ka24det pros? cons?

Post by **burnin240sx** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

i'm planing on doing a ka with a smal goal of 300hp. with the other goals being 50/50 balance. What are the good and bad things about the KA that i should look out for well i'm trying to plan out my project?

Post by **cow** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

Pros: it will go fast, and cost less than a swap.

Cons: it won't be JDM, and therefore will never be fast.

Do you see the dilemma I am faced with on a day to day basis??

On a more serious note.. your main problem is going to be fuel. 300 on a stock bottom end should be no problem, I'd get 550's to leave some room for error/improvement. 50/50 weight distribution might be a little tricky; CF hood, battery relocation, ditch your accessories, etc. and that will get you closer.

Um.. if you are planning on doing it to a high mileage motor I'd suggest a rebuild, that is just common sense IMO. Plus you can do little things to help improve the performance and strength, like deburring the bottom end and balancing/lightening the rotating assembly.

Also.. search, there are a sh1t ton of threads on this topic.

Post by **burnin240sx** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

thanks cow best post i've had in responce to my questions ever. guess i went about the wrong way of asking my question.

i'm probly looking at having the single cam so is there realy any big difrence between the dual cam ka's? i know theres a liltle bit more horse with a dual. but not to much to be thinking maybe i should drive the single while i'm rebuilding the dual ka, right?

or i could just install a turbo in the single cam and drive it while i rebuild a low compression dual ka then swap and use the turbo and injectors from the singla cam motor.

last question what would u recommend for search terms on this? turbo ka turns up some(120) but anything else i should try?

Post by **dareo** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

injectors are different between single and dual cam. The best advantage of a turbo KA is the ability to have pretty much a new engine and turbo for about the price of a swap. That and you can pretty much just bust out 350 hp w/o doing that much. Bolt that turbo on, get bigger injectors and a z32 maf with JWT ECU and your pretty much done for 15 psi daily drivable pump gas power. Should be about 350hp give or take some.

The only dissadvantage to the KA is the redline. Forget revving a KA past 7k unless you really wanna throw money at it. And if your throwing money at a motor to make it rev why not take a CA18 to 9k or higher?

They say who needs to rev high, and its pretty true. You can boost by 3-4k and run that power all the way to just under 7k. But revving higher would sure be fun.

Post by **burnin240sx** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

my gut has been ka turbo and i think i've just been sold on the idea tonight. was thinking sr20 but i did some price lookup and i can turbo and rebuild for the same price as a swap almost.

so which is better a ka24det single or a dual cam? what difrence do you get besides 4 extra exaust valves and the abilty to change just the intake or exaugt cams?

Post by **dareo** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

DOHC KA is going to be more supported and easier to find a replacement motor for if you need to. SOHC is good cause its already in the car. About all i have for the sohc. DOHC brings you piston oil squirters, significantly larger parts support, and a lot more swap work. Your tach wont work, your power steering lines will need to be changed or modified, you'll have to pull the ECU and harness.

I believe the dohc to be the better engine, and i plan on building one on the side for my car. Its a daily driver and i want the fastest for the cheapest with the least amount of downtime. I wont have to worry about old seals, a 10 year old turbo going out, anything like that.

Post by **burnin240sx** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

hmmm so if the exauest manifolds are the same on the single and dual then i could do this

turbo the single

build dual turbo motor and drive single turbo till it's ready.then swap motors and put turbo on dual cam.

sounds good to mebut this is all based on the car that i should own in about 22 hours as i'm still the hi bideron a 90 240sxbut if that falls threw then i have a offer for a 91 without the engine for 750which i would definatly like to have just cause the tach wold work in stock form but that's easly solved with a autogauge tach. and the install would be straigh forward. my benifit is that i can drive the care while building an engine. which is nice even if there is hard swap headachs ahead.

Post by **burnin240sx** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

oh yeah. i'm done a little searching and for what i've found the s14 transmissions are the strongest/best for the ka. is this info correct?

Post by **dareo** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

You cant turbo the SOHC and the DOHC, its financially impractical. The injectors are different, your management would be different (unless you just used a SAFC) your manifold would be different and the list probably goes on. Its not that big of a deal to drive a 16 second car till your turbo motor is done.

Oh and the KA and SR trannies are all the same internally from all the years up to S15 im pretty sure. (CA18det as well)

Post by **burnin240sx** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

true true. there's always suspention upgrades to start with.oh yeah, does anyone make a better looking valve cover? if not maybe i'll weld something together and paint it. btw dareo you the best. thanks for all your info very much apricated.:ylsuper

Post by **bbandit** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

yep KA and SR trannies are the same.. all you have to do is swap the bellhousing and thats it...IIRC.. last time we swapped my friend's SR transmission with KA transmission.. we noticed a slight difference in gear ratio..SR transmission has a lil longer gear ratio

Post by **3rD GeAr** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

check these two cars out. I am selling them together for 7000 obo. email me at [email protected] if you are interestedhttp://www.nissaninfiniticlub....56686andhttp://www.nissaninfiniticlub....52003

Post by **Drift Machine** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

Cons: nothingPros: everything

Post by **bigE** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

Torque.....

