I considered making the switch from a 240SX to a 180SX for many years. Jimmy and I would often discuss making the switch, feverishly pounding numbers into spreadsheets in our spare time to see if it would be possible. In most cases, the numbers rarely made sense, but as the years went on it became more and more realistic that I could conceivably part out my 240 and pick up its JDM counterpart.

I never had too much of a strong desire to own a RHD car. Based on talking to friends and acquaintances about their experience with it, it sounded like kind of a hassle to drive one on roads designed for LHD vehicles. I also really loved the idea of modifying a 240SX to emulate a 180SX as closely as possible. It was fun to try to turn my car into the “cool” version and explain to people why I made the modification choices I did. I grew up in the era where it was very admirable to take USDM car and convert it over in as many ways as I could. However, as I grew older and began to want a car that was as close to stock and original as possible, the idea of starting with an actual late model 180SX began to sound more and more appealing. Instead of trying to undo all of the mistakes I had made with my car, I could start with the version I was striving to have all along.

Around the time that I started parting out my hatch, I saw that a black 1997 180SX Type X was for sale in Japan on Zilvia of all places. It felt a bit like fate when I saw it as it ticked nearly every box I was looking for – late model 180SX, sunroof, complete aero from the factory, turbo – the only problem was the fact that it was an automatic. If I was truly going to do this and spend the money and time to bring a car over from Japan, I felt it needed to have a manual transmission from the factory. I was also kind of excited to find one that wasn’t black for a change.

I talked to the owner of a white 180SX Type R that also had a sunroof, but discovered that it had a bit more rust than I was interested in dealing with. It was very appealing given that it was already stateside, but the price was very high. The more I thought about it and looked around a bit, I decided it might be worth compromising on the automatic transmission in the first car I came across. It was proving very difficult to find a car with a sunroof, and most auction cars were going to end up being a huge crap shoot. I decided to take a second look and reached out to the owner.

A couple weeks later, I was sending my first ever wire transfer to pay for the car. I’ll save some of the details on the car until it is in my possession (which may be quite a while at this rate,) but here are a couple photos of the car I purchased. I am currently in the process of making all of the arrangements to transport the car, and with any luck it will be stateside by the end of June. However, I am trying my absolute best to tell myself to be patient and realize it may not be around for this year’s cruising season. By sharing it here now, maybe you guys can help share the anticipation with me.

With a car secured, I began to source some parts so that I can have things in order and ready to go before the car gets here. While I sold a lot of the parts I had not knowing what the future had in store, I did keep a lot of my more desirable parts in the hopes that I would be able to import a 180SX. For example, I ended up holding onto my Xcessive Manufacturing skid plate as I had just recently installed a fresh one on my 240 (despite it already looking fairly thrashed.) This is an essential piece in my opinion as it’s virtually bulletproof and keeps your oil pan safe on a low car.

I also ended up holding onto my PBM Cobra downpipe from my coupe as it only has about 100 miles on it. It’s kind of tempting to keep the stock exhaust on my 180SX, but I will probably end up upgrading it shortly after the car arrives. This is another essential piece for a lowered car as the flex section keeps you from blowing out turbo gaskets as frequently. I think I have used these downpipes on my S13s since 2010 or so with great success.

Another item I held onto was my S14 front knuckles and hubs. My plan was to continue utilizing S14 front knuckles, hubs and lower control arms on my 180SX like I did on my 240. As it turns out though, the 180 has ABS- something I would love to keep intact if possible. I ended up selling my S14 knuckle/hub setup in favor of an ABS set. I’ve got the knuckles now and have a new set of OEM ABS hubs on order. This will be my first time working on an S13 with ABS, but hopefully I am able to sort it out. Time will tell!

Speaking of ABS, this also meant that I needed to secure the correct driveshaft for manual swapping the 180. I ended up finding a manual/ABS driveshaft on eBay that was ironically located about an hour and a half from me. I feel like there are not typically a lot of manual/ABS driveshafts around stateside, so I was excited to find this as I wanted to avoid running an aftermarket one piece driveshaft. I’ll likely try to look into replacing the carrier bearing before this is put on the car. I’m still a little confused as they look remarkably similar, but hopefully this works and doesn’t come back to haunt me later.

I decided tackling the manual swap parts should probably be priority number one. In addition to the driveshaft, I also picked up a Silvia brake and clutch pedal. I have items on the way to refresh both pedals and will try to clean them up as best I can prior to installing them. It is going to kill me to hack into a totally stock 180SX, but I think we can all agree a manual swap is needed. Hopefully the process won’t be too bad (I converted my 240SX coupe from automatic to manual, so I am fairly confident I can pull it off without any issues.)

One piece I have always wanted is the NISMO reinforced clutch pedal bracket. Though I don’t drift and really have no use for it, my hope is to add as much of the current NISMO catalog to this car as possible. Pretty cool part that will likely serve no purpose, but I am excited about it.

Next, I picked up a used shifter base plate from eBay for the manual swap. I am in the process of ordering some refresh items for this, including a NISMO quick shifter that I have heard good things about and wanted to try. I’ve always preferred the OEM shifter over the various short shifters I have tried over the years, but I am confident the NISMO should fit the bill. Looking forward to scooping one up.

I sold both of my manual crossmembers from my 240s, so I had to pick one of these up as well. I was sad that I just barely lost out on a brand new one on YAJ, but I can clean this one up just fine.

Of course, the 180 will need to be converted to five lug. I picked up a set of generic Contano five lug hubs for the rear as I had some pretty bad luck with the OEM ones and they cost a fortune. Hopefully these will serve me well. The OEM ABS S14 hubs are on the way and should be here sometime next week.

Finally, a deal I could not pass up – a set of Ganador Super Aero Mirrors. I have probably owned about fifteen pairs of these over the years, but I couldn’t pass up the price these were listed for on Zilvia. I am contemplating trying to find a really clean pair of carbon/blue lens Ganadors instead for the car, but I am not 100% sold on that idea just yet. The idea of having functional power Ganadors that I can actually see out of sounds really cool after years of using them on a USDM chassis and not wiring them up. I have another pair of mirrors on hand for the 180SX as well that I held onto from my 240 that will likely complete the collection of mirrors I intend to own. At the end of the day, I really like the stock power/folding mirrors the best (stoked to finally have a set of those that works as well.)

Anyway, that’s about it for this week! I’ll continue to share parts I collect and plans for the car here as I work my way through the long process of trying to get the car stateside. I am hoping to be as organized and well-equipped as possible to make the car my own before it arrives. I will likely try to enjoy it for a while in its stock form before I tear into it, but I am definitely excited to work on it and install my own parts.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend!

Damon