When we left off last Thursday, Liam and I were preparing to head down to Houston to retrieve my new car. Liam arrived at my house around 3 or so, and we left for the airport about an hour later. We drove down to my aunt’s house and she was kind enough to drive us to the airport. There was a big accident on the freeway that caused a pretty major delay causing us to be very concerned about making our flight, but fortunately the traffic parted at the perfect time and we arrived with time to spare. The trip down was rather uneventful aside from needing to circle over Texas for about 25 minutes due to some storms in the area.

At around 10 PM or so, we finally got off of the plane and headed to the ground transportation area. There, we were greeted by the third member of our longtime trio – Jimmy. We picked up some late night Whataburger, a Texas staple, and went back to the house to hang out for a bit and see the car quickly before getting some shut eye.

The next morning, Liam and I were up early. Jimmy and his wife had to work that day and were getting their kids ready for daycare. Jimmy was kind enough to loan Liam and I a G35 sedan that he was in the process of selling. We headed out to grab some coffee for Liam and got to experience a good old fashioned Texas thunderstorm, which is always a treat. After grabbing coffee and breakfast, we headed to Walmart and Autozone to pick up some essentials for the car. I ended up buying some oil, spark plugs, temporary floor mats for the drive home, and a new battery. Even though the car started OK for Jimmy at port, it was dead when we tried to start it on Friday morning. With a long drive ahead of us, we decided it was best to replace the battery so we didn’t have to worry about it. I ended up grabbing a Toyota Prius battery as it has the small terminals that match the size of batteries from Japan. As it turns out, it’s also a pretty perfect size for the 180SX (as long as you aren’t running an aftermarket front mount intercooler.) The part number for the Prius battery is: S46B24R. This was the first of many unanticipated expenses along the way.

After Jimmy got home from work, we put the car in the air. Liam and Jimmy ended up doing most of the work, including swapping in some fresh oil and a NISMO filter that I shipped down prior to the trip. Liam installed the new spark plugs, and I worked on installing the wiper arms, as they were removed from the car prior to shipping for whatever reason. The coil packs were cracked and in pretty bad shape, but we decided to chance it and hope for the best. We put the car on jack stands and loaded up the wheels and tires to get them mounted. The seller had told me the tires were old (10 years old, to be exact) and dry rotted, so I purchased a set and sent them down to Jimmy’s house before the trip.

We went to a tire shop that Jimmy uses occasionally that was interesting to say the least. They did the work quickly and for a good price, but we realized after the fact that they didn’t replace the valve stems. This was a little odd and concerning, but at that point there wasn’t much I could do about it other than cross my fingers.

When we got back to the house, we slapped the tires on and took the car down the street to the gas station to fill up. This was when it finally started to sink in a bit that I owned a 180SX. I had only driven a RHD car once prior to this, so it was a very strange adjustment for me. I kept almost hitting the curb on the passenger side, and had my share of times pressing the wiper stalk instead of the turn signal. When we got back to the house from the test drive, our friends Kev and Harris arrived to hang out.

After a couple more test drives, we decided that the car felt incredibly slow – too slow even for an automatic, bone stock SR20DET. We decided to order a boost gauge from Amazon to determine if the car was making any boost. I thought that a clogged catalytic converter might be to blame, but it was difficult to tell. We also started to hypothesize that the turbo may have seized up, but didn’t want to tear everything apart just yet to check. That night, Raul stopped by to get some parts from Jimmy and ended up hanging out with us for the night. I had talked to him a bit on Instagram, but it was great to meet in person. We didn’t do much more wrenching on the car that night and just hung out.

On Saturday, the boost gauge arrived. Kev and Liam got it installed in the car (albeit with painter’s tape and power from a drill battery) and test drove the car to find that it was indeed not going into boost. They pulled the intake piping and confirmed that sure enough, the compressor wheel was completely seized up. This meant that we needed to find a stock SR20DET turbo to swap in – and fast, since Liam and I planned to begin the drive home at 5 AM Sunday morning. While Kevin and Liam began tearing the car apart to remove the turbo, Jimmy, Harris and I posted on instagram trying to find a turbo locally. As fate would have it, Raul mentioned he had one in his trunk the night before when he was hanging out. He was at a birthday party about 40 minutes away and said we could come grab it. So Liam and I drove out there in Jimmy’s truck to get the turbo while Kev continued to work on removing the old one.

