Intro & question: any experience with ebay rebuild stuff?

[DeXteR]

Greetings to all of you ka-t regulars. I'm Dexter and normally hang out in the vert forum. I have an s13 convertible that i spent quite a lot of time rebuilding this past summer. You can check out the homepage and see my project in the "Nico Members' Projects".

Anyways, I'm not here to just point out my car and pat myself on the back, but to let you know who I am and that I'm serious about what I'm doing. So let's get down to business.

The ka24de I currently have in my vert is the old engine from my original vert that was hit by a deer... anyways, it's got about 215,000 miles on it now. It's old, it's tired, it leaks, and i don't really want to run that engine anymore. I've got an extra longblock that my wife has all ready started tearing down (just need to pull the front cover and crank). The plan is to boost this one and swap it in for the old, leaky ka.

Having done some homework and having some experience building boosted 4g63's for DSMs, I've decided on some goals and parts. I want to run a reliable 300hp to the ground as cheaply as possible. I plan to do this by running modified (shot peened, honed, bushings for full floating wrist pins) stock rods, forged 8-9:1 pistons, 550ish fuel injectors, a "tuned" ecu, metal head gasket, arp fasteners, and of course the turbo, manifolds, and intercooler required for this kind of setup.

finally, to my question: have any of you had any experience with the ebay rebuild kits, timing chain kits, or front covers? you can get these rebuild kits with everything you need including the timing chain kit, front cover, pistons, rings, gaskets, bearings, and the whole deal for around $300. now i'm sure all of these parts are made in china or taiwan or india or someplace where labor is cheap and quality control isn't that great.

In my personal experience with these kits, my impression is that they're fine. the last 4g63t i built, the owner bought one of these ebay rebuild kits. we used the pistons, rings, gaskets, front cover/oil pump, bearings, timing belt and tensioners. i was skeptical at first, but my friend was on a really tight budget and had time constraints. so we put it together.

that was back in august. he drives the piss out of that car regularly and hasn't had a single problem. he's running about 20psi on his blown out 14b and heatsoaking his smic (as would be expected). the thing is holding together very well. so that has me feeling a little more comfortable about using these super cheap rebuild kits/parts.

I'm curious to know if any of you have had any experience with these though. I know a timing chain is a lot different than a timing belt, so I think that's the thing i'm most curious/concerned about. I'm leaning towards using a nissan "kit" for the timing chain, but am certainly cheaping out on the gaskets, front cover and bearings (most of these kits come with ACL bearings so it's not that bad).

Thoughts?

[480sx]

While i have no first hand experience with ebay rebuild parts, i have heard some second hand horror stories associated with those kits. I found a great deal on a high quality Japanese oem kit, you really need to wait for the good kits to come around on ebay. However i have yet to test it out. It looks nice though :/.

Ebay is tricky man, sometimes you can get stuff like that and it will hold up great, other times you get it and it wont last 100 miles. The best thing you can do to a Ka's bottom end is replace the pistons. They are a ka's weak link if there ever was one. The rest of it is solid, for sure.

I do however have some thoughts on your setup. First, if you are trying to cheap out, why are you going into the bottom end at all? There are so many success stories right now utilizing the stock block, with an enthalpy(or equivalent) tune. Talking 500+ hp, 29 psi of boost, ridiculous stuff. If i were you i wouldnt touch the bottom end at all. Save the cash for a nice manifold/turbo, or your tune. 300 hp is perfectly safe on a stock Ka bottom end with a good tune.

Another thing, dude, im telling you, you WILL regret going for a MLS headgasket. You have no idea man, this is first hand experience. I took my heads off three times to get my Cometic to seal. When i finally thought i had it sealed, it turns out that i warped my head by .003 in the three times i pulled my head(following FSM directions to the T.. three step loosening.. ffs.. what else can you do?). I just got it back from the machine shop today(4th time having the heads off..). It wasnt sealing, and backfiring out of cylinder 4 when warm. Ontop of that, the headgasket somehow damaged the sealing surface of the head. There was a weird indent in it that im sure wasnt there pre-MLS hg. The machinist said he had seen that before, and we had a good long talk about how MLS hg's wernt worth the hassle. If you think im the only one, check out the ka-t technical forums. Theres a recent and huge thread with about 15 horror stories, with two success stories.

The thing is, why bother going for a MLS gasket with your goals. A fel-pro perma toruqe has proven itself over and over to be able to hold 29+ psi of boost, and over 500 hp. If your shooting for the moon then i can see it, but your not.

Anyway, good luck with your build, a ka-t vert will be the if you do it right.
Modified by 480sx at 5:25 PM 12/17/2007

[scheffler]

No first hand knowledge, but as the saying goes you get what you pay for. I find that to bee a true statment for KA parts. But like 480sx said if you are on a budget why do the bottom end for you goals.

