1990 s40, thinking about a motor swap but need some advicee

[tricktoyz14]

ive got the ka24e in it right now. the lil sohc thing. and ive got a valve tapping. so i was thinkin about jus replacin the head, ive heard you can just put a ka24de head on it and itll gain like 50 horses or so. the engine i have has almost 200,000 miles on it. so my other option is just swapping motors to a ka24de bc i want to keep my transmission, its been rebuilt with lower gearing and stuff. im just looking for a cheap, reliable way to fix my valve tappin, and also gain a few horses. any advice is appreciatedd. if you have any info on good websites to get cheap motors at post the url if you would. im on a really tight budget though. ive loooked for posts kinda like this and im sure i could find more if i looked harder, but most ive found are people that have a higher budgett. im going to do pretyy much all the labor myself and im trying to keep it out of the thousands. im only 17 and am jobless right now, but i have some saved up and have a few old cars im going to sell or scrap out for money. but like i said any helps appreciateedd. thankyou

[moso]

i dont believe there is any way to put the dohc head on a sohc block. i currently have both in my garage and can tell you thay are diffrent, not alot but enough. as far as fixin your valve tap, its probably the rocker arms thay have non adjustable hydraulic lifters in them and thay get loud and can be a real pain to fix. there is a writeup on em on this site i believe. as far as the swap thats up to you. its still fairly easy to come by a good ka24de under 500 i got mine for 300 and i got it in mississippi. but i rebuilt mine better than stock so theres a couple of bucks but it ran when i got it. and it should bolt right up to your transmission.

[Kalypso]

the cheapest route is probably to fix the head.

wont be very expensive for an sohc.

[tricktoyz14]

well i live in mississippi, maybe i could find one. im still lookin around though. and ill try to find that write up. but its kinda hard to find them on here. would it be worth it to swap? and i know it would be cheaper to just fix the head, but im thinking about doing a build on the car later anyways so im thinkin about what would be better for the future build. know any good places to find cheap engines?

[moso]

you can find the write up on the lifters here http://www.nicoclub.com/articles.php?id=161689 its in the tech pages section, check it out.its common for them to tap as thay get older and more clogged fulla crap. the other thing to remember is if your bearings are going and you cant maintain oil pressure thay will also tap. only you can tell if its time for a new motor, but at 200k you have to be getting close. i drove my sohc to death while i rebuilt my ka24de. the swap was easy and mostly inexpensive, but alot of motors fit in the 240sx chassis and swaps are very common making most of them fairly hassle free if you do your research, this also creates a supply of running ka's if you keep your eyes out. only you can choose the motorset that is right for you and there are many ppl who love the ka both sohc and dohc.

[sainifabulous]

you can look on craigslist i acutaly bought my car under a thousand just keep looking youll find something for a good deal

[tricktoyz14]

that write up was more on the chain makin a noise at startupp, but i didnt know thats why it was doing that either, lol. it still doesnt explalin what the soundis when im runnin it. but ill look more for something on the lifters. which bearings? and i dont have a oil pressure gauge so idk if thats it. ill prolly run this one till it croaks and then replace it. ill prolly stick with the ka for now. they seem to be good engines. but i might try the dohc and fix it up ive heard more good stuff about them, lol. thank you for all your helpp.

[tricktoyz14]

i changed the oil in it and the tapping stopped for likke 30 seconds. then started backk, why would it do that?

[ZakinaS13]

As for the SOHC and DOHC transmissions, bell housings are the same. Both engines have forged pistons, so they can allow much higher hp.As for the swap, DE's are much cheaper and require alot less tuning than the SR's BUT, it depends on what you want to do with your car? Daily driver? Strip? If your wanting 500+ whp better plan on building your engine. 200-450 whp, use OEM internals. Depends on the driver whether or not your engine is going to last. KA24DE with a T28 or T3/T4, a nice head job , and 15lbs of boost. You have a nice daily driver with about 425whp. Just do your research before you do anything. Tuning costs $$ no matter what you do..