Project SUPER STOCK!! (My swap thread. FINALLY!!!)

[CRyan]

Well, as all of you that have read through my topics before - I've had nothing but lame problems with the KA. If it isn't the front main its the rear main. If it doesn't throw a code, its got idling problems. So, as of 3 days ago. I have decided to remove the old KA and replace with an S14 SR20DET!!!

Started Wednesday, hopefully the engine will be on its way on Monday and here by Thursday.

I plan to run this motor PRIMARILY stock with a few nick nacks here and there. Maybe bump the boost just a hair, but nothing to interfere with the life of the engine.

Anyway - I know what your looking for. THE PICTARS. Please, If you read through this, see if you can help me out with the questions at the bottom of this post.

P.S. I hope to have this swap done in roughly 2 weeks MAX.

She said she wanted to help Removing dash and stuff - - - Question at bottom.

So - On to the questions.

Firstly - Need to know WHY this harness is being such a pain to come out. I'm almost positive I'm having to remove the dash, but not sure where to go from there. Harness is un hooked as you can see and all that jazz. And its un hooked from the ECU and it's been removed. SO. What do I need to do.

Also. With a scale of 1 to 5, one being easy, 5 being difficult. How difficult will this uncut harness coming with the engine and trans set be to splice and what not?

This is my first swap with the 240SX, just so everyone knows.

And again. There will only be SLIGHT modifications here.

Oh. One other P.S. Getting the engine and transmission with all the normal goodies, including stock SMIC, for 2631 shipped. I have about 3500 before that is taken out.

Is that enough to do this swap? I want to replace most of the gaskets/seals while the engine is out, but I want to know you all's input and experience with how expensive a practically stock swap can get.

Thanks everyone - Updates will come in this Tuesday.

[s14derrick]

sounds like you will have a busy couple of weeks ahead of you. and a girl like that wanting to help is hot.

[brandonlgilbert]

Congrats on getting a swap dude. I live down in Laurel, but if you need anything, I've been known to work for cheap (beer). Seriously, I had an S14 SR swapped in my '96 back a couple of years ago. My friend/mechanic did the majority of the work, so I can only help out with stuff like "where does this go?" and "how's this hooked up?" kinda stuff. In depth stuff like splicing harnesses and whatnot are over my head dude, but I'll help out if I can. Lemme know if you need pics of anything.

Kudos for the chickie helping out with your removal/clean up.

Kudos for the devil lock too

[CRyan]

Congrats on getting a swap dude. I live down in Laurel, but if you need anything, I've been known to work for cheap (beer). Seriously, I had an S14 SR swapped in my '96 back a couple of years ago. My friend/mechanic did the majority of the work, so I can only help out with stuff like "where does this go?" and "how's this hooked up?" kinda stuff. In depth stuff like splicing harnesses and whatnot are over my head dude, but I'll help out if I can. Lemme know if you need pics of anything.

Kudos for the chickie helping out with your removal/clean up.

Kudos for the devil lock too

No kidding!! Awesome man - I'd love to get some help with someone who has helped out and around - and love to just kind of have your car around as reference.

BTW - I want to keep it kind of unknown to the rest of the Jackson area, with the whole "JXN Underground" thing. I'm tired of all the cars revving up at me, and I don't want to have people in other boosted cars wanting to run me.

So as far as you know, its stock

BUT REALLY. Email me man([email protected]). I could defiantly use someones help always.

Glad to know another S14 SR is around too. Means when I have problems I know who to call.

[simmode1]

glad to see the ball is rolling here. Any idea how many miles are on the motor?

[CRyan]

glad to see the ball is rolling here. Any idea how many miles are on the motor?

]

Not exactly. I was talking with Patrick at Japan Motor Import, which seems like a great guy - and he said he's got roughly 12 sitting in his shop - so for me to take my time figuring out all my fianaces. The cool thing is I mentioned I was a member of NICO and he said, "Wait what? O yeah man, I'll make sure we can get you running right. I don't believe I have gotten a review on that website."

