S13 at 19 Years Old?!

R

Rhys Durham

New Member
So, I'm 18 years old. My dream car is a Nissan 200sx S13 and I have promised myself that I would achieve this dream and have my dream car by the age of 19 years old. I turn 19 early next year, and by sort of April/May time I plan to be looking to buy one. Any advice is appreciated, I want to learn how to drift, legit, on track etc. I want to know the best route for young people with insurance, the simplest mods etc etc. I do have some knowledge of the S13 and I have experience working on Nissan motors. I am an apprentice bus mechanic, but I have been working with cars for the last 4 years. I cant wait for this epic journey, and like I said any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
try the usual compare sites adjust your date of birth so you are 19 now just to see how much your quotes are, at least that way you can see if you can afford the insurance, as for mods coil overs/welded diff/bucket seat/hydro also i would get an alloy radiator and some temp gauges, obviously the list goes on depending how much your willing to spend, hope this helps bud
 
Thanks John. I have tried these before but they're all stupidly expensive. Will probably sort something with adrian flux or something. I am an admin of a modified car club and we get 15% off with them. Yes I think for sure first of all, weld the diff, coilovers and wheels, hydro. Will take note about the rad and gauges. Ofc it helps, thankyou very muchly!
 
Others will comment on the state of the local market and insurance, but considering you can still register imports i would bring in something from Japan. Also, considering your mechanical experience an engine or gearbox swap will be easier than body work too, so go on the hunt for automatic non-turbo examples

Upon arrival a full under sealing and rebushing job will teach you how everything works and get it ready for the conditions. That way you'll have a solid base

People will look at you as though you're mad for importing a non-turbo automatic 200sx from Japan, but the flip side is that after a manual conversion you have a car that hasn't been exposed to UK roads and has had a higher chance of not being neglected. S13's in good condition are only going up in value. Not to say try make it pristine, but starting from an 8/10 base is going to cause 100x less issues than a 3/10 example. There are plenty of examples of SR20DE's being used on here so scour the build threads

If everything works out after that then you're only looking at a set of coilovers, a welded diff and a bucket seat to get out and have fun. After those are covered off look into a 4.3 diff (assuming it's your daily so no crazy 4.6 ratio), rack spacers and a nice steering wheel. No point in engine modifications tbh, just keep it serviced. Don't go crazy on all the adjustable suspension arms or fit 18x10 wheels on it, all of that is money that could go into track day passes, petrol and tyres
 
Thanks Ben. I will keep all of this in mind!! Yeah I've heard about the rack spacers and also rack relocation seems to be a common one. The only issue is I dont wanna spend lots of money. Ideally I want a stock or fairly stock one, I dont mind rust as can be welded and that's no issue. Like ideally one that's blown up, or needs an overhaul or just a long list of MOT failures. Because of my mechanical background, I'd rather buy one that I can rebuild or overhaul for less money and then I literally only have to pay for parts. I think I'd be more satisfied building my own car and driving it afterwards. I will definitely consider an auto and manual swapping though. And the diff situation
 
Rack relocation isn't needed until you are at the point of running modified knuckles, so shelve that idea for later

Have you done rust repairs before? Have a search on here for "rust S13" and have a look at how bad it can get. Some of the project threads really show you how much work goes into getting rid of the cancer. If after that and you're still not afraid of rust then go local then. It will come down to insurance and I'd fathom an SR20DE will be better on the pocket (in a number of ways tbh) than a CA18DET

The biggest thing when buying is push your initial budget for something that's tidier if you can. I say this because i've seen so many people, and people much older than you, get bogged down in cars that take years to "finish"

Goodluck!
 
Rhys Durham said:
Thanks John. I have tried these before but they're all stupidly expensive. Will probably sort something with adrian flux or something. I am an admin of a modified car club and we get 15% off with them. Yes I think for sure first of all, weld the diff, coilovers and wheels, hydro. Will take note about the rad and gauges. Ofc it helps, thankyou very muchly!
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my s13 was £1300 fully comp with all mods declared during my second year of driving however I was 24 at the time so I'm sure that'll make a huge difference. Insurance is always going to be high until you start getting old and rack up some no claims

if you're keeping things simple in terms of modifications then there are loads of build threads on here that will give you some inspiration and guidance, keeve's build thread here was a personal favourite of mine for the s13. You may find mine a bit helpful but in reality I haven't done an awful lot to mine in comparison to most
 
What is your budget??

A decent import is going to cost decent money, add on the eye-watering insurance costs and you won't be far off ten grand.
The exchange rate is currently terrible, it's not a good time to be importing cars.
 
I got my S13 and 18 and I'm 20 now.

I first insured it at 19 and just finished paying the policy, which was £1800 TPFT.

UK cars are the cheapest option imo, and if your happy to do all the work yourself I can only recommend that. There will be a lot of ginger on the underside, like 99% of uk s bodies.
 
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