We got back to the house around 8 PM or so, and Liam and Kev continued to knock out the turbo swap. We didn’t have any gaskets on hand, so we had to just reuse the old ones knowing that I will need to replace them at a later date. I jumped in at the very end to help a bit, but Liam and Kev really knocked out most of the work on the car. I am super grateful for their help, because I am honestly not sure I would have been able to finish the work so quickly. I truly could not have accomplished having this car ready without my friends, and I am so thankful for them!

Finally, at around 11:30 PM, the car was back together and running. Liam and Kev took it for a spin, and returned to the house to tell me it was still not making boost. However, Liam was just messing with me, and then told me that it was in fact fixed. I was very relieved to hear this news. While I was still a bit worried about the drive home, it was a massive relief to know the issue was solved. We cleaned up the garage, packed up the car, and prepared to get about five hours of sleep before heading for Michigan on Sunday morning.

Sunday morning arrived far too soon. However, I didn’t feel as terrible as I had expected to. I think the adrenaline and nervousness about the trip was keeping me awake. We said our goodbyes and made our way over to the highway. Liam drove the first leg of the trip and things went very smoothly. We were both surprised and impressed with how nice the car drove. As the day got hotter, we eventually put the windows up to try to AC. I still can’t believe it works! I know it shouldn’t be surprising to me for a stock car, but I have never experienced an S13 with working AC. Even with the wild temperatures and humidity down south, we stayed really comfortable.

We took turns driving with each truck stop we stopped at for fuel, steadily clicking our way through the remainder of Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois. I had never been to Arkansas or Missouri before, so that was pretty cool to see – as well as crossing over the Mississippi River. By evening, our arrival time was slated for 4:30 AM. We decided to travel through Indiana rather than Illinois for something a little different and to avoid Chicago traffic. Not wanting to be total zombies the next day, we stopped at a hotel in Bloomingon, Indiana at around 11 PM to get some rest.

After what felt like another relatively short sleep, we got on the road around 6:30 AM on Monday morning. We clicked off the remaining 5 hour trip to my house relatively quickly and again without issue. I wasn’t able to get the car registered and plated in time before the trip, so I was a bit apprehensive about driving over 20 hours with only insurance on the car – but I guess luck was on our side for this trip. It was great to be home and see my family after such a long journey. Liam quickly said his goodbyes and headed back to Toronto, another five hours of driving still ahead of him.

Once I saw the car in my driveway, the reality of owning a real-deal kouki 180SX set in. It felt oddly familiar as the car basically looks like my old 240 did, but very strange at the same time. That night, I washed the car and snapped some photos before the sun set as I often did with my previous S13s before it. I wanted to try to capture a baseline of the car how I purchased it to have for reference in the future. I also hadn’t seen the car in a clean state yet, so I was anxious to check it out and see what condition the paint was in.

Overall, I am very impressed with the condition of the car. The interior is in great shape overall, despite the floor mats missing and a spot on the driver’s side where the carpet is separating. I’ve been working on sourcing some OEM mats but haven’t had any luck just yet. There’s a tear in the vinyl on one door panel and the fabric is lifting slightly, and there’s no head unit in the car. However, that just about completes my list of gripes with the interior. The dashboard is uncracked and all of the panels are really in great shape. You can tell by the lack of rattles that the interior hasn’t been taken apart. The car even has a pristine sunroof cover and the straps for it in the hatch area. Overall, I am super happy with the car’s interior.

The exterior of the car has its share of blemishes as well, but nothing alarming considering it’s a stock, 27 year old car. It’s weird to see dings in different places than they were on my 240. There’s some scrapes and areas on both bumpers that have been touched up, and a few dings on the front fenders and quarter panels. All of the seals and moldings are pretty tired, and the optional window visors are very faded. However, the aero is complete and was installed from the factory. It’s amazing to feel how solidly everything is mounted. Most of the rubber gaskets between the aero and the body are even still in place. I’ve dreamed of having my aero mounted this perfectly for a long time, so I am definitely excited about this. The car needs to be detailed, but the paint is definitely in much better shape than my 240 was. I’m looking forward to getting it cleaned up properly and installing some of the restoration items I have collected.

