i have both e/de

[Shnitz]

I need some people's opinions please. I have a 1989 240sx with the stock KA24E, with about 70,000 miles, but recently i got a hold of a 1996 or 1997 KA24DE with about the same mileage. Recently my dad agreed to help me turbo one of the engines, I have to decide which one though. It's no big deal for me to change from SOHC to DOHC, just another learning experience, my former-mechanic father would be happy to help me, and I'm pretty competent myself around cars. In the end this car will be daily driven, so I wouldn't really go much more than about 300 whp with it. I'm just trying to decide, I'm pretty torn since I could try SOHC with the lower compression (and adjusting the valves with rocker arms is so much easier than cam-on valve!) but the DE obviously can be tuned separately on the intake and exhaust side, also, the oil squirters are pretty nice. ahhh, i can't decide what to do!!!

[Red-KAT]

New one... DOHC is the better choice... And while you have it out of the car you can do some nice prep work to it...

[ftrs13]

yup. I have KA24e, and its a pain in the hole.

go with the DE, if worse comes to worse you can swap one in later with fewer miles, and keep all the turbo components

[Shnitz]

cool, thanks for the replies. im sure that this has been covered many times before, but not that often with someone who actually has possession of both. now just to decide whether to go with parts from iap, realnissan, etc. guess it's time to start researching the parts suppliers!!!!

[andrave]

I'd go with a ka24E.I was in your shoes and I chose to rebuild the DE and turbo it.the DE was a "free" engine that has sucked up all my money, and I learned a few things.first, for management, you can actually use a chip on the sohc ecu. dohc needs the secret service or JWT ecu (both over 500 bucks) to use a chip to tune.second, for parts:on any given day you can find ka24E parts in at least 5 posts in the last week in the for sale section. They are also more plentiful in junkyards (at least in my neck of the woods). DE motors on the other hand, are harder to find, and more expensive once found. Third:parts at parts store are (usually) cheaper for the ka24E. Rebuild parts especially, such as gasket kits, rebuild kits, and especially (ESPECIALLY) the oil pumpfourth:you already have the E in your car. You have all the right stuff. You have the ignition coil, the mafs, the intake piping, the exhaust manifold. The throttle cable, the heater hoses, the radiator hoses. The DE.. um.. do you got all that stuff? Cause I sure as hell don't, and its a problem. One that needs more money thrown at it.and finally:the power steering pump is on the other side of the engine. You either have to make lines, find lines, go with no power steering, or... a mystery option I guess. Also, there is more clearance for a turbo on the DE because of the "no PS pump" thing.

Anyway, if I was doing it again, I'd probably rebuild the ka24E.I would also go with a single turbo.I would also have done a lot more work 2 months ago and probably be driving it already, instead of crying, begging for money, and hoping I get it running in the next week because I may have to park it for a year if I don't.

[Evil98Silvia]

I did the sohc - dohc on my 89.......its the same thing as an SR swap just a different motor. Simple and fast with the right knowledge and the right tools.

[ftrs13]

yeah ... andrave, none of those engines in the for sale section are ones that I would put a turbo on. the KAes are just too old to do anything without a rebuild. Im stuck in that position now. and although I love the sohc, and respect everyone that goes ahead and does something with this dying motor, its just not worth the hasstle. and there are also many DEs for sale every week as well.

BTW: andrave are you in the same position that Im in. haha, I have my car up on blocks. and Im struggling to get it done. I have to drive it 600 miles to school in a week and a half. if its not done, Im screwed.

onto positive thoughts ... we will both finish on time.

and if you happen to run across any KAEs locally in your area with good compression, and would be good for turbo ... let me know. Im in need and will be in Pittsburgh for the year

[SHIEF]

Just because a E has higher miles doesn't mean you have to rebuild it. Put new rings, valve seals, chain and gaskets. To me that's not a rebuild. A rebuild is replacing EVERYTHING on an engine including rods to me. As for the oil squirters, they are hardly a big advantage. Just do the E up. I don't understand why people swap a DE into a E chasis, it makes no sense to me.

