CamryOnBronze

Well, here we are. Another year has passed and 2025 is beginning to come to a close. While doomscrolling instagram last night, I was greeted with the news that Zilvia.net has finally shut down – for good this time, it seems. While I can’t say I have really utilized the site like I once did in the better part of a decade, it was still sad to hear this news. Spending time sharing and consuming information in that community is such a core part of who I am today, and I’m so thankful I got the chance to be a part of it. I learned so much and met so many cool people from all over the world that I consider to be lifelong friends, and none of it would have happened had I not hopped on there way back in 2008 with an interest in learning more about the S13 platform.

Fortunately, I took them time back in 2019 or so to save every page of my build thread in one big ol PDF. I’ll have to search my hard drives and see if I can find that file to share with everyone. It feels silly to put so much stock in something as trivial as a bunch of online posts, but it’s still motivating for me to read through to this day. Zilvia shaped a lot of my identity at that stage in my life (as cheesy as it might be) and made me feel like I was both a part of something – and was maybe even good at something. It meant a lot to me, and it’s the reason I keep paying Flickr their increasing prices every year to keep the photos posted on this blog (most of them at least) alive and accessible for anyone else that might want to enjoy them.

About three weeks after my most recent post in July, I sat down and fired off another blog post. The only problem is I never finished or published it. This is kind of unfortunate as I had finally gotten a surprising amount of work done on the car around that time, but I’ll do my best to hop back in time and document what I’ve been up to in the second half of 2025. This may be a long one… grab a snack and settle in!

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LATE JULY 2025

I’m glad I was able to find some motivation to enjoy tinkering again this summer despite the crazy heat and humidity we had here in Michigan this summer. I’m sure that’s a bit relative, but we aren’t built for this up here in the North. The humidity and high temps were something else.

After I sharing my previous post, I fished my TE37s out of the basement and gave them a good cleaning. The rear wheels had a fair amount of CV joint grease on them from when they were last used on my 240, so it was nice to get that taken care of. I took some photos of them in case I decide to sell them, but the thought of letting them go is tough to handle. I wish they were the older version of TE37s without the extra stamping on the outside of the wheels, and would also like if they were a bit lighter shade of bronze.

When I tried installing my Ganador mirrors, I was bummed to find that they did not power on. I decided to give it another try, and jiggled the wiring while pressing the mirror adjustment button. Surprisingly, the motors fired up and started working! However, I noticed they would only adjust left and right. After looking behind the glass, I noticed that one of the rubber pegs had been cut off of each mirror, preventing them from adjusting. I got out my East Bears and tested those as well, but the story was the same – they powered on, but one adjustment peg was missing on each.

After removing the glass from both pairs of mirrors, I noticed that the rubber adjustment pegs appear to be the same on both Ganador and East Bear mirrors. I ended up ordering a complete replacement glass assembly from Kabuki for the Ganadors. This included new rubber pegs, plastic backing plates, and blue tinted glass that all looks completely identical to the original Ganador equipment. They also arrived from Japan in less than a week and were reasonably priced. I liked this option in particular because the backing plates don’t appear to be 3D printed – so they look just like the originals.

As for the East Bears, I ordered a set of replacement pegs and some new glass while I had them apart. Those should hopefully arrive in the next couple weeks and I can share some more details. It will be cool to have both of my preferred mirror options on deck and actually have them function for once!

Next on the list was addressing the worn and broken sunroof molding on my 180SX. The seal is actually worse than the one on my 240 was, and that was pretty bad. I have always been afraid of replacing this as I have heard a lot of horror stories, but I decided it was time. I removed the glass from the car and got to work by removing the old molding and scraping off all of the old adhesive.

I had a slew of OEM sunroof components that I had been hoarding for my 240, so I finally put them to use and installed them. I replaced the sunroof molding (that attaches around the glass itself,) as well as all of the inside and outside items and the large weather strip inside the car’s interior that attaches to the roof. It took a really long time to clean all of the excess 3M weather strip adhesive off after the install, but it was worth the effort.

The seal doesn’t sit perfectly flat and there are some minor imperfections, but it’s a great improvement over what it was before. It feels great to finally put these parts to good use and get the sunroof refreshed! I also installed a new latch and plastic interior trim while I was at it.

My next project is something I had been avoiding for over a decade: correcting the black paint on an S13. Truthfully I have never known much of anything about how this process worked, and always dreamed of repainting my car to avoid having to deal with it. However, I’ve never been able to scrape together the cash to get it done. Thanks to my friend Oliver from Canada’s advice, I was able to order all of the supplies I needed from Amazon and watch this video to get an understanding of how the basic paint correction process works.

I ended up ordering a 5″ DA grinder/sander, some medium cut pads and some finishing pads, microfiber cloths, 3M automotive tape for taping off the moldings, and a couple products Oliver recommended- including One 3D Cutting Compound & Finishing Polish for the initial pass, and Jescar Power Lock Plus Sealant for the polishing process.

I taped off the moldings, watched the YouTube videos a few times, and got to work – starting with the roof where I had just worked on refreshing the sunroof. It took me the better part of a week, but I slowly made my way around to all of the various panels and parts on the car. It was amazing to see how many imperfections came out of the paint – most noticeably the swirl marks.

There are still a lot of imperfections, and it’s apparent that the majority of this car was repainted at some point in its life – but this has completely made me fall in love with the car again and feel a lot more proud of it. I backed it out of the garage into the sun for the first time and was so pleased with the results. I’ve always been bummed when I have to drive my car somewhere in the bright sun as the paint swirls were just terrible.

The clear coat on the roof is in rough shape, and the A pillars have a lot of scratches and imperfections from the optional window visors the car had on it. If I were to repaint anything, it would be the roof, A pillars, rear hatch, and rear bumper as those items seem to have the most fading and deep scratches. I don’t know if or when that will happen, but for now at least the car is 10x more presentable than it was before.

That’s about it for the month of July!

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AUGUST – DECEMBER 2025

As August began, I was still spending a fair amount of time working on the car. I elected to take out the window switch bezels and shoot them with a quick coat of SEM Satin Black to freshen them up a bit. This made a big difference and made them match the refreshed interior door handles and bezels I installed last summer.

Speaking of door handles, after getting the car’s paint corrected and looking a ton better, I decided to finally dive into the pile of restoration parts I had been hoarding for years and put them to good use. I always wanted to do this on a freshly painted car, but I decided life is just too short to keep waiting for something like that to happen. The 180SX felt like the perfect car to install these parts on, so I decided to go for it. The first new part I installed was a fresh pair of KH3 exterior door handles I sourced from Japan back in 2018 or so. It’s a really nice feeling to have brand new door handles on the car!

Next on the list was weather stripping. I ended up installing new seals along the doors, both on the door itself and the seals along the body that butt up against the door glass. It’s crazy satisfying to have fresh rubber in place without any tears, especially the notorious areas along the top of the side view mirrors.

With the new seals in place, I elected to reinstall my Ganador Super Aero Mirrors. I can’t say enough about how nice the Kabuki replacement glass assemblies are – everything is super high quality and an exact match to the factory Ganador components. I was also able to mess with the wiring a bit and get both mirrors to work properly with the factory switch which is a real treat. I’ve always wanted a working pair of Ganadors. Seeing them on the car with fresh weather stripping and the new blue glass made it that much better.

The weather strip retainers on my 180SX were pretty trashed from the OEM optional window visors that came on the car when I got it, so I finally bit the bullet and installed replacements of those as well. These parts are pretty rare, and I can’t say I had ever seen another brand new pair of them. They weren’t cheap to bring over from Japan, but man am I glad I did it when I did. These made the car look a TON better. It was hard to let go of the potential cash I could have gotten from selling them, but the satisfaction was well worth it.

In the spirit of continuing along with opening and ruining rare collector parts, I next installed a pair of brand new exterior B pillar trims from my collection. Again – these made a massive difference and look so nice next to the new weather strip retainers.

The door belt moldings along the glass were also replaced with new units. These were a lot more of a hassle to install than I had anticipated, but the results were impressive. Seeing all of the trim around the side glass on each door in place was a real treat and continues to catch my eye every time I stare at the car.

With all of the new parts installed on the car, I decided to enjoy driving it a bit before the season ended. By this time it was mid August and I still hadn’t managed to find anyone to align the car (though I’ll admit, I wasn’t really trying very hard.) I drove the car on a couple of longer drives and had a great time finally getting it out and about.

My friend Nick invited me to a meet at the Nissan technical center at the end of August and it was a ton of fun to go to a car event again. I met some new people and saw some friends there as well which was really cool. The car still felt a bit down on power which continued to confuse me, but at least I was able to get out and enjoy it.

In September, I got a shipment of parts for the car for what felt like the first time in ages. An order arrived from RHD Japan that included a Kakimoto test pipe, another pair of Project Kics 11mm spacers, a set of Cusco solid engine mounts, and a pair of J’s Racing hood pins.

I’ve been running a Magnaflow high flow catalytic converter on the car for several years now and really enjoy it, but the Kakimoto catback is so quiet that I was yearning a more aggressive sound. I swapped the test pipe on the car in mid September, but it didn’t really liven things up much at all. I was reminded of the stinky exhaust and why I like to run a cat on the car, but it felt nostalgic to smell the fuel again. We’ll see if I end up sticking with this or not.

I ordered a second pair of 11mm spacers because my 18×9.5 TE37s are +22 offset, while my LMGT4 are +12. The spacers allow the TEs to fit exactly like the GT4s do. I would rather run the TEs without any spacers and remove some camber, but didn’t want to mess with all of my alignment settings. I threw the TEs on the car to take a few photos, but couldn’t really drive the car since the tires were rubbing the quarter panels. I didn’t expect 1mm to make that much of a difference, but I guess different tire brands can contribute to that too.

I was reminded of how much I love TE37s and how perfect they are on a kouki 180SX. However, I also realized how great the LMGT4 are on this car. I’ve always found TEs to be superior, but the GT4s have grown on me a lot. I’ll likely hold onto both sets since they just can’t be beat. I still long for a set of silver wheels and miss my mercury silver TEs a ton, but really want to try white TE37s one day too. But for now, any changes to my wheel setups are on the back burner.

Late in the season, I finally got motivated to figure out why the car felt a lot slower than it should. It was making boost as it should, but constantly felt like it was chugging along or being held back. I talked it over with my friends and we decided that it would be a good idea to replace the fuel pump on the car. I was excited to not have to deal with that on a true factory SR20DET car, but decided they were probably right. I picked up a Walbro 255lph fuel pump from my pal Frankie at Faction! Motorsports and tossed it in the car in late September. However, the issues with the car feeling slower persisted.

I did not have this issue prior to installing the front mount intercooler over the winter, so I decided to it must be related to that. After doing some research, I found that the 180SX has some sort of boost control solenoid (not sure I am using the right term) that I did not plumb correctly when I replaced all of my vacuum lines after installing the front mount intercooler. I bypassed both this and the EGR junk that was still on the car (aside from the charcoal canister) and this did the trick! What a relief to have it feeling like a true SR20DET car again.

