What engine would you go with in this application?

[lancefloyd]

Well, I've searched around a lot, and found gobs of useful information, but now its time to compile everyone's thoughts on all the engine options for the 240. I think we all know that each engine is great for the car in its own right, but I was wanting to know what YOU would do, if you were in my shoes.

I apologize if this is a long one, but I want to get the most accurate and informative poll I could. Basically, I've driven quite a few cars over my short time as a driver (9yrs.) I've owned an 86 RX7, 89 Supra, 91 Supra Turbo (favorite), 97 Ram Air T/A, 00 Mustang GT, 00 Celica GTS, my current 91 240 Hatch, and of course some non-sporting cars (two others with a KA24, my lil' pickup, and my Stanza.) Of all these cars, the Supra Turbo felt the quickest (and easily the least reliable!), but I never felt secure enough in it to take it to the track here at KCIR to prove its worth. The Celica GTS ran a 14.2 at the track dead stock, and the 00 GT ran a 14.0 w/ a Borla Exhaust.

Right now, the 240 is needing a replacement engine ASAP (refer to other posts I've made about rigging the cooling system to compensate for a cracked block, and you will understand! ) Since it is time for a new motor, of course the thought entered my head to run either a CA, SR, KA-T, or an RB20 or 25. All of these are great, but I would like to know which to go with.

Here are my criteria:

I drive this car every day to work and back. It must be reliable! Parts must be somewhat easy to get and install. Remember I live in KC, KS, not exactly aftermarket parts universe like SOCAL.I have a limited amount of funds to fuel the project (lets say around $4000 done and out running...reliably! It would be great to spend less and still be good to go.)I can afford mods and repairs, but I can't dump huge amounts of money into this car...life must go on.I don't drag race often, nor do I street race, but I love a good cat and mouse chase for a few seconds...and I like to be the winner of such chases.I have fairly good mechanical skills. I've installed and troubleshooted my own 7MGTE engine in my 91 Supra Turbo.

Finally, regarding specs, I want a car that can outrun all I've owned, and then perhaps a bit more. I definitely want a car that can get decent mileage (when not being a leadfoot), oh and if I can, I want a sweet engine note. Best engine song I've heard out of my own stash of cars is either the 00 GT w/ the Borla or my Supra Turbo w/ Blitz NUR-Spec.

After polling, if you can, please post why you think your engine choice is the best for this application. Pros and Cons, ets.

Thank you very much for your input on this!

[NIGHTfall_240sx]

[Juujai]

if u have 4k on u and good mechanical skills. pick up a redtop for cheap 2500~ in good condition sourced by a reputable company. make sure it comes with everything u need, harness, ecu, side mount, yeah the goods. get that sucker swapped in and youll have 1500 for insurance or parts if anything breaks.

or you could go ca18 which should be a couple hundred cheaper. if youre lucky ull find one for 2k and then ull have 2k to spare around for parts/aftermarket.

around here if you dont want to do any mechanical labor you could just bring the car to a shop and theyll swap it in for ~4k for a redtop sr maybe sometimes black.

i think you should sell some of those cars and focus on 1 daily and 1 power hungry car =) that way your track car will look really nice with repaint, interior, wheels, drop, whole exhaust system change from manifold-tip. etc. itll crank more power than just buying a car swapping and then exhaust my opinion though

[biggie]

Voted for KA-T because of your budget and its a DD.

Get another KA now, swap it in. Then save up and start buying a turbo kit a piece at a time. This will give you very little down time. You can still run 10psi very safely with tunning on a stock bottom end and should be around 275whp or so. And a good KA can be had for at most $400-$500. And only engine you can do without new wiring installed.

RB20 sucks when compared to just getting the SR20. Heavier and same power.

RB25 or 26 would be fun, but possibly taking away from the car's balance. And lots of fabrication and down time to put in an RB. And RBs are probably the hardest for parts availability.

Good CA18s are hard to find and probably should be rebuilt after purchase, especially for reliability. That's gonna hurt he budget when trying to increase power on it.

SRs are good, but it would be longer down time. And I would be too tempted to change things on them for higher power (hg, turbo, fmic, etc) and that would hurt the budget. Good ones are gonna run over $2000 to start, must less install.

Just my opinion, I might be slightly biased, but took the DD and budget into play.

[hannibal]

IMO,Daily driver = KAT

[NIGHTfall_240sx]

..ok, who didnt vote for me :|

[lancefloyd]

LMAO...you bastard w/ the choices...I can't run you as an engine..

Oh and I must have forgot to say "These are the cars I've owned...not own. I only have one car now, ...that is the 91 240sx.

Also, I don't have $4000 just lying around. I have about $1000 right now. But, I can save. I just know I won't be able to scrounge up much more then $3500-4000 before my current engine goes out.

The poll continues!

[NIGHTfall_240sx]

hahaa... sadly its a tie between me being leet and a KA-T

[biggie]

Also, I don't have $4000 just lying around. I have about $1000 right now. But, I can save. I just know I won't be able to scrounge up much more then $3500-4000 before my current engine goes out.

Definately a KA then. Cause you can't ignore the cracked block to save up for an expensive engine. With that being your only car, a KA is needed soon. And technically if you are gonna be doing anything with turbo I'd recommend getting a DD for dirt cheap before you start any turbo project.

