my first post .. some dumb questions.

[gunder]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here. I should probably give a little background about me so you know where I'm coming from. I used to have a turbo on my Integra, it ran great .. for about 4 months. The shop I had do it did a terrible job, I had to take it in about 6 times for oil problems, they didn't give me an FMU, they gave me an upgraded fuel pressure regulator and told me it would be enough. The manifold they made for me was so cracked when I took it off after a couple of months that when I held a flashlight in it and turned off the lights in the garage I could still see just fine .. sigh. Well by the time I had tracked down all the problems it was too late, I was smoking like a chimney and the turbo wouldn't boost anymore. Well After dumping a lot of money into have the turbo rebuilt, having a new manifold made, buying an FMU and a few other parts I decided to get rid of it. I sold the turbo kit, my dad and I rebuilt the engine when we pulled out the pistons a good inch fell out between the compression rings on all for pistons. Anyway, the integra is up and running and sitting in the driveway with a for sale sign in the window. End of sob story.

This is where the 240 comes in. While I was struggling with the integra a friend of mine got ahold of an 89 240 and we dropped in a rb20det. What can I say, that is probably the funnest car I've ever driven, we met up with a few people who had sr20det swaps, went for a few rides in those, also insanely fun. I've decided I want to do a 240, but I'm going to do it right, I've already experienced blowing a motor and it wasn't really as much fun as everyone makes it out to be .

I'm leaning towards doing a turbo'd KA and here is why (here is where the dumb questions come in, please correct me if I'm wrong). First off, the rb20 while being a straight 6 is only a 2.0 liter and will probably be a nightmare to get parts for if something goes wrong. The sr20 from what I understand is also a 2.0 liter, has an aluminum block and will probably have the same problem finding parts if something major goes wrong. Now the KA is a 2.4 liter and has an iron block (right?). I was thinking of buying an extra KA and building it before I even put it in the car. Does anyone here have an recomendations on a good kit or should I just put something together myself? I'm looking to get into the high 300's possibly into the 400's on HP. Well I should cut this off now, I'm rambling if you have any suggestions or corrections please reply.

-gunder

[j-z]

welcome, i also came from the fwd boosted honda world. see sig. now i got my 95 240 and the stock ka will be boosted by the 20g i have sitting in my room here pretty soon once i get a job. if youre going for that high of a number you definately need to do a build up. well you may be able to get away on stock rods but eagles dont cost that much anyways. pistons for sure and maybe some headstuds. i dont see why that wouldnt be able to hold up to 400 whp. your definately gonna drop some decent coin on your engine management. im gonna say the greddy Emanage. also spend a good amount on dyno time to tune it also. SRs have iron blocks also. and it sounds like you got a bunch of ****ing morons working on your car. go with a custom setup and do everything yourself that way you know its done right.

[gunder]

Yeah I plan on building the motor right from the start, I don't want to run into the problems I had before. And there is no way I'll ever go to the shop who built the kit for my integra, unless it's to burn it down .

[ftrs13]

I decided to design the turbo system on the stock block, and run it at low psi while I build up a second block for use later on when I finish. I dont think I could take the extra time away from driving it.

[SloS13]

Ex-turbo honda guy here too. I dont want to lead you down the wrong path, but the stock pistons/rods might be capable of your goals. I never really hear of stock bottom-end KA-T's breaking. I DO hear of quite a few of stock bottom end KAT's putting down the kind of numbers you are wanting.

The KA-T is still a relatively new thing and it seems (to me at least) that no one really knows what kind of punishment these things will take.

My KA-T motor has well over 200k miles about 5-7k of which is running 10psi and beating the crap out of it everywhere I go. Of course that 10psi is nowhere near 350-400whp, but the motor has survived super-rich and pretty lean conditions and still runs like a champ. I say blow it up, then build it up.

Once I get a bit more cash, Im going to upgrade the injectors and switch to e-manage and see how much abuse this thing can take before it pops.

[gunder]

wow, there are a lot of ex turbo honda people here. Were all moving on to bigger and better things huh? The friend who has the 240 with the rb20 came from a nos'd prelude.

[j-z]

yup thats exactly why i sold mine. to move on to something bigger and better. at one point in time i was spraying the stock h23 in the lude. then i wanted power all the time and not out of a bottle so i went turbo. now i want more than speed. a good all around car that can take on a road course. jess (slos13) also previously owned a boosted 4th gen lude. and jess ive noticed also that there really hasnt been a solid limit of what the stock ka motor will handle.

[bruinbear714]

300wrhp isn't too difficult on a turbo KA, however, be prepared to pay a lot for tuning since there is almost no support for fuel management in the KA world. You will either have to pay for it, or do it yourself with an emanage/safc/standalone.

And parts for the KA are dirt cheap. Busted water pump? Buy a new one for $35.

I'm gathering my parts for to turbo my 97 KA... Emanage seems to be a good solution for my power goals of ~270rwhp.

[Projex240]

Amen---I called about a water pump for an sr--145.00 shipped. Water pump for a KA--27.50 at auto zone right down the street.Making 25-260 to the wheels on a ka is not hard at all--300 is kinda difficult but can be done with a JWT upgrade and some good fual and ignition componants. Do like the other brotha said--blow it up--build it up. OOOOR build the sapre while you boost on the stocker. Its not hard to do. The stock motor can take ten pound all day long if you are just careful to not neglect any important componants.Check http://www.jimwolftechnology.com for an easy plug and play ecu upgrade that requires no wiring and genious work. This isnt as good as going standalone--but ALOT cheaper--and even more than alot easier.You have got a fun project ahead---Good Luck.This is the best place to learn. Oh and if anyone tells you to "use the little red button" or to "search before asking noob or dub questions" tell em you suggest they go kick rocks and Send a PM to WDracing--he doesnt take kindly to that crap.