IT'S ALIVE......again....

[float_6969]

Ok, so this is the SECOND time I've installed my motor and had it running. Not as exciting as the first time, but hey, you only loose your virginity once right? Anyway, as some of you may know, this is definatly not a stock CA by anymeans. I am still needing to do some major tuning, but with some stupidly high octane fuel I feel I can safely drive the car as it sits. So here's how it's running currently. Below 3K, it sucks. Under part throttle it will buck a little and it seems to hesitate. But stomp that throttle, spool that modified S14 T28 and hold on to your azz. Oh, and keep your eyes on the tach cuz 7G comes up fast. I can also say that I firmly believe that the stock headgasket is definatly up to the job. I think if it was gonna pop, it'a done it by now.

Incase anyone doesn't know, this build was somewhat of an experiment. I've built I high compression CA18DET. I used as many stock components as I thought safe. As far as the bottom end is concern, I only have forged high compression, oversized pistons. All bearings and seals have been replaced. I've also got a brand new oil pump and water pump. I do have a lightweight flywheel and the motor does rev much more freely now. I definatly lost some torque though. I'm also using a stock headgasket that I simply coated with some of that copper spray gasket stuff. I am using ARP headstuds. I didn't trust the stock bolts to take the abuse from the boost AND compression and still keep the HG in place. The head work as been minimal. Basically just cleaned up the walls a little bit. I also port matched the intake and exhaust. Stock manifold, but with a KA-DE throttle body. I do think I'm going to be able to get the cruise to work also by the way. If it works, I'll let you all know how I did it. I do have an SSAutoCrap mani and we'll see how it holds up. I'm using an S14 T28 with a larger compressor wheel. I don't know what size as it just kinda fell into my lap that way. I have a 3" flyn dump pipe from australia. It's a nice piece, but you have to use a wierd O2 sensor and the oval flang isn't quite lined up correctly. I currently have a 3" test pipe, but that will soon be replace with a 3" FLEX test pipe. I'm hoping that will take some vibrational strain off of the tubular mani. From there I've got an Apex N1 Single. I'm currently runnin on a completely stock ECU. (Hence the need for the high octane fuel) I still need to have my piping fabbed up in steel instead of PVC, and I'll soon be running the SDS. I've got a Greddy FMIC, but I'm going to go to a smaller intercooler as I want things to spool a little quicker. It's rated to 400hp, so it's a little over kill. It refuses to get hot though, so it seems to do it's job pretty well. That's about it right now. I REALLY need a recirc valve. I DO plan on recircing, so I just need a cheap DSM one or something, but that'll come soon enough. My girlfriend likes the compressor surge, but it makes me for my turbo. I'm also having the stock CA transmission COMPLETELY gone though. Just about everything but the gears is new. I'm currently running a KA-E transmission right now. Switching back to the CA transmission should also help with some acceleration and torque, so I'm excited for it to get done.

I do have one problem that's bothering me. I'm using a SPEC clutch and the friction point is WAY up at the top of the pedal travel. How the hell do I fix that? Has anyone else experienced this? The only part of the hydraulic system of the clutch that isn't brand new is the clutch slave, and I've got a new one to put in if that's what the problem is. I know there is an adjustment on the pedal, but I thought it was for freeplay and I don't know that you could use it to correct that. If I'm wrong PLEASE correct me so that I can tinker with it. The current friction point is quite annoying and very condusive to overreving. Any help in that department would be greatly appreciated. Anyway, I'll keep everyone updated and I soon hope to have some dyno's up for everyone to see. I'm tempted to take it as it sits, and just do one pull, just to see how it's doing. I may call them tomorrow. I'm afraid they'll laugh at my piping though...

[biosehnsucht]

first off, what compression, 9.5:1? 9:1?