At the end of September, I decided to switch the interior up a bit and installed my black Bride Maxis on the driver’s side. I had purchased a pair of side mount Bride FG rails a year or so prior in case I needed them, which I was glad about as this let me avoid all of the current tariffs that are making sourcing parts such a pain. I swapped the other red brix out for a clean black ergo that I had been holding onto for quite some time. I wish it was a brix, but it’s so clean that I can’t really complain too much. Climbing into the car, I was reminded that I am not essentially forty years old. Climbing in and out of a Maxis or Zeros is really a chore. I finally understand why people like having a quick release steering wheel after all these years. While I look like an idiot climbing in and out, the seat is super comfy and I am so thankful I still fit in it. I guess running about thirty miles a month is paying off after all!

The first weekend in October brought along the fourth annual CamryOnBronze S Chassis BBQ. I’ve really grown to love hosting this event each year and all of the people that come along with it. Each year I get to see some old friends and meet some new faces, as well as check out a lot of really cool cars. I don’t make it to car events much at all anymore, so it’s always fun and motivating for me. This year was no exception, and despite our best efforts to dodge the summer heat by having it in October this year, it was still very unseasonably warm. Better than the alternative though for sure! My brother and my nephew Henry came out as well this year which was a fun surprise. Thank you to everyone that comes and hangs out at this event. I always have a blast and I’m thankful for the opportunity!

This year was special because my friend Ethan (AKA Bish) came up from Ohio to hang with us. I hadn’t seen him in a couple years, so it was really cool to have him there. But not only was his presence cool – it was also cool because he brought me the Koguchi Power hood that I sold him back in 2023 when I parted out my 240SX. Ethan hadn’t used it, and I decided it would be a cool piece to own. When it popped up for sale, I couldn’t resist snagging it – especially with how annoying it is to source parts these days. This is also why I picked up a set of hood pins and Cusco engine mounts from RHD Japan – but plans have changed slightly since. More on that in a bit…

As October progressed, the car sat for several weeks. I would hop in occasionally, but family life took some wild turns and I found myself with little time or mental capacity to devote to the car. Installing all of my NOS parts on the 180 motivated me to come to a realization – I am not going to own a second S13 any time soon. I had the crazy idea in my head that I could sell off some parts and import a Silvia somehow, but I kind of knew in the back of my mind that I would not be able to pull it off. I decided to start letting go and selling a lot of the parts I had hoarded for my coupe build, including the brand new Silvia lighting I had, the Silvia hood and aero bumper, and all of the moldings etc. I had sourced.

It was very difficult at first, but I feel a lot lighter without all of this stuff rotting in my basement. I have a lot more space now and was able to put some cash aside for improvements to the 180SX and some life situations as well – which always feels good. I still have a couple lingering parts left, but just about all of it has moved on now and is being used on other people’s builds. Turning 40 has really shaken me up in a lot of ways, and it’s crazy to think that much time has passed in my life. What’s the sense in letting parts sit around? Sure, I may get more money someday or regret it, but for now I feel a lot lighter and I am thankful for that. Raising a family and surviving life at this stage isn’t easy, so any baggage or complications I can shed feels awesome.

With some extra cash in my pocket, a late night click into instagram brought up an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Thomas from South Carolina was selling a genuine Racing Service Max hood for 180SX. This is the hood that Koguchi, Itai and Itoh ran on their cars- and the one I have always wanted to emulate. I tried a DMAX hood, purchased (but never received) a Hot Road hood, and owned a couple of Koguchi Power hoods – but none of them could really capture the look of the original. I’ve never seen one stateside and never thought I’d have the chance to own one, so I couldn’t resist when I saw he listed it. I sent him the cash for it, but need to figure out a way to get down to South Carolina to pick it up. I am hoping to do that in January if I can, but I can’t wait to get it and try mocking it up on the car! Hopefully I can swing the road trip sooner than later.

I drove the 180 to a photoshoot for work in early November as sort of a “last ride out” for the season. As I sit here in early December trying to finish a post I started in July, the car is in my garage with fuel stabilizer and a battery tender in place. I haven’t gotten started on working on winter improvements, but plan to put it up on jack stands and get started this weekend if I have a chance to. My birthday is usually the last opportunity I really have to work on the car before the holidays take over – then I pick things back up in January.

With committing to owning just one S13 moving forward, and selling off a lot of my parts from my collection, I decided it would be fun to upgrade the turbo setup on my 180SX. I had a really nice S15 T28 setup on my 240 from 2010-2012 and it was so much fun. When I got my S13 back in 2014, I left the SR alone on the stock T25 turbo and never really had the money to do much beyond that. There was always something else I wanted to do and didn’t want to mess with the engine too much. With deciding to keep the 180 my only project car, I am going to dive in this winter and work on making some more power.

Parts are starting to arrive daily this week. In the spirit of honoring Zilvia during the week of it’s demise, I am going to put my best foot forward with finding time to keep this blog alive. Let’s see if I can manage to pull it off. Thanks for continuing on this journey with me – I’m thankful and appreciate it!

Damon

After writing my last post, I finally found myself in the home stretch of getting the car running and on the ground for the first time in 2025. Both subframes were in the car, all bushings were replaced, the five lug conversion was complete – I just needed to find the time for the final push to completion.

I started by stripping the chipped up black paint off of my Z32 calipers leftover from my 240SX. I decided to switch things up a little bit this time and ended up painting them silver. I am still a little torn if I like it better than black or not, but this is meant to be a temporary solution. My initial plan when I bought this car was to go with an ENDLESS big brake kit up front, but scope creep and life slashed my budget a bit before I could get around to it. I still hope to make that happen sometime down the road though.

I bolted up the calipers with Stoptech pads and a fresh set of their Z32 conversion stainless steel brake lines. I’d prefer some nicer rotors than my old 240 leftovers, but again – at this point it was just time to set feelings like that aside and get this car road worthy. I reinstalled the OEM ABS sensors and made some custom brackets for where they bolt to the coilovers to ensure the lines didn’t have too much tension on them at the ride height I plan to run.

Next on the list was installing the new Kakimoto catback exhaust. The quality and fit on this piece is so nice. I installed it along with some GK Tech polyurethane exhaust hanger bushings and it tucked up very nicely against the chassis, even with having a large secondary muffler. It’s so cool to have the proper hardware for all of the exhaust mounting locations – something that was always sort of cobbled together on my previous S13s. I really love the look and fitment of this exhaust!

By the end of the first week of May, everything engine-wise was assembled. I ended up having issues with the GReddy hot pipe fitting alongside the factory airbox, so I elected to toss the factory pipe back on in the mean time. After finishing up replacement of all of the vacuum lines, I filled the coolant and tossed in a new Odyssey battery the day it arrived to attempt starting the car. I loved having a full-size battery in the car, but a slim battery is needed to clear the intercooler piping for the front mount setup.

To my amazement, the car fired right up and idled nicely. It always feels amazing to hear the car run after being torn apart for a long time. I figured the Kakimoto exhaust would be a bit quieter than my DMAX, but wow is this thing quiet. At first I was disappointed, but I think I might actually enjoy it being this quiet in my old age. We’ll see what happens – I might get tired of it and try something different.

Despite everyone’s advice of trying to work on the car a little bit every day, it’s been happening in larger, infrequent bursts for me as of late. I usually spend several hours (or even the majority of an entire day when I can) working on the car, achieve a few key milestones, then take a break for a week or so to let my body and mind recover. Things take a lot longer at this pace, but it’s been good for me lately.

A few days later, I got Alicia to help me bleed the brakes. I had been putting in a fair amount of time adjusting the height, camber and toe on the car prior to this to get it ready to be dropped back on the ground. With the brakes bled, I finally bolted the wheels up and removed the car from jack stands.

The next day was Friday. I decided to take the day off of work to finish adjusting the suspension as it is always a long and labor-intensive process to get it sitting the way I want it to. I found the night before when the car first came off of jack stands that the cat converter was more or less sitting on the ground. Before I could move ahead with setup, I needed to install my set of NISMO engine mounts to raise the engine and exhaust up a bit. This ended up taking several hours due to all of the factory stuff that was in the way, but I eventually was victorious.

The new mounts raised the engine up quite a bit and tucked the exhaust up a lot closer to the frame rails like I was hoping. After some advice from my friend Tony, I tossed a few washers under my Cusco strut tower bar to give it enough clearance above the valve cover. I’ve never been able to run a strut tower bar with NISMO engine mounts before, so I was pretty excited.

After a quick lunch break, I spent the majority of the afternoon and into the evening continually tweaking the suspension, lowering the car down, inspecting it, raising it back up, and adjusting it further. There was a ton of camber in the rear due to not pulling the quarter panels this time around, so I elected to raise the car just a little higher than I would have in the past to remove some. I also added an 11mm spacer up front, added some camber, and raised the ride height to get it looking closer to the rear. More camber up front than out back is always the goal visually. I am not quite there yet, but I am relatively happy with the current compromise.

Over the weekend, I finally got to pull the car out of the garage and wash it. I couldn’t stop staring at it. Sure, as my pal Jimmy said, “it’s the same thing you have been building over and over again for years.” But that comment was validating and rewarding for me as that’s exactly what I set out to do. It does feel like the same car I’ve had for so long in so many ways, but to see a genuine late model 180SX in my driveway – the very car I was trying to emulate and dreamed of owning one day – really is a trip.

When I pulled ride height and camber out of the rear of the car, it messed up the toe – so I need to circle back and fix that. Then I should be able to test drive the car a bit more and address any other issues. There are still small tasks to tackle, but with any luck the car should be on the road in June and ready to enjoy for the summer. I really need to spend some time and money learning paint correction, but we’ll see what happens I guess. At the end of the day I am just relieved to have the car back on the ground and in a semi-operational state.

Thanks as always for following along – I’ll share some proper photos soon for the one year anniversary of me bringing the 180 home. Have a great weekend!

Damon

Let’s see here… what do I need to revisit from my last post before diving into the progress I have made over the last two and a half months? This could be a long one…

As it turns out, the ignition I bought from NissanParts.cc did not in fact fit the late model 180SX. The push button to release the key is positioned on the bottom of the lock cylinder in a kouki 180 as opposed to the top, so when I tried to install my steering column I found that it contacted the cluster surround. I had to remove it and sell it, and since the kouki 180SX ignition is discontinued, I ended up just reinstalling my old one. I’m sure I am going to continue to have issues with it, but I haven’t had the time or motivation to try to find a solution.

