easy KA mods for a few first timers?

[aznanimekid]

so yea, my friends and i are thinking of purchasing and working on an S14 for one of the projects we have to do for school. problem is, we've never worked on cars before so we're looking to this as a little learning experience if u will ^^. so what mods are reccomended for beginners? what i'm thinking of is maybe installing a VLSD off a j30 and maybe porting the heads and other little mods to the KA. is there anything else we can do? or are we just totally over our heads? advice would be appreciated ^^ one thing is if we do go forward with this, i would be driving the car afterwards, so eventually down the line i would want to do an engine swap, which is why i dont want to spend much on parts for the KA. anyways, on with the advice please :]

[KADreams]

Don't waste your time with an engine swap. If you are going to spend time on the KA go ahead and build it up. If your want some N/A fun, get some titanium valve springs for the CA engine (they fit the KA), and retainers. Then get Crower to custom grind you a really agressive cam. Idle lope on the KA= the hotness. This along with an intake, header, exhaust, port/polish, ultralight flywheel, underdrive pulleys, and an SAFCII will yield very good results. The KA's stock fuel map runs way too rich, so you can fix that with the SAFC. Bump the base timing up a couple degrees also, but be sure to ALWAYS use premium fuel unless you want your ringlands/headgasket destroyed.

[SimpleEnigma]

Easy modifications to the KA?

If you are not looking to spend a great deal of money to modify the car, you can do a few of these things.:

1.)Fuel filter from 300zx TT

2.)Gut the stock airbox and plug/remove all resonator holes.

3.)Gut the cat...ur in Cali...may not want to do that.

4.)Performance plug wires and spark plugs.

5.)Stanza/Altima electric fan conversion

6.)Upper chain guide removal (if it hasnt already be done)

7.) Secondary Butterfly Valves removal

I wouldnt suggest trying to port the cylinder head, or even try to remove the cylinder head at that if you have no previous experience working on cars. if you dont know what you are doin when porting the head you can really mess it up.

Lastly, the KA motor is a very stout motor and responds pretty well to power adders, especially turbo kits.

[Rusted_PS13]

why go with an S14 when you can go with an S13 ;P, but really you can work on the suspension parts maybe.

[Ni2s4s0aSnX]

I wouldn't bother with a swap if I were you, the KA is a good motor, 2.4 liter, with mods it can be very powerful. Mods for first timers would be intake ( at least get rid of the stock airbox at least), exhaust, header, performance plugs and wires. And removing the secondary butteryfly valves does nothing on the KA, so I wouldn't bother.

[JimmyMethod]

so what mods are reccomended for beginners?

Design and fab your own engine. Easy as pie.

Seriously, though. Let it breath better (intake, header, catback), underdrive lowmass pulleys, improve the grounds from the battery, stage 1 cams.

[dickie]

i actually have some cams for sale for cheap that would work for you. theyre custom ground and made by webb, if you like.

otherwise, i was going to say check on the suspension, replace all the bushings, because you can get a kit to do them all for cheap. oh, and create a good writeup with lots of pictures for us while youre at it

[aznanimekid]

haha thanks for all the help guys. i was suprised no one was gonna bash me for being a noob >_<

if i do go ahead with the project i'll be sure to take some pics as i do have to do a presentation in the class

[driftin2trance]

whats the point of having a Z32 fuel filter, i just dont see it.

[VinceSez]

so ur buto can breath better

[240marcuSX]

the z32 one is supposed to be cheaper than the ka one. but thats the only improvement.

[driftin2trance]

oh ok, havent checked the prices but other than that i would not see how it would be more beneficial.

[virus77]

Suspension and revitalzing of the car should be your first concerns, then you should go for a KA-t buildup you can probably piece together a kit for around 2K and start upgrading from there.

as for the fuel filter its not beneficial at all on a stock or near stock Ka, its only if you pushing more power like with a Ka-t or a swap. Then you dont want to be hindering fuel flow because of a small filter so the z32 one is used because its a higher capacity filter. But you should change your filter anyways when you buy a new car because I guarantee the previous owner didnt, so you might as well get the cheaper filter.

[slipnfall]

BTW you can also get the Z32 filter in an all-metal canister. In all the auto parts stores in my area, the 240 fuel filters have a plastic cap... aestetics, yeah maybe, but the plastic one just makes me uneasy... <shrug>