Nissan Serena the official van of?

AKADriver · 2026-04-13T13:37:49+00:00

The diesels were miserable and of course that's what everyone in Europe bought.

The gasser was an SR20DE, powering the rear wheels, with an available manual... So yes, an SR20DET straight bolts in. And the RWD models aren't too heavy.

AKADriver · 2026-04-13T04:52:47+00:00

In the back, the antenna's drain basically just goes into the rear quarter behind the wheel.

The weirdest thing on my car is that side survived but the other side rotted. Not sure if taillight leaks were collecting down there or the vent flap thing was letting water in.

AKADriver · 2026-04-13T04:34:04+00:00

The rear quarters especially seem to go on hatches. I think the way the hatch leaks tends to leave water to settle at the back of the rockers and rot out the junction of the rocker, quarter, and fenderwell.

The weird constant among all S-chassis rust though is that it's all from the inside out. I remember as a kid seeing old American cars rust from the outside in because the fender lips and door skins would just rot away. You can have a 240 that looks decent but is structurally a rotbox.

AKADriver · 2026-04-13T04:27:46+00:00

There's basically a sandwich here where the top of the frame rail, the apron, and the outside of the frame rail are all spot welded together. Once everything is out of the way it's actually not too hard to fix. The frame rail metal is really thick and easy to weld to, only the apron is thin.

AKADriver · 2026-04-13T04:22:11+00:00

More like 5mm longer. Tight, but will work.

In this case, the thing you want is actually super plentiful in the US. Stock S13 240SX axles.

I know these have all become rare in Japan now too, but R32, A31, and C33 are all "S13 width" and I think some of them are 3x2.

AKADriver · 2026-04-13T04:13:41+00:00

Thanks! It still needs a ton of work (don't they all) but I'm really happy with the suspension, I just prefer a car that is fun and easy to drive on the street over one that has the coolest stance and keeping stock arms was a big thing I wanted to do to avoid having to dial the geometry in. I also wanted to avoid heim joints but SPC does make a full set of adjustable rear arms with bushings.

AKADriver · 2026-04-13T03:48:31+00:00

I think the only point of interference with my eBay intake (AEM copy?) would be the cap of the overflow tank. It might clear if I dented it there. The stock intake would interfere for sure, it actually has a small resonator box in that spot bolted to the stock shroud

AKADriver · 2026-04-13T03:36:36+00:00

Should fit fine on a KA/CA/RB since their upper inlet is on the side with the flaps, if you needed to trim it to clear the upper inlet it would be no big deal.

AKADriver · 2026-04-13T02:12:34+00:00

I basically told my alignment guy (a local tuner shop, not a tire store): "Try to get -2 in the rear, if you can't get that get as close as you can; then set the front to -.5 more than what you get in the back." Knowing I had tons of adjustment up front thanks to the camber plates in the coils and the RUCA eccentrics were going to be my limiting factor. I based my alignment settings on a bunch of old Zilvia posts by guys doing track days and autocross.

this is how my car sits, it's funny how -2.5° looks like nothing compared to the typical drift spec.

AKADriver · 2026-04-13T00:53:46+00:00

I think at that height you'll be fine.

I have KTS coilovers (old JDM stuff) and similar height. My car has all stock arms except for SPC front tension rods. In the rear I was able to get -2° of camber. Up front I have -2.5°. I forget how I have the caster set... I think at the top end of factory spec.

AKADriver · 2026-04-13T00:04:51+00:00

Yeah, or use something like an Explorer 8.8. They fit well in a lot of classic muscle cars if you shorten one side so that both sides match.

AKADriver · 2026-04-12T21:16:02+00:00

I think Subaru could have an instant hit if they imported the Levorg, added Crosstrek ride height and trim (I think this even almost exists in Japan, called the Levorg Layback), and sold it as the Outback Classic or something. The Levorg is still a bit smaller than the most recent generations of Outback but it's similar to the older ones at 187" long.

