NC SC CHAT

[Black on Gold]

The guy wanted to meet up around 2 o'clock and i just couldnt do it because well im still in school and dont get out until 3 45 so he left them at a Nissan Salvage Yard in Charlotte for me to pick up tomorrow when i go to hockey. Might have to check the place out too and see if they have a 5speed transmission.

[maxima278]

did i miss something? what goin on with your car?

yeah I didn't post about this, I guess it just didn't come up in conversation, plus I had let it sit for a while before trying to figure out what was wrong with it. It started making a noise like the throwout bearing was going out or something when I went to SC for the meet. I got the transmission out in the garage but I haven't pinpointed the problem yet.

Brandon, we can definitely do your springs sometime soon, like the weekend after this one I think would be ok.

[scs13]

well that sucks. i hope you get it figured out and it doesnt run you too much money.

what do you guys think i should do about my car? you think i should just put another ka in, or save up for a while and sr swap or buy a rebuilt ka from tophat and then turbo later?

[gr8bryt]

It just depends on how bad you need the motor imo. If you can wait a while, I'd go for the Tophat motor.

[scs13]

i can wait, but ive been waiting damn near two years to drive my car, out of those two years its been drivable for maybe two months. but yeah, waiting isnt a problem. i figured that would be the best option, i would like to find out more info and see what kind of experience people have had with tophat and their crate motors. its hard to not want to get an sr though, for the same price or maybe less. and they usually have low miles on them as well. so its a hard decision.

[gr8bryt]

You can look at it this way, the crate motor is probably like new right? More than likely it can also withstand the rigors of forced induction and higher revs and you still retain the iron block. It's a direct replacement for what already came in the car, so there should be minimal to no modifications required and you will still get the extra torque with 2.4 ltrs. The SR on the other hand is used and possibly abused. You will still have to combat cooling issues and all the other bugs that come into the picture. You can get the same, if not more power out of the KA-T as the SR, and besides, how many peeps that you know have a built crate motor vs. the ubiquitous SR swap. Sometimes its good to take the road less traveled.

[maxima278]

I can see no drawback to the crate motor other than it does not come already boosted so you still have to save up for that even after you drop 3 grand for a new motor and another $600 for the rebuilt transmission they sell.

I don't necessarily disagree with gr8bryt about the SR's being questionable, but there are a lot of reputable companys who stand behind the engine sets they sell and boost-wise they would be more complete out of the box for going faster sooner (if that made any sense) since they come with turbos already installed, you just have to do the wiring mods. SR's came in S chassis cars too, so you're still basically going with stock stuff, so as long as you luck out and get a good motor, you should be ok.

On the other hand, for the here and now, save up a couple hundred bucks and get your dam car running! j/k my car was a shell when I got it, this is a temporary motor I got cheap so I could drive it till I had money to do more.

I do have an extra motor laying around, but its not complete and I can't decide whether to sell it or rebuild it.....

[gr8bryt]

I imagine that he is probably gonna want to upgrade the turbo, why not just slap on the upgrade the first time around? Sport Compact Car did an article back in Feb '06 of how to boost the KA on a budget. Even though your're paying a pretty penny for the motor, you can certainly put together a decent turbo setup without spending a lot of $$. The feature car produced a dyno proven 266hp and 271 lb-ft of torque, the turbo and intercooler came off a 5.9-liter Cummins diesel truck. The total for the turbo build up was $1,715, albeit most of the work is custom and I suppose that's where you save the money since you don't pay for labor. Point being that whichever route you decide to go, there are lots of options. Just keep looking around and asking questions to help you make a decision that suits the majority of your needs.

[maxima278]

I have that article. That's a good looking S14 too I keep coming to the same conclusion every time I start trying to figure out the cheapest route, and it seems like there's not one. Obviously, the RB's are going to be the most expensive especially to maintain, but the aftermarket is wide open for the SR and KA, and the pros and cons seem equal when you listen to people who are biased either way. The most important thing to research is how not to blow your motor. I don't have the article in front of me but wasn't that guy getting those results with only about 7 psi of boost???

I saw a guy dyno a SR at the meet and he posted about 260 hp at an ungodly 26 pounds of boost, so 5 bucks says he blows his motor soon

I would say whichever you decide, just make sure its done right the first time and you should be good to go, and don't look back.

[maxima278]

wow you guys got me thinking about ka turbos again. I had almost completely decided against them.

[gr8bryt]

I have that article. That's a good looking S14 too I keep coming to the same conclusion every time I start trying to figure out the cheapest route, and it seems like there's not one. Obviously, the RB's are going to be the most expensive especially to maintain, but the aftermarket is wide open for the SR and KA, and the pros and cons seem equal when you listen to people who are biased either way. The most important thing to research is how not to blow your motor. I don't have the article in front of me but wasn't that guy getting those results with only about 7 psi of boost???

I saw a guy dyno a SR at the meet and he posted about 260 hp at an ungodly 26 pounds of boost, so 5 bucks says he blows his motor soon

Yeah the guy was running between 8-10 psi. That's a safe realm when you're using a crude engine management system. You can always turn the wick up later when funds are available.