He said once I tell him I have the money he will email me the video of him doing the compression test and the engine showing the serial and verifying that is the engine I want.

I'M SO excited. I'm just afraid this might come to become longer than 2 weeks .

But I'm going to know I WILL walk away from this knowing more than I did before. And that is what I really want to earn. Not the fact that I've done the swap. But the fact that I've done it all on my own and that I will understand everything through and through on this car.

Thanks for the positive replies. Can't wait for tomorrow

[brandonlgilbert]

No doubt dude. I'm difinitely not into the "local scene". I'm the only one around the Laurel/Hattiesburg area with a swapped 240 to my knowledge, and that is one of the many reasons I did it. There's a guy with a LS swap, but that's blasphemy in my eyes anyway, so whatev. So as far as I know you're still revvin' a KA.

My email addy is [email protected]. Let me know if you need anything bro.

[ca18detgabby]

I dont think I would have pulled the motor till the other motor was on a stand almost full assembled and fresh as I wished to have it.

is there a reason you already pulled it?

an "uncut harness" seems to be very rare these days........ on any swap Ive seen and/or heard about.

remember your KA radiator and SR are different. I would also upgrade the FP well you are at it. good to keep things reliable.

keeping it underwraps will be a trick. SMIC, recir BOV, cat, restrictive exhaust.........

as for the harness fun...... you going to be hooking up all the OBD2 sensors and emission controllers?

[mRodiek]

Exciting! lol You only have $9-- to spend on the CAR? Or the engine itself? Because $900 for exhaust+boost controller etc isnt much $$ lol

[CRyan]

Exciting! lol You only have $9-- to spend on the CAR? Or the engine itself? Because $900 for exhaust+boost controller etc isnt much $$ lol

Custom exhaust, 60 dollar. 2.5" exhaust. I already purchased the muffler. . .

Manual boost controller I can rig up myself.

I dont think I would have pulled the motor till the other motor was on a stand almost full assembled and fresh as I wished to have it.

is there a reason you already pulled it?

an "uncut harness" seems to be very rare these days........ on any swap Ive seen and/or heard about.

remember your KA radiator and SR are different. I would also upgrade the FP well you are at it. good to keep things reliable.

keeping it underwraps will be a trick. SMIC, recir BOV, cat, restrictive exhaust.........

as for the harness fun...... you going to be hooking up all the OBD2 sensors and emission controllers?

I went ahead and pulled the engine for the sole reason to get my self motivated. Seeing this engine out, knowing I did it, knowing that I have to put it back together - will be a real kick in the nuts when the "go" time comes around.

I hope to not run a cat, but a 2.5" piping straight to a dual N1 style muffler. I've read too many time with boosted cars in general, that they tend to gain h.p. with recirculating BOV when engine is under a low setting of boost.

I don't plan to hook up anything with emissions, which is one good thing about Mississippi - no emissions laws .

OBD2 I contemplate. Is this hard? Is it ran from the same LAN system? Or CAN, whatever it was.

Thanks for the replies - and brandongilbert - be checking your email holme slice.

[Slammed95S14]

I'm going to fore-warn you. It will probably take alot longer than two weeks. I thought the swap wasn't going to take long. But be expecting alot of stuff that is going to set you back. The radiator for the SR and KA are different, the ports on the KA radiator are on the same side, where as the SR radiator has the top radiator port on the right, and the bottom on the left. You can either rig up the stock on with a bent hose, or buy a new one that's made for the SR. You will see what I'm talking about when you get the motor in the car.

As for the harness coming out. Alot of people say this is hard. But it's really not. I didn't have that much trouble with it at all. You will want to unbolt the blower motor to give you some more room. It's just 2 10mm bolts. You will see it under the glove box. Have one person pulling from the engine bay, and you can work the harness out from the inside. You want to be really carefull when putting the new harness in. You don't want to break the plugs. Obviously.