Shortly after my last post, I removed the factory radiator to begin working on some cooling system maintenance and upgrades. While things were out of the way in the engine bay, I installed the new front suspension components. This included a NISMO power brace, NISMO S14 front lower control arms, S15 ABS front knuckles, Cusco tension rods, OEM S14 five lug hubs and hardware, NISMO steering rack bushings, GP Sports inner and outer tie rods with new tie rod boots, Moonface front sway bar endlinks, and a Cusco front sway bar. Bolting all of these parts into place was motivating as it allowed me to toss one of the NISMO LMGT4s on the car and step back to see it for the first time. Sure, it’s the same thing as my 240SX more or less, but it was still pretty exciting.

With the front suspension in place, I then turned my attention back to the cooling system. I installed a new OEM water pump with NISMO thermostat, Pitwork belts, and a few different coolant hoses. I still have several of these to install under the intake manifold, but decided to wait and install those at a later time. I replaced my coolant temp sensors near the throttle body and broke one of the brittle old connectors in the process, so I had to source one of those and replace it. I also found that I had purchased the incorrect coolant temp sensor (the blacktop SR20 uses the later model sensor found on the S14) so I had to sell that and order the right one. Sometimes it’s just one thing after the other, but I always get through it eventually.

The final additions to the cooling system were a new Koyo N-Flow radiator, along with a fresh fan clutch, blade, and shroud. All of these items were in good shape on the car, but I had purchased these before the car even landed stateside as a part of my planned maintenance. The water pump was actually an Aisin aftermarket replacement which was sort of interesting. I also installed a new set of OEM upper and lower radiator hoses with new clamps.

While working in the engine bay, I also managed to install the freshly coated valve cover along with fresh gaskets and brand new hardware. I replaced the coil packs back in the fall, but went a step further and installed a new OEM coil pack harness, cover, and hardware. I also replaced the PCV valve and associated hoses while everything was apart. The valve cover and new hardware cleans up the bay a ton, but also draws attention to other items that need to be cleaned up. I’ll get to it eventually! I finished things up by installing a new-ish exhaust manifold heat shield I had bought for my 240SX a few years back and new OEM hoses for the factory catch can.

I moved back to working on the exterior for a bit, starting with the headlights. I installed a pair of Raybrig headlight housings I held onto from my 240, as well as new metal bezels, adjustment screws, and plastic shrouds. It’s crazy how something so simple can freshen up the front end of the car. I kept the blue tinted H4 bulbs that the car came with from Japan in place since I thought they looked kind of cool. I was really tempted to completely strip the headlight assemblies and paint them (as well as the crusty core support) while I was at it, but decided to leave it alone for now and keep pressing forward.

To continue the theme of bouncing around, I moved back to the interior of the car. I had removed the gauge cluster to see about correcting my airbag light issue, but found that the dummy sensor included with the Works Bell hub should hopefully do the trick. After getting some help online, I found that I should have left the stock clock spring in place. Once I put that back on (thankfully I didn’t toss it) it was easy to see where the cancelation plug should be placed. This allowed me to finally install the Works Bell hub and quick release with the Nardi Classic 340mm wheel. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I have never had a quick release before – so I am pretty stoked about the setup.

Fresh wiper and turn signal stalks have alway been a must for me in my previous builds, and I wanted to do the same thing with my 180SX. The wiper stalk was still available new, but I was bummed to find that the late model headlight stalk had been discontinued. After talking to some folks online, I was told the R33 stalk would work – so I picked one up. After installing it, I found that it does not return the headlights back to the down position when I turn the lights off. There’s an additional plug and harness on the 180SX stalk that accomplishes this, but I have not found a way to swap it over. I decided to run my headlights in the “sleepy” position (something I haven’t done in years) and I will just crank them up and down by hand as needed. If this gets old, I’ll just swap back to the original stalk and deal with it looking less than stellar. But for now I love the look of the clean new stalks with the fresh steering wheel setup!

While working in the car’s interior, I installed my NISMO glove box gauge setup with my Defi Link Meter II gauges. I gave the panel a fresh coat of SEM satin black, drilled the necessary holes in the glove box, and glued the gauges in place with Amazing Goop (strong hold that can easily be removed later if needed – kind of similar to hot glue, but better.) I installed the box in the car and routed the daisy chain cable for the gauges, but will finish the install at a later date. I love the subtle placement of the gauges and the fact that I can close the glove box to hide them if desired. Really stoked on this addition to the car, especially since there are not a lot of modifications left that I get to experience for the first time.

Back in the engine bay, I used the instructions from my GReddy intercooler kit to cut the hole in the battery tray for the cold pipe. It went surprisingly smooth and I was very relieved to have this step out of the way as it is always pretty nerve racking. I installed the cold pipe, couplers and a new OEM air hose between the cold pipe and intake manifold.

I also installed a new Cusco OS front strut tower bar that I picked up from Japan when I ordered my set of Cusco front and rear sway bars. I’ve owned a few of these, but usually don’t keep them since they don’t fit with the NISMO engine mounts. Since I haven’t installed them yet, I decided to toss it on the car for now and find a way to space it up slightly when the engine mounts finally go in at some point in the future.

Bouncing around again, I finally decided it was best to remove the rear subframe completely for the suspension refresh. By around mid-March, I made quick work of dropping the subframe right before our family trip to Florida for spring break. I stripped the subframe down completely and gave it a good scrub, though it was relatively clean and in really good shape.

When we returned home from Florida at the end of March, I was feeling motivated again to try to get the car ready for spring. I started by drilling out the rubber bushings for the subframe before cutting out the sleeves with a reciprocating saw I picked up from Harbor Freight. I had not removed stock bushings myself in many years, so I was anxious about this process – but it went really smoothly and much quicker than I thought it would. I didn’t even have to burn anything which was nice. I also removed the bushings from the rear knuckles with a ball joint removal kit and some sockets to prepare those for the refresh.

Next came the always exciting task of pressing the new bushings into place. I reassembled my Harbor Freight press down in my basement, and managed to press a fresh set of NISMO subframe bushings into place. I swore I never would do this job again, but here we are. Once that was done, I moved upstairs to the garage and pressed all of the new NISMO knuckle bushings into the rear knuckles with my ball joint press. This may not technically be the best way to do this, but it got the job done! Once everything was pressed, I gave the parts a fresh coat of black paint. I always consider powdercoating this stuff, but never want to deal with the wait time, cost, and finding a local vendor. For a chill street car, paint seems to fit the bill just fine.

In the spirit of trying to keep myself interested, I moved back to the front of the car and installed the rest of my intercooler piping along with the stock bypass valve in the fender well. I’ve always just welded the provision on the intercooler piping for the stock valve shut and gone without one, but in the spirit of getting the car on the road and leaving as many things alone as possible, I decided to keep it in place. I’m still messing with the placement to get the hit pipe in the engine bay to fit properly with the factory airbox, but I hope to make some progress on that this weekend. While I was at it, I replaced as many of the factory vacuum and charcoal canister lines as I could with new lines as most of them were very brittle and crusty.

Once the bypass valve and piping were in place, I was finally able to work on installing the front bumper. I was going to use the bumper with the R33 GTR N1 ducts in place, but decided at the eleventh hour to go with the license-plate-cutout-only option. I started by modifying a JDM S13 crash beam I had been holding onto from one of the cars I parted out years ago. I chopped it up to clear the intercooler, cut out the center for the license plate cutout, and gave it a quick coat of black paint. I then spent far too much time installing all of the kouki 180SX bumper brackets from my 240 onto the new bumper before bolting it all into place properly – including a brand new pair of OEM fender extensions. The front lip that came on my 180 is pretty thrashed, but I decided to use it for now until I can get the gray one from my 240 painted.

It was so motivating to step back and see the body of this car complete again. Like I often say, this isn’t really anything I have never seen before – but it still ignited a spark and got my motivation fired up to see the car really coming together. With the bumper and lip in place, I installed the modified fender liners from my previous 240 coupe build. I am sure some trimming/repositioning will be needed once the car is on the ground, but this will do for now.

With the bumper assembled and on the car, I turned my attention back to the rear subframe. I put everything back together with the new trio of Cusco adjustable suspension arms, NISMO rear lower control arms, Z32 rear drum assemblies with brand new OEM 2+2 cables, five lug hubs, and a Cusco rear sway bar with all new OEM end links, bushings and hardware. I had originally planned to replace the diff and the axles during this project, but the funds I had set aside for that vanished into thin air around the holidays. In the spirit of enjoying the car this summer, I decided to push those details off to a later date. I replaced the rubber fuel lines at the rear of the car prior to bolting the rear subframe back into place. I just need to replace the fuel filter and lines in the engine bay before calling that portion of the project complete.

After the subframe was lifted into place, I spent some time installing the NeXt Miracle Cross Bar. While this is one of my favorite pieces for a 180SX, I can’t stand installing it. After plenty of busted knuckles and swear words, it was finally in place. One interesting discovery during this process was that when I removed the rear seat belts, one of the trim panels was filled with glass. It looks like the driver’s side quarter glass must have been shattered at one point. The quarter panels are very clean though, so maybe on the glass was broken? It’s hard to say, but it was definitely interesting to see. I’ve got a privacy cover that I trimmed to fit with the Miracle bar that I may end up using at some point, but we’ll see. I am still debating removing the upper half of the rear seat for a bit as I have in the past.

After waiting a few weeks, my set of G-Corp floor mats arrived. The red is pretty subtle in person which I actually really like. These were more or less the final detail I was waiting on to finish the interior. I still want a bolt in cage and a Do-Luck floor bar, but those items will have to wait for a while.

My Z32 conversion lines leftover from my 240 were pretty old, so I decided to replace them with a fresh set from StopTech. I still need to paint the calipers prior to installing them.

A few other OEM items arrived, including a new oil pickup and gasket, a fresh dipstick, and some rear sway bar bushings. I’m planning to install the oil strainer when I swap the oil pan sometime down the road. I’m hoping to get a GReddy one again if I can pull it off.

Another random order including a GReddy sandwich plate for the gauge sensors, a few NISMO oil filters, NISMO thermostat, and GReddy air filter for the factory airbox.

Finally, I decided the 180SX deserved a new exhaust, I picked up a new Kakimoto catback that arrived just before the tariffs and DHL restrictions kicked in. I’m a little concerned about the clearance with the mid-muffler, but hopeful I can get it to work. I’m looking forward to bolting it up and hearing it.

Whew! These long posts take a long time to sort out. I really need to do a better job of updating more frequently to ensure I don’t miss anything and include all of the photos I want to. The weather has gotten pretty nice here in Michigan and I am very anxious to get the car out of the garage. Parenting and life in general has been a lot lately, but I am trying to get out into the garage when the motivation is there. With any luck we will finally get to see this thing out and about soon!

Thanks as always for stopping by to check out my progress. Have a great weekend!

Damon

It’s been nearly 1/3 of a year since my last update. That’s actually crazy when I think about it. I knew it had been a while since I had the level of motivation required to create a blog post, but this one is a bit surprising even to me. November – January is always a busy time with the holidays and whatnot, and this year was no exception. However, with thoughts of spring starting to creep slowly into my mind, I am back to working on the car to try to have it ready when the snow finally melts and the road salt is washed away. I’ll do my best to recap what has happened with the car since I completed the manual swap last October.

