Has anyone bought this?? Not many details either

[twofortyrida1388]

http://www.amsperformance.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=24_62_304&products_id=301

Is it worth it?? I can get all felpro gaskets for 20% at advance. It does come w/ arias pistons.

[91rps13]

its kinda $$$$ ... Its little more than half of what an sr is going to cost you (if your planning to boost ka) plus you still need all the other turbo goodies....

if you want turbo on budget go with a ca or save up for sr or even rb(mmmm)

[eastcoastS14]

well it all depends on what your asking and what your looking to do...If you are looking to rebuild your motor go KA-T and push a lot of HP like over 300whp then its probably not a bad deal but i still dont believe its necessary

if you are just looking to make your motor more solid and possibly go KA-T then it really isnt necessary...Im putting in new ARP head studs and the full felpro gasket set and thats good enough for me

I guess it comes down to if you have the money to burn...if you can get the gasket set for cheaper and can piece the rest of it together yourself then do it.


www.KA-t.org (http://www.KA-t.org) btw

[slothonaleash]

it's a lot of money, but if you're serious about a ka-t setup, then you're looking at quality stuff

and like ^^^he said, if you're looking for over 300 hp, you should start replacing internals...but that kit is not necessary

[twofortyrida1388]

No way man. KA all the way. Internally all it really needs are pistons and rings for high numbers. The head flows better than sr and its potential torque shits on the ca and sr plus I can get entire engines for less than 500 bucks. Spit a rod out of an sr and or a ca its REALLY gonna cost ya. I just figured why not. Its a deal. I just need to know if someone has bought it. With this kit and some other obvious upgrades(cams f.e.) it could take 20lbs of boost(not what I am shooting for). I will stop here I can see this very quickly turning into a gay ass ka vs. sr crap. Do you have any idea what an rb swap would cost?? As badass as an rb engine is no thanks. I dont feel like searching for days/weeks for things like an rb25 alternator or starter, etc, then paying hundreds for it. I was like you at first ka is garb I wanno gor sr or rb or anything else but a ka. I've done enough research to realize the ka is perfectly suited for me. (as sick as it would be) I dont have to have a 10k rpm screaming rb26 to be content. If I were to swap anything in it would A) lower mileage ka, or B) a vq35. Talking to 91rps dude.

[twofortyrida1388]

I will be shooting (eventually) for 300-350 daily driver If I'm going through the trouble of rebuilding it anyway I want to make sure it will last and not have to worry about it (as much) when I'm stomping it pushing 16-18lbs of boost. The only thing I don't need in the kit for my goals are the rods. Next time I go to work I will price a full gasket set w/ my discount and see if it would be better to buy the pistons and bearings seperate. Say I peice together a capable turbo kit for 2500 and another 1500 (including head/block cost) for a built engine that can potentially hit 400hp and hold it I say its worth it. Like I said I'm not shooting that high 350 is PLENTY and I wont have to fear driving it on high boost. I know with a great tune a stock non rebuilt ka can handle 300horse but how long will it actually last? Minus those freak nissan engines that have a 1/4 mil miles on them and are being boosted and some how hold it together. I just figure with all the gaskets alone it is still gonna cost a few hundred. So mind as well throw in an extra few hundred and have calico coated bearings and forged pistons. One thing I didn't see are the piston rings. So what would be some great rings to use w/ these rods?

[twofortyrida1388]

well it all depends on what your asking and what your looking to do...If you are looking to rebuild your motor go KA-T and push a lot of HP like over 300whp then its probably not a bad deal but i still dont believe its necessary

if you are just looking to make your motor more solid and possibly go KA-T then it really isnt necessary...Im putting in new ARP head studs and the full felpro gasket set and thats good enough for me

I guess it comes down to if you have the money to burn...if you can get the gasket set for cheaper and can piece the rest of it together yourself then do it.


www.KA-t.org (http://www.KA-t.org) btw


How many miles are on your engine and how much are you boosting? If I were shooting for lets say 250-285 yeah I wouldn't go as far as rods and pistons. I would do all seals and gaskets a hacked maf under 250 and some cams. I will get bored relatively quick. The local 302 mustangs need to be put in there place anyway. I shit you not that thing is better than sliced bread to the peeps in my town. idk why cuz that motor is a peice of shit anyway. A stock 302 block will explode right down the middle w/ anything over 500horse.

