NOT sure about going SR now .

[ROIDMONKEY]

After saving money to do my swap(SR) and after reading and reading on how to make an SR 300+whp its going to cost me more than 3000 bucks for sure including installation (i live in a condominium complex cant do $hit here)
i even bought parts for my suopost SR swap (power FC,FMIC,BOV,Garrett GT25(was planning on a GT28 but was going to use that one for now) Nismo 740cc, Boost controller)
Ive been also reading on KAT and it seens like with less money i can easily go over 300whp.
lets say i have $3000 to spend on my KA that i allready have . i really want something very reliable and street daily drive with more than 300whp(300-350whp)
i did my reading and i need to change pistons,rods and other things but what i couldnt find was a price range of what everything is going to cost , an average price thats including labor like changing pistons rods etc etc .
or should i stick with my SR project instead and forget about KA T?
the whole SR thing is going to cost me over 3500 for sure (motor,swap,piping)
this is what i found at KA-T.org

Average: 300 rwhp to 350 rwhp, you have to start to expect a little more lag. This is about the perfect "street car" limit. No race gas, just good honest street car fun that is fully capable of bring home a 12 second timeslip on a good run.

Turbo Manifold
T3/T04E .50 Trim compressor, .60 trim compressor housing / Stg 3 (aka TA31) turbine wheel, .48 to .63 A/R exhaust housing. Internal wastegate optional but not recommended.
Downpipe can still be 2.5", but this is as far as I would want to push that.
Front Mount Intercooler (FMIC) It's time to upgrade to a larger front mount as the larger will push more air than the smaller sidemount can cool.

Fuel Control
550cc Injectors
SAFC2 to control your fuel injectors, along with the stock ecu.
MSD BTM At this stage I would be running the BTM to control timing retard.
Reflashed ECU-This can be a DIY thing with Megasquirt Tuning or a JWT.
Z32 Maf is required, as the stock Maf stops being able to read at around 260 rwhp.
Wideband O2 Sensor should be installed for tuning.

Block Internals
This is where I would start to consider it necessary to replace you pistons.

[adrift707]

do it, imo i think it'll let you know your engine and its limits better. i hear tuning is scary with ka-t's though

[Jung918]

Rebuilding your ka motor wont be cheap either. Of course you can do what most zilvians do and buy the cheapest thing you can get your paws on, or you can buy good parts that are more likley to stand the test of time.
Either way, the choice is yours. If Florida smog laws are lenient, I would personally go with the sr. I don't know much about that motor but from what I hear you can easily get 300whp with the supporting mods you already have.

[ROIDMONKEY]

Rebuilding your ka motor wont be cheap either. Of course you can do what most zilvians do and buy the cheapest thing you can get your paws on, or you can buy good parts that are more likley to stand the test of time.
Either way, the choice is yours. If Florida smog laws are lenient, I would personally go with the sr. I don't know much about that motor but from what I hear you can easily get 300whp with the supporting mods you already have.
thanks for replys
so u think rebuilding my KA is more than 1000-1500? this is getting confusing. .

[eastcoastS14]

bare bones swap and KA-T averages about to be about the same if your considering upgrading your internals.....cheap ebay t25/t28 swap can be done for a little over $1000 if you hunt for deals/shop on forums etc.....t3 set up with bigger injectors and forged internals etc will run over 2grand probably closer to 3k depending on how serious into the building aspect you get.....KA-T is not a bad choice since the motor is already in there anyway, keep your AC ( if you care about things like that) can source things like starters etc from the US and if it blows buy another one....a nicely running SR swap performed at a good shop can get pretty expensive......back to the old saying "cheap, fast, or reliable....pick two"

btw you can piece together a KA-t set up with parts like an SSAC manifold sr 370cc injectors, ebay intercooler, safc, t28, walbro fp etc and run 8-10psi which should be good for about 250whp....someone correct me if im wrong, which is pretty quick....300-350whp in a 240 is stupid fast and can be unnecessary IMHO

[lazierhobo]

you could spend 3000-4000 getting your KA rebuilt with forged internals. maybe a little less but it all depends on the quality of the parts you want to put in.

but having spent that 3000 you end up with a brand new engine. you spend 3000 on an SR and you have no idea what you might end up with. could need a rebuild in 1k miles too? used motors are a crap shoot no matter where you get it.

cars are an expensive hobby, you have to pay to play, and if you buy cheap parts the first time around you just end up braking more shit later.

