iizuka's Drift Build
 

Hey guys. First of all I'd like to say I'm not into the rotors/no-rotors type of argument. Always admired the rotary design and absolutely love their sound (still dig two stroke dirt bikes too). I know a little bit about them, have successfully rebuilt a NA S5 13b once. I always liked the RX8 and got really close to buy a brand new one in 2007, kind of glad I didn't. But if I had, it would probably be in mint condition to this day. I am OCD about my cars.


I have built a few drift cars in the past. I still have a pretty nice S14. Before I moved from AZ to MN, a friend of mine offered me an LS1 out of his 2001 WS6. I ended up buying on a whim.


Fast forward a couple of months and I was thinking I'd like to find a nice handling chassis to shove that thing into. All of a sudden that RX8 spark lit up: "I'm gonna look for an RX8 with a blown motor!" It wasn't two weeks until I came across to this (taking it home):


https://i57.tinypic.com/sc3wxi.jpg


This car was a total loss due to fire at only 42k miles. The previous owner got it in an auction and bought it to remove the powertrain and put it in his blown RX8. The car still started and ran perfectly.


https://i59.tinypic.com/156rg2d.jpg

I found a guy on CL that was parting out a car of the exactly same color. Bought trunk lid, passenger front fender, headlights and rear bumper from him. http://i62.tinypic.com/2uzdxg9.jpg http://i58.tinypic.com/f210tz.jpg

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...3152ee67fe.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...74ff9c5e66.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...93b176ad83.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...5f796f222d.jpg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...11c6df3b79.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...7a8f28223c.jpg

Then after letting it hibernate for nearly a year, decided to take it out of storage and start working

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...0770041d0b.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...773ca859b7.jpg

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...75bb5d50a6.jpg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...520ee1bdeb.jpg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...93c7c37a93.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...f050aaafe9.jpg

Figured I didn't need two coolers for the LS, so I took one and installed on my 240. RBs run a little hot.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...e2fbbd3539.jpg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...6b02d12668.jpg
I got a Hinson kit, it looked very nice, with the exception of the motor mount brackets. They looked flimsy, so I reinforced them a bit.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...960fbbb950.jpg
V-Hate in place!

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...1616a6f400.jpg

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...c11728933f.jpg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...58032646f3.jpg
I'm still collecting parts for it. Recently bought Stance GR+ Coilovers, Enkei 18X9.5+18 (white) and a nice, low mileage LS T56.

Nice, good to see you picked the right color ;).

I'm not a fan of the Stance (have them and have had a few issues) but hopefully you got the newest ones and they fixed all the issues. If you need different spring rates let me know, I have couple of sets of Stance springs laying around.

Love the wheels.

Thanks 9k. If my car gets to be half as pretty as yours, I'll be happy. Yeah, I made sure to get their new version. I have a good contact at Andy's Auto, and he told me that this new version has been trouble free for the most part. I may hit you up about the springs, I think I'll need a stiffer set for the front at least.

You meant the 240, right?
:)

Subb'ed This appears to be a proper swap.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...323a1976b7.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...176f7875a5.jpg
This is what I was working on before I left to Canada for work in the beginning of the year. I am in the process of making the mounts for the S14 steering rack. I can't wait to finish this part, so I can send the front and rear subframes to sand blast and powder coating. Then I'll be able to put it all back together and see how the car will sit on the new wheels and Coilovers. This car has no rust on the unibody, but the suspension bits look nasty. I miss Arizona cars.

Sub'd too! Don't let us down iizuka!

+ more pics of the 240 please!!!!! :suspect:

i have some faith in this swap, op doesnt claim it will cost sub 2k and be done in a weekend which is reassuring. plus that 240 looks nice

Thanks man! I definitely don't promise this is going to be a fast swap. I work way too much and am a father of two, so the car is not a priority in my life. It's just something to keep me sane, lol. I'm nearly done (or would like to call it done) with my 240. The car has been a blast and behaved flawlessly on the 3 events I managed to participate last year.


I first thought of building another drift car out of the 8. I changed my mind though, no sense in having two drift cars, so the 8 is going to be for HPDE/TT events. It will get there, eventually.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...974b69c25a.jpg

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...566b46ba5c.jpg



Sorry, not an RX8. But that's my other distraction

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...b8f29adc68.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...15a91c06fc.jpg



As requested. Enough of S-Chassis now, right? :)

nice nissan man. a friend at work built a 240 drift car but its nowhere as nice as yours

Doesn't have to be an RX, we tend to have an appreciation for ALL nice toys!

As a general rule; if you build it right the majority of people here will appreciate it.

So far so good.

Seeing a clean 240 that actually gets used is a breath of fresh air haha. Well done.

Now THIS is how you start a build / swap thread. Subbed. Looks clean so far man!

Good job so far .

Appreciate the nice words guys! I really can't wait to start working on this car again. I'm returning to the U.S. tomorrow, but will have to travel to Daytona Beach two days later :( So there will be no updates for a while. I got a set of voodoo13 control arms for my 240, and I'm calling it done. From now on the fun budget will be spent on the RX8 only.