Swap Question NOT Ordinary

[Iball20]

quick question for everyone all input is wanted! i want to swap my ka out, thought about turboing it but has way too many miles on it and dont want to rebuild it but if i have to i will. but this isnt about hp or tq diff motors have i want to know what would fit my goals as with the car..
i want to drift, im around a lot of v8 guys and they always talk down on imports so i want to be able to beat them
but also have a nice sound and be able to walk anything that comes my way.
so motors i were thinking about were rb series jz series maybe even sr i just want in put of my goals and which enine would be best.
thanks.

[Razi]

You can put in whatever you want.
You could drift with a stock KA if you wanted.
What engine you put in your car is something you decide after doing research.

[Iball20]

I know it comes Down to what I want to put in I just wanted some feed back from everyone else.

[krash]

I mean, the possibilities are almost endless. Its going to come down to your decision. We can't tell you what motor to put in your car. Do some research and then narrow down what motors you'd what, and from there we can give you some input on those motors. But right now you're pretty much asking us what lamp would work best in your bedroom.

[Razi]

Well, anything that didn't come with the S-chassis from the factory is going to be a pain.
SRs are easy to swap in and don't come with extra headaches like RB and 2JZ swaps.

[Iball20]

I mean, the possibilities are almost endless. Its going to come down to your decision. We can't tell you what motor to put in your car. Do some research and then narrow down what motors you'd what, and from there we can give you some input on those motors. But right now you're pretty much asking us what lamp would work best in your bedroom.

Ok I have narrowed it down and these are what I came to. I know the sr isn't very reliable from what I hear. And I like the rb but I recently came acroos that you have to cut your firewall? And the 1jz I have always liked that engine

Sr
Rb20
Rb25
1jz(I'm iffy on this one I think I want a Nissan engine in my s chassis)
Hope this makes it easier to help.

[blkvrtswp]

I know the sr isn't very reliable from what I hear.

Who ever told you that is stupid, stop listening to them.

[Iball20]

I know the sr isn't very reliable from what I hear.

Who ever told you that is stupid, stop listening to them.

You have one tell me some info about it.

[blkvrtswp]

SR - Reliability, easy upgrades, massive parts availability, and readily available help make this my 1st recommendation.

Low mileage KA - good to turbo with a kit, total price and power similar to SR so either engine is a good choice.

High mileage KA - Rebuilding engines (rings, pistons, bearings) is for people who need more than 400 whp, and can afford to do the whole thing over again every 2 years / 10,000 miles. This is my opinion after selling over 100 sets of pistons & rods for KA/SR's for 7 years, and seeing 90% of those cars end up needing another rebuild less than 2 years later. Nothing beats the Japanese assembly line worker's precision!

RB's are a lot of extra money and work in comparison. Plus the RB20's are ancient now,(same thing with the CA and older red-top SR's) and parts are getting harder to find. SR parts are going to be available for many years due to their popularity.

IMO, you want fun and fast and not too expensive go with the SR with a turbo upgrade, perhaps head gasket if you are close to 400 whp. I have not had to put one dollar into my SR engine for 3 years / 12,000 miles aside from oil changes.

[mechanicalmoron]

Nothing says screw your V8 like beating them with a 4cyl.

.....But what do you want to beat them at? that might be the hard part.

[simmode1]

Man, I thought this swap question was gonna be different from the ordinary. I was deceived.

OP, first things first: You said you want a motor to drift with. You can drift an N/A KA just fine as long as it's healthy and you have some simple yet carefully selected mods.

As for picking a swap candidate, settle on a budget for this project and maybe then we can let you know what falls in your price range. But for the uninformed, like yourself, I'd usually say keep it simple and stick with a healthy, professionally swapped SR with a few upgrades costing about $4g's.

Or for about that same price, you can do your homework, buy a KAde from somewhere, rebuild it for boost and piece together your own turbo kit. It's alot more work than going SR, but you get bigger results for the same price most times.

Going with RB, 1J/2J, VQ, LSx is a budget buster for most ppl. Take a long hard look at your finances before deciding to go those routes.

[Iball20]

Yeah I was thinking about getting another ka because the one I have now has a ton of miles. But now I'm down to the sr and rb25 being my main engines I would like to swap in. I have never been in either of these cars powered by one of the engines. But Ive heard an rb26 and I love the sound of in line 6. And the sr I kinda dont like cause again I heard that they have bad low to mid range

[mechanicalmoron]

Yeah I was thinking about getting another ka because the one I have now has a ton of miles. But now I'm down to the sr and rb25 being my main engines I would like to swap in. I have never been in either of these cars powered by one of the engines. But Ive heard an rb26 and I love the sound of in line 6. And the sr I kinda dont like cause again I heard that they have bad low to mid range

High milage can be fine.... Do a compression test, and decide from there.