I was going to do 9.5:1 originally (a few of you might recall) but I chickened out as its my daily. however I've decided not to bother selling my spare motor instead its going to be built into a 9.5:1 CA19DET, then I'll swap it in, pull the 8.5 CA19DET and tear it down and check things out then slap it together (assuming all's well) and store it safely in case of emergency.

secondly, my friend's protege, stock, as well as the Mazdaspeed variation, both disengage higher up than my car does. I actually wish mine did it that way, its hard to get used to at first but its much more useful..

on secomnd thought do you mean top as in all the way pressed in or off the clutch? i don't see how it can make overrevving more of a problem..

ah, and the transmission might help some but im running the CA transmission, and its definately too tall thanks to our USDM 4.08 gears

I plan to get my hands on some 4.3xx or 4.6xx ring gear/pinion sets from 4WD nissan trucks one of these days and swap that in... I don't need to do 150mph, I just want mad accel.

[Looneybomber]

Ryan, I won't steal any of your thunder and let you answer all the questions.

I'm voting for a dyno run now as a reference point you know? Once you get it all tuned you can go "damn look how much hp I picked up here. Oh wow look at my A/F ratio, that sucker is spot on!"

[float_6969]

Bio-I mean that to get to the friction point, you have to let the pedal almost all of the way out, away from the floor. I'm fairly adjusted to it, but my girlfriend hates it, and I must admit, that I feel like I could shift more confidently in it if it were closer to the floor.

Looney, thanks man, and yea, that was the exact reason I was going to do one now. If for no other reason to show people how important tuning really is.

[WeldingHank]

adjust the rod on the master cylinder from under the dash. when i finished my swap, i had a problem of my clutch not disenguaging at all!

[biosehnsucht]

I wish mine was higher up, right now I have to put it almost entirely to the floor before it disengages completely.. it makes for easy modulation (as it uses a large range) but makes fast shifting difficult.

So, whats the CR, damnit. :P

[boost_boy]

Ok, so this is the SECOND time I've installed my motor and had it running. Not as exciting as the first time, but hey, you only loose your virginity once right? Anyway, as some of you may know, this is definatly not a stock CA by anymeans. I am still needing to do some major tuning, but with some stupidly high octane fuel I feel I can safely drive the car as it sits. So here's how it's running currently. Below 3K, it sucks. Under part throttle it will buck a little and it seems to hesitate. But stomp that throttle, spool that modified S14 T28 and hold on to your azz. Oh, and keep your eyes on the tach cuz 7G comes up fast. I can also say that I firmly believe that the stock headgasket is definatly up to the job. I think if it was gonna pop, it'a done it by now.

Incase anyone doesn't know, this build was somewhat of an experiment. I've built I high compression CA18DET. I used as many stock components as I thought safe. As far as the bottom end is concern, I only have forged high compression, oversized pistons. All bearings and seals have been replaced. I've also got a brand new oil pump and water pump. I do have a lightweight flywheel and the motor does rev much more freely now. I definatly lost some torque though. I'm also using a stock headgasket that I simply coated with some of that copper spray gasket stuff. I am using ARP headstuds. I didn't trust the stock bolts to take the abuse from the boost AND compression and still keep the HG in place. The head work as been minimal. Basically just cleaned up the walls a little bit. I also port matched the intake and exhaust. Stock manifold, but with a KA-DE throttle body. I do think I'm going to be able to get the cruise to work also by the way. If it works, I'll let you all know how I did it. I do have an SSAutoCrap mani and we'll see how it holds up. I'm using an S14 T28 with a larger compressor wheel. I don't know what size as it just kinda fell into my lap that way. I have a 3" flyn dump pipe from australia. It's a nice piece, but you have to use a wierd O2 sensor and the oval flang isn't quite lined up correctly. I currently have a 3" test pipe, but that will soon be replace with a 3" FLEX test pipe. I'm hoping that will take some vibrational strain off of the tubular mani. From there I've got an Apex N1 Single. I'm currently runnin on a completely stock ECU. (Hence the need for the high octane fuel) I still need to have my piping fabbed up in steel instead of PVC, and I'll soon be running the SDS. I've got a Greddy FMIC, but I'm going to go to a smaller intercooler as I want things to spool a little quicker. It's rated to 400hp, so it's a little over kill. It refuses to get hot though, so it seems to do it's job pretty well. That's about it right now. I REALLY need a recirc valve. I DO plan on recircing, so I just need a cheap DSM one or something, but that'll come soon enough. My girlfriend likes the compressor surge, but it makes me for my turbo. I'm also having the stock CA transmission COMPLETELY gone though. Just about everything but the gears is new. I'm currently running a KA-E transmission right now. Switching back to the CA transmission should also help with some acceleration and torque, so I'm excited for it to get done.

