For all CA18DET owners or soon to be owners!

[quest]

lol Dee & slowI've been around a lot of KAs and can only remember one failing. It would be alot more common if they all had turbos, no doubt. If u take a peak at the forums you'd get a good idea of how the KA does in general. Not to mention some are original 100+k mile motors, gone boosted and r fine. A handful making 450+wtq torque. With all the jdm hype crap abuzz, u could pick up spare motors for next to nothing.... thats been slowly changing tho..... folks wisening up ?A 240 is a relatively heavy hull for a 1.8L. Do u think that has any relation to rod bearing life ?

Some Detroit iron lie in another league altogether. I had a GN. U gotta do something really dumb to kill that lil buick motor. In extreme cases, an ungodly amount of torque will try to pound the crank with its main bearing caps, right thru your oil pan!

fanta,been a long time since I visited such sites. Start by looking at the us 510 sites, iirc they linked to some sr and ca swaps. Most of the ca/510 sites were aussie. My favorite 510s r the vg30ET swaps. Thats one dirt cheap, smooth, rugged motor with HUGE potential, and a 3.3L variant - fck a RB or a 4cyl, lol! If I was after a nissan powered monster, that motor is top dog on my list fo sure.

[boost_boy]

Quote »I've been around a lot of KAs and can only remember one failing. It would be alot more common if they all had turbos, no doubt. If u take a peak at the forums you'd get a good idea of how the KA does in general. Not to mention some are original 100+k mile motors, gone boosted and r fine. A handful making 450+wtq torque. With all the jdm hype crap abuzz, u could pick up spare motors for next to nothing.... thats been slowly changing tho..... folks wisening up ?[/quote] Don't worry quest, I'm not hating on the KA. Just a little all in the nissan family humor, that I've seen happen a few times. My friends use KAs in their 240s and one is puttin down 509whp, but I forget how much torque. If you think the 240 is too heavy for the CA18DET, what do you think will happen to it in a z32 chasis. Honestly, I don't think it's too heavy for the CA18DET; just that people really abuse this motor.

Dee

[ca18datsun510]

quest, dont take this in offense, but ive seen you make some really uneducated posts, and lead people to believe things that arent true. have you evey taken the time to look into a vg30et swap for a 510? ever heard of the strutless wonder? one of the first ones to put a vg30et into a 510. he completely rethought the front suspension just to make it fit. its not quite as simple as swapping in a non turbo vg.

if anyone has any questions about putiing a ca into a 510, feel free to hit me up at aol screen name chugger2k. ill be happy to answer any and all questions. just dont ask me about wiring. yet.

[quest]

Dee,on the ca18 into z32 post, I believe I made a comment about weight.Not many 1.8s have to haul ~2750+ pounds (full wt. s13 hatch)

ca18datsun510I'm gonna have to call u out on this. When u gonna make stupid personal false acusations - back it up! I'm not offended, but please straighten this out.I DARE you to show me ONE of these "some really uneducated posts"! I dare you. Just one, go find it. In fact bring 'em all out in the light lets correct 'em cause I would feel bad and irresponsible if I had misled anybody.

I said MY FAVORITE is the vg30ET powered 510s. How is that misleading and untrue ??? Explain.I'm familiar with the one on the internet and another one I've seen in person, and yes, he did some rather extensive front end mods, but nothing as elaborate as the 'strutless wonder'.

>>"one of the first ones to put a vg30et into a 510" Do u know how many swaps exist and NEVER make it to the internet ? ..and u do realize that 10 people will come up with 10 different approaches to the same swap. If I swapped a vg30ET into anything: 1. I'd make manifolds and reposition the turbo2. I won't use the stock intake manifold... changes the whole picture now, doesn't it. I've done quite a few one-off swaps myself, so I may look at things differently that most.

[boost_boy]

Quote »on the ca18 into z32 post, I believe I made a comment about weight.[/quote] It does have its work cut out for it. The reason I brought up the Z32 is because one of our members is putting the CA18 in it and was generally asking your opinion on how much more struggling it will do to pull yet an even heavier car. No beef here bro! I'm enjoying a friendly conversation with you and all others. I think the CA does have it's work cut out for it in the S13 chasis. Look at it like this, Nissan once used the FJ20 to power sylvias and gazelles and then droped in size and power as well as weight in creating the CA18DET; only to turn around and come back to a 2 litre, with more power and more cost-effective design. In their case, cheaper = possibly better. They took a chance and it paid off in the SR20.

