ca is tempting, little insight?

[crash n burn]

i've been putting together a ka-t lately and i've found a friend back home that is really interested in buying the setup..so i'll have all of the money i invested in it back, no problem. i've noticed my ka is leaking oil a little more each night, nothing horrible..but about 4 or 5 drops.

i've been searching though the ka forum and looking at some modifications people have done that have brought their ca's to a pretty good hp rating. im a little strapped on cash for the moment and i just keep watching money drain away into internals. so in jan i'll have a little more money to play with. i was considering maybe ditching my ka due to the lack of funds and overwhelming tuning that will be needed.

i want a well rounded motor, reliable DD but able to turn up the boost and take it to the track for a weekend and be able to keep up, not to mention be able to keep up with an sr. would 225-275whp (not underminding its capablities, but a real-world goal), be capable? i've already looked into the basic mods that are sticked and im thinkign yes?

dont get me wrong, im still reading and checking things out..im just asking for some feedback to see if my head is where it should be on what i want from this setup if i decided to ditch my current build

love that sound of a high revving turbo

[davidricardo86]

i've been putting together a ka-t lately and i've found a friend back home that is really interested in buying the setup..so i'll have all of the money i invested in it back, no problem. i've noticed my ka is leaking oil a little more each night, nothing horrible..but about 4 or 5 drops.

i've been searching though the ka forum and looking at some modifications people have done that have brought their ca's to a pretty good hp rating. im a little strapped on cash for the moment and i just keep watching money drain away into internals. so in jan i'll have a little more money to play with. i was considering maybe ditching my ka due to the lack of funds and overwhelming tuning that will be needed.

i want a well rounded motor, reliable DD but able to turn up the boost and take it to the track for a weekend and be able to keep up, not to mention be able to keep up with an sr. would 225-275whp (not underminding its capablities, but a real-world goal), be capable? i've already looked into the basic mods that are sticked and im thinkign yes?

dont get me wrong, im still reading and checking things out..im just asking for some feedback to see if my head is where it should be on what i want from this setup if i decided to ditch my current build

love that sound of a high revving turbo

Hmmm... interesting. Well to begin with, how many miles on the ka? Im guessing it has a lot of miles and runs pretty good. Im sure it also couldnt hurt to do a rebuild. If you think getting a CA will be a better way, are you going to use it "as is" or rebuild that engine?

CAs are old. And a lot of them werent treated with the upmost care, often needing a lot of repairs and fixes. The KA is really not all that different engine wise other than the timing chain, 2400cc displacement, and lots more torque! Some electrical and fuel things are a little different but then again they're both engines.

Take into consideration what youre trying to do! Is it road racing, drag racing, drifting, etc., etc. ? Even though i chose a CA i can agree that torque is king on the streets. The KA is 2.4L, iron block, aluminum head, 16v, dohc, but its not the most rev happy engine. Thats ok, it doesnt have to be because its strong and has the highest output of these nissan fours.

I like the idea of a 1.8L turbo beating a 2.4L turbo but ultimately the bigger one has the advantage. HP and torque. For what your going to be putting into a rebuilt CA wouldnt be to far off if you rebuilt the KA instead. What i like about the CA is that its a physically smaller engine, makes my car lighter and more balanced. You dont need a lot of power to have fun so i think i will be able to do it with less weight. Either one will sure be lots of fun to tune and capable of your power goal!

Modified by davidricardo86 at 1:27 AM 12/20/2006
Modified by davidricardo86 at 1:28 AM 12/20/2006

[float_6969]

David nailed most of it there, I'm just going to add a little.

The first thing to cover is that for what I would consider a reliable daily driver, you would want to plan on a minor rebuild. Bearings, rings, oil and water pumps, and all of the gaskets. The reason I say this is as david stated, these aren't new motors by any means. They were usually beaten on in Japan, and now they've been sitting in a junkyard for 10years. But with the afore mentioned performed, you should have a very mechanically sound motor. I mean no offense to anyone interested in a KA-T, but w/o all forged internals, the KA is infamous for sending rods through the block.

As for your power goals, they are VERY achievable with either an SR T25 (maybe not 275whp), or a GT28R (that will get you to 275whp). But remember that there are a lot of supporting mods that need to be installed before this can be done safely. I've laid it out in the past, but you want me to I will say it again, just let me know.

[davidricardo86]

David nailed most of it there, I'm just going to add a little.

The first thing to cover is that for what I would consider a reliable daily driver, you would want to plan on a minor rebuild. Bearings, rings, oil and water pumps, and all of the gaskets. The reason I say this is as david stated, these aren't new motors by any means. They were usually beaten on in Japan, and now they've been sitting in a junkyard for 10years. But with the afore mentioned performed, you should have a very mechanically sound motor. I mean no offense to anyone interested in a KA-T, but w/o all forged internals, the KA is infamous for sending rods through the block.

As for your power goals, they are VERY achievable with either an SR T25 (maybe not 275whp), or a GT28R (that will get you to 275whp). But remember that there are a lot of supporting mods that need to be installed before this can be done safely. I've laid it out in the past, but you want me to I will say it again, just let me know.

"I mean no offense to anyone interested in a KA-T, but w/o all forged internals, the KA is infamous for sending rods through the block."

Reeally... i did not know this! Im slowly on my way to the day i can say i have 275whp! Well that pretty much covers mostly everything.

[crash n burn]

David nailed most of it there, I'm just going to add a little.

The first thing to cover is that for what I would consider a reliable daily driver, you would want to plan on a minor rebuild. Bearings, rings, oil and water pumps, and all of the gaskets. The reason I say this is as david stated, these aren't new motors by any means. They were usually beaten on in Japan, and now they've been sitting in a junkyard for 10years. But with the afore mentioned performed, you should have a very mechanically sound motor. I mean no offense to anyone interested in a KA-T, but w/o all forged internals, the KA is infamous for sending rods through the block.

As for your power goals, they are VERY achievable with either an SR T25 (maybe not 275whp), or a GT28R (that will get you to 275whp). But remember that there are a lot of supporting mods that need to be installed before this can be done safely. I've laid it out in the past, but you want me to I will say it again, just let me know.

ohh yess..thats why i took it upon myself to drop in a forged bottom end

but as for the motor, yea its stout only 143k on the ticker. perfect compression across each cyl, and after getting under and changing the oil, i think it may just be a pan seal because i cant see any oil burnt on the backside of the block, i just pulled off the cam cover and i took off the timing chain guides today..now almost the only thing you hear at idle is the intake, love it.

i probably just need to get it up in the air and check it out this weekend, but i got friggen shopping to do, ugh, im starting to hate christmas

i just feel that doing a ka-t is going to cost me not only time and frustration, but $$$$ in the end. i got school starting up in jan, and i've swallowed the hard bit of a 350hp ka-t for the idea of reliablity. thats why i went with a ca instead of getting absolutely raped with the price of an sr now-a-days

[float_6969]

If it's got the forgies in it already, why don't you just run a low boost setup on the KA? Get something small like an SR T25. Run 7-10psi. That'll still be a kickin car, but you shouldn't have any reliablity problems.