After completing the manual transmission swap and putting a proper exhaust on the car, my driving experienced changed a lot. It took a little bit of practice to get used to shifting with my left hand, but thankfully the transition wasn’t too bad. The NISMO short shifter is surprisingly a little notchier than I expected it to be. I almost prefer the stock shifter, but I’ll give it a bit more time to see if I get used to it. I’m also trying to tell if the transmission I am using is a little crunchy between certain gears, but all in all it’s not too bad.

I took a road trip about three hours away to Ohio that had been in the works for quite some time. I ended up buying my old pair of red Bride Brix 1.5 seats back from my friend Cole. I sold these seats to him in 2017 or so and missed having them. Fortunately he was willing to sell them back to me, so I made the trip on a Monday and scooped them up. The seat rails had developed a little bit of rust since I owned them, so I sold those and ordered a fresh pair of Bride MO brackets from Japan to replace them.

That was just about all I did to the car in November. I drove it for the last time of the season just before Thanksgiving, then parked it to begin my projects for the offseason. I started in early December by removing the front fender liners, front bumper, lip, and crash beam. It was cool to see all of these items in their original, unaltered state – before altering them. While I had the fender liners out, I installed a pair of DMAX crystal clear sidemarkers.

After Christmas passed, I managed to make my way into the garage again. I removed the stock front seats and installed the pair of red Bride Brix with the new seat rails. I also removed my valve cover and sent it out to TRG Coating in New Jersey for fresh powder coat. TRG did the valve covers on my previous S13 builds and does amazing work for a reasonable price – I highly recommend them!

In January, we picked up a new family vehicle and replaced our 2008 Toyota Sienna with a 2025 XSE. It’s been a crazy transition to get used to all of the new tech, but it’s nice (hopefully) not having to worry about working on my wife’s daily vehicle for a little while. We were excited to get a black one as that is Alicia’s color of choice and she has never been able to have one before. We also opted for the AWD this time around which has been really nice in the winter time so far.

Shortly after New Year’s, I finally made a daytime run out to Chicago to pick up some parts I had dropped off for paint in May of last year. This included two pairs of mirrors (Ganadors and East Bears) as well as two front bumpers – one with only the plate cutout, and the other with a pair of OEM R33 GTR N1 ducts. I think I am going to install the one with N1 ducts first to see what I think of the look. I had this bumper on my 240SX previously, but never with the vents actually painted. I discovered that most of the tabs are broken on the front lip that came installed on my 180SX, so I will likely try to have my spare lip painted so that I can install it sometime before spring.

More time passed without much motivation, but things have been ramping up in the last couple of weeks. I continued working on preparing the car for the new suspension and five lug conversion. I decided to tackle the most difficult task first in mid-January: rolling the rear quarters and hammering the fender lips and metal seams on the front of the car. I had been putting this off as it essentially sort of felt like ruining the car. Once you take this on there is no turning back. January is always the hardest month of the year for me living in Michigan, and it’s a tough one financially as well. I always have thoughts of selling my car around this time, and this year was no exception. However, I decided to take charge of the situation and make it happen.

I used a cheap fender roller that I purchased from Summit Racing a few years back for my coupe project. It doesn’t work very well, but I did manage to get the job done. I experienced a little bit of paint flaking, but overall it didn’t turn out too bad. I elected to only roll the lips flat this time instead of pulling the quarter panels out a bit like I did on my 240. While it was nice not needing to run too much camber with a 9.5J +12 offset in the rear, I prefer the look of the stock body lines. I am hoping I will be able to make this work, but we’ll see what things are looking like when we get to that point later this spring. If I absolutely have to, I will likely go with a slight pull again.

The front fenders went relatively smoothly as well. I always hammer those flat a bit with a rubber mallet instead of a fender roller so that I don’t warp or damage them. After that was finished, I removed the front fenders to prepare to tuck the chassis harness on both sides. It’s always painful to break the seam sealer for the first time, but it’s a necessary evil if you want the car to be low.

I took a break from the chassis work for a bit and turned my attention back to the interior. My car came equipped with the optional fog lights from the dealership, but I had decided not to run them. I wanted to remove the switch from the cluster surround, so I took it out along with all of the associated wiring that ran through the firewall and into the front of the car. I ended up selling the complete wiring harness and switch which helped fund some of the new parts I needed. I replaced both the fog light switch and the automatic transmission “power” button with brand new blanks from Nissan to clean things up. I still need to put the interior back together, but it should look pretty nice when I am finished.

Back outside the car, I removed both the stock side mount intercooler and the windshield washer fluid tank from the front of the car. I would have considered keeping the fluid tank, but the sprayer function didn’t work when I bought the car anyway. It needed to be relocated slightly for the TRUST front mount intercooler, so I elected to remove it.

At this point it was time to really start ruining the car and move the fender well chassis harnesses up out of the way of the front tires. I’ve done this a few times now over the years and like to think I am getting decent at it. I initially wanted to run the harness through the engine bay above the strut towers like my friend Kevin down in Houston, but when I started unplugging everything from the interior I got a bit intimidated. It looked like I may need to remove some HVAC components to access everything, so I decided to do it how I always have in the past and tuck the wiring up inside the fenders instead.

At this point, I started removing all of the front suspension to prepare for undercoating. Everything came apart fairly easily, and I have had all of the replacement parts on deck since before the 180SX even arrive stateside. I’ll share more details about what is being bolted up in a future post, but it should look pretty familiar to what I have done in the past with a couple of small changes.

After removing the stock plastic wire shielding and tucking things up nicely, I hammered all of the seams in the front fender well flat with a dead blow hammer. Once this painful process was complete, I sprayed everything with a couple coats of 3M undercoating to protect the metal I smashed up and freshen up the look of the fender wells a bit.

Last weekend, I finished the process of securing the chassis wiring, hammering it flat to try to clear the fenders, and bolting the fenders back up. It’s pretty tough to bolt the fenders on and keep the gaps and body lines straight as the new location of the chassis wiring is a tight squeeze against the fenders, but I think I did the best job I have ever done on any of my cars with this process. It felt great to have all of this clearance work out of the way as it is not the most glorious work. It certainly feels like I am destroying the car, but being over this hurdle is a huge win. While I was at it, I installed a new pair of OEM fender braces and a new hood release cable.

I held onto my modified OEM fender liners from my 240SX coupe project and installed the rear portions on either side into the freshly modified metal seams in the fender wells. I’ll go ahead and install the front portions once the suspension and front bumper are installed. Now it’s finally time for the fun part – installing all of the goodies that I have had sitting around for almost a year. I’m excited to dive into the front suspension install later this week.

On my way out of the garage Sunday night, I bolted up the TRUST front mount intercooler core. I have used this same setup on all of my S13s and I am super happy with both the look and the fitment. It’s really cool to see this car with a big front mount on it. I know it’s essentially the same as my 240SX looked, but I was still stoked about it. I still need to cut the hole in the battery tray, weld the hot side BOV portion closed, and order a hot pipe for the engine bay section – but all in due time! For now I will enjoy staring at that big core.

As far as new parts go, things have been fairly light – but I do have a few things to report. I got the valve cover back from TRG a few weeks ago and I am really happy with how it came out. I tried to match the OEM blacktop cover as best I could, but it does have slightly more texture to it. However, I think it looks amazing! I’ll be installing it with all new hardware and a new coil pack cover soon – likely this weekend.

I found a deal on an Apexi Power FC and snagged it a couple months ago when I was thinking I might dive into a T28 turbo setup and supporting mods like I had many years ago, but that has been put on hold for a while until I have the funds. I want to finish the projects I already have started before spring and save some money for it, so I decided to sell it and worry about making more power at a later time. I loved my S15 turbo setup though and would definitely like to do this again sometime if I can swing it.

I ended up buying a black Bride Brix 1.5 to replace my Ergo with. The seat looked very clean in the listing photos, but it turned out that the photos had been edited to make the seat appear less faded. When it arrived, I learned that it was faded purple like most old black Bride seats. I ended up selling it and keeping my Ergo, which will fit the bill should I swap to one of my black seat setups in the future. I would still love to have a clean Brix instead one day like I had previously, but that might just be a pipe dream in 2025. I can’t imagine there are many clean ones left out there! Be wary of some of the resellers on instagram out there, specifically the big ones from Thailand. I had good luck with them up to this point, but wasn’t so lucky this time around.

I received an order from NissanParts.cc earlier this week that included a new ignition/key for the car as I am still having random no-start issues. Only one of the 3 keys that came with the car will start it, and the others cannot be removed easily after the car is shut off. The key had to be inserted just right or the car would refuse to start, so I elected to replace the whole thing with a new one. I am hoping I can have the door and hatch locks modified to work with the same key, but I am not sure if that’s the case. I’ll look for a local locksmith and see if they might be up to the task. I also picked up a replacement valve cover stud as I messed one up when I removed the valve cover.

An internet friend and fellow 180SX owner named Tony hit me up a month or so ago asking if I would be interested in trading my optional window louvers for his NISMO glove box gauge holder panel. I had a set of white Defi Link Meter gauges I was hoping to run in this car, but I didn’t want to drill into the dash again our mount them on the top of my clean factory dash. Needless to say I was stoked about the trade and we went through with it. This is such a cool piece! I can’t wait to install it in the car.

The NISMO panel houses three 60mm gauges and one 80mm gauge. I had a set of four 60mm gauges, so I had to replace one with the 80mm version Defi offers. Thanks to a tip from Instagram, I found a matching 80mm boost gauge and was able to snag it from YAJ via Jesse Streeter. Once I had the gauge and panel in hand, I had to toss it together for a quick mockup. I am in the process of ordering everything I need to install the gauge sensors and should have the whole setup in the car soon. Very much looking forward to seeing it installed!

So that’s where things stand right now. After selling some spare parts I had laying around, I have a list of things I want to order this week for the final push towards having the car ready to rock this spring. I don’t need a lot of things, but it’s a decent list. With any luck I will be able to have most things here by mid-March and make a big push as the weather warms a bit to get everything installed. It should be really satisfying to make progress and see it all come together. Here’s to hoping the motivation continues!

Thanks as always for stopping by and following along with the new car. I get bummed out sometimes that things don’t move at the pace they did in my younger days, but that’s the reality of trying to hang in this hobby while pushing 40 years old. It’ll get there eventually! I’m thankful to still be able to do this when time and funds allow. Have a great weekend!

Damon

The last three weeks have been a bit of a blur in all facets of my life- work, car projects, and family life. We have been taking turns trading sicknesses, and my oldest daughter has been dealing with walking pneumonia for more than two weeks. Schedules have shifted and changed more times than I can count, but I think we are finally moving in the right direction. Fall weather has arrived, with cold frosty mornings in the mid 30s this week and a lot of really nice looking colors on the trees. The smell of the fall season in the air is a reminder that it’s time to button up this manual swap on the 180SX and try to get a test drive in before the car gets parked for the season.