I do have one problem that's bothering me. I'm using a SPEC clutch and the friction point is WAY up at the top of the pedal travel. How the hell do I fix that? Has anyone else experienced this? The only part of the hydraulic system of the clutch that isn't brand new is the clutch slave, and I've got a new one to put in if that's what the problem is. I know there is an adjustment on the pedal, but I thought it was for freeplay and I don't know that you could use it to correct that. If I'm wrong PLEASE correct me so that I can tinker with it. The current friction point is quite annoying and very condusive to overreving. Any help in that department would be greatly appreciated. Anyway, I'll keep everyone updated and I soon hope to have some dyno's up for everyone to see. I'm tempted to take it as it sits, and just do one pull, just to see how it's doing. I may call them tomorrow. I'm afraid they'll laugh at my piping though...

Congrats Ryan . Now don't come back here and say you've blown it up, either.

Dee

[8ggalant]

congrats man im happy for you...get that beast tuned and show us sum numbers

[Turbogixxer]

Bio-I mean that to get to the friction point, you have to let the pedal almost all of the way out, away from the floor. I'm fairly adjusted to it, but my girlfriend hates it, and I must admit, that I feel like I could shift more confidently in it if it were closer to the floor.

First, bleed the clutch line. If the problem does not go away (or get better) you use adjust the pedal. BUT, make sure you adjust it so it have play on both sodes of the fiction zone.

[Turbogixxer]

first off, what compression, 9.5:1? 9:1?

I was going to do 9.5:1 originally (a few of you might recall) but I chickened out as its my daily. however I've decided not to bother selling my spare motor instead its going to be built into a 9.5:1 CA19DET, then I'll swap it in, pull the 8.5 CA19DET and tear it down and check things out then slap it together (assuming all's well) and store it safely in case of emergency.

Compression is not a problem if it is tuned right. The more compression, the easlier you will find the MBTT. You just need to tune on the light side. I have tuned 11:1 compression street (pump) cars with no problems.

[Dattebayo]

You say you are running a SOHC KA transmission? And that the CA is different? Is it the KA gearbox housing and gears with the CA bellhousing bolted up or what?

I was under the impression that all S13 trannies were the same ratio. And that the KA trannies were stronger than the CA as well.

Am I misinformed?

[Looneybomber]

You say you are running a SOHC KA transmission? And that the CA is different? Is it the KA gearbox housing and gears with the CA bellhousing bolted up or what?

I was under the impression that all S13 trannies were the same ratio. And that the KA trannies were stronger than the CA as well.

Am I misinformed?

Yeah the KA used a different gear ratios than the CA did along with a different rear end ratio. Float go into details for me AND TELL THEM THE COMPRESSION RATIO!!I will say those pistons looked nice! I'm sad I didn't get any pics

[c-rad]

CA18DET Gear Ratios1st -- 3.3212nd-- 1.9023rd -- 1.3084th -- 1.0005th -- 0.838

Final Drive -- 4.363

KA24DE Gear Ratios1st -- 3.3212nd-- 1.9023rd -- 1.3084th -- 1.0005th -- 0.838

Final Drive 4.083

As you can see, the only difference in the trannies is the final drive ratio which won't matter because you are using a 240 diff.

[Dattebayo]

BTW, I am using a J30 diff.It will probably be too low for a CA then. Oh well, I can always sell it then get a 240 VLSD.

And who is actually right here? I see two opposing facts there...

