KA-T Mod List, Good or Bad? What do I need/am missing?/don't need?

[5ForAQuarter]

Okay, this is my very first post ever. I'm young, and I like to think I know a lot, when in reality, I'm not so sure I do, but I'm no n00b to the tuning scene. I recently bought my second 240sx (totalled the first ) and I decided to turbocharge it during the winter season (KA24DET). The car is going to be my DD, and I'm shooting for 300HP. I'm pretty sure on the engine mods, I won't bother including my suspension (next post hopefully), but as soon as I emerse myself in ECU's and tuning, along with wideband o2 sensors and boost controllers, I'm lost, so any input would be greatly apprecitated This is my mod list as of now: (not offcial)- CP 8.5:1 89mm Pistons- Eagle rods (stock good ti'll 400whp???)- ARP 12pt head studs- B.C Valve springs/retainer kit- B.C 264/264 cams stage 2- Cometic Head Gasket- S15 T28 Ball Bearing Turbo with HKS acutator (plan on running 15psi) - SS Turbo lines and all gaskets needed- Megan racing bottom mount KA24DE/T3-T4 Flange Turbo Manifold- Blitz Nur Spec Exhaust system- Megan racing 3'' downpipe- Megan racing Exhaust outlet elbow- Megan racing 3'' test pipe- HKS SSQV BOV- Greddy V-SPEC Intercooler kit- FRSport Hotpipe with HKS flange- OEM S15 Turbo Inlet/Outlet pipes- *SPEC Stage 3 Clutch Kit- Apexi Super Intake Suction Kit- Koyo Aluminum Radiator- Ageny Power Rad hoses- Z32 MAF with plug- Nismo Colder thermostat- Circut Sports Coolant Resevoir Tank- Megan racing oil catch tank- Nismo 2 way LSD- Nismo engine and transmission mounts- B&M Short Shift kit- NGK Plugs and Wires- HKS D1 Oil filler cap- Walbaro 255lph Fuel Pump- 555cc Nismo Injectors- AEM FPR- Wideband O2 sensor?- Greddy Emange- SAFC?- Greddy Profec 2 Boost controller (do i still need a boost gauge??)- Apexi turbo timer- Greddy speed cut controller?- AEM UEGO Wideband controller/gauge- AEM Oil pressure gauge - ECU Tune- any other gauges needed??- anything eletrical i'm missing??

Thats all I have so far, don't know if I missed anything (i'm sure i did), too much to remember

Like I said before, tell me what you think, whats good and bad, and what I should look into.

Thanks for your time! -Elwood

[480sx]

The following is just my opinion. Iv been into the ka-t scene for two years, on the .Org and here pretty much every day.

You really dont need half the crap you have listed there for 300hp. 300-350 hp can be done all day long on a stock block motor. You can save the money that you would spend on internals and put it into a better turbo setup and tuning. That way if and when you decide to do a built block and go for big hp your turbo setup and tuning system will be top notch and ready to handle it.

B.C stuff isnt really that great IMO. You would be much better off just getting a set of crower cams made from blanks instead of reground BC cams.

You dont need a cometic HG, a stock style fel-pro is good till 450+ hp. Cometics are a huge PITA for most people.

You should skip the s15 t2 turbo and go for a t3 flanged turbo. T2 flange chokes a Ka once you get into higher hp, the ka is a big 4 banger. A t3/t4 50 trim .63 ar is a MUCH better choice for our motors and can do 450 hp. It also has a very fast spool, seriously its a perfect turbo for our motors. I ran one and absolutely loved it, i would never put a smaller turbo on a Ka.

The tune is MUCH more important than forged internals. The best option would be an EMS, like AEM and a dyno tune. You can go a cheaper rout and do a Nistune ecu + a dyno tune. Or just the easy tried and true method of an Enthalpy tune + safc and fine adjustments.

One thing i regret about my build is picking 550 cc injectors. If i had the sense i would have gone with at least 850cc, because i already want to upgrade. No reason not to go with 850cc injectors.

[5ForAQuarter]

I totally understand that great amounts of power can be made from the stock internals, but the engine i have is not the best (internal wise), and figured i need to rebuild it, so when i do plan on putting a turbo on it, i would be ready instead of having it blow up 30 km's down the road.