[BoostedCoupe]

ask on ka-t.org. of course people have bought it its AMS ask on ka-t.org people buy ka stuff from ams every day. For the dude that said save money for an sr or ca or rb please dont turn this therad into a ka vs every motor thread.

[eastcoastS14]

man I always have to ask this...have you ever driven a car with 350whp before?? If you have then by all means start building and boosting but if not....start lower and work your way up because im speaking from experience when I say 350whp is fast as shit....a lot of people will tell you its not but in an S chassis it really is....but again if you have experience with power like that then go for it

My last car had a 350whp SR now im just looking to go KA-T and maybe 270whp range...Im working on getting my car running and then I will be piecing my turbo kit together in the future but most likely only going to run a t28 or possibly a 2871r but keep the boost pretty low

but just for reference a lot of the stuff you named is not necessary for your hp goals...my SR was completely stock internals, it had replaced gaskets and all that and a port and polished head and a good tune (which is key) and it was crazy fast...no pistons or rods or even cams

[SlidewayzS14]

I've been considering a rebuild on my KA, its relatively low milage (188xxxKM), as i have started to drift it more. i have noticed that the more i beat it, the louder this ticking sound gets. so would this be my lifters or rocker arms? should i upgrade to push high rpms on a regular basis? KA-T is eventual, but not untill i start to actually need that power.

[CKAMC]

Thats a pretty good deal AMS has there.

dont skimp on KA-T atleast get pistons/rings and reshoot the rods and new bearings and other basics and your ready to go.

[kouness]

not to make you swing another way because AMS is a top notch stuff. i would love to get the turbo kit from them. If you do decide to go with them, you wont be disappointed one bit. The only downfall is that they cost a lot. Isnt there a thread on here that had a KA kit for a built bottom end going for $1350 or something like that.. i think it was being sold by umsports... not sure though.. i think that is a great deal so jump on that if you can... i would just that i have other priorities before i start to build it.. just a thought.. - kouvang

[E2EKIELR34]

i was wondering if anyone has bought the AMS crate KA motor? Ive been thinkin about rebuilding my KA then maybe in the way future make it a KA-T. So i was wondering if buying the AMS rebuilt KA crate motor is such a good idea or a waste. thanks.

[FRpilot]

man I always have to ask this...have you ever driven a car with 350whp before?? If you have then by all means start building and boosting but if not....start lower and work your way up because im speaking from experience when I say 350whp is fast as shit....a lot of people will tell you its not but in an S chassis it really is....but again if you have experience with power like that then go for it


im with you on this.. i used to "dream" of building 500+whp too.. by "dream'' i meant budget and plan for. (it was going to get done just a matter of time.) but anyways, my ka blew and i needed a quick replacement. i opted to drop in an sr due to simplicity and not having the time to rebuild a ka-t. when i swapped the sr in and test drove it, it felt to me fast as fuck for only a stock sr with pfc and some bpus. it was a completely different car just going from from stock 15yr old ka to sr. it was then that i realized that even the 180 or so whp from the stock sr, being that fast with only 180whp was plenty fast enough. it was probably just going from 135whp to 180whp that was a major difference to me at the time. (eventually ill get use to it and want more hp) but also after a while on the freeway and daily driving i noticed that if i built a 500+hp car for the street i wouldn't be able to utilize all that power anyways. (i already can't utilize all the sr's power because after accelerating on the freeway, i would have to brake since theres cars in the way).

when my need for more power comes, 300hp should be plenty. 350 if i wanted to reach for something a little more, but 400+ is just too much for a street car and pump gas. most of the 400hp dynos i see on sr/ka need 18-22psi to reach 400 barrier and by then its almost detonating with 93 piss water which we dont even have in california unless i wanted to load up on 100octane mixed with 91 everytime i fill up. 15-16psi would be the most i would run on 91. ill probably try to find a compression ratio that will be a compromise of achieving the most hp while running 91octane.

but anyways, the kit is good. i, myself, have been looking into ka-t because of the smog issue (even though ka-t would be illegal as well but should be easier to change back) but mostly due to a/c issue. it sucks driving a car with no a/c. i know you can get a/c with sr, but its too much crap i have to deal with like cutting/welding a/c line and fittings, a/c wiring, custom brackets, and finding a belt, as well as additional research when running an ems.

