This car has a V-8 in it — let’s just get that out of the way up front. Love it or hate it, the LS-swap craze is here to stay, so if that’s a problem, you better stop reading this story now. After all, this is the tale of a 240 transformed, a car that has been through many different phases leading up to how it sits now. This car has been there, done that, and now the final result is a culmination of all the good things from along the way, and Stephen Knoop couldn’t be happier with his finished product.
As most of us are aware, it takes a long time to build a car from scratch. When Stephen first picked up his ’95 240SX about five years ago, it was a far cry from this clean, drift-inspired street car. And as you may have guessed, this isn’t Stephen’s first rodeo — he’s a self-proclaimed drifting fanatic and a true Japanese car lover. Stephen told me all about his history with his other cars and how he went about putting together this super-clean example of a truly well-rounded, purpose-built street/drift hybrid monster.
“Growing up, my best friend and his dad were really into cars,” Stephen says. “I was around cars being built and the typical Honda ‘tuner scene’ for a good eight to nine years before I took any interest in it. The summer after my senior year of high school, I spent a lot of time hanging out with one of my friends who was really into cars; he spent a good chunk of his summer each year going to Japan. He introduced me to late ’90s to early ’00s Japanese style and drifting and also introduced me to the S-chassis; I hadn’t known anything about it before then since all of my other friends were into Hondas and other FWD cars. At some point between him showing me drifting videos and pictures of cars he had seen in Japan, I became hooked.”
Stephen’s first excursion into the world of drifting came in the form of another 240, a car that Stephen used to get his feet wet turning wrenches. Over the course of about two years, Stephen did a fairly major overhaul on his first Nissan, including a KA turbo setup, DIY paintjob and of course plenty of amateur drift days. “I ended up trading that car for my current 240,” Stephen recalls. “But when I first got it, my current car was a completely stock ’97 240SX SE, automatic. I was pissed for the first few weeks after the trade; I knew in my head it was a good trade, but in my heart it hurt to have gotten rid of my first ‘real’ car.”
Not one to rush in headfirst without a plan, Stephen took his time with the build after college. “About six to eight months went by before I got a job and I could afford to get parts for the 240,” Stephen says. “My graduation present was a trip to Japan, and since it was 2007 the yen rate was still really nice! After returning home, I starting pulling together parts for a 5-speed swap. I eventually ended up with a SR20DET swap, which was a good starting point for the 250 whp I wanted to achieve. Fast-forward another season and a half of drifting as much as possible, and I had the itch for more power again. I got laid off in 2008 when the economy tanked, so I spent a year unemployed looking for work. During that time, I began to roll fenders for friends of mine with more prevalence; I started gaining a reputation in my area for being the go-to guy for fender rolling, a side job that helped me fund the money pit of a habit that we’re all too familiar with. I ended up going back to Japan for a vacation after I finally found a job, and it was that trip that re-motivated me to bite the bullet and start building the car into my ultimate drift/streetable car.”