I need your help to keep sane...

[Drift-wood]

I am looking at doing a CA18DET swap this summer into my S14... I have been getting flamed from so many angles I'm starting to get discouraged but I'm going to stick with it ! ! (or at least trying to)

I have only started second thinking it because I feel like something is wrong with me because everyone is so hardcore on me about it.

My s14 is just kept in storage I don't daily drive it so I was going to swap the CA18det in get it running and just take it out on weekends or something.

Once I had the setup running great and all the wiring bugs worked out I was going to buy a second CA18DET and start the unspoken CA20DET build.

So pretty much I just need some non SR propaganda and some support from my CA brethren so I do not lose heart.

Sorry to ramble but I was losing my mind...

[PyR0NiAk]

Plenty of guys hit on all the good stuff a CA has to offer in this thread here: zerothread?id=474370

[Drift-wood]

I was reading through it, and a lot of other stuff. LOL it help me not just give up and go KA-T lmao..

I just can't get all the hate on CA's for.. you would swear we were putting in a honda motor or something.

[PyR0NiAk]

Look at it like puttin in an LS-1. Someone is going to hate on it, but YOU are still going to enjoy it.

[Drift-wood]

Thanks for the up-lifting words... I'll just stick with my plans. I'll enjoy it and I'll be proud of it is all that matters anyway.. So I shouldn't fret it.

[PyR0NiAk]

Thanks for the up-lifting words... I'll just stick with my plans. I'll enjoy it and I'll be proud of it is all that matters anyway.. So I shouldn't fret it.

Good choice. Read through the faq

[ganma_ca]

Float has already done this and not to speak for him but NO REGRETS LOL!!!! I'm pretty sure he loves it. CA18DET is the OG! It is where nissan derived a lot of their later technology from ex the CAS(cam angle sensor) the RB shape lol and quite a few more things. + We is made of iron and as you know iron is the shiznit! Bomb proof! Don't let all the pansys disuade you! They are gimp ha ha Sr's are over rated. Plus you have an engine with a us counter part so most parts are available at your local autoparts store (think 88 pulsar) minus the turbo. Dare to be different

[Drift-wood]

Funny you mention Float because I have talked to him about the whole swap...

A month back. He has been giving me some info because I was talking about how I wanted to do a CA20DET in a S14 lol the best of both worlds in my mind...

He wasn't able to give me much info on the wiring because he said he went stand alone.

[ganma_ca]

It's not complicated, well at least not to some. I didn't really have to modify mine too much. AN extension here and there works, can't go into details because it's like 4am here and I'm dead, but it's really not as complex as people think. Heck I've been thinking about going complete stand alone too. Smartest way to go in the end because you can get rid of a lot of useless crap on the ca, and make it a lot easier to deal with. Like removal of the cas, you can run it on a map instead of a maf, you can ditch the iacv, so many other things to simplify it. I always say the simpler the better!

[Drift-wood]

well I was looking at MSII because there is a very good write up on it, But i'm really concerned about losing A/C and everything.

I like NISTune and think its a very solid easy solution for me. I would Like to ditch the IACV lol every car i own always has Idle issues for some stupid reason.

did you do the swap on a S13 or S14? because the S14 is a lot more involved.

[ca18detgabby]

well I was looking at MSII because there is a very good write up on it, But i'm really concerned about losing A/C and everything.

I like NISTune and think its a very solid easy solution for me. I would Like to ditch the IACV lol every car i own always has Idle issues for some stupid reason.

did you do the swap on a S13 or S14? because the S14 is a lot more involved.

how could be more involved? it maybe DIFFERNT, but the 14 doesnt have extra wires or anything. (motor mounts maybe?)

you want a/c and want to delete your IACV......... your going to want that for your AC.

I dont remember the AC being a no go w/ megasquirt, wiring it in shouldnt be that hard. worst case is you can add a relay and switch..... and turn the compressor on yourself.....

[float_6969]

Ok, since I'm the resident S14 CA guy, I'll chime in here.

First of all, don't be dissuaded from your goals. The CA is a great motor and anybody who talks trash on it, is stupid. ALL motors have their pro's and con's. ALL of them. The CA isn't the end all be all, and neither is the SR, or the 2JZ, or the 4G63, or the RB for that matter.

