1992 Nissan 240sx NICO Forums Ride of the Month for March 2009

Toby Broadfield’s (Broadfield) 1992 240sx

I originally got the 240 because I think the 240 is a well balanced platform even in stock form. I was getting tired of all of the Sti’s, WRX’s and EVO’s in town….. especially since I had an STi. I wanted something a little old school and raw. Also, 240’s are very rare in my area. The S13 coupe fit the bill perfectly!

I came in contact with this car when my friend bought it locally in stock form about 8 years ago. I helped install a SR swap for him. I had to do the harness myself. There wasn’t really much support back then, and the wiring of a S14 motor into a S13 chassis was a little tougher. I also did the front end conversion, cage and other minor modifications for him. With all of the time I had into it I had always felt like it might as well be my car. I told myself that if he ever sold it I would buy it. Well, he did, but I wasn’t in the position at the time to buy it. A year later he buys it back, and again I tell myself that I would buy it from him if he ever sold it. Five months later he sells the thing again. This time I held true to my promise. I bought it from him and got to working on it immediately making it into what you see today….. My way!

I bought the car with the SR already in it. But I decided to stay with it because it has been proven to be reliable at fairly high power levels and I knew I would be putting a lot of miles on it. I also prefer the idea of a motor originally being turbo charged, instead of adding one to a NA motor. There is better support for engine management on the SR over the KA-T. I also liked the idea of having the SR since I am running a Silvia front-end conversion.

I use to daily drive my car even in the winter snow and salt. Last year was the first year that I kept it in the garage unless the roads were salt and snow free. In the winter it was crucial to wash it once a week and spray wax it after every wash. It’s just added protection against the salt in the winter. I will also spray the engine bay down with every wash. Usually just a rinse will do. As long as you keep up on the engine bay, it really never gets dirty enough to need harsh chemicals. If needed, I use Simple Green on the engine bay. I make sure to hand dry everything I can get to in the bay. There are numerous things polished under the hood. I really only polish them once a year…… and they usually don’t even need it that much. I use a metal polishing product called Hoosier metal polish. This stuff blows everything else away by a 1000%. You really won’t believe it until you try it.

I am very anal when it comes to vehicles in general. Anytime I modify a car, inside or out, I feel it should resemble what the OEM manufacturer may have done as a option. I don’t like changes I make to just jump out at you. But rather flow with the original intent of the vehicle and compliment what is already there. I don’t change something just for the sake of changing. It’s good to be different, but not at the cost of making the car look worse. My car, for example, still looks pretty stock and plain. However, I have pretty much touched every inch of that car one way or another. It is a compliment when someone that doesn’t know 240’s looks at a part of the car, like my HUD for example, and doesn’t even realize it doesn’t belong there. I tell them I spent 15 hours on molding and finishing it and they are like “you spent 15 hours on molding what”?

I built the car with a goal of being a fast, reliable every day driver that I can haul my daughter to day care, drive across country or take it to the track when necessary. I think it’s important to mix form with functionality, but sometimes you have to add a little flash in there to express yourself. Most everything has a purpose one way or another. My favorite non-motor addition to the car is the 330 mm steering wheel.It is amazing what the smaller diameter wheel does for the overall feel of the car.

My most recent mod is finishing up redoing the Stoptech fronts and Z32 rears. I refinished the calipers in a bright white powder coat and all of the hardware and lettering in black. I decided to get into electroplating so that I could refinish the hardware with Zinc plating. I then simply dipped them in a black chromate for the final color. The Zinc plating was probably one of the coolest things I have played around with. I am also getting ready to do some major interior changes….. We’ll have to wait and see!