I did my whole swap. The wiring included. It was fairly straight forward. You will have to re-pin the F4 plug on the SR harness to match the KA plug that it plugs into. My car is a Zenki tho. I'm sure there are probably some differences. But, there is some information on here about re-wiring that plug. Download both the KA and SR FSM's. The last page or so has the pinout for that plug. The task can be daunting. But you will get the hang of it, and there will be that moment when you figure it out and it will ALL make sense.

[CRyan]

I'm going to fore-warn you. It will probably take alot longer than two weeks. I thought the swap wasn't going to take long. But be expecting alot of stuff that is going to set you back. The radiator for the SR and KA are different, the ports on the KA radiator are on the same side, where as the SR radiator has the top radiator port on the right, and the bottom on the left. You can either rig up the stock on with a bent hose, or buy a new one that's made for the SR. You will see what I'm talking about when you get the motor in the car.

As for the harness coming out. Alot of people say this is hard. But it's really not. I didn't have that much trouble with it at all. You will want to unbolt the blower motor to give you some more room. It's just 2 10mm bolts. You will see it under the glove box. Have one person pulling from the engine bay, and you can work the harness out from the inside. You want to be really carefull when putting the new harness in. You don't want to break the plugs. Obviously.

I did my whole swap. The wiring included. It was fairly straight forward. You will have to re-pin the F4 plug on the SR harness to match the KA plug that it plugs into. My car is a Zenki tho. I'm sure there are probably some differences. But, there is some information on here about re-wiring that plug. Download both the KA and SR FSM's. The last page or so has the pinout for that plug. The task can be daunting. But you will get the hang of it, and there will be that moment when you figure it out and it will ALL make sense.

thanks for the insight, sir. I already plan to have a few draw backs - But nothing too terribly major I'm hoping.

I'm honestly just wired with me doing the wiring part. I'm not sure if I'm up for the task.

[mRodiek]

I would at least replace the rear main seal while its out, resurface the flywheel, new clutch, spark plugs...small things are going to nickel & dime ya but once its running you can put money in as needed.

[positron1]

Good job bro'! My swap is stock and I've been driving it for almost two months now and have yet to up the boost and I'm loving it! My car still looks stock, I get no rev-ups either but that could be because I hardly go out in it except at night(cause the freaks come out at night). I wish I could help you out but I did a S13 SR to a S13 so no go on that. I can say though that when you get the engine in get it on a engine stand as soon as possible, break it down, clean it and start replacing your gaskets and hoses. Go ahead and get your bay cleaned out and painted but you seem to be doing all this already so do it to it!!!!

[nzmoman]

for your harness, you need to make sure you realy have EVERYTHING unplugged. there are a couple of relays and ground wires that may be hooked up as well. After you are positive everything is unplugged, or unscrewed then you can start to feed it through the firewal from the inside out.

Also, a pressure washer is your friend at this point. If you can spare the $$$ go rent a pressure washer and spray out your engine bay, Wiping it down is going to take way too long.

Custom exhausts: thought they may be a little cheaper what you save in money you may lose in time. You can get a three inch exhaust rather cheap and cut and weld in as many resonators as you want to quiet her up. I would go with a three inch just for the sake of response and not needing to replace it when you want to turn up the boost (you WILL want to turn up the boost) and you can get 3 inch exhausts that have a subtle look to them and are not angled.

your budget: it may not be enough to get the care to where you want it, but you should be able to at least get the motor in and running with that much. But that budget is less than half of what I was working with and my swap was mostly stock. when you start trying to piece together the little things they will add up quickly. You are still going to need a clutch, an exhaust, boost controller, some sort of gauge for monitoring at least water temp and boost. those things alone (as said before) will suck up your remaining funds and then some.

[spooled240]

good deal! Keeping that sr stock will make it last longer but I predict the boost bug will bite and you will wanna turn that ish up and get a fmic.. there's no resisting!

[CRyan]

Thanks for all the encouragement guys. I'm hoping that it won't turn into a money pit- but I guess we will see. The only thing I'm really worried about is the sr wiring harness. I can't seem to find anything that can help. my skills of using the search button honestly suck.