[Jung918]

thanks for replys
so u think rebuilding my KA is more than 1000-1500? this is getting confusing. .

If you want a stock rebuild, then 1-1.5k should be plenty.
These are rough estimates for aftermarket parts
pistons $500
rods $500
cams$300
valves $150
spring, retainer, seat $400
That is not including the machine work, gaskets, seals, bearings, etc.
Of course this should yield you more then 350whp.

From what I hear, the stock motor should be able to handle 300whp. I would concentrate more on the engine management and tuning.

[pimpinomar]

ka is nt meant to be tuned like an sr you bttr go stronger then a k/a u turbo it and forget it u got 6months

[OBEEWON]

KA-T's are great, but for a budget they are not well suited. Buy a motor that is built for boost (if boost is what you want) then modify it slowly when you have time and money. Or if you don't want boost there are other motors to consider.

Save money, do it yourself. Rent a storage unit for month if you have to. You will be proud of yourself after, and save money in the long run by having an intimate knowledge of your car, thereby allowing you to repair future issues and not have to run to a shop you cant trust and wasting money that could be spent on modification.

[Justin Bernstein]

do the sr swap...as long as you can find and use a well established company to buy the swap from you will have an easier time finding a dependable motor. With all of the stuff that you already bought for your swap, you will have a super fun car right away...300 will be right around the corner for you. In a car that light you need to get used to 240-250 before you pull a Nick Hogan with your suped up sr.

[ROIDMONKEY]

KA-T's are great, but for a budget they are not well suited. Buy a motor that is built for boost (if boost is what you want) then modify it slowly when you have time and money. Or if you don't want boost there are other motors to consider.

Save money, do it yourself. Rent a storage unit for month if you have to. You will be proud of yourself after, and save money in the long run by having an intimate knowledge of your car, thereby allowing you to repair future issues and not have to run to a shop you cant trust and wasting money that could be spent on modification.
I like your idea ,
also i like OBEEWON too
the beauty of the SR project is that i have the engine management allready (power fc) and other goodys , including a garrett gt25 that i got for a decent price $275 ( its a garrett guys not an ebay one lol ) the SR swap sounds like a smooth thing , i dont have to "change internals" at least for now .
since my power fc is for a 94-95 engine (eather S14 or 180sx) wondering if that 94-96 comes with a t28 turbo?
thanks for your opinnion guys

[fliprayzin240sx]

HuH? You got a powerFC for a 94-95 SR? Well which freakin SR? 180sx Blacktop or S14 blacktop?!?! Theres a big fucking difference between the 2 buddy. Also, honestly, I dont see why you wasted your money on a GT25. I say waste because youre gonna end up doing things twice. Your gonna get that GT25 put in and tuned with the power FC. Later down the road, your gonna go for a bigger turbo anyway, so more money for another, bigger turbo and another set of Tuning. Do it right from the get go.

Also a good rule of thumb on SRs, if your shooting for more than 280hp, change the headgasket.

[ROIDMONKEY]

I called apex and gave them my power fc serial number and they told me its for a 94-96 sr HUH ? HUH ? That's what they said bud, I'm going to call again before buying the sr just to make sure, understand what u saying about the gt25 well if I decide to put that turbo I'll keep the setup for a little while while I get the gt28 is not like I'm
going to swap turbos in 2 week , thanks for the headgasket suggestion
BTW my power fc is SR2015 020-0399

[jrmiller84]

I was in your position when I did my SR swap. I lived in an apartment and couldn't do the swap there. You can check out my build thread. (http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=136986) I don't believe you will be able to swap an SR for 3000$ unless you nickel and dime yourself. A decent motorset cost almost 3000$ (http://storesense.megawebservers.com/HS318/-strse-499/SR20DET-Motor-Sets/Detail.bok), but you'll go over that in parts needed to make it run right. I would personally go with building the KA if you're not up for saving more money. If my car wasn't a single cam, I would have gone that route and built it up.