Dee

[quest]

hey, no harsh feelings whatsoever bud. heheh... u know how text readsI'm curious to see how the ca18 fares in the z32 hull myself.I guess when you're so use to seeing miatas, scort GTs, civic/tegs, rollas etc., being powered by 1.8s, a full wt s13 does stand out a bit.Makes me wonder if the weight plays a role.... with nissan 4s at least, cause for comparison, I own/see hi mile stock 4g63 move those pigs with authority and not too many rod bearing issues.

I can't recall any motor with as many "failed rod bearing" threads as the uk ca18/s13 forum for eg. Add that to what I've seen personally and its quite alarming imo. 99% is due to folks beating on these 'old worn' motors. Thats why my 1st posts here were mostly an attempt to make guys aware of it. I was starting to feel too repetitive so I said no more about it - didn't wanna wear out my welcome u know.

[ca18datsun510]

i was more refering to the fact that you regarded it as a cheap way. definately not cheap. especially when compared to a ca or sr, which arent cheap either, but parts for the swap are more readily available if you look around. adding a j pipe to a 4 cyl turbo manifold is much easier and cheaper then fabbing 2 manifolds for a v6, especially in a 510 where room is a major factor. i have already looked into all this. and what intake manifold are you planning on using? are you just gonna smelt one in your backyard? or would you do a 2 barrel carb setup from the saudi arabian nissan cedric with the sohc vg? that would be a nice setup if you could fab up a pressure box to put the carb in, if you had the abilities to fabricate one. ok. so we got the fitment issues. now how about the weight issues, or the brakes or...

or you could put in a ca, some 280zx struts and calipers with ground control or similiar coil overs, and bamn, a hell of a cool car.

anyway, i dont feel like looking for your other posts, i really dont care. if i come across them ill post em up.

like i said if anyone has questions about putting a ca into a 510 let me know, ill do what i can to help, hell even sr's.

[fanta]

How much clearance is there between the manifold/turbo and the steering box? Did you reverse the corssmember and slot it? What are you planning to do with the gauges, wiring it in to the stock stuff or bringing in a 240 cluster?Did you fabricate the motor mounts?

[ca18datsun510]

1.there is no clearence between the manifold/turbo and the steering box. you can either a) add a j pipe to the stock manifold which would move the turbo up between the head and the strut tower, b) get a tube or log topmount manifold made (what i am doing) or, c) get creative with the steering system, such as converting to rack and pinion, but that is really over kill and unneeded.2.i have a reversed crossmember, motor mounts and a custom trans crossmember from maddat motorsports in australia. the swap kit is basically the same for a ka/sr/ca, the mounts that bolt to the engine itself are the only real difference. you will also have to cut out a whole for the shifter and top of the transmission, since it is longer and taller then the stock 4 speed, which also means you have to cut down your driveshaft.3. wiring i am working right now. as far as i understand it, i can basically run power to the ecu, hookup the ground, and connect the keyed ignition switch. dont quote me on this though, as i am still in the works, if anybody KNOWS different, not thinks, let me know. as for the gauges, im debating right now if i really want a s13 cluster rigged into my car, i may do it for temporary, but in the long run im going to use mecanical oil pressure, water temp, and speedometer guages. you can hook up the stock 510 mechanical speedo to the ca trans, you need the speed sensor out of a 280zx with a 5 speed trans, and a 68-73 510 auot trans speedometer cable(it is longer then the 4 speed one). i still havent gotten into a tach yet. i was considering modding the s13 cluster and putting it into the 510 dash, but that seems pretty involved as of now.

anything else? need any parts? i got a 510 parts car, a 240z parts car, and s13 parts car. i think we should make a seperate post for this. i just realized we hijacked this one pretty bad.

[quest]

fanta,a few minutes on google "ca18det 510" turned up enough info to keep u reading for days.

510>>"i was more refering to the fact that you regarded it as a cheap way"Fact my arse...I NEVER said the swap was cheap. The vg30 is. Go read it again, get your 'facts' straight dude. Whas wrong is your comprehension skilz

>>"anyway, i dont feel like looking for your other posts, i really dont care. if i come across them ill post em up."Don't waste your time, you'll only be making a fool outta yourself Before u attack someone's credibility publicly on a forum u should at least have a clue.

I made a simple comment that I prefer the vg30et/510... (moreso because I'm a fan of the motor, rather than the 510). You took that comment, twisted it up and ran with it. I'm a rwd corolla guy. Got 2 with mitsu turbo 4s that I swapped into them, and yes they are already "a hell of a cool car". I'm not the type of guy that needs to buy 'readily available parts' to facilitate a swap - my team; mr. welder, mr. plasma & mr. brains works it out. I can't see a ca18/510 swap taking this 'uneducated poster' more than a few days. I'd go 13bt if I had a 510 tho, got other ideas for a vg30et transplant.

good luck with yours, later