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Thread: My 1998 200SX SE-R (and a few questions)!

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Posts: 1-5 of 5
2012-09-06 17:30:54
#1
My 1998 200SX SE-R (and a few questions)!
Hi everyone! I finally decided to register thanks to some advice on Reddit. I've always loved these cars and finally I was able to purchase my own in 2009 for $3,400.

The car was in great shape, and the best part is it only had 47k miles! It's now up to about 90k miles, and the only major maintenance I've had to do is replace the clutch. Everything else has been great. I think it may have been in a small accident because alignment doesn't seem that great, despite having it aligned at 2 different places about 4 times in the last 3 years. I'll try to dig up a picture of the car from the day I got it, it was really in very good physical shape. Also the internals looked great so I'm sure it was true to the odometer reading.

I've only done 2 upgrades to the car. An Injen CAI, and a Greddy bolt-on exhaust. I kind of want to get headers but I can't find a good deal on them, and honestly I'm not sure if it'd be worth it.

Any who, on to my questions

1) Because I was so proud of the car when I get it, I decided to use full synthetic oil for every oil change since I've gotten in. Am I an idiot?

2) The clutch grips well and doesn't slip or anything, but when I press it, it feels kind of grindy sometimes. Is that something wrong with the clutch itself or is it maybe just the bearing thing in the middle of it? No mechanical problems but kind of an annoyance that I want to make sure gets fixed next time I do any clutch work (upgrade, or what have you).

3) The struts/shocks on my car are completely out. It's very obvious when you drive it, and I've also been told that my shocks are the reason my back tires developed flat spots. I'll attach a picture of what they look like. So since I have to replace the shocks, I'm thinking maybe I should take this opportunity to drop my car a little . Again though, i want it to be as cheap as possible. On Ebay I can get a set of 4 OEM struts for around $150, and some lowering springs for like $50. Can I truly get away with lowering my car for $200? I don't want to burn through tires quickly and I'd rather not kill my shocks earlier than usual because of lowering my car, so if those are two risks I'm running then I'd rather go another route (or not even lower it at all). Do I need any sort of camber kit? A few years back, the guys at Firestone told me they weren't able to properly align my car because of some bullshit I don't remember now, but they were trying to sell me a $150 part, that they had to order, to properly align my car. So obviously I told them to pound sand.

Thanks in advance for any replies. I know I wrote out a lot of stuff but hopefully somebody can chime in. In the next year or so I plan on getting myself a new car (something more family oriented), but I want to keep this as a project car (I eventually want to turbo it).

Here's a picture of what the car looks like right now (I know it's not the prettiest thing but I love it).



And here's a picture of the tire flat spots I described in question 3.

2012-09-06 18:38:33
#2
First off...Welcome! There is a lot of great people and info here already.
My suggestion would be to start here to learn all about your car.
http://www.sr20-forum.com/global-stickies/57272-sr20-forum-manifesto.html
You will find most people are he;lpful here if you have done at least SOME reading/research before asking common questions.
As for the questions...
1) Synthetic oil is my choice,and I will always use it in all my vehicles.I do 5000 mile oil changes,so it is really not any more expensive.
2) More than likely the "gritty" feel you speak of is the clutch cable wearing out.This is a common problem,and I have found that there is no aftermarket cable worth a damn for these cars.I would recommend buying a Nissan cable for this.It will be twice as much as the autoparts store,but worth every penny.
GregV is our resident Nissan Parts dealer.
Great Guy his website is Gspec.com
3)NO,your car will ride like crap for 200 bucks....again,read the suspension section in the above Manifesto link and you will answer all your questions....and more.ShawnB has spent many hours compiling the suspension info over the years so,its pretty well covers everything.
Last edited by eggman on 2012-09-06 at 18-39-17.
2012-09-06 18:43:26
#3
Awesome, thank you! I will check those links out. In fact I've already been reading some of them since I intend of frequenting these forums

I like to buy parts on Ebay because of prices, but I'll check with GregV for legit Nissan parts.

Thanks again, Eggman!
2012-09-07 02:15:30
#4
No problem.glad to help.
Be sure to post in the wanted section for parts,too.
Most of the time it will be better prices than ebay,too.
2012-09-07 02:31:20
#5
Welcome to our forum,enjoy your stay.And it appears that Eggman pointed you in the right direction.
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