Plus chains will last a lot longer than belts will you might not have to replace it.

[Zippy69]

Me learned me lesson with the ebay crap. I'll buy from an individual on the bay, but not a company. I don't mean to bash all ebay sellers, just the so called "companies" that have no store, just some old guy working out of his mom's basement selling me crap that just BLOWS THE FIRST TIME I USE IT!!!Ahem, sorry about that. Just be really careful of any components you buy. I know of a few on there that are actually real stores or shops that just happen to sell on the bay. I searched for ka24de engine kits and found a few, one even in my state of Georgia.Just check them good and be careful. Good luck.

[yoshi_hito]

what did u buy from ebay zippy?

[Florida240sx]

With eagle rods released now. Your almost crazy to not wait an extra week or so to get them for your engine. http://www.undergroundmotorspo...s.php

[yoshi_hito]

o wow thanks for posting that up! good find

[Zippy69]

what did u buy from ebay zippy?

I bought a T-25 turbo kit, and the cheap axx chinese turbo blew a seal with just a few miles on it. I,m looking for a t25 or t28 off an sr. Got one?

[yoshi_hito]

haha i just bought my t25 from shane... but i think i might buy a t28 instead >.< but i don't know as of yet! ill keep my eye out for you! theres a guy on ka-t.org selling one for 120ish

[Florida240sx]

Anything on that site let me know plus a lot of other companies. He'll give us deals when he can.

[yoshi_hito]

u talking about some kind of sponsorship?

[eazye2000]

Pretty sure these rods are the same as the Eagles. I've talked to the guy a few times. He also sells quality parts for cheap as far as the V-8's and stuff go. Check him out. Here is an auction that just ended, and the guy got the rods for 200$ !!!!http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...&rd=1

He doesn't have any up for auction right now. Everyone's been buying the piss out of them.. lol

Just a thought. I don't really have much to contribute. Other than you've made a good choice to turbo the ol' KA.

[Zippy69]

Just a thought. I don't really have much to contribute. Other than you've made a good choice to turbo the ol' KA.

Damn Skippy!!! Even with all my woes, I still would go ka-t over sr, I just would have done it different. Hind sight is 1320 or something like that.

[DeXteR]

I do however have some thoughts on your setup. First, if you are trying to cheap out, why are you going into the bottom end at all? There are so many success stories right now utilizing the stock block, with an enthalpy(or equivalent) tune. Talking 500+ hp, 29 psi of boost, ridiculous stuff. If i were you i wouldnt touch the bottom end at all. Save the cash for a nice manifold/turbo, or your tune. 300 hp is perfectly safe on a stock Ka bottom end with a good tune.

Because I heard from this smart guy that...

The best thing you can do to a Ka's bottom end is replace the pistons. They are a ka's weak link if there ever was one. The rest of it is solid, for sure.

I don't want to tune for the stock compression. I'm scurred of det-o-nation.Otherwise, just call it personal preference and I've got nothing better to do.

...you WILL regret going for a MLS headgasket. You have no idea man, this is first hand experience .... check out the ka-t technical forums. Theres a recent and huge thread with about 15 horror stories, with two success stories.

I will check that out. Thanks for the heads-up. In the DSM world, MLS HG is like a condom - lot's of dirty fun with peace of mind (i hope that makes sense). It's just default to run MLS on a 4g63 you plan to boost 20psi or more. It's always been way more reliable than the felt ones.

This raises a question to you then: did you bother milling the deck on the block and the mating surface of the head? How good is your machinist?

The thing is, why bother going for a MLS gasket with your goals. A fel-pro perma toruqe has proven itself over and over to be able to hold 29+ psi of boost, and over 500 hp. If your shooting for the moon then i can see it, but your not.

For the same reason I want to go with lower compression pistons - reliability; but I'll look into this thing about ka's not liking the MLS... very interesting. Also, it's not that more cost.

With eagle rods released now. Your almost crazy to not wait an extra week or so to get them for your engine. http://www.undergroundmotorspo...s.php

Extra week? I don't follow...

I may still consider going with forged rods... I have this thing about getting carried away though. I KNOW the stock rods will be fine for what I want to do with the car. So why should I spend the extra money for added strength i'm not going to Since the rods have been shot-peened and ready for a full floating wrist pin, i'm sure they'll be perfect for what I want to do.

I checked that link and that seems like a lot of the stuff I'm going to be needing. However, I'm going to try to be patient and wait for good deals.

Plus chains will last a lot longer than belts will you might not have to replace it.

We'll see. I've never worked with the chains, so I'll be sure to check them. I did get a quote from one of the nico sponsors and it was around $190 for both chains and tensioners.

In conlcusion, it seems I have some more research to do regarding the MLS HG use. Thanks for the input. I'm also looking for any other input. Thanks guys.