KA vs SR (sorry guys - not another which is better, I promise. Just me ranting)

[CRyan]

Well guys - As some know, I went to get my alternator rebuilt. Turns out - Its shot to crap because of my oil leaks, that seem to be forming everywhere with my KA.

So I'm left with a very hard decision, with two logical answers.

Either, I can remove the KA, and completely rebuild it, make sure there is not a sight of a leak, compression FANTASTIC, etc., OR

Swap out the beaten KA for an SR20DET, notch top of course, with no modifications besides that as what comes with it when ordered. Stock boost. Stock EVERYTHING. Even a side mount.

I've come to you all, to get an honest, die hard opinion as to how you would go about this.

Mind you, because my job limits me to time, and I need the car to be either rebuilt or swapped within the month, I will be letting a reputable shop do the work.

Inform me guys - Its all I ask; Like what you all beieve would be a price range in COMPLETELY rebuilding the KA.

Or swapping the engine and running COMPLETELY stock.

Just to inform you furthermore, I believe I will be purchasing the SR (if I decide that route) from this company - http://www.japanmotorimport.co...94-98

So if you happen to know any "horror" stories or if these guys are great - Please inform!

Thanks guys

CRyan

[simmode1]

What's your budget and what are you doing for transportation in the meanwhile?

[Ghast]

I would do the SR.

And i would order it from Pandagarage.com

That is from a financial point of view.

Good Luck.

One Love,

Ghasty

[CRyan]

What's your budget and what are you doing for transportation in the meanwhile?

Budget will probably be around 4000 dollars. Thats a "roundabout" guess though. . .

I would do the SR.

And i would order it from Pandagarage.com

That is from a financial point of view.

Good Luck.

One Love,

Ghasty

Thanks for the encouraging words, sir. I will check it out now. The company's link I posted above stated that I would only need an intercooler with piping. After going back and forth through emails I talked him into sending me a stock side mount. . .

I'm the kind of person who wants to fix to improve, not to "just get by". As you can see with both my choices, they will be more of an "improvement" for my predicament.

[simmode1]

Based on past posts from you, I'd suggest SR. $4000 should be more than enough so a basic swap. IMO, it doesn't make sense to rebuild a KA if you're not going to turbo and I don't think KA-T is the route for you.

[AZ89two4Tsx]

If the SR is in good condtion (you better know before you swap it) go for it, absolutely.

[CRyan]

Based on past posts from you, I'd suggest SR. $4000 should be more than enough so a basic swap. IMO, it doesn't make sense to rebuild a KA if you're not going to turbo and I don't think KA-T is the route for you.

Thank you for the straight forward answer - with this and a lot of other posts made by myself.

Now, in route to the SR, do you believe that $4000 would be able to afford the "notchtop" engine/trans and what not, and the costs of a shop doing the swap?

More so I'm just trying to find a good price as to how much the seemingly simple swap would run. . .Because I'm sure things will break, etc. . .

And I have given up on our search icon. I can't use it appropriately apparently. . .

[simmode1]

http://www.pandagarage.com/engines.html

They have an excellent rep and an s14 sr for $2450... You should have enought left over to cover shipping & install...

Edit: Nevermind. The link you post is $250 cheaper...

[CRyan]

http://www.pandagarage.com/engines.html

They have an excellent rep and an s14 sr for $2450... You should have enought left over to cover shipping & install...

Just sent Jimmy an email - So I'm guessing this is quite the reputable company lol.

Thanks guys for such the quick responses. If anyone would care to throw in anything else that could help further my 240 back to road worthy, that would be great.

[JdrifterCA]

umm SRs dont pass smog in CA. iono about where u r. and umm i was in the same boat as you not long ago and i went for the SR. It made the car alot faster of course, but alot lounder. Other than that i dont see any downside. . I wouldn't do sr swap if my ka was runing good, but since ur ka is not. so GO for it. just hope notthing is wrong with the motor ur geting. best of luck.

[CRyan]

umm SRs dont pass smog in CA. iono about where u r. and umm i was in the same boat as you not long ago and i went for the SR. It made the car alot faster of course, but alot lounder. Other than that i dont see any downside. . I wouldn't do sr swap if my ka was runing good, but since ur ka is not. so GO for it. just hope notthing is wrong with the motor ur geting. best of luck.

haha - Yeahhhh. . . .I live in a state that as long as the car has an exhaust system coming out the back of the car, your good In the Metro area, there is a sound ordinace, but thats about it. No smog. No dB tests. One of the only reasons I enjoy Mississippi

[ca18detgabby]

4k is going to be hard to even get a shop to put an SR in...........

once you get it in.........you still have a 19ish year old motor in your shell.

I woud rebuild, cuz any SR you get from Jland these days is going to require a rebuild at a minimum.

replace CA18DET with SR and this writing is worth its weight in gold

zer...ca18s

thanks TMS.

[J240sx]

You should just swap the engine in yourself if you have the time and tools.

[S14toRPS13]

4k is going to be hard to even get a shop to put an SR in...........

once you get it in.........you still have a 19ish year old motor in your shell.

I woud rebuild, cuz any SR you get from Jland these days is going to require a rebuild at a minimum.

replace CA18DET with SR and this writing is worth its weight in gold

Always recommending CA's. It's cool, we all have our preferences.

I like the idea of going SR too, especially if you don't have to worry about smogging. If you're wanting a SR notchback, I'm not sure if $4000 will be enough. Most shops will probably charge around $1000 to $1500 these days just for labor. You still have to take into consideration fluids, spark plugs, new clutch, flywheel resurface, and all the other little things that comes up.