The only reason i planned on putting a new head gasket in was so that it could handle boost pressures better than stock, better safe than sorry

I didn't think about putting on a bigger turbo, i'm on a budget and thought that for my DD a S15 t28 would be good enough, but if i decided to go bigger, than what turbo do you recomend?

So if i were to do the enthalpy tune + safc, would i still neeed the emanage? if i were to ue the emanage, would would i need than?

Wouldn't 850cc be a little big, wouldn't somthing in the 700 range be good enough? Plus for my inital 300hp mark, wouldn't 555cc be good enough??

[esahuque]

-CP 8.5:1 89mm Pistons ( not needed for 300hp but a good idea if you are rebuilding anyway)

- Eagle rods (stock good till 400whp???) (not needed for 300 hp)

- ARP 12pt head studs (great investment)

- B.C Valve springs/retainer kit (not needed for 300 hp)

- B.C 264/264 cams stage 2 (not needed for 300 hp)

- Cometic Head Gasket ( stock HG is better IMO, a lot of people have had lots of problems with these gaskets)

- S15 T28 Ball Bearing Turbo with HKS acutator (plan on running 15psi) ( T2 type turbo is not going to be sufficient for 300 hp, T3 type turbo is a perfect match for the ka. and if you are giong to run a T3 type turbo you are going to need a wastgate and dump tube) - SS Turbo lines and all gaskets needed (needed)

- Megan racing bottom mount KA24DE/T3-T4 Flange Turbo Manifold (not going to work with the T28 do to the fact that the T28 is a T2 flange turbo) - Blitz Nur Spec Exhaust system (The Knock off N1 exhaust from ebay is the best bang for your buck, the blitz exhaust is way over rated and over priced IMO)

- Megan racing 3'' downpipe (needed)

- Megan racing Exhaust outlet elbow (needed)

- Megan racing 3'' test pipe (needed but again ebay one would work fine)

- HKS SSQV BOV (nice choice, sounds great)

- Greddy V-SPEC Intercooler kit (once again over rated and over priced, ebay intercoolers works great)

- FRSport Hotpipe with HKS flange ( if you don't want to peace it together yourself fssport will work, but remember that its made for a bottom mount manny, so if you go top mount or log style manny do to the T3 style turbo this hot pipe is not going to work for your setup) - OEM S15 Turbo Inlet/Outlet pipes ( if you keep the t28)

- *SPEC Stage 3 Clutch Kit (needed)

- Apexi Super Intake Suction Kit ( not needed but if you want it)

- Koyo Aluminum Radiator (great upgrade for your coolant system, ditch your belt driven fan and get yourself some electric fans)

- Ageny Power Rad hoses ( not needed but if you want them)

- Z32 MAF with plug (needed)

- Nismo Colder thermostat (great upgrade to go along with the Koyo rad and some electric fans)

- Circut Sports Coolant Resevoir Tank (not needed)

- Megan racing oil catch tank (not really needed but its good to have one as long as you set it up right)

- Nismo 2 way LSD (depending on what you are planning on do with your car, drift, drag, Auto-x......)

- Nismo engine and transmission mounts (needed)

- B&M Short Shift kit (depending on what you are planning on do with your car, drift, drag, Auto-x......)

- NGK Plugs and Wires (NGK BKR7E is what you want, the wires you can stay with stock)

- HKS D1 Oil filler cap (Ummm....... Yeah....... not really needed, you want to spend money on some kind of oil cap, get a magnetized oil drain plug. especially if you are going to rebuild, that way you can make sure that you don't have any metal shavings in your oil that will damage your motor)

- Walbaro 255lph Fuel Pump (needed)

- 555cc Nismo Injectors (needed but if you want to run higher hp in the future, you might want to go bigger)

- AEM FPR (over priced and not really needed, stock works fine for your application)

- Wideband O2 sensor? ( comes with the AEM UEGO Wideband controller/gauge)

- Greddy Emange (not if your going with a tuned ECU)

- SAFC? ( depends on how good your tune is)

- Greddy Profec 2 Boost controller (do i still need a boost gauge??) (yes you still need a gauge)

- Apexi turbo timer (sure if you want one, most people just leave there car idle for a few min)

- Greddy speed cut controller? (not really needed but if you want one)

- AEM UEGO Wideband controller/gauge (NEEDED)

- AEM Oil pressure gauge (needed)

- ECU Tune ( not if your going with a Greddy Emange system)

REMEMBER, this is just MY opinion, people have made more HP on less and other people have made less HP on more. so its all up to you!

