Summertime options...Opinions wanted.

[APEXi240]

I'm predominatly done with suspension/basic maintance. Most of the parts are stockpiled in my room, awaiting warmer weather to be installed.

This is my predicament...I want more power out of my engine. I also want to learn more about engines, I want to know how to rebuild an engine, and generally gain more knowledge. This leads me to a bit of a predicament.

I've wanted another turbo car for about two years now (RIP 85zxt). This leads me to the obvious SR20 swap. It'd take me quite a while to save up for this, probably one year or so.

In the pursuit to learn and build stuff myself I want to pick up a block. There is a 95 or so 240 longblock with 75k that I can pick up for about 200 bucks. With this I was planning on a simple buildup of 89 pistons for upped compression, and also 91-93 cams possibly in conjuction with light headwork, and for 1/4 duties, a 50 or 65 shot.

There are MANY pros and cons to each, but the biggest con for the second choice is that I will need a transmission rebuild. The pro is all the knowledge I'll gain, and a pretty nice setup for daily driving duties. Also I'll be able to buy things piece by piece, whereas I need a chunk of money all at once for the SR

The biggest pro for the SR is obviously the "out of the box" performance and the ease of upgrading. The downside is how I'll have to save, and my transmission might grenade by them.

Sorry for the long post, but I've been tossing these two ideas around for months. Any opinions would be appreciated.

Oh yeah, and I do eventually plan to swap an SR even after building a KA...even though that will be years down the line (I'm a patient person). Thank you for your time.

[APEXi240]

bump. I know its a long post, but some opinons would be appreciated...

[Repo Man]

Hell, the knowledge of engines you would gain just from pulling apart that KA and rebuilding it would be worth the $$$ by itself. I say get it and learn! Unless you're planning on an SR swap real soon you're going to have to have your transmission rebuilt anyway, so get it done.

[JNM240]

Agreed. $200 isnt a whole lot up front for a longblock. Build it, drop it in, and wait till you can afford your SR. Then, once you get your SR, you can rebuild THAT engine before you put it in, including overboring, forged pistons, maybe even a JUN stroker kit! That would be awesome!

[APEXi240]

Very true, plus by then I'll hopefully be out of college...with a real career. A built SR would be nice...I will however have my current block sitting there...turbo KA would also be a possibility...who knows.

Plus it'll give me and my friends something to do over the winter (stripping the block down), prepping everything as much as possible.