Yes, SR has bad low/mid, and KA has NO high, it just doesn't go there.

I don't think an RB will be much better on the low/mid than an SR, that's determined by the stroke length and turbo/breathing on it's own.

KA has long piston strokes, this gives low end torque but limits the rev possibilities, while on some other motors it's just valve springs or something that need upgrading to dramatically increase the top.

SR and RB are both factory turbo, this limits low end and gives some lag on the accelerator because you have to already be making power for the turbo to spin up.

if you're down to rb/sr you need to consider that the sr was made for this car and fits perfectly, and the rb was made for a totally different car and nothing fits or works.

Personally I like low end torque, it makes for a better daily type car, you don't have to shift down 2 gears when you want to stomp on it..... it puts the good numbers a lot closer to normal driving revs. May not be fast, but can be quick, which I find much more important.

[simmode1]

What kind of budget we looking at here, OP? how much are you willing to spend to get the car running with a swapped motor?

[Iball20]

Yeah I was thinking about getting another ka because the one I have now has a ton of miles. But now I'm down to the sr and rb25 being my main engines I would like to swap in. I have never been in either of these cars powered by one of the engines. But Ive heard an rb26 and I love the sound of in line 6. And the sr I kinda dont like cause again I heard that they have bad low to mid range

High milage can be fine.... Do a compression test, and decide from there.

Yes, SR has bad low/mid, and KA has NO high, it just doesn't go there.

I don't think an RB will be much better on the low/mid than an SR, that's determined by the stroke length and turbo/breathing on it's own.

KA has long piston strokes, this gives low end torque but limits the rev possibilities, while on some other motors it's just valve springs or something that need upgrading to dramatically increase the top.

SR and RB are both factory turbo, this limits low end and gives some lag on the accelerator because you have to already be making power for the turbo to spin up.

if you're down to rb/sr you need to consider that the sr was made for this car and fits perfectly, and the rb was made for a totally different car and nothing fits or works.

Personally I like low end torque, it makes for a better daily type car, you don't have to shift down 2 gears when you want to stomp on it..... it puts the good numbers a lot closer to normal driving revs. May not be fast, but can be quick, which I find much more important.

I want an engine that has a good mixture of low and high. That's why I'm really considering the rb plus McKinney has mounts driveshaft etc for the swap. But the sr Idk. Some days I like it some I don't like it.

[Iball20]

What kind of budget we looking at here, OP? how much are you willing to spend to get the car running with a swapped motor?

What's op mean? And I would say about like 3k maybe more. I'm trying to find a good deal on an rb25 or sr I guess. Every time I do the rb is always like a couple hundred more so if I swap I'm just going to go all out. Any good vendors you know I could get an imported engine from?

[mechanicalmoron]

Yes, you can get a kit for the RB.

But as I understand it, everything from radiater/heater hoses to the speedo and tach will not match up, and will be a general pita. It's more complicated than buying a driveshaft and mounts.

Just me, though.

[Iball20]

Yes, you can get a kit for the RB.

But as I understand it, everything from radiater/heater hoses to the speedo and tach will not match up, and will be a general pita. It's more complicated than buying a driveshaft and mounts.

Just me, though.

Yeah of course there is going to be some odds and ends to the swap which I knew about. I just want to get people's insight on how I should attack my goals. Have you drove an sr?

[simmode1]

OP means Opening Poster, the person who started the thread.

With a budget of $3000, you're not gonna get very far. That may buy you an egnine, but the costs involved with getting anything over an SR20 or KA-T will vastly exceed $3000.

[Iball20]

OP means Opening Poster, the person who started the thread.

With a budget of $3000, you're not gonna get very far. That may buy you an egnine, but the costs involved with getting anything over an SR20 or KA-T will vastly exceed $3000.

That's just off the top. I just got a job so I will be saving a bunch!

[simmode1]

I hope that new job is a really good one and you're not planning this to be a daily driver.

If you're aiming for RB25, I'd encourage you to budget between $8k to $10k. To be honest, you may as well delete the word 'budget' from your vocabulary because there aren't alot of corners you can cut here & EVERYTHING will be expensive.

[Iball20]

I hope that new job is a really good one and you're not planning this to be a daily driver.

If you're aiming for RB25, I'd encourage you to budget between $8k to $10k. To be honest, you may as well delete the word 'budget' from your vocabulary because there aren't alot of corners you can cut here & EVERYTHING will be expensive.

Are you saying that I should go a different route?

[mechanicalmoron]

I hope that new job is a really good one and you're not planning this to be a daily driver.

If you're aiming for RB25, I'd encourage you to budget between $8k to $10k. To be honest, you may as well delete the word 'budget' from your vocabulary because there aren't alot of corners you can cut here & EVERYTHING will be expensive.