[NeedCAforS13]

CA18DET Gear Ratios1st -- 3.3212nd-- 1.9023rd -- 1.3084th -- 1.0005th -- 0.838

Final Drive -- 4.363

KA24DE Gear Ratios1st -- 3.3212nd-- 1.9023rd -- 1.3084th -- 1.0005th -- 0.838

Final Drive 4.083

where are you getting these #'s from Chris? I have to say my CA has a low 5th gear at least (if not all the gears)... I don't remember my KA being so high in the rev range on the highway, but it's been awhile since I had my KA I suppose...

Sean

[biosehnsucht]

in no particular order

1. I'm an idiot, I was thinking of the clutch stuff backwards - sounds like float has my problem right now as far as clutch

2. I think the EDM and JDM CA trannies are geared different. In fact, I think there are at least two gearings of EDM trannies.. so which are we looking at here? I do know my revs seem to basically match what I was doing before..

3. Yes, tuning can make high CR work fine - but as it's a daily driven car I didn't want to risk that my tuning would be nonsufficient and blow it up, since I'll be doing this pretty much all myself.

[mikesim]

in no particular order

1. I'm an idiot, I was thinking of the clutch stuff backwards - sounds like float has my problem right now as far as clutch

2. I think the EDM and JDM CA trannies are geared different. In fact, I think there are at least two gearings of EDM trannies.. so which are we looking at here? I do know my revs seem to basically match what I was doing before..

3. Yes, tuning can make high CR work fine - but as it's a daily driven car I didn't want to risk that my tuning would be nonsufficient and blow it up, since I'll be doing this pretty much all myself.

you're correct about EDM and JDM CA trannies being different. i noticed that at 60mph i'm revving 3500rpm in 5th.

from the S13 200sx FSM:

JDM1st -- 3.3212nd-- 1.9023rd -- 1.3084th -- 1.0005th -- 0.838

Final Drive 4.363

EDM1st -- 3.5922nd -- 2.0573rd -- 1.3614th -- 1.0005th -- 0.821

Final Drive 3.916

[float_6969]

Well let me put it this way. I had a CA transmission in the car when I first installed the motor. THAT transmission is now being rebilt and I currently have a KA-E transmission in there. I can tell you FOR A FACT that the gearing is not the same. IIRC the motor was turning about 3500rpm's in 5th at 60mph. I'm now closer to about 3100rpm's in 5th at 60mph. I can also tell you that the CA doesn't like it. At all. CA gearing > KA gearing....

[biosehnsucht]

I think my CA transmission is putting me around 3000 at 60 in 5th..

Float, when you had the CA transmission in, did you have the CA or KA speedo installed (since the CA one would be slow by 7% i.e. at 100kmh you're really doing 107kmh)

Right now I have the CA gear swapped onto the KA sensor so I know from experience (the CA sensor looked better to begin with so we swapped gears and installed it and that didn't work, was too lazy to swap gears again so just put in the CA one and learned to live with it reading low)

having said that, there may well be some differences, but all the speeds and rpm's I remember from the KA seem to be the same or close enough.. i.e. ~2krpm in 5 is ~45mph, in 4th is ~35, etc

one of these days I'm going to have to try and find some faster final drive gears to swap in

[Turbogixxer]

I think my CA transmission is putting me around 3000 at 60 in 5th..

You have to factor in tire size too. Yes, the different speedo will make a differenne (if the are for different size gears)

[float_6969]

I think I've got a KA speedo, but I've got the KA sensor in there too. I just found out that my speedo reads about 5mph too fast though. Not sure why that is? I was driving past one of the radar/speed things that they put on the side of the highway that tell you how fast you are going.

[Looneybomber]

That one on 92 is spot on too! If I am showing 60-61 mph on my speedo, my Exploder is doing 60

[float_6969]

Is there one on 92 now? I was talking about the one on K-4.

[biosehnsucht]

being a little off is normal, esp as you go faster.

but your speed should read "correctly" since you have the KA sensor to go with the KA rear end. if you don't put the KA sensor into the CA transmission when you put it in, you'll be off by 7% on the low side on top of however off it is normally (more likely to get yourself pulled over)

[float_6969]

well I know being off a little is normal, but I was off by 5mph doing only 40mph. But it's in the "good" direction (I read faster than i'm actually going) so I'll screw with it later.