Anyway, that engine is showing its age. It has over 230000km on it, has somewhat poor compression, is burning oil, everything rattles, and it needs a full carb rebuild (and that carb is just strange). So, I'm swapping it out for a KA24E, with port fuel injection and an extra valve per cylinder.
I bought an engine for cheap from a junkyard, came out of a 1993 (or thereabouts) D21. I have renovated it and replaced a few bits and just cleaned it up, as well as built a new wiring harness and ECU (with much help from various posts here). Engine seems to be in good shape, though it was maybe close to suiciding from a completely broken chain guide.
I got it almost ready to test starting it up so I know it at least runs before I do the swap.
One thing that I completely forgot about though is the oil pan. I have a 4WD truck, but the KA24E seems to be from a 2WD as the oil pans are different. I haven't had them side by side (the Z24 is still in the truck), but there are some obvious differences. The "deep part" of the pan is narrower on the 4WD, but I'm not sure if it is the same "depth" or not, or if there are any other differences I'm not seeing. So, this raises some questions:
- Will the old 4WD Z24 oil pan fit on the KA24E? I'm guessing yes as the block is supposed to be the same for the two engines.
- Is the oil pickup different between engines with 4WD or 2WD oil pans? Basically, do I need to carry over the oil pickup too if I get the oil pan from the old engine?
- I've seen people putting truck KA24's in cars hacking up and welding the oil pan to fit a different frame. Would that be a reasonable idea here too, if needed? Doesn't seem too difficult a job, and within my welding capabilities.
Here's a random picture of the engine for no apparent reason (I don't have one available with the actual oil pan):