[Evil98Silvia]

Because I the sohc was blown and a got a 91 dohc with transmission, ecu and harness for 200 bucks with less than 100k miles. In MOST cases the dohc is a more reliable. More is available for the dohc and its nice to be able to control your intake and exhaust cams separate from one another. I have nothing against the sohc though, I just prefer the dohc.

[SHIEF]

That's the one advantage is the seperate cam controls, but that can only go so far. But if you look around there is just as much stuff for sohc as there is for the dohc. I didn't think there was much at all when I started, but most places carry parts for it, they just don't advertise it.

[Evil98Silvia]

Yea, Id just rather have something more reliable since my girlfriend drives the s13. I have to admit if I was building a scca car Id take a sohc and build it. YOu can fit a much beefier cam on the sohc

[andrave]

MORE IS AVAILABLE FOR THE DOHC?????ok smack whoever said that they obviously haven't looked around.

for replacement parts, there are ****loads of parts for the DE that are nissan only items, but you can get them from autozone or napa for the E.

for aftermarket parts, you can get just about anything for the E, including crazy *** kits to switch to twin sidedraft carbs. As stated above, they also have lots of crazy cams. The DE has a ****ty selection of cams. For the E you can get intake manifolds, lots of different tubular headers, etc.I've seen tons more parts for the E than for the DE.

[SHIEF]

The best part is you can get E engines for cheap. I think I have $250 in 3 complete engines and 1 head So for me there wasn't a whole lot of deciding on which engine I was going to go with in my 89.

[Shnitz]

andrave, just looked at your cardomain, and i have to say im blown away. you've GOT to be a mechanical engineering major at like UVA. some of those parts you mentioned are not parts that i would go with, such as the twin draft (we've had carbureted vehicles, while it's great for dumping fuel in to the engine, this car will be at least semi-daily driven) and i won't need the headers. i wont need the exhaust manifold, and ill have intake piping made for me, since ill want bigger and also routed from turbo to intercooler, etc. i have to go to alamo autosports tomorrow to pick up a fuel rail for my dad's project car anyways, ill ask them what they think about tuning sohc vs dohc. i know that adjusting valves with rocker arms is so much easier than direct cam-on-valve, and i definitely like the difference in parts costs for the sohc. ill definitely think about my choice more thanks to your post, thanks a lot for it, and to everyone for their input. either way, im sure that ill be spam pm'ing andrave for answers to questions though

do you have a detailed thread about how exactly you are setting up your car? you will definitely have a one of a kind 240 when you are done.

[andrave]

no I'm pretty dumb, just a post whore mainly. I dunno what else there is to know about how I'm setting up my car.If anyone has two cam brackets and an ignition coil for a dohc s13 then I'd be setting it up a whole lot sooner.

[Evil98Silvia]

MORE IS AVAILABLE FOR THE DOHC?????ok smack whoever said that they obviously haven't looked around.

for replacement parts, there are ****loads of parts for the DE that are nissan only items, but you can get them from autozone or napa for the E.

for aftermarket parts, you can get just about anything for the E, including crazy *** kits to switch to twin sidedraft carbs. As stated above, they also have lots of crazy cams. The DE has a ****ty selection of cams. For the E you can get intake manifolds, lots of different tubular headers, etc.I've seen tons more parts for the E than for the DE.

wow, like I said this is for my GIRLFRIEND im not building a SCCA car here lol. Right off the shelf the dohc has more available aftermarket parts from popular brand name companies, and since I sell them I should know. But if you read the other poste, if I was to build a race car Id stick to the sohc. As for the dohc cam selection, its only limited because the lack of room. Anyways this wasnt meant to be a sohc vs. dohc conversation :pface

[ftrs13]

it wasnt meant to be, but whenever 2 engine are mentioned there is always a debate. anyone wanna bring up SR?

jk

[Evil98Silvia]

haha, that is so true.