Pulsar NX - California Engine Swap

[dakiato]

Hi there,

I have an '89 Pulsar NX with a GA16i making an absolutely glorious 106HP (It made 90 stock. It hates mods). Since this is a bit s***, I've been trying to research what engine I could drop in whilst still being CA legal (I really don't want to deal with the police or swapping s*** every two years. It's hard enough as is right now ripping the exhaust system out). So, what I'm left with unfortunately is pretty much dead stock setups.

I've narrowed it down thus far to:
- A CA18DE from the same year Pulsar. Easiest swap by far, all bolt in and I can get the engine relatively easily. Only makes about 140HP.
- A FWD KA24DE from an Altima - Will have to make all the mounts myself, and only makes about 150HP.
- A QR25DE from a Spec V SE-R Sentra. I have no experience with this engine whatsoever, so, no idea if it'll even fit. Assuming I'd want to deal with the extra work, I could make 200HP off the later model's engine.

I was just hoping for some advice on what would be recommended for this little car. I'm comfortable making my own mounts, shift linkage and such. What I would like is around the 160-200HP range, with the least amount of modification since California won't approve the swap if I touch the exhaust/intake system (If it's not either of those two, I don't mind).

As a last question, since the CA18DE would be a lot easier to get approved and installed, are there any N/A mods (Camshaft, injectors, ecu, etc) that could bump me to that figure but not push me over on smog limits? I know there's a whole CA18DE section, but, I rarely see discussions come up that keep smog tests in mind.

Cheers.

[sx moneypit]

Moved this to the Sentra forum.

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