Take care of your SR20's and they will last a long time.

Shit, just take care of your car in general.

Don't be like myself, after buying a daily. I really only fire up my 240 to drive to work because I can, it's weird not having Simone be my daily, her initial purchase back in 2008 was for that purpose. And I think through the years I've had her, she's performed those duties well.

With smog this and smog that popping up, random ref tickets being handed out. And I've gotten my fair share along with being pulled over for modified exhaust, etc, etc. It's nice not to have to drive and look over your shoulder. I can just leave the car be, and know I can hop in it, turn it on and cruise whenever I want.

Granted I'm motivated enough to wash it.


That's the downside of having a black car I suppose, and parking it in a port and not a garage. I don't really worry about it going anywhere where I live, some guy has a pimped out 370z he leaves out in the street where I live. Some other kid has a few decked out, riced out, stickered out Hondas he leaves in the street. Unless you know where I live (hoping my photo's aren't geotagged lol).

It's not like the car isn't without problems, and gas at all times.

I leave it for 3 weeks, and it's covered in dirt. Hell I wash it and in 3-5 days it looks like this. It sucks

Anyway let me get to the point of the post. I've noticed a strong smell of oil from the car driving it lately, one I took a pretty hard turn and heard a bit of ticking. Could've been a million things, but I know all of the noises this car makes, and after spinning a bearing in a car before. I'm not down to test my luck again, It's been about 2 years (yes you've read that right) since I've changed the oil.

I actually laughed out loud because I thought I changed the oil in March of 2013. Fuck, luckily I keep track of this stuff, see the date at the bottom of this post. (don't even read it, just scroll down to the date)

Slow oil leak at the top of my valve cover. Some of these holes were drilled completely through when tapping this valve cover. I've since sealed them, but I guess it's time to pop this bad boy off and have a look whats going on in here.

I've been watching this particular area of the car for quite some time. From the looks of it, I'm almost 100 percent sure the seal on that oil filter is rotten, much less that filter isn't doing much filtering. It's just there. 

This is going to be such a pain in the ass to clean up. Fucking oil everywhere, going to have to tear the cold side of the motor down. 

I mean a lot of 240sx owners build shitty cars to begin with, lets not kid anyone. They're supposed to be cheap fun weekend cars that you drive and beat the hell out of. I've been on the same t25 since I've purchased this motor with almost no motivation to upgrade it. Going fast breaks things, and if you've followed this car for any period of time you know...

Simone loves to break things, it's very rare that I get to enjoy the car for any sum of miles without having to replace one thing or the other, so the fact that it's run this long with me neglecting it. I think it's time to put those replacement spark plugs I purchased a year ago in the motor. And maybe even consider putting some money in the rebuild cookie jar for the spare motor I have with upgraded pistons, rods, and an apex-i headgasket.

While most of you are scoffing at the fact this car has had the same oil in it for 2 years now. It still hasn't even come close to the amount of use the first run of amsoil went through... While that's not an excuse, and I'm not telling you buy amsoil, never change oil. Spend it on other cool things, if your car is a daily. It's nice to not have to worry about oil every 5k, especially since the odometer in this car has NEVER worked lol.

So next weekend, I'll knock out motor maintenance and cleanliness. I do have to admit, not knowing the history of this motor besides it previously was in a track only car. Even the previous owner is amazed this thing still runs, he's gone through at least 5 sr's in his replacement track car.

Moving Along

It was so nice to clean this area of the car with the tail lamps off. It's the little things. 

I always think it's funny to see how much you can mask up a fucked up car with aero. From when I originally bought this car, I knew it was a Zenki conversion. I knew the kid who owned it put one car into a rock at GMR (another s14, big surprise) and picking up another Zenki, and having it as a display vehicle for a shop after it received a Kouki conversion. I didn't question much, it's hard to find a '98 with the parts this thing had on it. Had the wheels I loved on it, It was a fanboi bandwagon starter kit car for sure. I've since made it my own car.

But this chassis is far from clean and without it's stories, from the replacement roof I've put on it.

The repairing of the half assed rear wheel tubs. 

Yes when I bought the car the fenders were pulled, it also smelled like sweaty balls when it rained for some reason.
This was the reason.

I've always wanted to do something with the trunk area of the car, I just never knew what it is. I think it's funny the kid who I bought it from sweared up and down this car wasn't in an accident. The car has a clean title and it has allowed me to insure it. But I sure as fuck would never sell the car as a clean title car without expecting some jail time. Especially if they had someone come and look at the structural damage. 

Whoever did the job of fixing the exterior was good, too bad they hid things like the broken seam sealant and damaged spare tire well with the interior trunk panels. (I wonder what happened to that shit)

Here is where I asked if the car had been in an accident, it's definitely seen some corner impact. 

I really need to get off of my ass and have this car realigned by a body shop and replace all of this metal. 

I never really show my engine bay, not because I'm ashamed of it by any means. The car has a story to tell, some idiot would probably think that damaged area is rad. 

I still love this car and can definitely see myself dumping money into it. The thing I love the most about going to some big car event (it's definitely not seeing the same fucking cars unchanged.) is the people who've had their cars for the long haul and continue to do new things to them. Perfect example would be Arn Reyes' integra, he got bored and made it a hybrid fuel vehicle.

I'd love 10 years down the road to see what innovations come out for these cars, minus an LS Swap. They're cool and reliable, but it's also just lazy. If you have one, more power to you, I've been tempted to go down the darkside, but other than not being harassed by the police and losing the heart and soul of the japanese fanboi bandwagon car I've wanted to build.

I just have no need after everything I've been through with this car, to take the easy route.

nomsayin'

Anyway, thanks for reading my rambling. What kind of history does your car have, and why did you decide to stick with it, or not?

Comment below.