differculty of installing a ca

[osofasts13]

hey i been thinking about a new motor for awhile now, mine is about shot. and looking forward to turboing my ka or buying a ca. well buying a ca will be wise choice considering it is turbocharged stock and can be easily upgraded.. as in the ka i'll need a new one plus a turbo system, plus fuel managment. that is about 3500. a ca will be about 1500 shipped, with about all the parts i will need. my question is what other parts should i be looking at for the ca install?? i know you need the ecu, full wiring harness, (does that hook up straight and easy, or pain in the *** like the sr?) ignitor chip(i think), what else is there for a direct swap?? i'm just kinda scared to go the ca route because if i don't have all the parts it's gonna be a pain to get and all the extra stuff you will need.. how much extra would you need just to make the ca sit directly in, not talking maintenance wise, just to swap, cash wise. i got lots of experience with motor swaps, but just with simple honda's and DSM's. :help

[r34 gtr]

you re-wire the ca harness the same as the sr, its not hard. youll need probably 2500 bucks to be safe with the ca install. youll need the: engine, harness, ecu, ignitor chip, intercooler, piping (if the engine doesnt come w/ the i/c stuff), fuel pump, etc. its probably been discussed quite a few times so you may want to do a search...theres almost certainly a better answer to your question somewhere on here. basically you need all that you would with the sr20det. but the ca 0wns the sr....i hope i dont get killed for that last little comment..

- tim

[f s t caz]

i'd say expect more than $1500. For me, it was close to $1600 shipped for the motor set. Then I bought $400 worth of maintenance parts(waterpump, timing belt, tbelt tensioner and idler, thermostat, new plugs, valve cover gaskets, seals). Then keep in mind you'll need piping (i didn't get any w/ my motorset. you might be lucky, or might want to run other than factory, and need custom piping made) and an intercooler. Then, are you going to want to run a factory exhaust? no. you're going to want to upgrade. more $$. Then there's the other stuff; oxygen sensor, a new turbo, boost controller, boost gauge, you might edn up needing a clutch and possibly a flywheel, gear oil, maybe motor/trans mounts, vacuum lines, new hoses, this that and other stuff you don't think of before hand but will start to add up when you're trying to finish the project on limited funds.

Just trying to point out that it costs more than just the cost of the motorset. It'll make it into the car for $1600, but I'm not sure if it'll drive.

[float_6969]

I'd plan on 3G's for a good swap with everything you'll need. It can be done for less, but it's best to plan high and spend low.

[gore]

yeah I"m already 2500$ in without any performance mods and no install as of yet

[ca18det_boy]

Gore and Float said it best. If I were you I would go ahead and get the motorset but take your time putting it in. Plan on doing the install like 2-3 months after you get the set. Rebuild the engine and get everything you want. The last thing you would want is to make haste and forget something really important but be up the creek cause your broke....Hope my 2 cents help.

[osofasts13]

man that is some money that you have to spend to put one in. all my boys hondas are like, here is the motor, axles, wiring, ecu, and there you go, you got everything, direct swap, running the car the same day as install. i know this isn't a honda but i'm on a budget too. maybe a turbo ka wasn't too bad of a idea after all. rebuild the ka, 1500, turbo system plus fuel and fuel controller 2500. almost the same price as a stock ca in your car, but with more power, more reliable(after rebuild, you have to rebuild the ca to hold power too), easier parts, and more displacement with an iron block. not made out of cans. don't flame, just imputs would be helpful. i'm thinking money and power ratio here.

[rico05]

I am going to puss out on mine and get it installed pretty darn close to stock. My deal with that is I want some sort of professional doing the work (but I plan on watching/helping w/ the install) and I want to relearn the car as it was designed from the factory in Japan. I am looking to spend about $3k for a stock CA install...