[UNVMY240]

I say rebuild KA and heres why....

Rebuild KA: KA's are strong reliable motorsyou are not boosting but can easily can beless maintance (no turbo to wear out etc)if rebuilt correctly u have a "new" motor with zero miles.rebuild can take a long time to do.rebuilds do cost more than a swap.still have a 150hp+/- motor.

SR swap:

SR strong reliable motorhave boostparts are getting easier to find and get for less than $2000. you have 200hp +/-you get a motor that has been beatin on.has anywhere between 50k to 100k on it.have to worry about worn out parts or 1/2 life partsparts availability... how long does it takes to find and get part ordered in.

[hbpignosePA]

id look at jhot if your looking to do the swap.

they are in ATL; you could probably find a buddy w a truck and save yourself some shipping charges

plus ive heard nothing but good things from these guys.

good luck whichever you choose

i did order non engine parts from pandagarage... those guys are real nice

[hbpignosePA]

ooo

and i wouldnt order somethin from canada... your askin for trouble (extra customs fees etc and i know alot of those importers are shady)

and not to threadjack but where exactly is brandon MS?

i might be visiting jackson/ridgeland at some point this summer i was just wonderin if it was close by

[CRyan]

ooo

and i wouldnt order somethin from canada... your askin for trouble (extra customs fees etc and i know alot of those importers are shady)

and not to threadjack but where exactly is brandon MS?

i might be visiting jackson/ridgeland at some point this summer i was just wonderin if it was close by

Haha - why yes - I practically live in the jackson area, and my girlfriend lives next to Ridgeland, in Madison.

You should for sure shoot me an email when it gets that time - Granted I work every day, I can show ya around, and by then, I'll be able to legally say we can go grab a beer or something.

[CRyan]

And back on topic.

Its final - I have a shop that will give me an amazing price.

And I would go KA. But I really got to thinking. Doing an engine swap will be more so of a life changing event.

Newer engine, if done correctly less worries, etc.

The KA I will always love. But I just honestly think its time for me to move on.

Will keep everyone posted - Having to go by bank to make sure my finances are in order. . .

[HoosierSX]

Nice..

but you'll have to figure in the cost of speeding fines that will happen in the future

[Fonz]

Man i was in the same boat as you. Ka crapped out and switched to a sr. It made me practically re fall in love with my car and ive never looked back. GL wit the swap

[Chris28]

Have you thought about finding another KA to swap in? You don't have to rebuild the KA, they are cheap enough to find in good condition locally. Your KA has oil leaks, what if the SR you get has worse oil leaks? If I were to get an SR I would rebuild it, but if you feel comfortable dropping in an engine just as old as your KA the 4000 budget might work for you.

If you are looking to upgrade, which I assume you are, yes the SR is a good choice, but might not be the wisest choice. You might want to drop in a cheap KA and continue saving for the SR.

[Ghast]

HEY! If you do choose to go panda garage, Do me the favor of asking for "BJ" and tell him that "Brenta" in texas ( Bren-tay) Referred you to them on NiCO,If he says he does not know me, tell him its the guy who he found that extremely nice AERO s13 front end for.

Maybe get me a discount when i get ready to order my SR or something. I need all i can get lmao.

I would appreciate it man, For reals!

One Love,

Ghasty

[hbpignosePA]

haha sadly i wont be able till drink till jan grr... but ill def hit you up if i end spending some time in the south

so where'd you end up gettin the swap from?

[CRyan]

haha sadly i wont be able till drink till jan grr... but ill def hit you up if i end spending some time in the south

so where'd you end up gettin the swap from?

Still working, and making sure finances are in the right order. I've been told I'm having to get rid of my daily while the 240 is on jack stands, something about it "makes it look like a junk place". . .

Anyway - It looks like I'll be ordering through the first website I posted - They have the best deal, and the guy is really down to earth. . . And well hell, he's throwing in a intercooler for free. I don't believe anyone can beat that price.

I talked with Panda Garage and he told me straight, to go with those guys.

So for future reference. I plan to do a lot of buisness with P.G. That was a really tough thing to do for me but he was willing to say that he was beat on the deal.

Which I find great in the automotive industry.

I'm calling the shop to verify on labor and shop time to make sure I'm not going about it and under shooting my goal.

And I'm going to go buy another "re conditioned" alternator just to put on the car to last it til it gets ready for the shop.

[positron1]

My KA had developed an oil leak as well, good luck bro'!

[MastaYu]

I would go sr in your situation

[vda240]

I would go with SR, but it sounds like you need reliability - not to say that sr20 are not reliable its just a completely stock imported sr20 is not going to be reliable. You're going to have to do some maintance to it in order to be completely reliable everyday driver. (which in your budget is VERY achievable, if you do the install yourself or call your buddy or anyone that you know who can help you get the job done right) Now you can get a really clean swap from a rep. company and not change anything and cross your fingers... it could run reliable but still in a few months or so you're going to have to change parts like belts/water pump/and this and that in which every used motor needs.

IMO.

[HurryupandrunS13]

ALLDATA calls for 20 hrs labor to rebuild the bottom end, so that should give you an idea.... But as bad as that seems, I still think you should keep the KA. SRs are not reliable as a majority. I just posted a thread on oil problems with SRs, and it's hit and miss on a GOOD swap. Based on my experience with the SR, a bad one, I wish I would have boosted my KA. Not because of a power or displacement thing. I'm just starting to shy away from platform changes and the can of worms that can come with them.

If you get an SR, make ABSOLUTELY sure the engine is in good mechanical shape. Like I was told, these are junkyard motors were gettin.........