Again, all comments are welcome guys- I'm glad to get the ok from everyone with this. I think I might have about thirty eight hundred... Maybe that little bit will help out...

[shmex]

Ahh, nice choice meng. I had to do the same thing. Ka just wanted to do whatever the heck it wanted to do....heh. I went with my beloved ca. Too bad I got it with worn as hell cylinder walls.....so just make sure the motor is legit. Do all the maintance required for doing the swap. Congrats, and I bet your excited ....becuase I was/am....

[simmode1]

]

Not exactly. I was talking with Patrick at Japan Motor Import, which seems like a great guy - and he said he's got roughly 12 sitting in his shop - so for me to take my time figuring out all my fianaces. The cool thing is I mentioned I was a member of NICO and he said, "Wait what? O yeah man, I'll make sure we can get you running right. I don't believe I have gotten a review on that website."

He said once I tell him I have the money he will email me the video of him doing the compression test and the engine showing the serial and verifying that is the engine I want.

I'M SO excited. I'm just afraid this might come to become longer than 2 weeks .

But I'm going to know I WILL walk away from this knowing more than I did before. And that is what I really want to earn. Not the fact that I've done the swap. But the fact that I've done it all on my own and that I will understand everything through and through on this car.

Thanks for the positive replies. Can't wait for tomorrow

That... is... AWESOME. The power of NICO!!!! We can make or break your ***!!!

[shmex]

Just know that when its all said and done, even if its more then two weeks, your gonna be vroom vroomin and then psh psh pshing....hehehe. Good luck dude. Ill follower this thread from now on.

[pauliedrft]

To the op im doing the s-14 sr swap my self i recommend checking your rod bearings . And if your lucky you will get good motor mounts and a good transmission mount like i did, it saves money .And if your going to tear it down to the block,head like i did .I would get a lot of zip lock bags every bolt is in its correct bagged marked with what it goes to( I.E transmission bolts) check the engine top to bottom you wont regret it im even going far enough since its out to gasket match the exhaust , intake . And do a compression test if its really low them i would be worried .Good luck on the swap keep us posted

[kouki munster]

You don't have to remove the dash to get the harness out, as it was said there are one or two plugs that are kinda hidden but,(here comes the good part) there is a clip that holds the harness to one of the 30 million pieces of plastic under the dash. I don't remember where it is but I used a long flat head screwdriver to pop the clip out(I think I blocked that memory out because I was so pissed)

I've had the sr in my car since about the middle of december but for reasons beyond my control I haven't been able to finish it, but anyways best of luck to you.

[CRyan]

Little update guys -

Finally got the harness out today - God it was so much easier to take out with that motor out of the way.

So if anyone needs a wiring harness for a KA, give me a ring on the email

[positron1]

Did you finish cleaning your engine bay yet?

[CRyan]

Did you finish cleaning your engine bay yet?

Yeah - Primarily - Until a shop light decided to fall directly into the bay, it looked pretty decent. So I now need to get a shop vac to attempt to get out all the glass that fell in the crevices.

The girlfriend actually got the crossmember/rack and pinion REALLY clean. Apparently she is a bit OCD.

She did it all by hand too haha. I told her to do it with a pressure washer though. . .

[positron1]

Is your engine still on schedule to come in tomorrow? "The waiting is the hardest part!"-Tom Petty

[95.240AZN378]

Can't wait to see more progress!!!

[CRyan]

To answer about the engine being in tomorrow. I've yet to have found time to actually be able to call and order and make sure everything is on its way.

Quick question -

Anything else besides everything that is stated need to be done to finish with prepping the car for swap?

[positron1]

Pulled the engine, pulled the harness and cleaned the bay. Sounds like you have the basics covered. Your bay already looks good so do you plan to repaint it? Are you going to keep your powersteering because if not, this would be a good time to remove the lines and cap it off.

[CRyan]

I want to keep the power steering for sure.

There much adapting with that and the A/C lines? I left it all in there because I honestly want to have all the luxuries my car had before, just with a different motor