rb20det swap in 92 240sx?

[Pantaro]

debating between ca18det and rb20det swap,since im not a fan of the sr20det.leaning more towards rb20det,cause as we all know rb's speak for themselves,quite loudly i might add.So i'm just looking to get some feedback,advice and general opinions from people who have experianced,done and/or are running this swap and currently power isnt a priority considering i'm on a budget here

[Sil240]

Try reading through this forum.

SEARCH even... There are about 1,000 post of the same question.
You'll find lots of info especially in the stickies.

Truthfully my opinion is SR20
But you don't want to be like everyone else.

[Pantaro]

yea definitly dont wanna play follow the leader and were talking a 1000 dollar differance

[danielmcn]

I vote rb anything over sr, but thats me. I love my rb20 and would no trade it( wel maybe for a 24). My buddy had a ca18det and it was ok, just not that powerfull. I would say it all depends on the amount you have to spend. I would say if you have under 2k and dont mind ebay parts(intercooler and piping) then you should go ca, but if you have 3-3.5k then go rb. I bought my car and swaped it for about 3300 or so. I ended up upgrading the turbo to the rb25 unit along with some other stuff so my total was closer to 4k. I all so did my own work too, if you need to pay some one to swap it for you then you may end up close to the 5k mark with a rb, and 3k with a ca. all depending on how much they charg and if the sell you the parts needed to do the swap. anyway good luck and if you go with the rb and need some pointers you can pm me.

[Pantaro]

yea thats pretty much the kind of feedback i was looking for,cause i have spent the last three days absorbing all the rb info on here.just want to hear how people who have rb20's feel about them,considering most say dont waste your time on it and just get the 2.5,but if i get the 2.0 that saves me 1000 that can be spent on the 2.0.as far as doing the swap i graduated from wyotech in 2008 studied auto tech and hi performance so im more than capable of doing the work myself.

[s13drifter88]

i love my ca18. when it was stock in did 248whp 227wtq with a red top sr t25 @ 10psi, fmic, 3"turbo back exhaust, and an safc 1 to calibrate in my n60 maf. only drawback to the ca that ive run into is if u nwant to build it pretty much everything is going to have to be tomei. great stuff but a little pricey but for the end result i couldnt let it go. it responds soooo well and loves boost. i also love the way the car drives with the motor positioned farther back since a ca is shorter than sr/ka. fairly cheap too, very very effective

[l0nestar]

If your on a budget, drop a snail onto the KA and be much further ahead than either of your other opinions. Both CA's and RB20's have very limited aftermarket support. Both engines are quite old and considered rather feeble.

[s13drifter88]

i wouldntt exactly say that. okay, so theyre not the newest thing but while i love a good ka-t i still prefer my ca18 and swear by its performance. also he is iquiring between rb20 and ca18. and its really not as simple and just dropping a snail on it. most ka's out there are not in any condition to accept a "snail" or ready for boost. and most "snails" arent sufficient for a ka. ppl do t25's all day long, yes i know, but a t25 is actually a bit small for a ka. so whats that leave? rebuild + machine work + quality head gasket (or set) + head studs + turbo + manifold + dump + downpipe + fuel + maf + clutch.

[s13drifter88]

and ca's seem to have plenty of after market support minus an after market oil pan. as i said earlier, ur mostly limited to Tomei stuff. u dont have 10 good companies offering the same thing, just 1 great one but u cant beat Tomei's stuff for Nissan anyway. ill take Tomei over Crower or Greddy any day

[s13drifter88]

but thats just my opinion, its his decision in the end

[Pantaro]

a friend of mine has a ca,i could listen to that thing run all day.i actually think its the only ca in our entire county!i love the design of the ca and rbs and pretty much cant stand the design of the sr and ka.where i live if i did the rb swap i would definitly have one of the most original builds around here since everyone and their grandma runs sr20s

[s13drifter88]

i absolutly cant stand the sr but i love the ca18 to no end. its such a great little motor, makes great power, it fairly cheap and runs so smooth. i have an buddies sr on a stand at my house and i dont mind helping him at all but i could honestly set it out on the side of the street and leave it lol. yes i know they can make power but theres just so many better ways u can do it (imo).

