so heres what I've done thus far to the car/engine.
engine:
1990 vh45de unknown mileage
new timing chain guides (bank one was in the pan)
new gaskets
spray bombed valve covers
just general clean up

chassis:
1991 240sx se coupe w/ working hud
awesome faded to hell maaco paint job (with paint chipping action when heat is applied!)
decent interior but gross carpet

I'll post up a running tally on parts and total cost but the chassis was 500$ and the engine and all accessories needed to make it run was 250$.

Nick.

KA-T why settle for anything less?

shoot me an email w/ your number.

You can still get good gas mileage on 720cc injectors if it's tuned well.

Street Dynamics Racing
jetaylor@vt.edu

Quote, originally posted by Jeff Taylor »

Nice paint scheme! You can still get good gas mileage on 720cc injectors if it's tuned well.

also began to convert to 5 lug, fitted my hybrid hubs and j30/q45 front brakes to stop this thing...everyone knows std brakes are terrible on the s13.
check out this link http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread/346514 for info on the hybrid front hubs.
will be fitting q45 5lug rear/lsd soon as i have time to go back to the junkyard and pull them.

More info on this please...

So came time to test fit the flywheel, and to my suprise worked quite well dispite the center hole bore being the same size as the vh's crank...nothing a quick hit with a sanding drum couldnt fix and it cleaned up bore nicely with still proper clearance.

what i had feared would happen did, and this is because i am choosing to use the ka trans and the block mounted starter, the flywheel is spaced too far out for the starter teeth to engage due to the z32 trans having a trans mounted starter.

after taking a break and looking at several different sr flywheels i came to the conclusion that about 5mm of material needed to be removed from the machined spacer of the flywheel...nothing a machine shop cant fix, decided to keep a 1mm 'step' to keep crank mounting directly in line with the flywheel ring gear.
I suspect that an sr20det kit will bolt right on with no issues but most sr kits are not capable of holding the vh's torque output, i also suspect that the z32 pp and clutch disc can be used on an sr flywheel but i have no way of verifiying this.

a common problem among nissan auto to manual swaps is the fact that some people overlook the fact that the autotrans converter bearing must be removed in order for a proper manual box bearing to be fitted, unfortunately i do not have a pic of this but it can be clearly seen in the crank pictures of the flywheel.

here is a picture of the manual pilot bearing and the auto converter bearing side by side:

here is the crank with the auto converter bearing removed:

and here is a picture of the crank with the manual bearing fitted:

as you can see there are differences in the diamaters of the bearings the auto one is slightly smaller than the manual's outer, so you need to remove this regardless, no need to grind down the manual pilot bushing to fit the auto bearing just remove the auto bearing.

thats it for now while the flywheel is turned, engine and trans will be comming out of teh s13 this weekend so look for an update then.

fruits of my labour thus far:

fellow nico fourm member and good friend Bronze MFP showing us whats up:

next step was to refit the dust sheild for the time being to make sure that everything was kosher and to give an accurate measurement for spacing of the trans to block...easy here.

We also made sure that the engine was as level as possible to ensure good mock fitment, i ASSUME that in the q45 that the engine sits level but some clarification would be great so i dont cut and weld only to find out that its wrong...we also test fitted the trans and low and behold it slid right on with very little effort or issue.

After fitting the trans i realized that it wasnt being driven home all the way, after much inspection it appeared that the vh crank while drilled for a manual pilot bushing was not drilled deep enough for the ka input shaft, measuring the gap between the trans and the dust sheild yeiled a measurement of approx .14".
i then measured out .16" on the dial caliper and proceded to cut and grind down the appropriate ammount of material adding a taper for guidance when done; came out nicely and trans slides home with no effort now.

gap between bellhousing and trans:

modifying the input shaft:

modified input shaft, fits perfectly!

fitment against block, spot on...

the final task at hand is to figure out how to level the trans, i had guessed that the trans was tilted approx 5* and measurement showed it was tilted 6*, damn im good.
also dont mind the fisher-price protractor, my good one seems to have gone missing...
drilling a new 'pilot' hole allows for the trans to be leveled but will be cut out when i begin to section the trans...that is currently in planning stages.

backside shot of the assembly:

enjoy hopefuly i'll have an update monday on the flywheel and clutch install then its engine mount time!

after bolting the flywheel up and finding that it was fouling on the oilpan i realized that i ether a) had to buy a new flywheel or b) reuse the vh spacer from the flexplate...i chose 'b' as im a bit broke at this point; ended up working out ok tho with just the right clearance for decent starter engagement of the ringgear as well as clearance from the back of the block.

Now what sucks about using arp hardware is it might be fine if you're using a stock flywheel or otherwise un modified but since i decided to go with the arp honda clutch cover bolts as well as the pinto flywheel bolts i had to grind down the flywheel bolts since they were now too long and tap all the way thru the back of the flywheel...either way it sucked to the nth due to the flywheel being 'chrome moly' and the arp bolts being chrome moly 4rlz, gotta love metals that work harden.

about 3 threads removed:

used some brakeclean to clean all the bolts of grease and dirt and installed the flywheel with some locktite blue, torqued flywheel to 69ft/lbs and the clutch cover to 33ft/lbs.
flywheel bolted on:

final assembly:

the z32 flywheel is significantly larger than the stock ka, which doesnt make too much sense since the z32 clutch fits on the rb20/25 flywheel wich will bolt to the ka...no idea why but it is what it is, so the inner bellhousing required some clearancing to refit to the engine, however i dont have pictures of that as i called it a night.
stay tuned for tommorows update and with any luck a completed hybrid bell housing!

Good job man.

