This week’s post is a little light on updates, but I do have a few things to share. I’ve been communicating with the seller of the car and the importer a bit trying to coordinate getting the car transported via truck from its current location to the Osaka area. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a port available to ship from in the car’s original location, so we need to go through some ground transport before it hits the boat. It’s been a painfully slow process so far, but as long as we continue to make progress I will be happy.

I also wanted to call out that the car will not come with the AVS VS6 wheels shown in the listing. It will instead be transported with the factory late model 180SX snowflake wheels, which I am pretty excited about. I guess the tires are in pretty bad shape, so I am considering replacing those when it arrives so that I can enjoy the car a bit before tearing into it – but we’ll see what happens. I’m also planning to remove the faded OEM window visors ASAP. I’ve got a new set stored away, but I’ve grown to not really love the look like I did many years ago. I’ll probably end up running without them.

My hope in the end is that I can preserve the car’s factory paint job and get it to a state that I am happy with. It’s no secret that my 240’s paint drove me crazy, but a big part of that was the fact that I didn’t know how to take care of it. I am hoping with putting in a fair amount of work (and cash) on the front end, I can get this car to a state I am happy with without having to paint it and keep it that way for years to come. At least it already has the complete factory aero on it, so I don’t really need to make any exterior changes. I still have my front bumper with R33 GTR N1 ducts, but I am undecided on if I will use that right away or not.

As far as parts arriving this past week, the first was a rubber shift boot for the transmission tunnel. I can’t tell you how many of these I have sold over the years, so it felt silly to have to search for one and pay someone else for it – but I will need it for the manual swap. These are still available new from Nissan, but it’s over $200 for all three pieces. I decided the money could be spent in better places, so I scooped this used one and plan to clean it up as best I can before installing it.

Next up was an order from Jesse Streeter in Japan. Just a day or two after paying for the car, I stumbled upon a complete clutch line and damper assembly from a 180SX on Yahoo! Auctions Japan. I had almost forgotten that the USDM and JDM clutch lines are not the same, so this one nearly caught me off guard. I really wanted a factory hard line instead of an aftermaket braided one, so I was stoked to find this. Some of the components are still available new, but not all of them – so this was a good buy. If I understand the schematics right, I should have everything needed as far as hard lines go for converting the car to a manual transmission. I will of course be replacing the rubber clutch line and slave, which probably would have saved me some cash on shipping this half way across the world – but it is what it is.

Finally, I received what I am sure will be the first of many orders of OEM parts from my good friend Russell at NissanParts.cc. Russell has been a huge help to me since I started building my first S13 in 2009, and I have seen a ton of shops come and go in that time. It’s cool to see what he has built, and funny to be going through the same process again 15 years later.

The first group of parts I picked up are for the manual shifter assembly: bolts, washers, wave washer, snap ring and gasket. Combine these with the used base plate I bought, and I should have just about everything I need aside from the shifter assembly itself. More on that in a future update.

Next, I picked up a pair of OEM S14 ABS front five lug hubs. So now I’ve got both front and rear five lug hubs ready to go. I’ll probably treat myself to a new set of lug nuts to use with these when the time comes, but we’ll see what happens. I have been running Muteki black steel lug nuts for a while now, but sometimes I miss having something a little bit flashier.

This order also included NissanParts.cc clutch pedal refresh kit. It comes with everything to replace all of the small springs and bushings on your clutch pedal assembly and seemed like a good idea to snag. I’ll tackle this project soon when I have some free time – it’ll be a good thing to keep me busy while I wait for the car’s arrival.

I also picked up a few other things for the manual swap – a new dust boot for the shift fork, new retainer springs for the release bearing, and a manual pilot bushing. I have never had to deal with a pilot bushing swap before, so I am hoping that won’t be too big of a deal. I didn’t order a release bearing as that will come with the clutch kit I am purchasing. I hope to order that next week – stay tuned. I am still debating if I want to replace the gaskets and seals in the transmission. The last time I tried to do that as preventative maintenance, I created some leaks that weren’t previously there. I may adopt more of a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality with this car depending on what kind of shape it’s in when it arrives. Time will tell!

Finally, I scooped up a new OEM clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder. I really wanted to run the NISMO slave again, but it’s not advised to run it with the clutch I want to use. It’s always sad to lose a NISMO item from the mod list, but hopefully it will be worth it.

Last night I had some free time to spend in the garage that I utilized to get my 240SX shell ready for pickup. I think I finally have a buyer nailed down which is a really great feeling, and I am happy about its new home. It’s going to be a few weeks before he can come get it, but it should be worth the wait. I reinstalled a number of items that didn’t end up selling, including the HVAC setup, dash bar, steering column, dash, S14 seats, and rear hatch. I filled it with most of my remaining spare parts that didn’t sell, which feels like a huge relief. I can’t wait until the shell is gone and out of my garage. I’m trying to track down items to make it a roller to make transport easier like I did with my coupe. Fingers crossed I can do that in a timely and not-so-expensive manner. We’ll see how it goes.

That’s where things stand for the last Friday of February. I’m hopeful that I can have just about everything I want to install on the car here in my garage and ready to go by the time it arrives, which shouldn’t be too hard to pull off as I plan to keep it pretty simple. Fingers crossed things keep moving with the import process. I am so anxious to hear that the car is finally on the boat and ready to make its way to the States. At least I have plenty to work on in the mean time.

Thanks as always for stopping by and joining this adventure with me. Have a great weekend!

Damon