Editor's Note: Before I start, I should make it known that I didn't build this car for drag racing, road racing, car shows, or drifting. I built this car for me. For my own personal satisfaction and to do whatever I wanted with it. Anyone who still thinks otherwise or chooses to ride my jock and start stupid forums spreading rumors just to talk smack can lick hot monkey butt.
In typical Asian culture I'm not supposed to write about myself, but then again I don't write for a typical magazine. I work with a bunch of stupid Americans like our sticker says. Unfortunately, I can't write this feature without blabbing on and on about the ten years I've had the car. You see, I've never been a conformist. I had a Sega Master System when Nintendo was dominating the gaming world and I bought a burgundy '95 240SX when Civics and Integras were filling up parking lots. However, mydetermination to be an individualist always came back to bite me in the buttocks.
Trying to borrow Sega games was impossible and sourcing 240SX parts was more difficult than trying to steal a coconut from a bi-polar orangutan with ADHD. I pieced together an intake and modified adapter to make it fit. There were no bolt-on exhausts so it was the local muffler shop special, which was cool back before cops started trippin' on everything. I had S&S fabricate a header, bought a set of ST springs and sadly, that's where the modifications maxed out. Not that it would stop any shops from ripping me off with BS computer upgrades.
Next Episode
What's in store for Rikdaddy now, you ask? If you've been reading Super Street (as closely as you should have been) in the past few months, we've dropped more than a few hints about the new project-a '96 Acura NSX-T. Ideally, I wouldn't have went for the whole Chinese-style green exterior, tan interior, and chrome wheel combo, but I got a kick ass deal on it and knew that it wasn't going to stay like that anyway. Plus this was a bonifide supercar that I've wanted since before I had my license. I'd lust over it in my dad's old man car magazines as if it were a "girls who will hot oil wrestle for Rikdaddy" special edition of Playboy. The plans so far are to rock some tight suspension from Tein, headers from DC Sports, headlight conversion, body tweaks, kick ass wheels, minor interior tweaks, and who knows what else. Right now, I have to go sell some more bodily fluids and organs to pay for the insurance.
A little later I added a mid wing, chrome wheels, and a direct port nitrous system. My friend Nick Cruz and I would fiddle around with our carsafter school and work at his grandparents'machine shop. And in all honesty, we reallyhad no idea what we were doing half the time.After slapping on a VeilSide body kit, some dumb chick at my school crashed into it so I opted to update to the '97 headlights. Not that much later, my car was vandalized and I ended up having P.J. Bonifacio paint it the Spectra BlueMica color that it remained for a while. Sincethen, I have only trusted P.J. with body work on any of my cars.
I saw tons of stories about Silvias in Japan and that's what I wanted. The SR20DET turbo motor was like the nectar of the gods, so tantalizingand desirable that I would pass many nights sleepless just thinking about it. I called around and it was just too expensive of an option to go with at the time. Slowly I tried to piece together a turbo kit until I met Andy Yu from V-Spec Performance (Zero-1000 now). They were the ones who had the first SR-swapped 240SXs in the 12s up in Palmdale and brought over the Top Fuel cars from Japan. He helped me with my original SR swap and taught me a lot along the way.
I was pretty content with my car up until some guy ran into me on the freeway. Trying to make the best of the situation, P.J. changed my front end into the full '97 update with a Japanese Silvia bumper and grille. That's how it was on the June '00 cover of Super Street. Then Bomex came in with a full body kit. We'd hit the shows with at least four SR-swapped 240SXs each time. There was mine or my friends: Either of Will Law's two (S13 or S14), Paul Liao's S14, James Yen's S14 (from the original "movie"), and Mike Liao's S13.
Through the years we changed a bunch of minor things like suspension, motors, wheels, and all that good stuff. We finalized that list with the cream of the crop Tein Type Flex coilovers, EDFC and Work Meister wheels and Falken ST115 tires. But the biggest changes were the Strawberry Face S15 front end and S15 motor. P.J. wanted to change the front because the S15 was so new in Japan at the time and the only person in the US at the time who did theconversion was Will on his S14. So that was done with a new Bomex bumper, which is how it stood on the Import Tuner cover and Overboost.com. Andy found me an S15 motor, which was rare back then, and he helped me get it running using the five-speed tranny from my old motor and an S14 harness and coilpacks. With that setup, I took home the six-foot tall Import Showoff Auto trophy at Speedzone to add to my collection of 14 or so trophies that are sitting in Hugh Le's garage. Ken Miyoshi shipped the car out to Hawaii for his show there. Right before it was to be loaded onto the container, this idiot backed into it in the parking lot and pushed the front end into a curb. So when it got back from paradise, it had to go back to P.J.'s yet again.
