Rebuild questions..price?

[CerpinVolta]

Ok so I have decided I'm going to go KA-T in my 96 SE and i have a couple questions. I did use the search but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for so I just thought I'd ask...

I have a chance to pick up a used Ka with the transmission for $300. I was thinking of picking this up so I could have a spare engine and would still be able to drive my car around while the spare ka was being rebuilt. I've been looking at rebuild kits and I've heard lots of good things about the AMS kits so I was thinking about going with one of those. I think they run about $1600. So far that puts me up to $1900 for the motor+rebuild kit. I have some friends that could help me rebuild it but I'm not super experienced and was wondering how much more might I be looking at spending to have a shop rebuild it?

What other additional things am I going to have to have done to the engine such as hot tanking etc and how much will this put me back? I'm trying to get a gauge as to how much I should realistically look to spend when its all said and done.

Is it worth it price wise to go this route? I've seen HRT has a crate KA for $3300. For the money am I better of just getting the KA from them and calling it good? Can I actually do a good rebuild for much less then that?

My goals are to have a DD with between 250whp to 300whp with the ability for more in the future.

Thanks for any help, I appreciate it

David

[480sx]

Honestly a crate motor is never a bad idea, HRT is a Ka specialist as well. Its worth it IMO if you dont know a good machinist, and can do the work yourself. Eliminates a massive potential PITA.

You can get all the components that AMS sells for about 200-300 cheaper if you buy it separately. They charge a pretty big markup on all that stuff.

The only thing AMS has going for them in the 240 world is their manifold. Thats the only thing worth buying from them. I guess their downpipe might be worth it if you cant fabricate for yourself or dont know anyone. For high end manifolds, either either Full Race or AMS.