ok so ive researched a ton on this swap, but havent really found many people here in the states whove done it..
i know lots of people in austrailia, & europe have been doing this for quite some time now, but i cant find any RECENT builds. So im asking anyone here on NICO,
how much would it cost to fit a CA18DET into an AE86?
how long would it take?
how hard is this swap?
ive seen some CA's for sale and theyre CHEAP compared to SR's which is a big deal for me.
i also think it a 250HP CA would go perfectly in a 1900 pound AE.
any input is greatly appreciated.

I got a buddy who just put a KA24DE-T into his AE86... same mounts and trans fitment. Took him about 2 weeks to do it.

sweet,
you wouldnt happen to know about how much it costed him?
also, what kind of ECU problems did he have?
i saw a guy who converted his KA to dual carbs and put it in his SR5 AE86,
but i think id rather stick to fuel injection..

It's a drift car so no concern with gauges, he used all Nissan cluster and harnesses and mocked them in place (not for looks). Cost I am sure was cheap, he's a good mechanic and does this stuff a lot.

His name is Will and this is the car here.http://www.tristatetuners.com/forum/sho ... hp?t=90424

Honestly if you want a cheap swap with big power options the KA seems like a great idea

CA is a iron block so there is no disadvantage with the KA iron block.

A stock KA on 7 psi from a t25 will make 200-210 whp. 12 psi they make around 230-250 whp. The CA will require turbo upgrade to get there and most likely injectors. Plus the torque a KA makes on boost is amazing. The same car that made 200-210whp on 7 psi also make 250 ft/lbs torque at that PSI.

i have a full ca swap for sale with some nice extras. i have a listing for it in the ca section. $1500 check it out man

btw, my ca18 made 248whp 227wtq on a dyno dynamics with a red top sr t25, n60 maf, safc 1, fmic and 3" exhaust @ 10psi. maybe mine was just on crack but it REALLY impressed me. ka-t = engine, oem rebuild (recomended if over 100k mi), ATLEAST sr 370cc injectors (s15 440's recommended), manifold, dump, t28 turbo (t25 seems to choke on ka), n60 maf (stock maf pegs around 17-18lbs a min of air) and an safc to calibrate the maf in but an Enthalpy or Jim Wolf rom tune is much better and highly recommended. total that up then try to figure in the swap work and misc costs. they do ok with the na 1.6, now think about a turbo 1.8 and it is lighter than the ka. sits more toward the middle and balances out the car a little better to. this is just my opinion and outlook on the swap but i like revving past 8000 so thats just me.

Its not like you run across a lot of low mileage CA either. They are motors from 1991 and later so almost 20 years old.

I can pick up a full KA pull out from a junk yard for 300 with trans and ecu.

I think I could put in 1200 bucks (to be even with the CA cost) and make bigger numbers pretty easy.

Also I dont see the KA being much longer or much heavier since they are both cast Iron 4 cylinder motors.


Here is the list I would go with

KA24DE with Trans and ECU from junk yard 300
Holset turbo or Garrett T3/T4 50-60 trim turbo - 200-300
Ebay Cast top mount turbo manifold or whatever you want 60
Custom J pipe 100
Ebay Down pipe 100
SR injectors 75-100
SAFC2 150-200
FMIC 200
Rad 100

On the high end thats 1500

KAs dont need to be rebuilt to handle boost. If you argument is the KAs have high miles. Ive bough 3 of them with less than 100K one had 60K. My friends KA has 200K on it and has been boosted the last 60K and still runs strong. Its on its third T25 turbo lol. 12 psi daily.

uh-huh. that is the best carbon copy of my friend aaron's kat ive seen and its still behind my shed waiting for me to haul another load of scrap metal off after about 1 week of running. im pretty sure i told him the same thing i just said im pretty sure that he listened the 2ed time around and im also pretty sure that for the last 8 months hes been making 283whp and 317wtq @ 12psi but that was on a dyno jet so prob more likje 260whp 285wtq. oh and a junkyard motor, those are great. when they say 30 day warranty but it takes u 3 months to finish the project. ive heard alot of junkyard rod knocks that werent heard till it started after 30 days of prep, waiting and assembly. go blow someone elses motor up. this is ka-t, not ka-boom. as far as its not shorter, u need to meet a tape measure and call it "friend"

and whats this "age" noise. how many rb20's rape bawls that came out of a 90 or 91 r32? ok, its an old motor... so is my 400 small block (722hp, 694tq crank), its rly old... oh yeah, i rebuilt it... with goodies

I dont understand why your trying to sit here and bad mouth another option.
If you like CA thats cool but THERE IS NO REPLACEMENT FOR DISPLACEMENT.
Also making reference to a Big Block Chevy is comical. Sure if you rebuild a motor with goodies and make power that would seem logical. Im just talking a cheap swap in engine setup that will make decent numbers.

Also this talk of getting a motor with knock. Same goes for any motot. Ive seen it with SRs, RBs, and Im sure it has happened with CAs.

well im sure its happened to alot of things. and im not bad mouthing the ka-t, i love my buddy Aaron's. but saying you can slap a t25, some sr370's and an safc will build you a 220whp 250wtq ka-t reliably is b.s. a ka-t is siumple to build but it takes more than a turbo, some fuel injectors, and an safc.

s13drifter88 wrote:well im sure its happened to alot of things. and im not bad mouthing the ka-t, i love my buddy Aaron's. but saying you can slap a t25, some sr370's and an safc will build you a 220whp 250wtq ka-t reliably is b.s. a ka-t is siumple to build but it takes more than a turbo, some fuel injectors, and an safc.

Lol Im sorry but it is that easy. Ive done it with three KAs. Ive had them all on dynos and they all make those numbers or better.
If you dont believe me go try it out. The KA is a 2.4L larger displacment with boost makes bigger power. Plus the torque is great with the KAs stroke. The T25 will make the torque spike when it spools however.

Go try this out
Ebay bottom mount manifold
J pipe
Downpipe
T25
SR 370cc
FMIC
SAFC

Guarentee it makes 200+ and you could drive that b**** all day every day. My buddy just tore his KA down and built it. Even with 200K on it and 12 psi daily its took 60K miles of boost to finally put a crack on one of the ring lands on a factory KA motor lol

wow guys thanks for the input
as for the KA, i was also considering it but i was also kinda leaning toward the CA cause of its shorter stroke, and cause i like revving over 8000 RPM's too
...as for costs, i think the KA will do even better considering i can go pick one up at my local junkyard for about $300.
but im also not going to use a KA transmission. i was thinking an RB20 trans because its shorter and i wouldnt have to modify the shifter location, and it also bolts right up.
any SAFC recomendations? what brand has worked best for you?

From what I found online, the KA and RB20 transmissions are either the same or atleast the same length.

Just get a Apexi SAFC2 or a tuned ecu if you dont want to mess with it.

Also the only reason the CA has to rev so high is to make power. Id rather have mid range torque that way you have a more useful torque band.

on the weight side. the KA weighs in at about 375lbs. Thats a BIG f*cker!!!
the CA weighs about 280.
thats about as much as a difference if i weighed 200pounds.
hahahahaha!!(yes im a really small guy)
and the stock 4A-GE 20valve weighs about 250.

i like the KA cause its cost effective, but the weight distribution would get all f*cked up.. D:

Blown240sx wrote:From what I found online, the KA and RB20 transmissions are either the same or atleast the same length.

not exactly true.. ive seen a couple writeups from overseas forums and theyve used RB20 transmissions because theyre shorter.