I only ran the car at the track one time, up in Palmdale for the NIRA finals. With essentially a stock S15 motor with bolt-ons, I ran a mid-13-second pass on street tires with Junko Hyodo in the other lane whooping my ass in her 11-second Top Fuel DC2. I wanted some top-end parts like cams and valve springs, but during the baseline dyno on the the Church Automotive Dynapack, the car died after putting down 247 whp.
It sat in the garage for a while before Wayne Ohn from Phase 2 Motortrend and James Chang from G-Dimension diagnosed the problem as a burned-out airflow meter. At first, I was just going to pull the motor and send the chassis back to P.J. to paint yet again. But this time I painted it inside out and top to bottom in a House of Kolor Platinum Pearl Silver hue and got a Carbon Creations hood, an ings front bumper, and Bride seats inside from Tee's USA. As for the motor, the whole ordeal got snowballed from a simple cam swap into a full build with the assistance of Signal Auto, Race Engineering, Pauter, and Toda Racing. You can read more about that in "Bottom To Top We Stop" (Superstreet, Dec. '03) and "Droppin The 411" (Superstreet, Aug. '04).
To say the least, this car was a whore when we put it back together, but intentionally. We knew that every company made quality parts, but that didn't mean that they were the exact things we needed, so we mixed and matched. From Blitz, we used the SBC i-D boost controller because we liked the speed map function and the quick response of the solenoids. The A'PEXi Power FC was a must, because it allowed us to do initial settings and minor tunes with the commander, which also doubled to read engine sensors. The HKS GT2835 turbo is notorious for spooling up quick and providing a mean knockout punch. If you must call it something, refer to it as organized disorganization.
Decade Of Deeds
1995 Eazy E dies of AIDS, OJ declared innocent in first trial, Michael Jordan returns to the Bulls
1996 Rikdaddy graduates high school, Super Street is conceived, Ebonics declared a separate language.
1997 The Simpsons becomes longest running animated cartoon, Notorious B.I.G murdered in front of Peterson Automotive Museum, California bans Affirmative Action
1998 Clinton admits to Lewinsky affair, smoking banned in California bars and restaurants, FDA approves Viagra
1999 Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee divorce, Y2K scare, Family Guy created
2000 Mad Cow disease, no computer malfunctions, Smith & Wesson limits handgun production and distribution
2001 Terrorists attack America on 9/11(we will never forget), Rikdaddy graduates college and starts at Super Street, Enron files bankruptcy
2002 Angels win World Series, Euro currency debuts, Lakers win third championship in a row
2003 Michael Jackson arrested one of many times for child molestation charges, Kobe Bryant charged for sexual assault, Arnold Schwarzenegger elected as governer of California
2004 WWE Wrestlemania XX, child pornography charges against Pee Wee Herman dropped, final episode of Friends airs
2005 Rikdaddy says farewell to project 240SX, NHL cancels season, hurricane Katrina
One For The Road
2006 Clippers advance to second round of NBA playoffs, Super Street celebrates ten years, oil prices surge over $3 a gallon
Not surprisingly, the car didn't run as smoothly as we thought it would when we put it back together because we changed everything at one time without retuning. It also turned out that there was a lot of damage done to the harness from all the times we messed with it. We got a new one from Superior Nissan of Puente Hills and let G-Dimension do their magic. James rewired everything from scratch to make sure we didn't have any problems in the future. After we got it back from G-Dimension, it ranperfectly, even through the break-in period. The motor idled smoothly and revved up fast. All the issues we had in the past were never heard or seen of again. We even managed to take the car out to the one Tuner Bash After Dark show that we threw, up in Seattle.
Sorrowfully, this is where the story ends. But it was time to choose between growing up and getting harassed by the po-po all the time. Had Primedia paid me more than minimum wage,I would have kept the car forever just as I hadalways intended. But owning five cars would be ridiculous, even for me. I'm living off of dollar menus and bag lunches as it is. My US converted Silvia will always be a part of me with my In The News plaques plastered around my condo, but thanks to a lot of help from my friends, it went far and beyond anything I could have imagined when I first started building it.