After my last post, I had a couple more successful nights in the garage while Alicia was out of town. After the pedals and clutch master were installed, I turned my attention to removing the automatic transmission components. I started with something easy and satisfying – converting the shifter bezel over to a manual configuration. I kept the manual shift boot from my coupe since I barely used it and installed that so the trim would be ready once the manual shifter was in place.

Next, I removed the automatic gear selector from the interior. With that out of the way, I started removing everything I needed out of the way to get the automatic transmission itself out of the car. As the exhaust was in the way, I removed everything from the turbo back. I held onto my Powered by Max Cobra downpipe from my coupe build and my DMAX catback from my hatch. I would love to get a cool Japanese O2 housing and downpipe, but there’s no substitute for the Cobra if you want to have your car low. All the dragging and scraping will eventually blow out your gaskets, so I’ve learned that this really is the way to go. I may buy a brand new catback this winter, but the DMAX is a classic that looks and sounds great – not to mention the fact that I already have it. It will get the job done for now.

I was surprised how many things I had to remove from the engine bay to be able to even come close to the transmission bellhousing bolts. I had only replaced a transmission with the engine in the car one other time on an S13, and I was about thirteen years younger to boot. It took me a lot of trial and error to be able to get to the top bolts, as well as a few trips to Harbor Freight – but with the engine mounts loosened, the engine tipped back, and no less than seven or eight ratchet extensions, I was finally able to break them loose. Once the torque converter was removed as well, I finally dropped the massive auto trans out and celebrated victory.

There was a point during the process during that weekend that I wanted to pull the engine, respray the car completely, and essentially rebuild everything on the engine. I was so frustrated with trying to get to the bell housing bolts and wondered if simply doing all of this work once was the way to go. However, I knew that this simply wasn’t realistic from a financial standpoint – not to mention the downtime that would bring with it. As much as I hate doing the same work repeatedly, sometimes it is best to keep the scope creep in check and just deal with the additional repetitive labor in the interest of keeping the car functional. It’s tough to talk yourself out of it, but its usually the smartest course of action if you can restrain yourself.

After taking a night or two off, I got back under the car and removed the automatic flywheel. To my surprise, the bolts broke loose easily. The next task on the list was one I had feared for a while: replacing the automatic pilot bushing with a manual one. I had never encountered this project before as I have always swapped a complete manual SR20DET engine and transmission setup into all of my cars. After Kev told me about the bread trick, I decided to give it a shot despite my skepticism. After trying this for multiple days to no avail, as well as breaking a cheap slide hammer/puller kit from Harbor Freight, I finally caved and purchased the $70 bearing puller kit they had for sale on day three of trying to remove this stubborn bushing.

I made some relief cuts in the bushing with a dremel after the more expensive slide hammer kit was still failing to remove the bushing. In the end, I tapped on the bearing remover with a dead blow in four directions – up, down, left, and right. I gave the slide hammer two good hits after that and the bushing finally flew out of the engine! This has to be one of the most frustrating tasks I have ever been faced with when working on an S13, but the relief I felt when it was finally removed made it all worth it. Once the auto bushing was out of the way, the manual one tapped into the crankshaft with ease.

With that tedious task out of the way, it was finally time to move onto the fun part- installing new parts! I started by installing the OEM clutch line and dampener assembly that I sourced from Japan. It was so nice to bolt everything into place without any headaches. I definitely recommend trying to source the correct OEM components from a manual transmission car if you plan to tackle this project. There are of course generic braided clutch lines out there, but I love having everything fit the way Nissan intended.

On Staurday morning, my good buddy Nick came over to try to help me install the manual transmission. I hadn’t lifted one of these into place on my own in over ten years, so I wanted to have some help with the process. I started by tackling the install of the NISMO Super Coppermix Twin Disc clutch kit that I bought before the car had even landed in the states. I have always wanted to own a cool clutch like this, so I was pretty stoked to finally make it happen. The first step was to install the flywheel portion with the provided flywheel bolts. One other note for anyone tackling this swap – the dust shield between the engine and the transmission is the same for both automatic and manual SR20DET setups. I had purchased a dust shield only to find that it was identical to my automatic one. One less part you need for the conversion!

I also installed the NISMO pivot ball, release bearing, and provide sleeve on the transmission with a fresh clutch fork and clips. Nick brought an S13 manual speed sensor with him for me as I did not have one, but more on that later – I ended up discovering that the 97-98 manual 180SX uses the same speed sensor as the S14 (and as a result, I ended up not needing the one I bought from him as my manual transmission was sourced from an S14 SR20DET.

Things didn’t go as planned on Saturday. After installing the clutch and lifting the transmission into place, Nick and I were not able to get the transmission to connect to the engine properly. In the end, I ended up removing the clutch and reinstalling it several times before I got the discs to sit correctly and the alignment tool to work. Once Nick had left, I finished reinstalling the clutch for the seventh or eighth time and wrestled the transmission into place by myself. While the engine and trans were closer together, I still couldn’t get them to seat properly. I wasn’t able to rotate the transmission enough for the bolt holes to line up, and could hear something hitting the bellhousing.

Kevin, Shane from Bosstown, and a couple other people told me to check to see if there were two dowel pins present in the same location. When I had initially checked, there were not. I decided to sleep on it and take a day off. I went into the garage on my lunch break on Monday with fresh eyes and a rested brain and immediately noticed there were in fact two dowel pins at the top of the engine and transmission bell housing that were contacting each other preventing the trans from spinning. I pulled the transmission once again, removed the dowel pin, and wrestled it into place again by myself. This time, everything lined up perfectly! Thank goodness. I was so excited to finally have the manual trans in place.

From here, I was essentially off to the races – aside from a lack of free time and energy during the week. However, I still managed to make a little progress each night. I bolted up the transmission with a fresh set of bolts I purchased on eBay as I read that the automatic starter bolts are too short for the manual trans. I installed a NISMO transmission mount along with a manual crossmember to get the trans fully bolted into place. I also installed the NISMO clutch line, which ironically deleted most of the OEM clutch line piping I sourced for the swap – but that’s OK.

On the interior side, I installed the NISMO quick shifter assembly I put together a few months back with fresh rubber boots and a new retainer. I highly recommend spending the cash for a new one of these vs using an old, rusty one. I didn’t expect it to be so satisfying! With everything in place, I was able to reinstall the interior panels, seats, center console, and shifter trim with manual boot in place.

My first look at my 180SX as a manual car was very satisfying. I was hesitant to tear the car apart, but I am so happy with the level of quality I have achieved with the install. It definitely feels factory and doesn’t feel like I hacked the car up at all. I originally intended for this blog post to end here and be shared last Friday, but I didn’t have the chance to get it completely buttoned up… so forward it shall continue!

I spent the entire morning and just about all of the afternoon last Saturday finishing everything for the manual swap. I installed the ABS driveshaft after some confusion about which one I had was actually the correct length. I actually ended up using the front half of one and the back half of another to make a combination the car seems happy with, aside from the carrier bearing being shot. I will need to address that at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Aside from the drivehsaft snag, things went really smoothly. I bolted up the exhaust components after removing the rear tow hook for clearance. I also wired up the reverse lights and installed the Wiring Specialties loop plug to the correct plug under the fuse box (Thanks to Kev) to trick the ECU into thinking the car is always in park (so that it will start after the manual swap.)

With everything finalized, fluids filled up, and wiring neatly tucked away it was time to finally get the car back on the ground. The car initially would not crank as I did not have the WS jumper harness in the right location, but once I talked to Kev and moved it around it started right up! It was such a strange feeling to back out of the driveway in this car with a manual transmission. I was overjoyed. Huge sense of accomplishment from this project! I went down the road a couple miles to pick up some victory pizza and Mt. Dew Live Wire (of course.)

Well, as fate would have it, I ended up getting pneumonia that night. I was completely wiped out from Saturday evening until Thursday when I finally got some antibiotics. That being said, I haven’t gotten to enjoy the car much at all just yet. I did determine last night that I still have a random no-start issue despite replacing the ignition switch, and I must not have wired the reverse lights properly because those do not work. But at least the car is a manual now. I can work on picking off these small issues as I get time and continue to feel better. I’m thankful to have this relatively large task out of the way before I continue modifying the car this winter.

Thanks as always for stopping by and sharing the joy of 180SX tuning with me. I have faced some pretty annoying challenges thus far, but the wins make it all worth it. I am so grateful I got a chance to own this car and am finally able to start adding some of my own touches. Have a great weekend and stay healthy!

As I mentioned in last week’s post, my ignition switch fix turned out to be a temporary one. After removing the switch and ensuring the case was pushed together completely, the issue returned after a couple of weeks and the car refused to crank at all. I picked up a new switch from a local auto parts store last Friday and swapped it in. I was pleased to find that the USDM ignition switch was a direct replacement for the JDM unit, the only difference being that the wiring harness is longer on the USDM switch. I was able to tuck the extra wiring into the steering column cover without any issues.

Last Saturday, I hosted my third annual COB BBQ. I’ve been trying to host an S chassis BBQ at my house each summer for the last few years to pay homage to the BBQs that Broadfield used to host at his house back in the day. I made a lot of great friends at those events, and it even indirectly had a hand in getting the attention of Modified Mag for my eventual feature alongside Toby’s immaculate S13 coupe. I am at the stage of life that Toby was when he was hosting these events, and since I don’t make it out to car meets anymore it’s a great way to hang out with some like-minded folks. I like to say hosting this event keeps me young.

At the BBQ, I got to chat with my friend Allen and his girlfriend Shayna. Shayna worked at a body shop for a few years and recently did the paint work on Allen’s new S13 build. We looked at my 180SX in more detail and determined that a large portion of the car was repainted at some point. We could see tape lines on the rear quarter panels and a little bit of overspray on the underside of the quarters. This makes a lot of sense, as I noticed some areas of the car (namely the hood hinges and the core support) have a fair amount of wear and oxidization, but the paint was still really shiny. I also felt that there was a lot more orange peel present compared to my 240SX (which was original paint.) It looks like some items have not been repainted, including the rear hatch, roof, rear bumper, and aero – but everything else was resprayed at some point. The paint still has plenty of scratches and dings, so I am assuming it was done quite some time ago.

There’s no evidence of bondo work or a crash, so who knows. The car is so clean underneath and overall that I can’t be too bothered by it. It was good to have answers and a little bit better understanding of the car’s history. Ideally, I would respray the car and put this to rest once and for all – but we’ll see what happens. In the mean time, I am going to continue moving forward with modifying the car and getting it set up the way I want. That will be a decision for another time.

There were a number of cool S13s and S14s present at the BBQ, which is always a great sight to see – but the people are the best part. I am very grateful to call these folks my friends and enjoy meeting new ones each year. I am looking forward to doing it again next summer! Thank you to everyone that came to hang out.