[480sx]

Its your call on the injectors 550 cc is fine for your goals.

Your motors not going to blow if you tune it right and everything else is ok.

Another thing, if you are going to go with new pistons, get .5mm over. Freshly bored and honed cylinder walls are always good.

No one needs an emanage lol. They are a PITA, just avoid it all together.

t3/t4 50 trim .63 ar. Perfect turbo for this car, you cant go wrong.

If your on a budget you could really save a lot of money, your list is very wasteful IMO.

[5ForAQuarter]

Thanks a lot for the replies and help, but the more I look into the cost and my individual goals for this car, I'm slowly realizing that it would probably be cheaper to go SR I have heard the arguements, and plainly put, they are BOTH amazing motors, but when you have a KA24DE with miserable compression and many other problems, its hard to just slap a turbo on it and hope it doesn't explode.

I totally understand that how 300hp would be made without half of what I have on there, but the fact of the matter is that I want to do things right the first time, and if I exceed or come short of my goal of 300hp, than so be it. I'm glad to hear that my set-up is at least on the right track.

If I stuck with the T28, how much HP could I get out of it? Would it be better if it were upgraded it on a SR? I'm not so sure anymore on my setup as is, all I know is that I have to work out.

What exactly is wasteful on my setup? I can undertsand stuff like the oil filler cap, but in means of engine internals, the way I see it, its all needed for a safe setup, some kind of insurance.

What should I do?

[abc123omg]

i have the basic t25 setup and i get 220-ish whp.

id say the t28 is the way to get close to the 300hp mark you want while maintaning good streetablitly characteristics.

but price-wise, my t25 setup only ran me 700$ for everything (FMIC, injectors turbo, manifold etc)

a SAFE setup would be one where the fuel system/tune isnt compromised and the core components not skimped on.

but for ka-t, its MAINLY YOUR TUNE that will make or break your turbo setup (which means SAFC is ONLY to fine tune a existing ECU tune, and not serve as the main tune) . also have injectors and a better fuel pump to match your power goals as needed.

also, having a ka in already good condition is important (obviously)

things that are wasteful is all relative. a stock ka can take 350-400hp on stock internals.. so if you are aiming for 300hp, and will not go any more, than a completely rebuilt engine might be a waste since rebuilding an engine costs a lot and would imply possibly 300+ hp.

[480sx]

You can do a stock block OEM rebuild for under 1000 dollars. Thats probably your best bet IMO. Seriously if all you want to do is 300 hp forged internals is overkill. Stock pistons and rods are plenty reliable for 300 hp as long as your tunes good.

[DrifterXRPS13]

look at my sig, for my s14...i made 300whp and 300lb-tq on 12lbs of boost...unfortunately for me, one of my cylinders blew, still haven't figured out if it was an injector that got stuck open or my head lifted, i got 0 compression on that cylinder..maybe i should've bought some head studs..oh well..

point is, you can easily get that kind of power without half of the stuff you have listed...i had a dyno session of about 3 hours too to get mine perfect and **** still fails, it just happens.

[Jookmasta]

highly recommend some sort of adjustable FPR as the upgraded fuel pump can throw off the fuel pressure. not to mention that despite the tune, if your fuel pressure is off, this can cause issues in terms of driveability among other things. your list seems alright but everyone else that has commented before me has hit the nail on the head. start with a t3 flanged manifold from the get-go.

[kouki_hmongster]

If you plann on 300whp then it wouldnt be a bad idea to do internal modification. if you have the money then go for it because i know down the line you'll want more power. i have a built motor and i dont regrett getting any of it even though i'm still running the sr t25. of course i plann on 400whp daily w/ a new set-up, but 300 daily will be really fun.

GL