If you want a shop to install it, I think most of the shops around here start around $4000 for a completely stock SR. But that's usually through a questionable or not-so-reputable shop. If I remember correctly, Enjuku is over $6000, but it will be excellent quality.

If Florida smog laws are lenient, I would personally go with the sr.

Florida smog laws are nonexistent. As long as it doesn't sound like a funny-car, you're fine.

[Dream240]

... If Florida smog laws are lenient, I would personally go with the sr. ...

Since when does a tuner care about smog laws? I'm willing to bet that 80-90% of Zilvians live in an area where they are violating smog/road laws daily. Shit I have a couple even.

And to help answer the OP, KA-T engines, when done right aren't as cheap as you might think. Sure you can boost low, 7-10psi, but you have to consider the shape of the engine BEFORE the turbo. If you've got an old Bessie with 180k on her, then I would venture to say an engine rebuild/upgrade is in order to spare you from having to pull the engine back out after you blow it from the boost.

As far as price range, the average for either route is 3000. More if you're having someone else do the work, and yet even more if your engine craps out on you or you end up overlooking one small detail (proper tuning, okay it's a big detail). That's the #1 killer of BOTH setups.

GL

[OBEEWON]

If my car wasn't a single cam, I would have gone that route and built it up.




Funny thing is I see SOHC KA-T's last longer than DOHC. Nissan put way more R&D into the SOHC.

[420sx]

ka-t is NOT for a noob. ghetto riggin gets you a blown motor. Cutting corners get you a blown motor. being a mechanical moron gets you a blown motor.

sr is IDIOT proof as long as you know how to maintain oil level and keep it with stock turbo. so sr is best bang for your buck. to think it came STOCK everywhere but this fuckin country.

ka-t is cheap. but i would only do it if you have what it takes to understand what are you doing.

theres another great option for you. but thats if you got balls.

lsx motors.

but thats another story. for another time.

[trogdor]

I called apex and gave them my power fc serial number and they told me its for a 94-96 sr HUH ? HUH ? That's what they said bud, I'm going to call again before buying the sr just to make sure, understand what u saying about the gt25 well if I decide to put that turbo I'll keep the setup for a little while while I get the gt28 is not like I'm
going to swap turbos in 2 week , thanks for the headgasket suggestion
BTW my power fc is SR2015 020-0399

dont try to be a smart ass. there are two sr's that overlap during the years of 94-96; the 180sx blacktop and the s14 blacktop. it's probably for an s14 blacktop out of a zenki, which has a t28. play with that, sell your gt25, save for a bigger turbine and get it tuned. do it once.

[ROIDMONKEY]

Dont trying to be smart ass at all here , why are u saying that? cause i said HUH? HUH? it was a joke . like i said i will call Apex again to make sure buddy , will be nice if is a Zenki the one i need then
thanks bro

[steve shadows]

sr is IDIOT proof as long as you know how to maintain oil level and keep it with stock turbo. so sr is best bang for your buck. to think it came STOCK everywhere but this fuckin country.




unless you have the older model oil pickup and like going off the course or over curbs, i lost two sr's to this.

other than that most people on this board cant seem to top off the oil.

thats just too fucking uber compumuclated.

[HWYKING]

the SR is great, you can easily get 300 whp with a t28 and supporting mods on a good tune, but like you said you dont have much room to do swap at your place, then it would be just a matter of deciding which route to go. you might be able to find someone in your area with room to help you do the swap. might not be a bad idea to ask around.

[harangatang]

dont waste money on a s14 sr.. by the time you get it shipped, installed, exra parts, its gonna be like ~$3500-$4000. (without including instalation) Get a redtop sr, aftermarket turbo, (holsets are cheap, easy to replace, t3 and t4 flanged..) tune, injectors, hadgasket, clutch. It will be at what you want (hp wise) and will be able to go waayyy farther.
my redtop was $1499+ shipping. ~$1900 by the time it got to my door. full motorset. maf, p/s, a/c. ignitor, sensors, etc etc..