[s13drifter88]

i also have a ca18 for sale to. motor, trans, ecu, u.s. chassis ready wiring harness and it has a new spec stg 3 clutch, spec 9lb flywheel, greddy timing belt, new oem tensioner, ported and gasket matched intake with ka24e throttle body, fresh rebuild, oem 240sx motor mounts. stock turbo starting to leak a little oil, recommend replacing but spools and boosts just fine. sr t25 with ported ca t25 compressor housing, amazing boost response. $1500

[Pantaro]

lol,its funny i love tomei and wanted to use as much of there products as possible.im the kinda guy who would rather save for a month for that one bad a** part over buying several fast and cheap knock offs.way too many half a** builds out there.sr20det on the curb hahahah

[Pantaro]

thats a sweet deal for 1500

[s13drifter88]

no doubt man, im a label whore to no end. ill pay for HKS boost controller or turbo timer before ill take a free "no-name" or ISIS or w/e. it may work just fine but i want the name/label for my own satisfaction and bragging rights lol

[Pantaro]

exactly ive lost count of how many guys i kno that buy these 20 dollar gauges and are shocked when they fall apart,i'll take defi's anyday,where are u located at?

[s13drifter88]

i got the motor from a friend, rebuilt it, was going to put in a shell for a track but finances not permitting me to do so im actually gonna lose money on it. im selling for the cost of my tuition and books for the next semester since my financial aid isnt in any hurry at all. imma miss it but i'll still have my built ca coupe so ill live thru it lol but it'll make a great starter swap for somebody and its already wired for a u.s. body so it'll be a one day job. swap it saturday and be done in time to enjoy and cruise it sat night, take ur girl out, roll with ur buddies... w/e u do lol

[s13drifter88]

im in huntsville, al. i dont use cheap crap either, im all autometer. ur guages tell ur heartbeat, would u want a doctor hooking u up to some no-name pos ekg machine?

[Pantaro]

hell no,lol i love my heart,lol

what kinda shipping fees do you think i would be looking at?

[Pantaro]

im in ny by the way

[s13drifter88]

uhhhh... good question. google the weight of a ca18 with trans then call any shipping company and see what it will itll be. probably standard u.s. flat rate shipping so imma say over 150 but less than 250 but dont hold me to that. itll ship on a 5x5 palet so the rate may be based just on palet and not by the load weight itself but u prob wanna check and see before u take whole heartedly what i said. im in school for machining... not shipping haha

[Pantaro]

machining nice,yea i paid around that for an sr20det trans from florida

[s13drifter88]

i kno for international they charge by the palet so if ur an importer u just cram all u can get on a palet which can be quite a bit. a guy ive done some work for and helped some, his name is Dustin, great guy, and he owns a shop called Midnight Auto which does IMMACULATE! swaps and work with Nissans and Mazdas and when he orders he gets big loads on just 1 palet to keep shipping down.

[Pantaro]

yea seems my friend with the ca18 is falling on hard times and is selling his car,i might have to take over carrying the torch of the lone ca18 powered 240 around here,also having most of the weight behind the wheels would be amazing

[s13drifter88]

oh they drive soooooo great. i noticed a big difference in front end tracking. steering feels much more responsive

[danielmcn]

I was thinking ca or rb too when I was swap shopping. I like the ca, its one of those motors thats hard to mess up. I have seen good numbers out of them too. The only thing that I dont like is to get really good numbers(300 and up) you are looking at a complete build, and like was stated the parts are not cheap(nor for the rb for that mater). I like how the rb makes good power with the stock bottem end. All you need to do to it is a crank coller, then its good for what ever. I dont like how hard it is to find parts when they go bad, like the cas or iacv stuff like that. The ca has a usdm counterpart that is nonturbo and as far as I can remember most of the parts on interchangeable. If the ca had been cheaper then the rb I would have gotten it instead.

[Pantaro]

they are both great engines for there price

[s13drifter88]

the ca itself is fairly cheap, i didnt mean to imply that parts were lol. cams are a little higher than sr but other than that its all about the same. the stock lower deck is good to about 450hp and yes, usdm parts are interchangable i.e. timing set, gasket set, internals ect ect. that also makes things simpler

[s13drifter88]

a crank collar is needed on any rb20 or series 1 rb25