Abandoning KA for SR. Advice for 230whp?

[CRyan]

Even if that clip is in really good condition, which I would assume it is not for $2100 you will still have to put a decent amount of money into the swap. There are a lot of little things you need to/should replace. I paid about $5k for my swap and it is basically stock except for exhaust. $3k for clip, the rest in parts.

I am happy to see someone with modest HP goals, you don't need 400hp in these cars like everyone thinks. 230whp should be very nice. The SR has a very nice smooth powerband, unlike the KA. I am tired of those KAT bandwagoners that try to get everyone to go KAT, like it is always the best path to take. Their arguments are always like "You can get 300hp easy with a KAT". They never take into account you will probley have to rebuild the KA to get those numbers reliably.

Also, do yourself a favor and replace the manifold to turbo gasket while the engine is out, as the stock ones suck and blow, and are a ***** replace. Also replace the rear main seal.

Haha, thats kind of funny - a small reason I'm wanting to pull my KA engine and swap it is because its got a leak from the rear seal. . . And I guess I just feel like doing a whole engine swap instead of replacing the seal!

Call me lazy - But I've had some kind of boost of confidence within the past week that has really propelled me to REALLY want to do this swap - - -

AND, the engines I have been looking at are only the motor, no whole front clip or anything - I'm sure I'd be paying an arm/leg for a S14 front clip.

And yes, I believe I've decided to go with the notchtop S14 SR. It will be HOPEFULLY coming to me with ALMOST enough miles for it to be broken in - and thats how I hope to keep it.

I've also searched through a few forums, came across a few cool gadgets like the electric water pump. This will reduce strain on the crank if I'm not mistaken? Would it be a good investment, or should I just stick with the stock one, seeing as the engines run fine with the belt driven one?

And also, I know there are plenty of older men that have had the SR for quite some time on this forum - How many miles are these engines suspected to get before internal wear and tear? I'm sure the number will decrease somewhat seeing as this will be a swap and not from the factory, But I'd like to know if I might be able to hand a car that I'm wanting to build down to a son or daughter if I ever decided to have one.

And, while on the mileage issue, from what I've read, most of the engines you order from importing shops are said to have around about 30,XXX miles on them - - - Is there REALLY a way you would know for a fact that it has lesser than more miles besides the cleanliness? I'm sure they can clean it up pretty well to give you the intial feeling that it IS a lower mile car. . . Thanks for the help guys!

[0wn3r]

Their arguments are always like "You can get 300hp easy with a KAT". They never take into account you will probley have to rebuild the KA to get those numbers reliably.

Well, their argument is that you don't have to spend over $2k on a different motorset. You use that $ to rebuild your current engine which you already know the condition of. I haven't researched it, but you probably wouldn't need to re-do the wiring and maybe not even the fans. I wouldn't be surprised if the costs came close to each other.

Meh..

[0wn3r]

Haha, thats kind of funny - a small reason I'm wanting to pull my KA engine and swap it is because its got a leak from the rear seal. . . And I guess I just feel like doing a whole engine swap instead of replacing the seal!

And yes, I believe I've decided to go with the notchtop S14 SR. It will be HOPEFULLY coming to me with ALMOST enough miles for it to be broken in - and thats how I hope to keep it.

Is there REALLY a way you would know for a fact that it has lesser than more miles besides the cleanliness?

Hah, yea my rear main seal was going to so I made the same decision.

Don't know what you mean by broken in... 10K to 100K miles is probably pretty broken in by now..

There's no way to ultimately tell unless you purchased and drove the original car. I mean, you could buy a front clip and look at the cluster, but to my knowledge, there's no way to tell if that's the original cluster or if they disconnected it at one point.

[CRyan]

I believe break in periods on motors at one time new with less than 50,XXX miles aren't quite up to par. I believe the car begins to seat really well afterwards, its just an opininated thing. . .

HAHA, kinda crazy - but glad to know I'm not the only one NOT willing to change a rear seal.

I'm hoping to find someone in the area with an engine or front clip within 100 mile radius around me. . . I doubt it will happen because, quite frankly, I'm surprised anyone in MS knows what a 240SX is, much less the Japanese engine that came in it.

[nzmoman]

There's no way to ultimately tell unless you purchased and drove the original car. I mean, you could buy a front clip and look at the cluster, but to my knowledge, there's no way to tell if that's the original cluster or if they disconnected it at one point.

Very true, but videos can help...some places will take videos and some places with clips will start them up for you.

CRYAN:BTW. dont forget to add the sale of your current KA and transmission to your $ for the swap. That should get you another 4-600 depending on the condition. If push comes to shove replace that seal when the motors out and you got a ready to go SOHC replacement or spare motor.