ONLY 260 hp @ 26 psi? He must have been using the stock turbo . I agree that he will be searching the NICO Classifieds for a donor motor soon.

Well maxima278 you said that you have another motor laying around right? IDK what you're running now, but you can build your other one up gradually and then you can keep your options open. If you ever come to terms with the KA-T option, you'll already have a beast ready to go

[scs13]

what were your reasons for ruling out the ka-t option?

[gr8bryt]

IMO a lot of people rule out the ka-t because they feel that it's not as reliable as the sr since it didn't originally come boosted. You have to use your own judgement when prepping for boost, whereas the sr has Nissans engineering built into it already. Just my $.02.

[Black on Gold]

haha I definately have that article too

[scs13]

thats one reason why im not wanting another ka, just had too many problems with them. maybe ill go with a ca, i should probobly research a little on that. what are you guys opinions?

[gr8bryt]

ka's can be built to withstand the abuse, but you have to do your homework and not try to exceed the engines limits. You can apply that same statement to the ca. I personally feel that you will be taking a bigger risk by going that route due to lack of domestic parts donors like the ka and sr. What are your goal for the long term? If you're mostly gonna use it as an A-->B car, then I would just go with the less expensive all around option. The ca would probably suffice since it's got the turbo and iron block, albeit less displacement. Still has wide aftermarket support and potential for decent power gains.

As aforementioned, you are really gonna have to dig for a while and do a lot of reasearch until you can create an organized pro/con list for application.

[scs13]

im not trying to go for a billion horsepower or anything, just a decent boost in power. im more into handling and such. i doubt i would be so serious about ka-t, sr, ca, rb if it wasnt for my **** ****ing up again.

[maxima278]

The CA is too old imo. Not to mention it is only a 1.8. I always thought of it as the dinosaur of the bunch. But I could be wrong. gr8bryt pretty much summed up the reasons why I had ruled out the ka-t. Too much research, and trial and error when I son't have the knowledge to back it up and the money to pay for mistakes. A tophat motor would cure those problems most likely. SR= already boosted=not as much thought involved. plus, they seem to be running cheaper than everything else lately because "everybody's got one" and they aren't the cool thing to do.

[Redemption1978]

Turbo the KA!!!

Actually I was going to do some research on forged parts for the KA but where I went the forged stuff for the sr was actually cheaper. Go figure.

[gr8bryt]

IMO, even though all of Nissans engines are very robust, you have to figure that if you have plans of serious boost then internals will need to be stronger. With that said, you are basically rebuilding the motor anyway. All the bolt on's, turbo, cams, valve springs, etc. and then you have to spend time and $$ on the dyno to get it all tuned. It would be equivalent to getting a block and adding all your own parts. IF you only plan on running around 14 psi, all of the factory turboed motors should be able to handle that with proper lubrication and fuel management. Even the crate ka should be able to withstand a few psi without blowing up, but as with any turbo motor, it comes down to personal responsiblity. If you take care of the car then it will take care of you.

[scs13]

damn, the ka crate motor price went up again, another 400 dollars!!! 2900 dollars for that with no manifolds or anything else is hard for me to justify buying.

[gr8bryt]

Yeah that is kinda steep considering that you'll have to spend @ least another $1000 to get to a point that you can use it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE FLIP SIDE OF THE COIN~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GREATNESS REQUIRES SACRIFICE!!

Sometimes it's not about how much something cost, but is the cost justified by the end product. Let's say $3500 for the sake of arguement; you buy an sr that is in decent condition and have about $700 left over for a fuel system adjustment and maybe suspension upgrades, or shop labor depending on who you know(or don't). lol

I know that RB swaps cost a good bit, but that's what I want. I have accepted that and I'm willing to save until I get it, however long it takes. It's just all about desire imho.

[gr8bryt]

DSport just recently did an article on their drift 240sx project car. They run the ka-t and made some minimal mods. I believe the whp is somewhere in the area of 330 but idk what the torque is. It's a pretty decent build up to read if you're looking for a path to ka-t to see what may work well for you too. You mentioned that handling is more important to you, so you might be able to pick up some ideas by how their suspension is put together.

[Black on Gold]

damn, the ka crate motor price went up again, another 400 dollars!!! 2900 dollars for that with no manifolds or anything else is hard for me to justify buying.

For that you could buy a SR front clip and hope that the body parts on it are in good condition and once you get that just take out the motor, sell the hood, fenders, bumper and the dash and there's a good bit of money back

[Redemption1978]

Most of the front clips I've seen they take those parts off if they are useful.

[scs13]

yeah that is true, i do want an s13 conversion. another reason for the sr.

[Black on Gold]

I've seen quite a few that keep them on there. Besides your paying for a front clip you should be getting the whole FRONT CLIP. Anyways. I think im going to do that. Drive my auto and then do the 5speed and SR conversion at the same time.

[scs13]

i found one thats the WHOLE front clip, all the body parts included and everything, has a 60 day warranty, and the shipping is pretty cheap. so i think i might try and do that.

[Black on Gold]

where did you find this? i was wanting to buy a SR front clip too later and i was trying to find one in GA/SC/NC so shipping wouldnt be too bad.

[scs13]

well this place is in canada, but shipping is only 260 and the clip is like 2500 or something like that.