And the fact that most basic setups we do for KA's will allow you to run with a vette, and smoke mustangs and hondas with their h22 swap.

Eric

Post by **j-z** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

i sure would hope you can outrun a h22 swapped hatch or something. but turboed is a different story. i was planning on doing the sr swap also but after researching boosting the ka is for me. its a strong torquey motor awaiting more air and fuel. about the valve cover thing, see sig.

Post by **burnin240sx** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

what about the bore/ stroke ration. what would be a good setup to make this more balanced for a smoother rpm. i know that the bore is 91mm(if i remeber correctly but this might be the bigest bore without hotspoting i forget). how big is the stock stroke?

Post by **Ubernoober** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

Shortening the stroke would require a reground or replacement crank. Pricey. Major overbore is a no-no on a thinwall casting. Realistically if you use the stock block, stay within the stock specifications otherwise the cost and technological knowhow required goes through the roof.

As for KAe vs KAde. Dual overheads give you the option of changing the cam timing of the intake seperately from the exaust. A big benefit for a turbo car that wants to reduce valve overlap without having to grind custom cams. Of course, two cams cost more than one....

Post by **cow** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

I would go with the DE personally, I am biased against SOHC motors for some reason. Not to mention they are much, much more plentiful, and 4 valves vs 3 is always a plus.

Post by **burnin240sx** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

wasn't going with the ka24e. just wanted to use the ka24e while i was building up the ka24de. but anyways what kind of topic should i be looking for on reading material about bore/stroke ratio and some other stuff about engine internals, with formulas and stuf like that? how to build engine books?

Post by **cow** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

I know, but I would not bother turboing the E, because almost all of your setup is going to change when you switch to the DE. It's not worth the trouble, IMO. But it's your money.

I have a book called "The guide to Engine Blueprinting." Most of the information is clearly targeted to oldschool domestic V8's, but a lot of the same principles still apply to any motor. It's a good book to check out. Searching online can yield a lot of good information about building motors too.

Another book I'd recommend is "Maximum Boost" by Corky Bell. It has extensive coverage of all topics involving turbocharger systems, and if you aren't well versed in them it would be a very helpful resource in boosting your KA. It will also hopefully answer a lot of your questions.

Post by **burnin240sx** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

thanks again cow. yeah once i heard the intake mani was difrent i droped the idea cause the whole point of the turbo on the 24e would be interchangeablity. but i'm back at quare one since i'm insearch of another car. i'm glad the sellar canceled the aution for his 90 sx. now i can just get a 91+

Post by **deezlins** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

regarding bore and stroke, the only thing you would really want to do is maybe bore it over just enough to get a fresh clean cylinder wall if youre gonna get new pistons

Post by **burnin240sx** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

deezlins wrote:regarding bore and stroke, the only thing you would really want to do is maybe bore it over just enough to get a fresh clean cylinder wall if youre gonna get new pistons

that's what i had planed. but in my other thread in the sr fourm they talk about the stroke and bore and how the sr runs smoother. and as i don't know about this i'd like to learn at least so i know what it's all about.

Post by **cosmo** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

cow wrote:Another book I'd recommend is "Maximum Boost" by Corky Bell. It has extensive coverage of all topics involving turbocharger systems, and if you aren't well versed in them it would be a very helpful resource in boosting your KA. It will also hopefully answer a lot of your questions.

Do get this. I got it last week and I've read it front to back 3 times already. It's a damn good book

Post by **burnin240sx** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

cosmo i luv you sig. its soo true. i did a little research and was like y wouldn't u want to save some loot and get some torque at the same time

Post by **cosmo** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

yes it is very, very true

Post by **burnin240sx** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

cow, i picked up maximum boost today from barnes it's a awsome book. thanks for the recomendation. got any for suspention setups?

Post by **cow** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

My friend has a couple of really good suspension books but I can't remember the titles off the top of my head. I'll try and find out tomorrow and let you know.

Post by **cosmo** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

http://www.nissaninfiniticlub....books

Post by **C-Kwik** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 7:14 pm

High Performance Handling Handbook by Don Alexander.

ka24det pros? cons?

ka24det pros? cons?

Nissan Forums

Infiniti Forums

Datsun Forums

Technical Forums

Classifieds / Marketplace

Nissan Motorsports

General Forums