[BoBa524]

Where did you pick that deal up at?

http://www.mrjdm.com shipped from japan directly.

[carbully]

Hey, I just want to say that with the electric water pump, that could greatly complicate getting the other accys to work properly, like now your Alternator belt will not be routed around the W.P. so you need to fit up different belts, hopefully the new belt routing would not interfere with any other hoses etc. Sounds like a nightmare to me just to gain probably 7-10 crank hp at the most?

Oh, and KA-T? considered that for a while for my project. Between the cost of the initial build, the kit, and then the cost of TUNING the package properly, I figured for me that would be the most expensive option. Tuning seems to be where everyone cheaps out and then they pay the price in broken engines. The only benifit I could come up with for the KA-T is that this package would be the easiest to reverse if I got in trouble with emissions. I even considered an RB20DE-T but the parts availability on the RB and the vast wealth of experience on the SR you can pull from here is why I am going SR!

[fusiongfx]

Damn. . .are you kidding me?

I think my heart just hit my feet

hes right, it cost me 5500 total to get my car SR swapped, that included the price of the motor and everything

[Driftcardotnet]

" within the budget range of a 19 year old." is not a good way to say you have a small budget, when i was 19, i was making, well lets say around $1400 a week, soo... it's much better to say a budget of a McDonalds employee....

[White Comet]

^ true but when he says budget of a 19 year old, most know that being 19 means not much cash, ur just a freak, lol

[idahotuner]

I m 19 and i make about 2000 a month lol. so my dudget now that my car is paid off is about 1400 per months on my car at least for the next 2 months. then school starts.

[White Comet]

dudget? maybe all that money shoudl go to english classes. lol, jp. yeah i would make that much in the summer but im double majoring in college and cant work a lot. im pretty amazed at what ive done w/ almost no money

[White Comet]

hes right, it cost me 5500 total to get my car SR swapped, that included the price of the motor and everything

did u pay for the install? doing it urself saves big money

[idahotuner]

lol i cant spell or type give me break

[White Comet]

hahaha as long as u can build a nice sr u dont need to spell

[idahotuner]

hey thanks . i am in the process of buildign a nice sr powered 240

[White Comet]

yeah,ive seen. know that my exterior is in pretty good shape, im focusing on suspension then engine

[heartofaskyline]

wow i just read this whole thread and you guys spent way too much lol. im in the process of doing a sr swap right now and i set my budget at 4000. so far i have SR20DET motor w/ transmission comes with wiring harness already done for an S13 and has Tomei Z32 wiring harness.New OEM water pump, oil pump, timing chain, front and rear main seals,Greddy pulleysGreddy rocker arm stoppersCometic metal head gasketARP head studsGreddy oil panNismo thermostatNismo pivotNew clutch slave cylinderSPEC stage 3 sprung clutchSPEC lightweight aluminum flywheelNismo pivotGreddy intake manifoldGreddy downpipeGreddy CatbackGreddy intercooler pipinggodspeed fmicdriveshaftshop aluminum driveshaftskyline diff and axleskoyo radnismo mounts

i think im at about 3700 right now, i still need a hotpipe, bov, efans and mafs

[0wn3r]

wow i just read this whole thread and you guys spent way too much lol. im in the process of doing a sr swap right now and i set my budget at 4000. so far i have SR20DET motor w/ transmission comes with wiring harness already done for an S13 and has Tomei Z32 wiring harness.New OEM water pump, oil pump, timing chain, front and rear main seals,Greddy pulleysGreddy rocker arm stoppersCometic metal head gasketARP head studsGreddy oil panNismo thermostatNismo pivotNew clutch slave cylinderSPEC stage 3 sprung clutchSPEC lightweight aluminum flywheelNismo pivotGreddy intake manifoldGreddy downpipeGreddy CatbackGreddy intercooler pipinggodspeed fmicdriveshaftshop aluminum driveshaftskyline diff and axleskoyo radnismo mounts

i think im at about 3700 right now, i still need a hotpipe, bov, efans and mafs

so all of a sudden swaps come pre-wired now?

you're listing things that aren't even needed for a basic swap. i'm not saying they wouldn't be nice, but I don't think they're needed:

Greddy pulleysGreddy rocker arm stoppersCometic metal head gasketARP head studsGreddy oil panNismo thermostatNismo pivot (which is listed twice)SPEC stage 3 sprung clutchSPEC lightweight aluminum flywheelskyline diff and axleskoyo rad

why?

[heartofaskyline]

actually, with the plethora of swaps that have been done in the past few years, its pretty easy to pick up an engine state side. my motor came with most of that stuff already on it. picked it up from a fellow nicomember. im just showing what smart shopping can get you. i wasnt trying to replicate how much a swap should cost... srry for the confusion