After attending two car events in the last month, my motivation is at an all-time high. This new found spark just happens to coincide with Alicia going on a girls trip for a few nights this weekend, which doesn’t leave me with a lot of free time during the day as I will be parenting solo. However, once the girls go to bed, my schedule is wide open. I decided that this weekend would be a good time to tackle the first real modification to my 180SX – the manual transmission swap.

After doing some more research on the project over the course of the week, I found that there were still a few parts I needed to complete the swap. With any luck, I have everything ordered and on the way as of today. I’ll dive into those details in my next post.

The first order of business for the swap was to complete the refreshing task I started a couple months ago for my clutch and brake pedal assemblies. I had an issue with the large plastic bushings that go into the pedal arms (x4 46525-N8200) being too small, thus not allowing for the large bolts (x2 46560-50A01) that hold them to the pedal brackets to pass through them without excessive force and binding/damage. A few people on IG had the same issue, and recommended sanding down the bolts slightly to allow them to fit correctly into the bushings. I ended up using some sandpaper, a scuff pad, my power drill, and a bench vise to shave the bolts down just enough to get them to fit properly. A few minutes with the power drill on each and reassembly was a snap.

I pieced together my own rebuild kits for the clutch and brake pedals as I found a few issues with the kids available stateside- primarily the cost. However, the kits are also fairly US-spec centered, including the spring that’s included (which will not work on the RHD clutch pedal.) It was easier to pick and choose the pieces I needed – especially since I was using a NISMO reinforced clutch pedal bracket. I also replaced the pads for the clutch and brake pedals (x2 46531-v5000), as well as the plastic accelerator pedal (18016-89900).

With the pedals ready to go, I was out of excuses. It was time to tear into this car. I started with the scariest part- drilling into the firewall. As I did with my S13 coupe a few years back, I used a 1.5″ hole saw bit to cut the large hole for the clutch master cylinder. The key difference this time around is that the car was completely assembled – which I thought would make things a lot more challenging, but turned out not to be a big deal. After cutting the large hole, I drilled the two smaller holes for the clutch pedal bracket studs to pass through. Fortunately, this procedure is extremely simple on an S13 as the stamps are in place from the factory, even on an automatic transmission car. My Milwaukee drill was compact enough to fit under the dash without any issues, and I had this part of the swap done in about ten minutes.

Next, I dropped the steering column down out of the way to replace the automatic brake pedal assembly with a manual one. I know you can cut the brake pedal down, but I prefer to have the correct piece in place. Once the automatic brake pedal was removed, I noted that the bracket and spring were in much better condition than the replacement I had sourced. The brake pedal brackets are identical, so I swapped everything over to the factory bracket and reinstalled it.

One thing to note – in order for me to be able to install the clutch pedal assembly, I had to remove the plastic air ducting that runs above the steering column to have room to wiggle it into place. With the clutch pedal in, I was able to install the new clutch master cylinder and clutch line I had sourced from a 180SX in Japan.

With a little over two hours into the project, I went to bed last night feeling a great sense of accomplishment. One of the biggest hurdles of the project is now complete. Tonight, my plan is to begin removing the automatic transmission and gear selector. We’ll see how everything goes, but hopefully I don’t hit any major snags.

My hope is to complete the manual swap and drive the car to ensure everything is working properly before I have to put it away for the winter. We may still have some decent weather in October here in Michigan, so it would be great to have this done and get used to driving the car with a manual transmission before it goes into storage. It will take a bit of luck, but I think it should be possible!

Thanks as always for stopping by. It feels great to finally be making substantial changes to this car and my motivation is high. Here’s to continuing the trend! Have a great weekend.

Well, here we are again. Two and a half months have gone by since my last blog post and I am not even sure where to start. The second half of summer brought a fair amount of disruption to my day-to-day routine which can always be a bit tricky to navigate. My daughters went back to school in mid August and that was certainly a shock to all of our systems, requiring us to wake up a lot earlier than we were used to during summer break. My wife Alicia also decided to rejoin the workforce for the first time since our youngest was born seven years ago and that has been a big change for all of us too. Throw a still fairly new puppy into the mix and things get downright wild. It’s been a lot of good change, but still a lot to work through.

However, on the project car side, things have been pretty chill. I continued to daily drive the 180SX whenever I had the chance throughout the last two and a half months. I would like to think I am finally adjusting to sitting on the right side of the car, but I still have the occasional wiper blip in any vehicle I am driving, LHD or RHD. While I really want to have a “cool” car again and show off my creation to the world, I’ve gotta say it sure is nice to drive around in a relatively stock car. I am always shocked at how much attention I get even in a relatively tame (and to me pretty boring) Nissan. The occasional thumbs up or random car trying to race me serve as a reminder of what enjoying car life is like, keeping me motivated and hopeful for the future.

So, let’s see here… I think the last car related task I tackled since the previous update was trying to get my brake and clutch pedal assemblies prepped for the eventual manual swap. The pedal set I got from eBay had some super old Impul pedal covers on them, so the first step was to cut those off. I disassembled both pedal setups, repainting the bracket for the brake pedal. I didn’t need to paint the clutch bracket as I am replacing it with a NISMO reinforced pedal bracket. I also repainted the pedal arms black.

I picked up new hardware for the pedals, aside from the large bolts/nuts/washers as I figured they probably weren’t needed. Sadly, the springs are not available (be careful, as the USDM clutch pedal spring will NOT fit the JDM pedal assembly. Ask me how I know.) but I got new bushings etc. However, when I went to reassemble everything, It was very difficult to press the large bolt through the plastic bushings. I posted on Instagram and found that a lot of others had this very same issue. Most said they lightly sanded the bolts to allow them to fit in the plastic bushings. Nissan discontinued the bushings at some point and assigned a replacement, but it seems the tolerances are not the same. I destroyed two bushings in the process and ended up having to order more, which took a while to arrive. I still need to revisit this soon now that the parts are here and see if I can get everything assembled correctly. Why is it that I always hit snags like this with the simplest things that you could never see coming? I swear it’s always like this!

I also threw a quick coat of paint on the manual crossmember so that it is ready to go when I tackle the manual swap.

In late July, I tossed the new OEM coil packs into the car and immediately noticed an increase in fuel economy. It feels great to have the old, cracked units out of there that have likely been there since the car was new in 1997. Check that off of the list!

Alicia and I took the car up to her family’s lake house in late August for a trip without the girls. However, we did bring our dog Farley along for the trip. I was really stressed about having a dog in this car as it is so clean inside, but thankfully it went OK. I am not sure I will be itching to do it again any time soon, but he was a good dog and we had a lot of fun. It felt really cool to be able to take the car on a road trip together and reminded us of our all of the awesome trips we took in my 240 over the years – except with air conditioning and a radio this time around! Total game changer.

Not long after our trip, I decided relatively last minute to attend the 10th Anniversary Final Bout event. I drove the car to the office a week before I was scheduled to leave for Chicago. I am a big weather nerd and have really gotten into tracking storms across the country in the last year or so. I was watching the Michigan Storm Chasers stream and saw that a cell with possible 2″ hail was popping up near my home while I was at the office and heading my way. Since it was about 4:30, I sprinted to my car to try to race the storm and get home before it hit. When I turned the key, the car refused to start – no crank, no click. Puzzled, I sat for a moment before removing the key, reinserting it, and trying again. Fortunately, the car fired right up and I pulled into the garage just before the first big gust of wind hit. My kids’ school ended up losing power for nearly 36 hours due to the storm, so two of the three got a day off out of the deal. But remember this no crank issue as it will come into play later.

Frankie from Faction Motorsports (the gentlemen that bought my old 240SX hatch shell) reached out to me and asked if I would be up for recording a podcast episode at my house on their way from New Jersey to Chicago for Final Bout. Frankie’s podcast is really professional and the quality is great, so saying yes was a no-brainer – on top of the fact that he is a great dude. I am really bad at listening to podcasts, but I try to listen to the ones my friends create or attend as guests when I am able to find the time. It ended up being a total blast and it was so cool to have Frankie, Luis and Karl at the house – a great group of guys! It’s available now for Faction Patreon members and will be released to the entire audience sometime in the next month or two. I will be sure to share a link here when it drops!

On the Thursday before Labor Day weekend, I left for Chicago in the 180SX around dinnertime. Once there, I met up with my friends Jimmy, Kev and Jakob from Houston, as well as Liam from Toronto. We stayed in Chicago that night before linking up with Tony Touch in his infamous 240SX in the morning and driving up to the track together in Shawano, Wisconsin. As it always seems to, it poured rain for the first hour and a half or so of the trek. I was dreading driving in the rain until I realized my car isn’t low, has normal tires, has working AC and defrost, and a working rear wiper. The rear defrost even works! What a treat after driving my 240 without any of those things for so many years. I was so geeked to see the lines working their way across the back window to clear the fog from the inside. I did have the random no-start issue return at a gas station on the way up, but just as I had before, I removed the key and reinserted it and the car started up just fine.

I got to see a ton of old friends that I had not seen in five years or more at the event, and that felt great. I have sometimes felt a bit disconnected from the car community over the last few years since I stopped going to Final Bout, so it was great to be reminded of all the good people in my life and this community. Brett Levan made the trek from Florida- we hadn’t seen each other in a long time, so that was a real treat. I also got to meet a ton of awesome people, including Alexi of Nori Yaro, Yev from the Western USA, and Cody (theroadishot_) from NZ. There are too many to list, but meeting people I have talked to online for years is always such a surreal and motivating experience. I definitely left feeling excited for the future of my project and diving into it during the winter months.

As for the event itself, well… I think I am getting old. There was some great driving and a lot of really cool cars present. However, I was absolutely blown away at how many people were in attendance. I am definitely an extrovert and being around people fills me up, but I felt very overwhelmed at times with so many spectators in attendance. It felt like everyone around me had a t-shirt on for an automotive YouTuber, and there were 100s of people in line at all of the merch tents all weekend waiting to spend $45 on a tee shirt. People were filming for their channels in the pits and signing autographs all weekend. It really was mind blowing to see the growth of the event over the last five years.

At one point I tried to go watch the competition and could not find a place to see the track. Everywhere I looked there were already 6-8 people in front of me. Even the dirt portion on the far side of the track was flooded with spectators from end to end. I ended up going back to JY’s pit and taking a nap under the tent during the competition, which was actually really nice as the pits were a ghost town.