Fast Facts
'95 Nissan 240sx
Owner
Ricky "Rikdaddy" Chu
Daily Grind
Super Street and Project Car editor and professional sandwich artist
Under The Hood
Signal Auto built S15 SR20DET motor and ported head; Race Engineering forged pistons; Pauter connecting rods; Toda cams, exhaust sprocket, and valve springs; GReddy 3.0mm head gasket; Blitz LM intercooler, Dual Drive Super Sound blow-off valve, and SUS intake; 300ZX twin-turbo fuel pump and filter; 550cc injectors; Drag Pro rocker arm stoppers; HKS GT2835 ball-bearing turbo, internal wastegate, and extension kit; Espelir stainless tubular manifold and exhaust; stainless downpipe; GReddy pulleys and intake plenum; Nismo mounts
Drivetrain
S13 five-speed transmission; Pilot Motorsports short shifter; Unorthodox Racing clutch and flywheel; Kaaz two-way limited slip differential; Signal Auto shift knob; Nismo clutch slave unit
Brains
S14 harness wired by G-Dimension; Split Fire DIS coilpacks; HKS Twin Power DLI ignition; A'PEXi Power FC and commander; Blitz SBC i-D boost controller and turbo timer D1 Spec
Stiff Stuff
Tein Type Flex coilovers with EDFC; Nismo front strut tower bar
Rollers
Work Meister wheels 18x8 front and 18x9 rear; Falken ST115 tires 235/40ZR18 front and 245/40ZR18 rear
Stoppers
Brembo Gran Turismo big brakes; Stillen rear cross-drilled rotors, pads, and stainless steel lines
Outside
House of Kolor Platinum Silver Pearl paint sprayed by P.J. Bonifacio; ings front bumper; Bomex side skirts and side mirrors; Carbon Creations hood; Strawberry Face S15 fenders; S15 headlights; decals by Design Haus and S.I.X Autoworks
Inside
Bride racing seats and brackets; reupholstered door panels, shift boot, and rear seats; Blitz DC gauges; S14 Silvia cluster
Ice
Clarion head unit; MB Quartz 6 1/2-inch speakers
Props
Paul and Julie Chu at Chu's Packaging Supplies; P.J. Bonifacio; Will Law from Drag Pro; Andy Yu at Zero-1000; James at G-Dimension; Wayne at Phase 2 Motortrend; Phil and Fujimoto at Tein; Nick, Kelvin, and the Falken crew; Ali Jahed; Work Wheels; Bun at Tee's USA; Kouske Kida and Yumi Mano at Signal Auto; Mikey Jurado at Superior Nissan of Puente Hills; Toda Racing; House of Kolor; Bob Koch at Race Engineering; John at Tora Vinyl; Danny at S.I.X Autoworks; Robin at Design Haus; Lance at TG Race Designs; Leigh at Extreme Dimensions; Ray at Kaaz; Lisa Gutierrez; Brian Havins at Blindside Racing; Jeff Tutino; Brian at Split Fire; Andy Cheng at HKS USA; Chris Moltz at A'PEXi USA; Blitz Performance; Brian at Pauter Rods; Eddie Lee at Mackin Industries; Kyosho Racing; Jerry Tsai at Pacific Rim; Kevin Rogers at Toyama Group; Justin Nenni; Haas at Protech Peformance; Mike and Kenji at GReddy; Masa at Bomex; Nick, JT and the Cruz family; Henry Z. DeKuyper; Wes Allison; Nads, Yamz, Wonger, Ro, 20, Shrek, and the Super Street posse
WWW rikdaddy.com; chuspkg.com;pjbonifacio.com; zero1000.com; g-dimension.com; phase2motortrend.com; tein.com; falkentire.com;signalauto.com; tees-usa.com; houseofkolor.com; superiornissanmotorsports.com; raceeng.com; pauter.com; todaracing.com; sixautoworks.com; tgracedesigns.com; worldofdesignhaus.com; extremedimensions.com; kaazusa.com; splitfire.com; hksusa.com; apexi-usa.com; mackinindustries.com; greddy.com; blitz-performance.com; iloveracing.com; bomexaero.com; toyamagroup.com; mbquart.com; drag-pro.com; stillen.com; superstreetonline.com