Quote, originally posted by Carl H »

after bolting the flywheel up and finding that it was fouling on the oilpan i realized that i ether a) had to buy a new flywheel or b) reuse the vh spacer from the flexplate...i chose 'b' as im a bit broke at this point; ended up working out ok tho with just the right clearance for decent starter engagement of the ringgear as well as clearance from the back of the block.

It's funny carl. I had the exact same issue with my custom flexplate. The flexplate itself fit great, but the torque conveter bolt heads were catching the corners of the oil pan. I ended up ordering new ARP hardware with low profile bolt heads. I'll still need to do some grinding on the block (maybe 0.100") to get sufficient clearance, but I guess this is the price we pay for going custom.

Either way, looks great, can't wait to see the finished product.

Discover the power of the button!

I like how it's coming along. Keep us updated.

Quote, originally posted by Carl H »

I can only assume that you removed the last bit of threads sticking up, didn't you? Good work man!

... And what is with you NC guys and wearing sandals while working on cars? wear some shoes or work boots!!! Geeze!

A job worth doing, is worth doing right!

first section of the bellhousing, most important as it will locate the trans for the rest of the mouting...

trans bolted on awaiting second section, alignment is still good.

second section and modified bellhousing, notice large gaps from differences in bellhousing diamaters.

quick shot of the ringgear and one spot on the trans that needs more grinding for good clearance.

second section welded along with first section:

trans bolted to engine, she's quite snug and fits well...

all welds were reinforced from the back as well, so dont worry there.
did i mention that i hate welding aluminum?
on a side note i also got this awesome sunburn from welding, for those who dont know when you weld it generates a shistload of uv radiation, its akin to having your arm 6 inches from the corona of the sun...

thats it for now, hopefuly final section will go on tommorow and testfitting will begin this weekend.

Welding aluminum is not so bad, but the gaps you are filling are huge!

Lola - 94 Q45t, 187K miles, HICAS, NICO ECU, Tint, ASA AR1 18x8 & 18x9 wheels, Adj FUCA & RUCA, Custom FSTB, Cali Custom springs, Tokiko Blue struts, Rear Subframe busings, Custom "INFINITI" Aluminum Z32 Calipers, drilled slotted rotors, Braided SS brake lines, DOT4 Brake Fluid, Full Synthetics, Custom Stainless Steel mesh grille, STILLEN K&N POP Charger, and Custom 2.25" T-316 Stainless Steel NASCAR exhaust with X-Pipe and polished 4" SS tips.

Ice T - 00 I30t Sport, 120K, Chrome 2002 wheels, FSTB, 3" SS exhaust tips, dealership serviced only - full records, original owner, perfect paint & interior, only black/black I30t made in 2000 (special order)

here is a pic of the bellhousing mounted on 4 of the 6 bolts, needed to see where i needed to section for the last and hardest part of the sectioning: the starter bulge.

front end view of the final product, yes its messy i know.

rear view of the same:

trans mounts to the engine nicely, i was lucky that i checked several times while fitting the trans to ensure flush fitment, its pretty good but i feel that i could have done better with it.

overall assembly:

back shot of the overall assembly, note breather hose and extended bits for the starter bulge due to bellhousing diamater differences.

clutch fork engages within an 1/8" of movement so i feel that it should be just fine in the car, when i mock mount the engine/trans for engine mount fab i'll bolt the slave up to make sure it actuates properly; would be very sad if it didnt.
overall it was about 8-10hrs worth of work and kind of a pita, would i do it again?
proly not but if the trans blows i can always source out another ka box cheap and reuse the bellhousing or ball out for the mazworx adaptor plate.
anyluck i'll be able to testfit the engine tommorow if it doesnt rain.

be sure to check to make sure that there isnt a bronze mfp in the engine bay, they can cause all kinds of trouble:

intial drop in, yes i am standing on the transmission.

in the bay...kinda

the oil pan looked nummahs according to neil, i said it was proly axle grease.

measuring from the trans mount forward for fitment ideas...best idea of the day!

thats it for now, check tommorow for possible updates.

removed the battery tray and all 50 spotwelds holding it in place, began to mark off for alternator clearance:

frame rail cut:

quick shot of the engine in the car, not bolted in but resting on the ac compressor bracket...will have to be cut off for proper clearance.

suspention droop is not apparent, car appears to sit HIGHER than with the ka in place,odd to say the least.

front shot of the engine to the radiator support, again good clearance here.

alternator and clearanced rail...

oil filter fouling on the frame rail, FAIL!

shot of the rear of the trans bellhousing, ample clearance around the bellhousing so much that i could change the clutch in car.

while the engine was mock fitted into the car the slave was bolted up to the trans, aside from the normal pedal adjustment required for good feel the clutch engaged and disengaged smoothly with no issues.
i suspect next time the engine goes in i'll have a large majority of the stuff needed for modifications marked, clearnaced, and/or cut...so with any luck it will be headder fab time.

I did manage to box in the frame rails ala superhatch's setup...came out ok but for some reason the welder wasnt feeding the wire smoothly so i had to go over the welds in some places a few times; frusturating as i spent more time grinding material back down than i did welding it in.

spraybomb primer for now, just to keep it from rusting.

where i cut on the ac bracket:

Cool project, Do you have any thoughts on the difference in weight between this engine, and your RB20, or the KA that came out of it?

......You've never heard of my s13? Its the 240 that made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsec's...

2.was budget the only reason you decided to go with the altered ka tranny or was there anything else like fitment involved?

3. Have you noticed any clearance issues with the brake booster?

Im very interested in your progress u have revealed some things I didnt know I was going to have to tackle but like they say what cant u put in a 240 lol.

89 nissan 240sx coupe with a fully built sr
-to much to list

project 89 450sx
-take a seat the show will start soon. Grab some