Are you saying that I should go a different route?

I think he was saying exactly what it looked like he was saying.

Whoever else said it: I don't see why an SR should cost over 3k.... motor for under 2, if you put it in without doing anything to it, you could even pay someone else to put it in for 3. radiator/fuel hoses, the obligatory spare wires and such, but..... ehh, I've never done it.

[Iball20]

I think I might go sr for my first swap. I'm never going to sell my 240. I will just keep building and building has too much sentimental value to me. But I will eventually sway and rb or jz

[CJH]

I don't know why this is "Not Ordinary Swap Question"? There are a million threads just like this. "What is the best motor in the world?" "What motor is best for drifting?" What motor should I use?" They are all pointless questions. There are sooooo many good motors out there and they all work for whatever you want.
KA,SR,RB,JZ,LSX,VQ,VH and it doesn't end there. If you search hard enough you can find almost any engine swapped into an S chassis. I remember a couple years ago seeing a guy from France swap a H22 prelude motor in and drift that. Its really whatever you want. If you want to learn all the little nuances between the motors, read more. There is so much information out there. You also seem to want everything. You can't have a motor that is light and torquey with tons of top end too and is easy to swap in and will destroy anything that comes near it and doesn't cost a lot of money.

I have been drifting for a couple years. You don't need a lot of power to drift. I drifted with a stock KA for 2 years. My KA-T was fun as hell! I loved it. IMO the most fun cars are the responsive ones. I chose a KA because they are cheap and torquey. I chose a GT28 turbo because I wanted as little turbo lag as possible with some top end. The combination was so much fun I couldn't believe it. And I was only boosting 7psi. 240's are light, especially when they are gutted. Once my engine comes back from the machine shop fully built I will be boosting 18psi.

Go KA or SR or whatever. I have been in, and driven many cars and they are all fun.

When all is said and done I have probably spent around 15K on my car. And I still only have a KA-T. That should give you some perspective. You also don't want to spend all your money on your motor. Suspension is very important too. Build something simple and get seat time and you will have a hard time keeping a smile off your face.

[Iball20]

Thanks for your input I apperciate it. And I was just trying to find an engine good in every aspect but. I think I will go ka or sr. As it being my first swap.

[mechanicalmoron]

I hear that space shuttles are going for cheap right now, you could probably get a parts chasssis on CL. Those motors have excellent high end.

[simmode1]

Are you saying that I should go a different route?

No, just giving you some insight on what you're considering getting into. I hate seeing stillborn projects. If you wanna do it big, you need to plan on spending even more than projected just because of all the little odds and ends that will inevitably pop up. If you want RB power, cool. Just save up for it and don't be surprised to end up spending close to $10k or more.

Thats why I said I would budget like $4000 for an SR swap. Yeah, you can buy an SR for under $2000. But I wouldn't as it will probably be some high mileage junk motor. Most of the low mileage motor are long gone unless you wanna pay more cash for the 6spd S15 motor. Once you factor in things like upgraded radiator, new hoses, FMIC+piping, fuel pump, wiring, A/C brackets and tuning to get it running properly, you'll see a $3000 budget is alot of cut corners and asking for trouble. Research, budget correctly and do it right the first time.

But like previously said, you don't really need an engine swap just to drift. You can learn the craft just fine with an N/A KA running less than $1200 in mods. It won't be a highway bruiser, but it'll get sideways for cheap.

[Iball20]

I hear that space shuttles are going for cheap right now, you could probably get a parts chasssis on CL. Those motors have excellent high end.

no need for that.

[Iball20]

Are you saying that I should go a different route?

No, just giving you some insight on what you're considering getting into. I hate seeing stillborn projects. If you wanna do it big, you need to plan on spending even more than projected just because of all the little odds and ends that will inevitably pop up. If you want RB power, cool. Just save up for it and don't be surprised to end up spending close to $10k or more.

Thats why I said I would budget like $4000 for an SR swap. Yeah, you can buy an SR for under $2000. But I wouldn't as it will probably be some high mileage junk motor. Most of the low mileage motor are long gone unless you wanna pay more cash for the 6spd S15 motor. Once you factor in things like upgraded radiator, new hoses, FMIC+piping, fuel pump, wiring, A/C brackets and tuning to get it running properly, you'll see a $3000 budget is alot of cut corners and asking for trouble. Research, budget correctly and do it right the first time.

But like previously said, you don't really need an engine swap just to drift. You can learn the craft just fine with an N/A KA running less than $1200 in mods. It won't be a highway bruiser, but it'll get sideways for cheap.

Thanks man I like your insight. I think I might go sr. I've been looking and now what's throwing me for a loop is that I could get a rb 20 pretty much the same at the sr 20 for cheaper?