Mon Aug 30, 2021 2:01 pm

Solar wrote:
twistedwankel wrote:
Solar wrote:I put the Steelie wheels back on, just because well.......?
My daughter sold my vette that I find her on EBay. You missed your chance to drive a real car..
When did GM start making real cars ?

Doh....1954. Right after they taught the Japanese how to mass produce military vehicles for the Korean war.

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