KA24DE Rebuild Advice Wanted.

[Hithere]

At 200k miles the ole 240 has begun to smoke a little.

A year or so ago I had contemplated rebuilding the engine.

Myself and the wife have now decided to do basically refurbish the 240. We are doing new paint, interior, engine.

Would appreciate advice on decent quality rebuild kits.

Would also appreciate advice on boosting the horsepower in an economical fashion. This is an every day driver.

I was also wondering, if the cams and crank spec out to meet factory specs, would any of you reuse them, or would you go for new crank and cams, timing gear etc ?

As far as the interior, have any of you utilized katzkin leathers, and are they easy to install?

[KoopaTroopa]

I'm currently rebuilding my 200+k ka24de also. I'm in the middle of pulling the engine out of the bay/cleaning things up. My advice would be to find a machine shop nearby and talk to them. Sounds to me like all you may need is a valvejob and a new headgasket, unless your rings are going. AMS performance makes a full rebuild kit.

[motoman399]

let the machine shop choose what is best for your engine. they have done plenty of them before and will know how to best suit you

[Hithere]

I'm currently rebuilding my 200+k ka24de also. I'm in the middle of pulling the engine out of the bay/cleaning things up. My advice would be to find a machine shop nearby and talk to them. Sounds to me like all you may need is a valvejob and a new headgasket, unless your rings are going. AMS performance makes a full rebuild kit.

I will have to agree with you on the rings. I can put a can of rislone in with the oil and the smoke will disappear for a few months. The stuff actually lasted for over 12k miles before the smoke came back this time. However, I can tell that I seem to be loosing a bit of HP, the get up and go is not as good as it use to be.

Im just a bit apprehensive, trying to take my time, do it right the first time. I have rebuilt several engines over the years, however I have never dealt with a DOHC.

We have allocated 3k for the paint, I just want to be sure that whatever I'm doing under the hood is correct. Would hate to have to get back into the engine, after paint.

[NME-s12]

All depends on your level of expertise. If you dont feel comfortable do the rebuild your self i would definitely have a shop perform it. Other wise i have heard great things about the AMS kit. If your looking into Fuel economy+power i would recommend one of 2 things. 1st Have a shop do a sr20 swap with everything stock like it was from japan. so it has a restored look.(sounded like thats what you want from your comment above) With that you will have approximatively 215hp and 28 miles to the gallon highway at 70+mph. 2nd do the rebuild and boost it. This route going cheap as possible with reliable parts looks a little like this list.

s14 turbo $250-$400
Exhaust manifold $200-700
Dump pipe & Down pipe $300ish
Intercooler w/ piping $200-$600
Injectors $250-$400
intake $100-$270
Stand alone ECU or Piggy Back or SR-ECU w/ Rom flash and mod 300-1200

I have seen full sr factory swaps professional done w/ motor and tune up $3800.00

All and all up to you.

[Hithere]

All depends on your level of expertise. If you dont feel comfortable do the rebuild your self i would definitely have a shop perform it. Other wise i have heard great things about the AMS kit. If your looking into Fuel economy+power i would recommend one of 2 things. 1st Have a shop do a sr20 swap with everything stock like it was from japan. so it has a restored look.(sounded like thats what you want from your comment above) With that you will have approximatively 215hp and 28 miles to the gallon highway at 70+mph. 2nd do the rebuild and boost it. This route going cheap as possible with reliable parts looks a little like this list.

s14 turbo $250-$400
Exhaust manifold $200-700
Dump pipe & Down pipe $300ish
Intercooler w/ piping $200-$600
Injectors $250-$400
intake $100-$270
Stand alone ECU or Piggy Back or SR-ECU w/ Rom flash and mod 300-1200

I have seen full sr factory swaps professional done w/ motor and tune up $3800.00

All and all up to you.

28 MPG, that just blows my mind.
This car has never gotten that good of gas mileage.
When we purchased it, it had 60k miles. It has always gotten an average of 20 mpg.

Does the extra MPG come from the difference between FI vs. the Turbo?

[NME-s12]

Turbo'ed cars are much more efficient. Thats why allot of car company's today are using turbo'ed motors like the ford eco-boost line. Also the sr20 motor are 2.0 liter engines were the KA24 are 2.4 liters both are Fuel injected. The difference in displacement helps along with the fact more air means you need more fuel which in turn is more power, but turbo cars while cruising (having the gas pedal at a constant position) Do not produce positive boost pressure witch means its like driving a really efficient 2.0 liter. Caution under heavy acceleration it will be like driving a peppy v6 and will consume gas like one too. I personaly have a s14 with a sr20 swap that iv owned for years i get between 27-29mpg at 70+mph highway, and its fun as s*** to drive!