[SimpleEnigma]

You said you wanted to do this in around 4K right?...well easiest thing to do would be to pick up anew KA engine for a couple hundred bucks and dump a turbo kit on it. Boost Designs has generated a turbo system for the KA that is around 2k. Taking into account that a stock SR20 Red Top is about 2500 not including shipping, the cost would probably be around the same. In terms of reliability, in general, the less boost you have on an engine the more reliable and longer it will last longer. The KA will require less boost to attain a decent hp rating. I have mad respect for the SR engine, but i think that a KA-T will fare better for you.

[lancefloyd]

yeah..but thats because I clicked on your choice by mistake...i was like "whats this?" "click"...damn....

So...we got a starting poll of mostly KA-T... interested to see how the rest of the night will fare. Someone got a spare excellent condition KA (or I guess I could save a bit and buy the whole KA-T from someone) engine in my local area? KC, KS.

[574-240sx]

I'm a KA-T guy. You said your motor is trashed. How trashed? A SR will bolt in and you don't need to mess with power steering. A stock SR is pretty reliable but a little harder to get parts for. Or you can find a cheap KA and go to town.

[lancefloyd]

SR is making a comeback...interesting! I'm starting to realize that while a KA is easily the cheapest and most plentiful, the SR is what a lot of people go for anyway. hmm..

[NX95240]

KA-T all the way!!

[Clatch]

Is it me, or have most of the ads for engine parts on a 240SX been SR20DET, every site I look at, is SR this SR that. From what I've seen the SR has a far larger aftermarket support than the KA-T.

[240marcuSX]

the sr does have better support, but the parts get pretty expensive, and plus, you can get spare ka parts all day long from junk yards etc, and cheap!

[WeldingHank]

CA18's are very reliable. you don't need to rebuild them. you can also pick up a CA18 engine set for around $1400 shipped. i did my entire swap with an FMIC setup and everything for $2500! and i have put over 10K miles on it now without replacing ANYTHING! don't rule out the CA18. i reccomend getting one from NICO's very own Boost_Boy. he has yet to sell a bad CA18.

[2s4x0]

Do you want to wait 1 day for a KA-T part?? OR 1 month for the damn japs to send some leaky sr part over here on a busted down ship...?

[Juujai]

damn japs wont send leaky sr parts? you can just go to your local 240 swap place. phase2motor,jspec whatever they have it all. and you can do an sr swap in 1 day also. usually you'll get your front clips from america anyway so you can hand pick and get what you want. depending on the price you pay it may be even cheaper than a ka-t. im pure jdm ill never support a 2.4litre engine. even if srs go super expensive. its like the 240. we pay up to 9k for a old used car with some low hp producing engine and we still do it? why because we like the car? same with sr to me i like jdm so none of you can flame =). my love is not for hp its for what it is lol cant explain.

besides no good companies make good ka parts. look at how much power a n/a ka24 with all the parts made in US produce? less than 200hp lol. n/a SR can generate way more with quality japanese parts. ive seen it go to 300hp. its so crazy. we have toda jun tomei making good stuff. overhere its crap like hotshot, injen.

[w1ngzer0]

ka-t has plenty of support. Take a welder and some sheet metal....and you have all the support in the world :P

[PoorManQ45]

I say if you're going to do a swap, you may as well do it right.

Put a 351 SB or a 454 BB in there. Either of those would be good for a NA 500HP/Tq . And if you're worried about added weight, you could always go with an aluminum block and heads.

[nismofly]

at first i wanted an sr, but now that ive actually done my research im going ka-t

[PoorManQ45]

I say go RB26

[nismofly]

thats about twice his budget just to think about it

[PoorManQ45]

Then I say 351W. You can get a really nice prefabbed one for about $2500~$5000. Weld up some Motor and transmission mounts. Get a transmission and you're pretty much good to go. Oh, don't forget Driveshaft and rear end.

[nismofly]

oh yeah that should only cost about as much as the rb

[Onizuka]

A bone stock SR is just as reliable as a bone stock KA, save for the turbo needs replacing/rebuilding every 80,000 miles or so ($100 maybe?). Parts are easy to come by (there are more SR's in the world than KA's), dont listen to the "you need to import everything" people. That said, a KA-T would be a great and comparible option.

Either way for $4000 I dont see you making anymore than 250hp at the wheels reliably.

I've gotten 19mpg city and 25mpg highway with my s13 SR. I dynoed 208whp @ 7psi on a oem s15 T28 (bolt on) using pretty much stock everything else, piggyback fuel controler (running very close to stock fuel maps) and exaust.

[lancefloyd]

hmmm...well to those who decided i should run a viper motor or 351W...thanks for making this poll your joke. Its not really a joke to me, I'm asking for useful input. So far, I'm amazed at the plethora of good reasons to buy either a CA, KA-T (which I dunno...I love my jap motors yaknow?)..or SR. REMEMBER though...i live in Kansas. Well, KC, KS. Its not THAT bad, but its not like I can go to my nearest JDM shop... So far, I'm digging the stock SR swap, or still the KA...

[PoorManQ45]

I wasn't joking. It'd be a cool and fast swap to do a 351W in there. Note that a 454 is not a Viper Motor.

I was just throwing out a suggestion. Sorry if it seemed to be a joke

[nismofly]

could you do the sr swap yourself or would you need a shop?