1989 Nissan 240SX - Street Sweeper

The first hundred or so times central Floridian Jay Levan e-mailed us, we ignored the guy like he smelled of fromunda cheese. Eventually, we hit the reply button, and we're glad we did. It turns out Jay doesn't smell bad; in fact, he's blessed with a natural, musty aroma. Plus, he has one of the cleanest S13 240-to-Silvia conversions we've ever seen.

Levan is a hard-core 240SX enthusiast. He's owned and sold at least seven, including a 400-hp S14 with a turbocharged KA motor.

At the onset of this S13 project, Levan's goal was to build a good-looking street car that handled well and made moderate power, nothing more. His first project mule was an S13 hatchback, but halfway through the build, he decided he didn't really want a hatch. He wanted a coupe. He found a suitable example not far from his home in Orlando, a bone-stock 1989 model whose owner had made a half-hearted attempt at converting to JDM spec. He'd only gotten as far as a half-assed nose conversion and cut springs, but despite the offending mods, the car was in decent shape. Levan sold his turbo KA and the half-done hatch to finance the new car.

The first thing he did to the new coupe was sort out the nose and the rest of the body. He updated the bumper with a JDM Bomex piece he had laying around the garage, replaced the plastic Silvia grille with a more uncommon GT-R insert, and replaced the projector-style headlamps with the square, non-projector units. Other body mods include fiberglass side skirts from Canadian firm PDM Racing-technically not JDM-spec pieces but attractive enough to earn Levan's stamp of approval-OEM rear valance treatments adapted from a Japanese 180SX, and a carbon-fiber hood from VIS. Samuels Auto in Sanford, Fla., shot the paint, 2000 BMW evergreen. Aside from the engine, the paint is Levan's favorite feature, having seen it only one other time on a BMW M-coupe at one of his many track days.

"People either love the color or they hate it," he says.

In keeping with his initial mild-over-wild plan, Levan first intended to swap a stock SR20DET into the chassis and enhance it with only basic power treatments. He sourced the engine through Japan Motor Import in Quebec, Canada, and performed the swap himself with help from a handful of savvy friends.

"It was supposed to have a stock turbo and bolt-ons," Levan recalls. "But I had built a reputation on the streets of Orlando, and people were anticipating the return of another high-powered 240SX to take on the Supras, Mustangs, Vipers and 'Vettes prowling the streets on Saturday night."

To bring the power up slightly from stock SR20 levels, Levan modified the factory turbo slightly with a larger compressor wheel, drove it that way for several weeks and had a blast. Then one day, a friend let him drive his SR20DET-powered S14, which had been enhanced with a Garrett GT25R. Levan was blown away and decided his own car needed a similar setup. The next day he was on the phone with Garrett, ordering his own GT-series ball-bearing turbo.

The following weeks were spent installing the larger hairdryer and other necessary components. Supporting hardware includes a tubular exhaust manifold from SSAutoChrome, Top Speed intake manifold, K&N filter and Z32 MAF from a twin-turbo 300ZX, and a GReddy intercooler kit built specifically for the S13. A basic boost pressure of 13 psi is maintained by A'PEXi's AVC-R boost controller when Levan is interested in going in a straight line. For autocrossing or drifting, he turns the boost back to around 10 psi, base wastegate pressure.

Exhaust gases are evacuated through a GReddy downpipe, custom stainless mid-pipe and A'PEXi N1 cat-back system. Fuel enrichment for the forced induction system is provided by a Walbro fuel pump and Tomei 740cc injectors. Scott Avoy of Secret Services in St. Petersburg is credited with fine-tuning the system through the engine's ECU, via ROM-editor software. An ACT Xtreme clutch assembly was installed to mediate between the transmission and lightweight aluminum Fidanza flywheel, and a limited-slip diff from an Infiniti J30 has replaced the final drive in the rear and now mediates between the rear drive wheels.

Beneath the BMW-green panels, a set of D2 full-bodied coil-overs has replaced the factory spring-and-strut setup. Levan updated the hubs with five-lug versions from a 1996 240SX SE. At the same time, he improved the brakes with 11-inch rotors and four-piston calipers from a 300ZX (front) and stock assemblies from an S14 (rear). For new shoes, he chose Volk Racing GTU alloys in an 18x8 format with a plus-35 offset in front and an 18x9 format with a plus-29 offset out back. Nitto NT555R tires provide the grip.

On the other side of the window glass, there are a few well-placed mods to bring the interior's comfort level up to speed, so to speak. The stock '89 seats have been replaced with leather units from a '96 S14, and the stock steering wheel has been replaced with one from MOMO. An Auto Meter boost gauge is sunk into the center dash, along with the A'PEXi fuel control unit, and stands as Levan's only auxiliary instrument. Since the car is driven regularly, the stereo has been revised with a Sony head unit and a Boss amp driving Sony component speakers and a 10-inch Kicker subwoofer.

To date, Levan's most convincing race victory was against a Viper GTS at Orlando Speed World, where the green Silvia ran a 12.50-second quarter mile to the big snake's 12.54. "He actually ran a higher trap speed, but I had the edge on the e.t.," Levan says proudly. "He was pretty floored, couldn't believe he got beat by a little four cylinder."

Though he says the car is pretty much perfect the way it is, Jay Levan is already laying plans to build yet another Silvia, this one empowered with an RB26 Skyline motor. The issue, he says, is simply one of self-respect.

"I'm starting to get beat [on the street]," Levan says. "I never used to get beat. It's time for me to come back out with a 600-hp 240 and rule the streets for a little bit more."

Someone doesn't like the stench of defeat.