Don’t get me wrong – I consider the founders of Final Bout great friends. They have brought something to the US that is absolutely unparalleled and unrivaled. So many lives have been improved by it and so many friendships have been forged. I wish them nothing but success and want the event to continue to thrive as it has so many positive impacts. I tried my best not to be one of those “I knew about this band before they were cool” people all weekend, but I definitely had a bad attitude at times. I truly think it’s just a matter of getting older and navigating change. The YouTube thing has never been my speed (again, because I am old and grew up with build threads and blogs) so that always makes me a little salty despite my best efforts to be impartial. In the end, I am stoked to see the next generation enjoying these events like I did ten years ago, even if it looks a little different now. It’s truly a one of a kind experience and I am so glad I got to have the chance to be a part of it – even despite the fact that I don’t drift! I have made and continue to make so many great friends thanks to Final Bout.

When I look back, I am glad I went to Final Bout this year. I had attended the event every year from its inception in 2014 through 2019. In 2020, I attended Special Stage South in Houston just before the world shut down due to the pandemic. That year, Alicia’s family acquired the lake house and that became my new Labor Day tradition. Each year since then I have been missing all of the great people at Final Bout, but I was reluctant to leave my family for the long weekend. It just felt more enjoyable to have a laid back weekend at the lake rather than clinging to life at a racetrack in rural Wisconsin all weekend. This year’s trip gave me peace with the decision I made to slow down a bit in recent years. Who knows, maybe I will make it back to Final Bout for another event in the future – time will tell. But I am really glad that the event is still going strong and so many people are getting to experience it.

The car was flawless on the drive home Sunday afternoon and I was thankful to finally be back with my family that night. Monday was Labor Day, so we spent the day together before going back to work and school on Tuesday morning. When I hopped in the 180 to drive to work that day, the car wouldn’t start – however, this time it was cranking but wouldn’t fire. I ended up shrugging my shoulders and taking the Vibe to work that day. I was so thankful that the car made it home safely as it would have been terrible to be stranded in Wisconsin or Illinois with an issue.

After talking to the guys about possible causes, I checked a few different things. The fuel pump was priming, fuel was coming out of the lines at the fuel rail, and the car had gas in it. I checked the plugs and the car had spark. I unplugged the MAF and there were no changes. Finally, Kev had me check if the injectors were firing and I determined they were not. Thanks to a post on Zilvia from 2011, I saw someone mention that their injectors were not firing due to a faulty wire on their ignition switch. Sure enough, I removed the steering column cover and jiggled the wires on the ignition switch while cranking the car to find that it fired right up!

Kev sent me some Minkara post with people in Japan sharing the same issue. They had to take their switch apart to repair it as the JDM ignition switch is discontinued. I had experienced a bad ignition switch in my 240SX before, but the issue was a bit different. When you turned the key, the car would act dead like my 180SX was doing before and during the Final Bout trip. But, if you moved the key back 1-2mm, it would fire. I ended up removing my switch and finding that the soldered connections all looked good. However, there was some play between the plastic end cap and the metal cylinder. I held the two halves together with a C clamp and tapped the folded “tabs” in the side of the metal cylinder with a hammer and a screwdriver to tighten them back up. This removed the play from the plastic end cap. I reinstalled it and the car has been starting without issue consistently for the last couple weeks. I’ll take that as a win!

I tried to order a brand new JDM ignition switch from Amayama only to find that the order was canceled and it had, in fact, been discontinued. I have been told that the USDM switch will work, it just has a longer wiring harness for the LHD configuration. This appears to be true from the photos I have seen online. As fate would have it, the car just started acting up again last night. I ordered a replacement USDM switch and will see if I can get the car working properly again this weekend.

As for parts, I haven’t ordered a ton lately – but I did pick up a couple different things for the car. I have found that all of the plugs on the engine harness are pretty old and brittle. My O2 sensor plug broke when we pulled the faulty turbo off of the car in Houston, and my coil pack plugs crumbled when I replaced the coils. I also lost the metal clip for the MAF in Houston and found that the plug has a crack in it anyway. At the nudging from Liam, I purchased a Wiring Specialties harness refresh kit to repin and replace all of the engine harness plugs. This is new territory for me, so I am going to need some practice and coaching – but I am excited to get it all cleaned up. I’ve always had new Wiring Specialties engine harnesses in my 240s, so I took for granted how nice having all new clips is. Working with an old crusty harness is not ideal.

Initially I had planned to only replace the coil pack harness, so I ordered a brand new OEM unit. I was surprised to see these are still available. I plan to install this during the offseason when I refresh the valve cover with fresh powder, new hardware, and a shiny new coil pack cover. I am really looking forward to that project!

At Final Bout, I met up with my painter Brent and purchased a set of really nice OEM 180SX floor mats for the car. My mats went missing during the transport process to the States, so I was really excited to find a set of these in such great shape. Major thank you to Brent for selling me these! They really tie everything together and give you the stock interior experience.

Back in July, I sold my Nardi Classic 330mm and picked up a 340MM at the recommendation of some friends. I have always been a 330 guy, but it felt a little small and aggressive for a street cruiser. I am going to try out the 340 this time around and see how I like it. Stoked to have a fresh wheel again!

I had to get out my interior parts collection for a rare photo opp. I truly can’t wait to tune up the interior of this car a bit. Interior tuning has always been my favorite aspect of modifying these cars. I’m very excited to have all of these parts ready for this thing.

In August, I bought a pair of Bride FG bucket seat rails for both sides of the car. This will allow me to run to of my buckets if I choose to, or only one on the driver’s side. I am anxious to get some cool seats in the car, but I want to wait until this winter so that I can add some of the other interior upgrades at the same time. The patience will soon pay off!

Finally, I also received an order from Amayama. This included a pair of kouki 180SX position lamps to retrofit with dual function bulbs from Zenki S13 turn signals like I did on my 240SX (Here’s a link to that project if you want to check it out.) That should be a fun project to tackle this winter. I also purchased new bolts, washers, nuts, and bushings for the clutch and brake pedal assemblies after that little snafu. The order also included a new OEM fuel filter, fresh heater core hoses, and new grommets for the firewall. I had overlooked the heater core hoses as I was used to using generic parts store stuff to make those work in my 240s. It’s nice to just order up the factory ones and replace them instead for a change.

Tomorrow, I will be hosting my third annual CamryOnBronze (COB) S Chassis BBQ. I started hosting a simple BBQ at my house every fall like Broadfield used to do when I was first getting into these cars. It’s a great way for me to meet some new people and try to give back to the younger guys a little bit. It gives me a lot of motivation every year and I am really looking forward to getting together and doing it again. After the BBQ, I’ll likely enjoy the car for just a couple more weeks until the weather turns – then it will FINALLY be time to start on the manual gearbox swap. I am feeling the motivation and excitement to finally tear into the car and make it my own.

Whew, that was a long one! I hope you enjoyed the recap. I am hoping time and motivation will allow me to keep this updated more frequently, but we’ll see how the fall season goes. I am so grateful for everyone that has enjoyed my projects over the years and has taken the time to stop me at Final Bout or send me a DM about it. It really means a lot! Thanks as always for stopping by and following along. I’m really looking forward to spending time in the garage again over the coming months.

– Damon

I know I sound like a broken record, but I can’t believe we have officially entered July. I guess time flies when you’re having fun! It’s been nearly a couple weeks since my last update – let’s dive in to a few of the small improvements I have made to the car during that time.

In continuing to refresh things a little bit under the hood, I turned my attention to the core support area. I started with the hood support rod and its associated clips and brackets. I held onto the hood prop rod I bought for my coupe, as I was able to snag a brand new one from Japan prior to it being discontinued a few years back and barely put any mileage on it. I installed that onto my 180SX, along with a new rubber bushing (PN: 65512-R3000) and both of the clips that hold it in place (PNs: 65722-65F00 & 65721-D4000.)

Next, I swapped out the plastic headlight protectors for a pair that I purchased new a few years back for my 240SX fastback. These have been discontinued as well, so I figured it made since to replace the stock ones on the car with a fresher set – even if they were in decent condition anyway. My 240SX was missing these when I bought it, so I was stoked to find these as they keep a lot of water out of the engine bay.

The rubber seal along the leading edge of the hood had seen better days. I once again dove into my box of moldings and weather stripping that I sourced years ago for the 240 and fished out a brand new example (PN: 65810-40F00.) I also had some of the clips needed for installation. I had ordered four of these, but only ended up needing two (PN: 01553-00541.) Note that this seal is only suited for the pop-up hood – sadly, the Silvia version is discontinued.

Finally, I installed some fresh OEM radiator brackets leftover from my 240. Again, these weren’t in terrible condition, but it’s nice to keep things as new and fresh as possible. I installed them with new upper rubber bushings (x2 PN: 21506-10V00) and will circle back to install the lower bushings at a later date – likely when I upgrade the radiator. Last but not least, I tossed on the NISMO radiator cap from my S13 coupe.

The next order of business was addressing the wiper cowl area. I removed the crusty wiper arms and plastic cowl trim pieces, cleaned them up, and sprayed them with a fresh coat of SEM Satin Black. I purchased new wiper pivots for good measure, but elected not to install those for the time being. The nuts/studs often fail on these during removal, and it’s a job that is a bit easier when the hood is removed. I didn’t want to get into that just yet, so I will save that project for another day. I reinstalled the cowl cover with fresh clips (x2 PN: 01553-01781) and a new weather strip (PN: 66830-35F00.)

But the fun didn’t stop there! Back about 6 years ago, I sourced the metal trim that runs between the cowl plastics and the bottom of the windshield for both of my 240s (PN: 72771-35F00). As fate would have it, I realized that the notch in the center is not centered, making these pieces only usable for a RHD car. Well, luckily I just so happen to have one of those now. There’s a thin strip of rubber along the top edge of this piece, so it’s nice to have a fresh one that isn’t brittle. I secured it with new screws (x6 PN: 01452-00091). I’m super happy with how fresh the wiper cowl area looks after spending a little time and money on it. In an ideal world I would have the fresh windshield molding installed as well, but that’s gotta wait until a later date. All of my new moldings will make their way onto this car at some point.

I noticed soon after picking up the car that the cig lighter was missing. I decided to purchase a complete cig lighter assembly (PN: 25331-40Y01) and bezel (PN: 25339-7J100) for good measure even though only the lighter itself was missing. It feels good to check small improvements like this off of the list – it all adds up to make a pretty big difference in my overall enjoyment of the car.

Speaking of missing items, the first time I put gas in the car I noticed that the little orange fuel cap holder was missing from the fuel door. I scooped up one of these and installed it as well. (PN: 17255-01G00.) If your car is missing this piece, pick one up! It’s a great addition at about $2 USD.

If you know me, you know that my previous S13s never had a working radio. Car audio is something that has never really interested me much, but I’ve really wanted to get it sorted out as I have gotten older. I installed speakers in my 240 about a year before I parted it out, but I never found a head unit that I could live with. Since the 180 didn’t come with a head unit, I figured I had better take care of this problem before I let another 15 years of silence go by.