I chose the CA for 2 primary reason's, and I knew what the drawbacks were when I chose it. The first reason was weight. It is, with out question, the LIGHTEST motor you can fit in an S-Chassis that is basically pnp. The second reason is that at the time that I bought it, I had 3 friends w/SR's and 2 of them ruined the motors because the rocker arms flew off because of too many revs. Remember that this was 10 yrs. ago and RAS's weren't exactly readily available, nor were the need for them common knowledge. I was aware that it's smaller displacement might put me at a disadvantage for power (which experience has proven that it hasn't) and that parts (esp 10 yrs. ago) were non-existant.

As for the wiring, look around the net and see if you can find wiring for putting an redtop SR into and S14. If you can, than you have most of the info that you need. All of the mechanicals work out fine for the most part. The only think I can think of off the top of my head that was different besides the wiring was the heater hoses. They are bigger on the S14, so I had to get some reducers from the parts store to get them to connect to the CA's heater hose connections. Not a big deal, it looks messy, but with the intake on, you can't really see it. (I had the intake manifold off installing my Gizzmo thermal gasket, so IDK what kind of job it would be with the intake on) Other than that, everything is the same as an SR (except for hooking up the knock sensor, but that's the same on the S13 as it is on the S14).

I say this with caution, but the wiring isn't that bad. Granted I did a standalone, and I work with electrical diagrams and wiring on a daily basis as part of my job, but it's more intimidating because of the uncharted territory more than anything. I have pinout and wiring diagrams for both the CA and the S14, which is everything you would need to do it with.

As for the A/C, it's not too big of a deal to get it hooked up. I would recommend having a custom bracket made and use the S14 pump though.

[Drift-wood]

Float, I have found two walk thrus for redtop to s14 but both seem to be missing a few pics. Any diagrams you have would help. My email is uvamosk@ gmail . Com if you could email me. I have done sr20de swap to s13 and a slew of honda swaps it's just something about all the wipers and amp being in the engine harness that is making me think of going with having a harness made. I don't like the idea of paying for somethng that I know I can figure out though lol. I guess once I have both harnesses in front of me it's not has hard to understand. If you can just email and I'll talk to you through email. I'm really wanting to do this myself so I can do a walkthru on it since there isn't any and plus the redtop walkthrus all have missing pics and stuff.
Modified by Drift-wood at 8:33 AM 1/30/2010

[Drift-wood]

how could be more involved? it maybe DIFFERNT, but the 14 doesnt have extra wires or anything. (motor mounts maybe?)

you want a/c and want to delete your IACV......... your going to want that for your AC.

I dont remember the AC being a no go w/ megasquirt, wiring it in shouldnt be that hard. worst case is you can add a relay and switch..... and turn the compressor on yourself.....

well the s14 harness is a mix of the main and the engine harness. That's what I mean by involved. On the 13s you just run the engine harness through the firewall and move plugs around and stuff. S14 you have to run extra wires to bridge for the wiper motor wiper amp and all the power circuit for the ecu and a few other things.

[Drift-wood]

[float_6969]

...S14 you have to run extra wires to bridge for the wiper motor wiper amp and all the power circuit for the ecu and a few other things.

No, you don't have to run extra wires. You simply have to separate the wiring for the wipers (and ABS in my particular case) from the engine stuff. I don't remember having to run any wires, and I know the wipers work and I don't have any reason to believe the ABS won't work.

Really, the main difference is WHERE you get power for the ECU and IGN, etc. On the S13, it all comes from the plugs behind the battery, where as in the S14, it all under the dash.

[nuts510]

a while back I had a CA18det in a basket case when I put it back together with a head gasket on it and adapted a turbo from an rb26det I had to change the exhaust housing around after adding a tuned eCU and in HKS actuator the car was a blast to drive I even had adapted the AC and ran in intercooler up under the hood in front of the radiator. It was free revving surprisingly economical it would get better than 30 miles a gallon on the highway and definitely ticked off quite a few Honda and SR owners if you use to see a wiring harness you will wired up exactly like the sr except for wiring the knock sensor and the AC.it purely up to you but I would seriously consider just omitting the ABS and maybe install some breaks off of a infinity J30 they will work perfectly with your stock master cylinder and make a noticeable difference in your brakes or you could just run the slightly bigger stock ABS brakes there is no doubt in my mind on dry pavement a car without ABS stops quicker than one with