[motoman399]

20 mpg is horrible. even with my auto in my 98 i was still getting like 25. and in my zenki i got 32.4 after a fresh $300 rebuild with a slightly ported head and polished pistons. i used all ebay parts for mine. pistons rings main/rod bearings and gaskets (the cheapest of everything i could find. i just honed the cylinders and had the head flattened. car runs amazing and i have put about 15000 on it.

[numbnuts240]

ka24de, 140k, 248/232 cam, jwt pop charger, hi-flow cat, 80mm cat back: 29mpg highest recorded, usually mid 20's. so long as the motor is healthy and you don't "drive it like you stole it" (which doesn't make sense, if i stole a car, i'd granny that bish all the way to the chop shop) you should be getting decent gas mileage.

[scotty-2-forty]

As far as the interior, have any of you utilized katzkin leathers, and are they easy to install?

Since the engine questions are getting all the attention, I can speak for the quality of the Katzkin leather kit. I did this back in 2004 and also called them and ordered matching material for the door inserts. I needed a bit of assitance with recovering the front seats due to the new material being so tight. But eh finished item is just beautiful and I still love it to this day. They offer an installation kit, but I used simple tools. You can see a bit of my install here:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/400454/4

[Hithere]

As far as the interior, have any of you utilized katzkin leathers, and are they easy to install?

Since the engine questions are getting all the attention, I can speak for the quality of the Katzkin leather kit. I did this back in 2004 and also called them and ordered matching material for the door inserts. I needed a bit of assitance with recovering the front seats due to the new material being so tight. But eh finished item is just beautiful and I still love it to this day. They offer an installation kit, but I used simple tools. You can see a bit of my install here:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/400454/4

"Assistance" as in Professional, or as in you just needed someone to help you stretch them on etc?

[Hithere]

Headers,,,

Can headers be utilized in conjunction with a muffler, without loosing any performance gain from the header?

I hear a lot of small cars running around that sound like crap, I'm concerned it's from headers.

[Future_gohan]

At 200k miles the ole 240 has begun to smoke a little.

A year or so ago I had contemplated rebuilding the engine.

Myself and the wife have now decided to do basically refurbish the 240. We are doing new paint, interior, engine.

Would appreciate advice on decent quality rebuild kits.

Would also appreciate advice on boosting the horsepower in an economical fashion. This is an every day driver.

I was also wondering, if the cams and crank spec out to meet factory specs, would any of you reuse them, or would you go for new crank and cams, timing gear etc ?

As far as the interior, have any of you utilized katzkin leathers, and are they easy to install?

If you want to do a basic ka rebuild, i would do this:

Send rotating assembly out to get balanced
Clevite main and rod bearings
oem rings
get head tanked and new valve stem seals
new timing chains and tensioners.

With all that done your ka will feel amazing, and be able to take a nice beating.

With all that done, get an sr t25 370cc injectors and run 8psi for the rest of your life.

[motoman399]

With all that done, get an sr t28 and a 6:1 fmu and run 8psi for the rest of your life.

FIXED

[Future_gohan]

But Sr T28s are a tad on the expensive side, so a t25 at 8psi would be nice for the price. and I didn't mention he would need a tune. lol but he would

[motoman399]

the t25 is like fat free milk. ya it works but its just not right.

he could get a t28 from a rb25. it has a t3 flange so it will flow more air and its ball bearing so you get that low spool. plus they are cheaper than the sr t28 and just a little more expensive than the t25.

[xX RB Xx]

I have 5k miles on my rebuilt ka, I get 24-28 MPGS. It's pretty nice, no smoking, no burning oil, no oil leaking, it's a welcome change over the typical ka experiance. I love the motor as it is (no emissions, header, exhaust, intake, etc.) My motor blew a headgasket and I decided to rebuild it. I didn't get it honed because the walls looked good, I put new pistons along with bearings, all the gaskets, etc.

If I would rebuild a KA over a SR swap anyday. Turbos are overrated. LOL!!

[98_240_KA]

I'm currently rebuilding my 200+k ka24de also. I'm in the middle of pulling the engine out of the bay/cleaning things up. My advice would be to find a machine shop nearby and talk to them. Sounds to me like all you may need is a valvejob and a new headgasket, unless your rings are going. AMS performance makes a full rebuild kit.

+1 to AMS rebuild

[Future_gohan]

the t25 is like fat free milk. ya it works but its just not right.

he could get a t28 from a rb25. it has a t3 flange so it will flow more air and its ball bearing so you get that low spool. plus they are cheaper than the sr t28 and just a little more expensive than the t25.

but, if you use a t28 to its full potential, his ka will need more than a basic rebuild, with a t25 even at max boost(13psi), he wouldn't need more than a basic rebuild.

Thats all i'm getting at, for a budget and safety the t25 would suit better.