[r34 gtr]

the CA does have an iron block..just like the ka.. i actually dont even know if the ka has an iron block since i know jack squat about the motor. only thing i know about the ka i took out is that it needed a new bottom end and it got in the way after i finished the swap..

chances are you wont have to get everything that people mentioned, the turbo may be fine, it may come with an intercooler, hell, it may even come with some go-fast goodies on it already! its just luck of the draw. bank on 3k, but theres a good chance youll not be needing it. my car cost me about $4200 to get running, this included: the car ($1350), the CA18 clip ($1500 shipped, and i later [im not including refunds in the total price though] got 500 back cuz shipping messed up and i ended up having to pick it up because i paid for a truck w/ a lift gate and the one they sent was too small) and other stuff (turbo, intake, exhaust, fuel pump, gaskets, belts, etc. was about $1350ish)

the CA will handle a freaking retarded amount of power without having to do $hit to it. head gasket will hold fine at lots of boost (dee's hasnt died at 25psi) and so will everything else. the weak part of the engine is the pistons, and with good tuning those should be fine until you get at or over 450whp, dee tells me its closer to 500 with good tuning. it will make a ton of power if you can throw a couple thousand dollars into it.

ca18det fo' eva!!!! w00t! 1t rul3z!! <-- this is why i hate me.

- tim

[nab911]

It really isnt that bad... you dont have to rebuild it, because that costs a LOT OF MONEY. Just get a motor from a reliable source. I paid 1450 for a motorset, 40 for engine stand. Self made engine hoist or borrow one. Add about 100 for misc part like belts fluids and hoses. And thats all u really need if u get a good set. Mine came with intercoooler and all. Also add about 200-300 for a new clutch. So you can get it in (granted you have the right tools) for under 2000 if you take your time and do your research and get your stuff through trustworthy people. Mine total swap with motor (1450), clutch(400), t3/t04e(450), manifold(500), wastegate(100), misc hoses, belts fluids (100) and all is going to be around 2950.

[float_6969]

I'm not at all happy with Venus. I paid 1700 shipped for a front clip and 3 months later I'm rebuidling the motor because the rings are bad. The compression was OK and it did startup, but that was about all it had going for it. Plus the customer service sucks. If I was going to do it again, I'd get a motorset. I'm kinda glad that for my first swap I got a clip, but I'll never do it again....

[KaZ (VaBch)]

I got mine from RS Imports... bought it off eBay... rkcarguy was the sellers ID. I paid $1776 for my clip... was ~$720 shipping from the West Coast to the East Coast. There are not too many importers near me in VA that had a full CA18DET clip for sale at the time... Jarco has 3 now... go figure.

[boost_boy]

THe stock CA18 can take a raping from your foot, but if you have fuel and timing+a need for high boost issues while miising the 1st two items, then you can bend over backwards and suck your own crank;) . And talk about boost, I was coming out of the hole at 20psi on a stock gasket and it held up just fine. I just need to working on launching my car and getting an alignment done. I toggled between 15 and 20psi and it didn't wvwn flinch like it wanted to let go, but I can't say the same for a few hondas I seen smoking from under the hood and missing horribly while running (Can you say melted pistons).

So if you think it would be cheaper for you to boost a KA, you may want to rethink that. You will need a decent fuel management to run the KA reliably. But I guess the good thing is that they are cheap and junkyard available and if you run big boost with one built or not, they seem to find a way to go bad as well. Boost ain't cheap, period. Most hondas aren't boosting and if you think that VTEC rulez, I gave a type R and his B18C5 something to think about the next time he tries to run down a lonely B12 sentra with a CA18DET.

Dee;)

[osofasts13]

vtec sucks!!!!! i just want to find a good way to spend my money and not go through too much advils, like a ka will cost me 500 shipped, as a ca is about 1700 shipped... there are alot of people runnning about 280 hp safely, with a safc or hack mafs on a ka... so that is what i am planning to do, but i just want a ca because obviously it comes boost ready...you know, just trying to find out my place in this world..damn cars...