Yet another S13 coupe! In proper automotive-obsessed fashion, I scooped up another MS13 240sx coupe before I’ve finished reviving my old RocketBunny HS13. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It was kind of a 2 for 1 deal, in that one of my buddies, Andrew, needed it gone. And, given the current 2020 “drift tax”, I got a pretty good deal for it. He even dropped it off for me—almost too good to be true, so we’ll see how the title swap goes. So, jumping on this was an obvious no-brainer.
But What About The Rocket Bunny S13?!
Good question! Actually, my other 240sx coupe is what got me thinking about getting this new one. Eventually, I decided to do a full-on track build with my older S13. With that, I want to build it right without rushing or cutting any corners. Unfortunately, to do that without any sponsors or being partnered with a race shop, is going to take some time and a bunch more money.
It feels like forever since I’ve been on the track. And, who knows how long since I’ve wrenched on the car! That, and the amount of time it’s going to take to build; I’m in dire need (yes, I said dire, sire) for some seat time.
Here’s where we left off.
I guess the stars were aligned, if you believe in that kind of thing, as I was presented with a pretty good offer at the right time. So…behold! I present you the Beater Build.
’92 S13 Coupe Delivery Day
Unfortunately, I didn’t think to snap the obligatory arrival photo with the car on the trailer. But, like two peas in a pod, here’s the new S13 addition a.k.a ‘Beater Build’, a.k.a ‘The Trojan Horse’ (more on that later), and also infamously known as ‘The COVID Build’, nestled comfortably in the garage.
Here’s the catch. With most good deals, there’s usually a catch. The gamble on this one is that I didn’t check it out till it was delivered. Luckily, for me, Andy and I go way back and he was delivering it himself. What I didn’t anticipate was the amount of work that I was getting myself into—not the typical body damage type of work, but this… 😳
As you can see, I have my work cut out for me. This thing is so nasty that we almost want to give it back or try to flip it. Let’s take a look at what a car sitting in a field for 9 years looks like. I will say that I’m lucky it had all the glass and all windows were closed while it sat, or this could have been way worse.
The End Goal
As stated above, I decided to pause on the Rocket Bunny S13 coupe and build something quick and fairly cheap. Track time is the goal here and I’ll be 100% focused on getting this thing running before summer. That should give me some events to attend during the last part of the season, before winter hits.
As far parts, the goal is to use as many parts as I currently have from the RocketBunny build, in order to keep this sucker as cheap as possible, while saving some time. This also allows me to swap everything over to the other chassis when it’s ready. Right now, we’re looking at reusing the built SR20DET, turbo, HKS exhaust, Tein suspension, pretty much everything but the Rocket Bunny kit. I’ll need some new wheels too, but we’ll get there when we get there!
This first week will be stripping everything down to a clean slate, and assessing any hidden gotchas we find. Time to wrench—see you then!