91 nissan stanza

[thedude813]

I have a 91 nissan stanza. It has the ka24e in it. The car looks alot like the infiniti legend. Anyway I was thinking about restoring it, possibly even tuning it, but i dont know a whole lot about that kind of stuff. The car burns oil so i know it isn't getting the compression it should. any thoughts.

[seang]

There used to be a stanza sub-forum in the Altima section. Not a very big sub-forum, though. I have seen a few ok looking Stanzas at places like Youtube and Cardomain. Info on the KA motor is just a matter of doing your homework. Tech info has pretty much all been documented by now, lots of it in our KA section, and that goes back for years. As far as a restoration project, that might be overkill in my opinion, because you won't get your moneys back.

[thedude813]

That's thrue. But I don't want money back. I just thought it would be different. Nobody's rock'n a stanza. I understand why, so i'm not really lookin to put alot of HP in it, but i know as far as ka's go it's got potential to be more than it is. I've been doing alot of homework since i posted last and found that there is actually quite a bit i can do to it. I just have to study the science behind it a little bit. I don't want to make any costly mistakes. So far what I'm think'n is, port & polish, OEM rebuild kit, custome intake mani., and custome exhaust mani. I'ts a front wheel drive so I have to make the exhuast myself. Accomplishing these things isn't a problem, but i dont know what kind of trouble i will be creating for myself in terms of sensor replacements/ upgrades i.e. MAF, EGR, ECU. I 've already got a CAI on it, but that's not really anything. If you got any suggestions let me know.

[seang]

If you port and polish, you can also backcut the valves.

There are aluminum intake flanges for the ka24e if you want to make your own, one-off manifold.

Your ECU is a common swap-in for people with D21 ka24e's because it can be more easily tuned, so you have that on your side at least.

Design the engine well, by that I mean: if you want to run a hotter cam, increase the compression ratio along with it; if you make your own intake manifold, use a runner calculator so you know the correct runner length; if you are planning on a turbo, you might have to lower the compression; all for the best target performance.

[thedude813]

Well, I would like to add a turbo but my car is a front wheel drive manual. from what i understand, i can not boost the HP too much without replacing the trani., otherwise i will be just going through them. I haven't been able to find a high performance front wheel trani., other than that i think i could do everthing else w/o worrying about tarring it up. If i can put a perfomance clutch system in there would that do anything to save the trani or would that just prolong the inevitable? Any suggestions on that would be appreciated. Also, by increasing the compression ratios you mean the fuel right, As in more fire more power kind of thing?

[seang]

By compression ratio, I mean cylinder compression ratio. Higher compression motors do require premuim fuel as a rule of thumb, though. But I do mean "more fire power," yes.

A clutch with more torque-holding ability than stock will not make the guts of your transmission stronger.

[thedude813]

Sorry man I don't think I was clear. I did not mean a higher grade of fuel, I ment more fuel. As in opening up the fuel injectors to increase compression. Would I need to get upgrade injectors or do you think the stock injectors would be up to the job with the right ECU and MAF sensor?

About the clutch, I didn't think that would work. So, I will just stay with simplicity. It will be safer. Besides this is my first time, so it will be a learning experience for me.

I'm in tight with some people who own a big time machining business. High paid draftsmen, CNC machinists and the whole nine yards. I'm familiar with what the machines do a little cause i use to work their, almost 10 yrs. ago, (grunt work, polishing stainless steel sheet metal), any way, Ive seen alot of stuff on CNC machined parts and CNC ported stuff. Is it possible that their machine can do those things or are they set up for specific types of tasks? I don't think they have ever done engine stuff with their machine but that doesn't mean their machinist can't do it.

[seang]

Your engine has 270cc injectors stock, so they would probably be good for around 180 crank horsepower (your engine has 138hp stock). I'm not a pro, though, so don't take it as the definite number. The only way I know, to know for sure if the injectors are maxing out, is with real-time tuning, preferably on a dyno.

Another thing about maxing out injectors is that, as a rule of thumb, they should not be pushed past 80% of their duty cycle. I have read about owners pushing duty cycle into the 90's, but larger injectors would likely do the job better at that point.

[seang]

Here is a thread I started about head work (porting/polishing, valve cutting, etc....) It has some good points. home-head-work-thread-t473084.html

[thedude813]

something else i was thinking about doing is a head swap. the SOH for the DOH. problem is location of the distributor. the SOH distributor location is at the end of the head. right side if you had the hood up. the DOH distributor is on the front of the head at the #1 cyl., left side if you had the hood up. wires are standard sizes so i couldn't use a 240 wire set. wires would not be long enough. could i tap a set of holes in the side of the DOH head in the same location as the dist. mount for the DOH head, this way the dist. would be in the same location as the stock dist. on the SOH head. If not i have to scratch the idea. No big deal it was just a thought since I'm doing the intake and exhaust.

[seang]

I'm not sure about the head swap, so I am going to vote no. I remember reading that it can be done, it was a thread in our KA forum. You might be able to find it by using our search button with key phrases like "sohc to dohc head swap."

I don't have anything against the DE; but the only people I hear speak ill of a SOHC KA are people who probably never had one in real life, at least not one that wasn't on its last leg.

If you want the DE, then mabe a salvaged Altima DE engine will swap over, transmission and all; but that much is out of my knowledge base.

[thedude813]

I was only thinking of the DE in terms of HP gains. I thought it would be better since it had the extra cam in there to do some of the work. I've been thinking about it though and i think i will stay with the SOHC. It will make my life alot easier. Thanks for all the info. You've been alot of help.