Planning S13 Fastback w/ SR Swap (Questions)

[BlazedGlory]

I currently own a 2002 Nissan Sentra SE-R SpecV. I have plans to buy a '91-'93 240sx fastback and then sell my SE-R in the near future. The problem is I just don't know exactly what I am getting into right now, and I want to make sure I do before I actually make this move.

My goal is to save enough money to purchase the 240 before I sell my other car. Then I will sell the other car, hopefully make 2-4k after paying off the remainder of the loan, and buy an SR20DET. After that I will slowly build up the car as funds permit.

Now, keep in mind that this is going to be my daily driver. Is it possible to do this project and maintain reliability? Obviously after I get the actual swap done, I am going to want to increase power. Here is where everything is the most shady to me at this point.

What are the different "stages" one might do to increase power on an SR20? For example, the engine in my current car, the QR25DE, has very weak rods. On the stock internals people are getting approximately 280hp/250tq at the wheels running a turbo about 6-7psi safely. Much more than that and the rods will more than likely go. Replace the rods and one might get up to 325-350hp or so. One guy has new pistons/rods and has a sleeved block and is running about 400 whp. This is the kind of thing I'm talking about. How much hp could I get out of the engine safely by just slapping a bigger turbo on it (and obviously probably getting new fuel system/injectors and whatnot)? What if I decided to do something like new internals?

Please keep in mind that this will be daily driven, and I plan on keeping it as cost-effective as possible, but I would like it to be pretty damn fast. I'm tired of being beat up on by muscle cars and whatnot. But this will ultimately be an all-around road car, not just for drag...

I'm sorry if I missed this sort of information in searching, or if there is some sort of article somewhere that explains these sorts of things, it would be greatly appreciated if you could link me to it...

Thanks in advance! EDIT: Someone on another forum said "Three things u must always keep in mind. Cheap, Fast, and Reliable. Choose 2 cause you cant have all three." Here is my response to that: " how about if I rank them:

1) Reliable

But 2 & 3 are really a tie for me right now because I really can't decide how fast I want to make it before I know how cheap I can do what with. I think I'd basically like to do a basic build up on the stock internals preferably (if that would be reliable) with a larger turbo and whatever else I would need to support that (ie injectors, etc)...what kind of hp could I get out of that and what kind of money would I be looking at there?

With such a light car, I'm sure 300whp would let me put a pretty good whompin' on some folks, and I've heard that the stock internals can handle over 400hp...but I don't know what's truth and what would actually be reliable on this engine..."

[Hijacker]

SR's are very reliable engines and the DET's came from the factory with forged internals. For instance, I'm running 13 PSI on the stock T25 turbo with no issues. Enjuku racing has their SR up to 400 RWHP on stock internals I believe.

The main reliability issue with an SR is the water pump. I've seen a lot of people blow their water pumps, but then again, the motors are junkyard motors, and issues like that will pop up now and again.

You can safely get around 280 or so RWHP on stock internals and stock fuel management (aside from a new fuel pump) with a GT28RS. Sport Compact Car has a project Silvia running that turbo and the only fuel management issue they covered was upgrading the fuel pump.

We have a very good RWD SR20 section. Take a look through it, and most of your questions should be answered

[180fan]

I'm currently in the last few stages of my sr prep work too, what you might want to look into is building for reliablility instead of power at your initial time of install. Don't worry too much about the internals as Tenkawa said, they're very stout. What you might want to consider for a long term issue is the timing chain. I've finished mine and I've been trying to finish up a write up for the SR board on what's involved in it but there's quite a bit of stuff that's needed for the job so it's taking longer than expected. But if you're thinking along those lines as I am, you may want to consider a new headgasket, head studs, porting and polishing, replacing gaskets, tune up, and the water pump.

The port and polish could help over the long term by giving the carbon deposits less to hold onto and probably help keep your intake side a bit cleaner while giving you a bit more power. the head gasket and head studs basically go hand in hand and are up to you in terms of what you plan on doing. stock stuff is fine as I think enjuku's running on their stock stuff and they're making crazy power too. Gaskets are a good idea in general. The water pump should be ok, but it's good to have a spare one on your shelf so you don't get caught off guard and have alot of down time. Tune up is a pretty obvious one too if you plan on extracting as much out of the engine stock as possible. The timing chain is a pain in the butt to do. It'll be worse if you install the engine and find that the plastic guide has gone on you which will become an issue for some with older redtops in the not to near future.