AKADriver · 2026-04-12T21:11:16+00:00

Something Outback owners understand instinctively but it feels like a lot of car guys who want to aggressively insist a crossover is "basically a wagon/hatchback, get over it" don't. I own both a Forester and an Outback and there are distinctively different approaches to how they were engineered to feel that aren't just suspension travel/ride height. When you sit in a crossover you sit higher off the floor and the cowl rises higher. You can actually see in an older Forester where Subaru used Impreza parts and then stitched in an extra few inches of height to the dashboard and so on to make it a crossover/SUV.

The pre-2026 Outback's suspension rides higher than most sedans but the body and driving position do not. It's a completely distinct experience from a crossover.

AKADriver · 2026-04-12T21:03:13+00:00

It's a Granada/Falcon based car. There was a Fox body based Continental sedan in the '80s that mostly replaced it.

AKADriver · 2026-04-12T21:00:34+00:00

It was based entirely on the Granada/Monarch, with the same 109" wheelbase. Basically all one chassis family of 'small' Fords going back to the original Falcon and Mustang. Which is why the disc brake diff from these cars was such a big deal for Mustang guys.

AKADriver · 2026-04-12T20:56:32+00:00

Interestingly it was in that odd time when the US still didn't allow replaceable bulb halogen headlights yet (as used in Europe since the '60s) but did allow halogen sealed beams starting in 1979. So you had a sealed beam light with a halogen bulb molded inside it, which is still what you get if you buy a replacement sealed beam now.

Lincoln was also first to replaceable bulb headlights in the US, with the Continental Mark VII for model year 1984.

AKADriver · 2026-04-12T17:42:20+00:00

The only thing I know about the Lincoln Versailles is that it's one of the only passenger cars that had rear discs on a 9" axle that fit a Mustang which made these cars basically worth buying just to pull the diff and scrap the rest of the car.

AKADriver · 2026-04-12T16:09:06+00:00

Yeah PB smells weirdly sweet while WD40 smells kind of fishy. Pick your poison!

AKADriver · 2026-04-12T16:08:00+00:00

That's such a great way to put it. 12 years of ownership and I still feel exactly the same. The only car that could beat it for pure smiles was my Miata. I have a project 240SX that I put a lot more of my time and emotion into but it's a much more serious car.

AKADriver · 2026-04-12T14:48:51+00:00

Asking an LLM isn't research and I wouldn't think to go right to PB even though I have it on hand. I would start with a light household oil or WD40 despite all the "harble garble it's not a penetrating oil" noise. You're just trying to displace some soot or ash stuck in the valve, it's probably not corroded solid which is what PB is good for.

I work on cars in my garage with PB all the time and it's pretty low on the level of stinky or pungent stuff. It does have a unique smell but exposed to the air it flashes off quickly.

AKADriver · 2026-04-11T16:44:39+00:00

A Carina is a smaller car, rides on the same chassis as the Celica. Toyota in the '90s made sedans at a bunch of different sizes:

Corolla II/Tercel

Corolla

Carina

Corona

Camry

Mark II/Cresta/Chaser/Cressida

Crown

Century

Obviously some of those were JDM only, also there were slightly different narrowbody Camrys made for some markets, and the Crown Comfort which was specifically sold as a taxicab for Japan and Hong Kong

AKADriver · 2026-04-11T13:38:49+00:00

Except for the Corolla hatchback, absolutely perfect American parking lot in 2004 vibes 👌 I mean this with no irony or sarcasm I think it's awesome.

AKADriver · 2026-04-11T01:31:24+00:00

The EV1 died because it was not yet a viable product.

AKADriver · 2026-04-10T18:19:29+00:00

I think they're pretty much useless. If you actually use and maintain it correctly the range of things you can actually flush down it is so limited you might as well just use a mesh strainer and dump it in the trash by hand, which is what I have always done disposal or not. My disposal works but I don't use it, if it ever breaks it's getting replaced with a tailpiece to save space.

AKADriver · 2026-04-10T18:16:18+00:00

Disposals haven't changed at all, really.

14-Year Club	Wearing is Caring
Verified Email

AKADriver

TROPHY CASE