The same is true of the underside of the car, as well as the suspension. The previous owner installed new pads and rotors in Japan, as well as a set of KTS coilovers before having the car aligned. This was definitely apparent on the drive home, as the car tracked straight and the brakes worked really well. I of course haven’t been able to fully dive into the car behind the aero and whatnot, but after inspecting all of the areas my 240SX has rust, there was none to be found. This just affirms my decision, and though I am sure there is rust and corrosion hiding on the car, it won’t be anything like what I was dealing with on the previous chasiss.

I’m anxious to work on the engine bay and to begin replacing some maintenance items like the coil packs, but this will happen in due time. As of right now, my plan is to enjoy the car in stock form for the remainder of the 2024 season and tear into it when the snow flies. We’ll see if I am able to maintain that plan though as I am already anxious to tinker with the car despite only having it home for less than a week at the time of this writing.

Speaking of tinkering, I have already started to make improvements. There was still adhesive residue in a number of places from shipping, as well as stickers inside the door jambs from service shops that I have been removing. And speaking of sticker residue, I created a ton of it when I removed the old, faded window visors from the car. I guess some people like the look of these faded purple, but I am not one of them. I have a new pair that I have had in storage for a few years, but I don’t plan to install them at this time. For anyone curious about the OEM visors, the part number is: G3810-40F00.

The weather strip retainers under the visors are pretty faded and scratched up from the visor brackets that broke loose during the car’s life, and the rubber strip along the glass is faded and cracked. I plan to finally install my brand new set that I purchased for my 240SX many years ago once I have all of the adhesive cleaned up. I could never convince myself to use the new moldings and weather stripping on my 240 as I wanted to paint the car first, but I’ve decided that I will on this car. Life is too short to hoard things waiting for the right day. I think this car deserves these parts and it will bring a great deal of satisfaction to it overall. I ended up using a product my friend David recommended called Tarminator to remove the leftover adhesive, as well as trusty old Goo Gone.

Next on the list, I installed a new pair of door strikers. As I mentioned in a previous post years ago, this is one of my favorite improvements for any S13. The driver’s side was cracked and falling apart, and the door had to be slammed in order to shut. It now closes with very minimal effort and a very satisfying sound. If you’re looking to replace these on your car, the part number for the strikers is 80570-41L00 (they’re the same left and right) and the part number for the screws is 01432-00051.

On the interior side, I decided to install the factory Bose head unit I had in my 240. I was told this unit is from a Maxima, but matches the kouki 180SX cluster (aside from everything being in English.) I am hoping to find an actual 180SX head unit, but this fills the ugly space in the dashboard for now. I haven’t decided yet if I will install and aftermarket head unit, but it sounds really nice to have a working radio. We’ll see what happens down the road.

Yesterday, I went to the Secretary of State to attempt to register and plate the car. They told me I had everything I needed except for a form that needed to be completed by a police officer to verify the VIN. After a stop to the station and a phone call to the Sheriff, they sent an officer out to my house to look at the car and complete the form. With all of the paperwork now in hand, I am hoping to complete this process today so that I can start driving the car around. Fingers crossed!

There are so many people that I want to thank for their help with this car ending up in my garage: Dario for selling the car to me and answering all of my questions, Richard from Run Works for handling all of the import logistics stateside and making life incredibly easy for me, Jordan from Tweed Autogarage for handling the shipping process from the Japan side, Jimmy for picking the car up from port, storing it for me, and giving us a place to crash in Houston; Kayla for letting us take over her house for a long weekend with a sick kiddo at home, Liam for driving all the way from Toronto to roll back with me and for all of the work he did on the car in Texas, My aunt Jodie for driving us to the airport, Kev for doing a ton of diagnosis and work on the car when we found out the turbo was shot, Harris for driving me around to get things we needed for the car, Raul for selling me a replacement turbo when we were in a serious bind, Andy for driving me to get the Vibe after we got home- and, of course, my wife for taking care of our girls and the dog for so many days while I was gone – and for always supporting me when I want to do stupid things like bring over an old Nissan from Japan.

I know there are more people that I am forgetting, but I truly could not have done this on my own. I appreciate everyone’s help and support so much! It’s such a crazy feeling to finally own the car I was trying to emulate with my 240SX for so many years. I’m really looking forward to driving and improving this car for years to come.

Thanks as always for stopping by – especially to everyone that has been here since the Zilvia days. All of the messages mean a lot! Hopefully I’ll have more interesting content rolling on here from now on.

Damon