ka-t is a good plan because of their potential and the power numbers they are capable of. plus, you have to factor in that rebuilding with those quality parts with give you a reliable fresh motor compared to the 2500-3000 you're going to spend dropping in an sr. sure, ka might be more expensive, with rebuild costing 2k and quality exhaust manifold+turbo costing another 2500.. but in the end, you have to figure in that the ka would be fresh as opposed to a junkyard sr motor as well as having bigger more badass turbo than the stock t25 that runs out of balls in the upper rpm range.

further, the basic kit is nice, but i would look into and really consider the advance kit for 1710 if you are planning on rebuilding the ka. it includes everything of the basic kit + metal hg, metal exh manifold gasket, arp bolts, and new timing chain stuff (that should be changed to the upgraded units anyways). even if i build a ka motor that would only be na, i would at least run the revised timing chain components, utlize metal hg and change all gaskets, with arp bolts. (i would also use forged pistons and rods as well, but you can use stock).

if budget is a concern and you need to rebuild your blown motor, i would seriously consider the advance kit. you can build it and run it na for a while and it would be bulletproof since everything would be fresh and you can add a turbocharger and turbo manifold later when you have more money. some of my friends are considering doing just that.

the issue of whether the kit is worth it, it most certainly is for being complete and utilizing quality parts. you can always piece together your own, but the cost would be pretty much the same if you want the same quality. i will not cheap on stuff like this. however, some things that i started looking into from the kit are the felpro gasket set, and the choice of pistons and rods. i haven't done much research on those, but i know they are quality pieces. the rods seem to be pretty good based on everyone's reviews and it is used/sold by ivan. there are other pistons and rods you can buy, and i have started reviewing things such as eagle rods, pauter rods, cp pistons, wiseco pistons, etc. but those components are pretty much all top notch quality, will last a long time, and priced the same. i just want the best possible and i hear pauter rods are supposedly some of the best (i read on ka-t that some guy compared eagle and puater and you can tell which one is better quality. not to knock on eagle because they are tested to handle 700+hp and is top notch. the pauter just are simpley the best and as such, cost 200 more. just means pauter is even better than eagle which is already good, in the end eagle would be sufficient and going to pauter is just a waste of $200 more but i can spare it for the best). pistons i haven't researched too much into yet, and the fel-pro kit i dont know much about as well but i prefer oem nissan gasket kit.

one final note, check out the group buy section. ummotorsports or whatever is offering essentially the same rebuild kit minus timing chain kit and gasket kit but with eagle rods and supertech pistons if you prefer those companies. but all in all, those are pretty much top notch and just your preference and brand loyalty.

[BoostedCoupe]

I've been considering a rebuild on my KA, its relatively low milage (188xxxKM), as i have started to drift it more. i have noticed that the more i beat it, the louder this ticking sound gets. so would this be my lifters or rocker arms? should i upgrade to push high rpms on a regular basis? KA-T is eventual, but not untill i start to actually need that power.
sounds like you have the ka famous timing chain rattle every ka gets it sooner or latter i think you can remove one of the guides on the top and it wont rattle anymore. 188,000 miles isnt that bad aslong as it was well maintained. i have seen 210+ thousand mile ka-t's on ka-t.org. he ran 7psi for a year or so and beat on it alot. and it didnt blow up he just wanted to rebuild it.

[ECR33S14]

if your going to build a motor for forced induction its never a bad idea to build it all. id rather replace everything instead of just a couple of things and kick myself later.

[twofortyrida1388]

Thanks for all the info. I just figure spending that couple hundred more dollars could save me the trouble of having to pull the engine AGAIN earlier down the road than I would hope. I want this ka to take a pounding and ask for more like 18yr old pornstar getting smashed by a horse. I'm not saying 350 is my goal. I'm just saying that I want the car to handle 350+ if one day I want to take it that far. I know 300 is fast. I remember when my car was running so bad I couldn't floor it unless in 3rd. After I fixed it and drop it I was like WTF!! The car could actually throw my head back and wouldn't stall out when I would dump the clutch. I thank you and understand what you all are saying. The reason I'm going as far as I am with this rebuild because the engine I'm rebuilding has a 1/4 million miles on it. I got it for dirt cheap.