Not wanting to spend too much time and energy researching how car audio works, I picked out the least ugly head unit I could find on Crutchfield with Bluetooth capability and ordered it, along with speakers for the front and rear of the car. All of the harnesses to make things more or less plug and play were included, which made me wonder why I didn’t do this years ago. I did find that the 89-93 adapter harness was incorrect, so I had to order one for a 1997 Maxima. It sounds like Nissan changed the design of the plugs in 1995 or so. Doh, I forgot that my 180SX is so much newer than my previous S13s. Once I got the new harness from Amazon, I had things up and running in a couple of hours.

I can’t really describe how cool it felt to drive an S13 with music playing for the first time, let alone via Bluetooth and my phone in my pocket. The audio quality is definitely less than impressive, but more than enough for my use and enjoyment – especially considering the whole setup cost me less than $200. Driving around with the AC on and some music playing (and an automatic transmission no less) was definitely a welcome change to my previous S chassis experience. I am looking forward to making use of this on my wife and I’s upcoming anniversary road trip. For once we won’t have to bring our wireless Bose speaker with us and try to prop it up somewhere in the car that we can both hear it.

A few new parts arrived in the last couple of weeks. The first item I picked up is a pair of aftermarket TYC 240SX turn signals. I am going to cut these up and use the bulb sockets/housings to modify a pair of kouki 180SX position lamps to function as both running lights and turn signals, much like I did on my 240. The OEM chuki turn signals are discontinued, so I decided it would be easier to snag these from eBay rather than a pair of used ones. Since I am cutting them up anyway, they should fit the bill. My only concern is finding a way to install them without hacking up the car’s wiring, but I think I can figure something out. Stay tuned for more info on this project in a future blog post.

When we installed new spark plugs on the car in Houston, Liam and I noted that there was a little bit of oil leaking in the spark plug tubes from the valve cover. He also showed me that all four of the coil packs were cracked. To correct this issue, I ordered all of the gaskets for the valve cover and a set of fresh OEM coil packs. I need to install these on the car soon when I get some time. I plan to have the valve cover powder coated, but will wait to address that until the winter months when the car is in storage. A number of parts I bought for the car will all be installed in this general area, so it makes sense to try to tackle it all at once.

My collection of suspension items for the car is nearly complete. Once outstanding item I was waiting on was a pair of GP Sports strengthened inner and outer tie rods. Aside from some small hardware items and parts related to the brake upgrades, I should have everything on hand for the complete suspension overhaul and five lug conversion. As anxious as I am to tackle that, I want to wait until the winter months to avoid down time. It will be a real treat to install it all at once and try to complete the modifications in one fell swoop.

Finally, I purchased a Works Bell short hub and Rapfix II quick release. I have never had a quick release in any of my cars before, but figured my daughters would probably get a kick out of it. This car is supposed to embody my “dream build” in a lot of ways, so now seemed like the perfect time to splurge and try this out. I have my Nardi Classic 330mm saved from my 240SX coupe, but recently placed an order for a 340mm. I’m thinking it might be more comfortable to have a slightly larger wheel for street cruising, but I’ll likely give both a try and sell whichever one I like the least.

That’s about it for car updates! I have been driving it as much as possible. My oldest daughter celebrated her birthday last week, so I took the other two to a park, Taco Bell and the movies for the evening. We had a great time driving around town in the car, and working AC really came in clutch. Overall, it feels like owning a simpler and more refined (albeit less cool at the moment) version of my old car – the only difference is I am sitting on the other side.

Thanks for following along – hopefully there’s some useful and interesting info here for my fellow S13 nerds. Take care!

Damon

Well, it’s been nearly three weeks since I first saw my 180SX in person. Though I haven’t done a ton with it yet, I have been enjoying getting to know the car a bit and spending time tinkering when I am able to.

To pick up where we left off, I went back to the Secretary of State two weeks ago with my VIN verification form in hand completed by a local police officer. Though it took a while, much to my delight I left with a title, registration and a license plate for the car. In Michigan, you can register any car 26 years or older as historical vehicle. The registration cost is much lower, and you can use an actual vintage license plate from the year the car was produced. This was always cool to me, since I have fond memories of the standard blue plates on cars when I was a kid. However, the catch is that you are only supposed to drive the car to events- car shows, parades, etc. In the month of August (when the Woodward Dream Cruise takes place) you can drive a historical plated car as much as you’d like.

While I had historical plates on both of my 240s for a time, I decided to skip it for now on the 180SX. I went this route so that I could have the car plated sooner (historical registration takes several weeks by mail) and so I didn’t need to worry about how much I drive it. I may decide to switch it over later, but for now this will work just fine. There’s no safety inspection or emissions testing in Michigan which makes life really easy. I am grateful to Tweed and Richard from Run Works for ensuring I had all of the paperwork I needed to easily register the car.

I had my license plate zip tied on the car initially due to the difference in mounting hole locations between Japanese and US plates. Then I remembered that my buddy Kevin sells these trick 3D printed plate adapters on eBay, so I ordered up a set and tossed them on the car. I suppose I could have just drilled new holes in my plate, but I am a sucker for stuff like this.

Now that the car is legal, I have been enjoying taking it on quick trips. The girls and I drove it to church that first weekend, and I have driven it to the office a couple times as well. However, we have been dealing with record high temperatures in Michigan for the last week, so I have been hesitant to drive the car to work and let it sit out in the hot sun. These conditions also bring a higher chance of severe storms and hail, so I have been leaving the car at home for the most part. Hopefully things settle down soon from a weather standpoint. I ended up driving the car to a Habitat for Humanity event we volunteered at through work and had to drive down some dirt roads I hadn’t planned to. I couldn’t help but feel bad wondering if this was the first time the car has left pavement, but it went just fine.

I spent some time looking at and test fitting some of the optional dealer parts the car came with, including the window louvers and fog lights. The seller of the car had removed the louvers that came in it to sell separately, so I decided to buy them. I gave them a test fit and honestly don’t really care for the look. They’re still a cool part to have, but for me sometimes less is more. I will likely hold onto them in my parts stash unless someone gives me a really strong offer for them.

The story is the same for the car’s optional fog lights. Sadly, one is shattered and does not illuminate, but the other side works. I do not know why two of the fog lights are missing – maybe the previous owner was only using one for some reason? In any case, it was neat to see how these bolt up to the front crash beam. Perhaps one day I will remove the switch and wiring from the car as I am sure that’s a fairly sought after piece of the fog light setup, but for now I think I’ll leave these alone. Part of me wants to source a clean pair of dual fog lights, but I know I won’t really end up using them with my other bumper setups.

As for other notable options, the car sports a 180SX rear window tint strip. Sadly it’s in pretty bad shape and will probably need to be removed at some point, but I am dragging my feet on that since it is so cool. It’s also equipped with a NISMO catback exhaust that doesn’t sound all that bad, but I plan to replace that too sometime in the neat future.

I got word from Brent at B Street Garage that my parts I dropped off for paint are finished and ready to go. This includes my two spare front bumper setups, R33 GTR N1 Ducts, Ganador mirrors, and a pair of East Bear mirrors. I am hoping to find time to make it out to Chicago and pick those things up soon. Can’t wait to see the end result!

I realized while we were in Houston that the car had an HKS turbo timer tucked near the driver’s seat that didn’t seem to be operational. Regardless, I took the interior apart a bit last week to remove it. Fortunately, the only wiring it tapped into was the signal wire for the emergency brake. I noticed during the process that my gauge cluster has a mind of its own. The temp needle moves up and down while the car is off, and the digital odometer flashes on and off. The speedometer needle also bounces around when I drive the car. It sounds like a lot of people have issue with their gauge clusters, so I need to get to the bottom of it at some point. Hopefully it can be saved though.

After spending a great Father’s Day up North at the lake, I was back to work this past week. My office was closed on Wednesday for Juneteenth, so I spent the day tinkering with the car. The first thing I did was remove the KTS coilovers that the previous owner installed on the car and replace them with a set of DMAX Super Street coilovers. I had bought these for my 240SX hatchback to replace my Stance setup as one had a blown cartridge after many years of use. I had used DMAX coilovers previously and liked their adjustability from a height standpoint. After driving the car, I actually think the KTS were less harsh and rode a bit better. I am now faced with a tricky decision as far as which set I want to keep. I didn’t think the KTS would be able to go low enough for the look I want to achieve, but it seems like they might. I’ve heard good things about them as I know SPL parts used to sell them back in the day. I’ll make a decision soon and sell whichever setup I decide not to keep.

Next, I set out to remove the front tweeters from the interior. I realized these were only held on with double sided tape, so thankfully I did not need to replace the triangular plastic trim pieces. I removed the door panels to find a pair of aftermarket front speakers as well. Not knowing the age or condition, I removed these as well. I plan to install speakers and a head unit at some point, so I will work on that later. It took me about 15 years to install new speakers in my 240, and I never even finished the job – so take that with a grain of salt.

While I had the door panels off, I installed a brand new passenger side door handle (PN 80671-35F00) and new door handle trims (PN 80682-35F00) on both sides. I purchased these back in 2018 for my 240 and never ended up installing them. The driver’s side door handle was discontinued even back then, so I sprayed that one with some SEM Satin Black paint. Someone recently messaged me and told me Laurel and R32 door handles are the same, but the part numbers are different. I need to do some research on that to confirm.

The wiper arms on my car have seen better days, so I removed the rear wiper arm and hit it with some paint stripper to get it down to bare metal. I then coated that as well with SEM Satin Black. I ran out of paint before I could get to the front arms, but I will be working on those soon as a part of another project. In addition to refinishing the wiper arm, I also installed a new plastic cover (PN 28782-55A00) and rubber seal for the rear hatch (PN 28716-30P01.)

Finally, I decided to install fresh rubber bumpers throughout the car. This included the six bumpers under the hood, two on each door, and two on the rear hatch. These are the part numbers and quantities I used for those: x2 90878-2l700 (large bumpers under hood,) x2 65822-M7000 (medium sized bumpers under the hood,) x2 65823-28E00 (small sized bumpers under hood,) x4 80872-W1010 (bumpers on the doors,) & x2 01658-00112 (for the rear hatch.) I forgot to take a photo of the bumpers all together, but this was a really easy and rewarding process. I had always dreamed of installing these on a freshly painted car, but the 180 is close enough. I’ve come to the conclusion that I would rather use these items than wait years and years with them just collecting dust.

After the harsh sun went down last night, I washed the car for just the second time since I got it. I’ve had to spend some time looking the car over to find where the dings and various blemishes are. I like to think I know all of them by heart, but then I remember that this is not the same car I owned for all those years. They look and feel so similar that it is easy for me to forget. I keep thinking this car has a long history and I have spent a ton of time building it from the ground up – but then I remember it’s basically stock and I haven’t even owned it for a month yet. I am getting a little anxious to make this car my own and begin tearing into it. I might already be breaking my promise of waiting until this winter to really dig into the car. We’ll see what happens!

Anyway, thanks as always for stopping by and coming along on this adventure. I appreciate it! I’ll have more updates soon as the summer progresses. Have a great weekend!

Damon