Ka-t will most deff be over $3000. Unless you go the cheap ebay way, t25/t28 kit blah blah blah..
A good ka-t will have to be built. And the internals and machine work alone would be close to $1500. (new parts that is) then you have fuel componets, i/c, tuning, turbo kit, etc..

Do the work yourself. Borrow a friends garage space, rent a storage unit, whatever.. In the end, youll appreciate your car so much more becuase you put it together.. AND save a shit load on labor!

my 2 cents..

[jrmiller84]

Do the work yourself. Borrow a friends garage space, rent a storage unit, whatever.. In the end, youll appreciate your car so much more becuase you put it together.. AND save a shit load on labor!


As always, I second that motion. I have no doubts about anything with my car, I couldn't say the same had someone else installed the motor. It's worth the work and it's not hard at all, only time consuming. Do your research and you'll be fine.

[projectRDM]

ka is nt meant to be tuned like an sr you bttr go stronger then a k/a u turbo it and forget it u got 6months

We speak English here, try again.

[s13gold]

you copied and pasted the last half of your post. from ka-t.org.

dohc turbo for dummies. or something like that.

[ROIDMONKEY]

you copied and pasted the last half of your post. from ka-t.org.

dohc turbo for dummies. or something like that.
yes as i said it before the post :)
read it

[Casascacas]

[QUOTE=Jung918;1523287] If Florida smog laws are lenient, I would personally go with the sr. QUOTE]

Florida doesn't have any emissions last time i checked... (bad ass)

[ROIDMONKEY]

yes bro , no cat here :)
i just called apex again and the confirmed is for a 94-96 blacktop 180sx the chunky one ( is that the right name chunky?) he said the ecu code for that SR is E5 none type X, thats probably a T25 right?

[420sx]

chunky?? what the fuck? you mean chuki? and type x is not a code. j4 is a code. so is e5. and 180sx are all t25.

[ROIDMONKEY]

bro calm down im not an expert like "you" are . thats why im asking , and if u read my post i said ( is that the right name chunky?) see it?? geez , so far the 2 post u have here are no help full at all , all you do is throughing fucking bombs . u must be a teen for sure
and i also said NONE TYPE X
this type of shit (forums) is kinda cool for some chicken heads so they can pick on people and dont get there ass kick like they decerve
with respect to others that help people .

[spool_sample]

bro calm down im not an expert like "you" are . thats why im asking , and if u read my post i said ( is that the right name chunky?) see it?? geez , so far the 2 post u have here are no help full at all , all you do is throughing fucking bombs . u must be a teen for sure
and i also said NONE TYPE X
this type of shit (forums) is kinda cool for some chicken heads so they can pick on people and dont get there ass kick like they decerve
with respect to others that help people .

Read his post again. The J4 and E5 he was referring to are ECU codes. The Power FC you have should be a replacement for that code (in this case, I'm guessing E5). If you don't have an E5 ECU, you're out of luck.

And relax a little bit. It's just the internet. :gives:

[trogdor]

it's zilvia. get used to it. atleast he answered all of your questions in the last post.

[ROIDMONKEY]

ok ok im relaxing now . sorry if i said some crap before. i found the motor with the E5 ECU they want 2100

[harangatang]

learn to search a little, at at least partially know what your talking about before you start getting pissed at people that have been into 240's for way longer then you have..
I can understand just plain being an ass, but like I said, people will be much more opened to answering your questions if you have at least some knowledge of what your talking about...So dont get on here and just expect the information to be thrown at you. It wont happen.:ughug:

[Sir]

why do you need 740cc injectors if you're running T25?

[ROIDMONKEY]

why do you need 740cc injectors if you're running T25?
Im selling the GT25 and getting a GT28

[ROIDMONKEY]

learn to search a little, at at least partially know what your talking about before you start getting pissed at people that have been into 240's for way longer then you have..
I can understand just plain being an ass, but like I said, people will be much more opened to answering your questions if you have at least some knowledge of what your talking about...So dont get on here and just expect the information to be thrown at you. It wont happen.:ughug:
I did my search , bro ,its not the first forum ive been ( talking generally) and is alweays that way , anyway
dude is it hard to just give an advice? , we are all noobs u probably know a bit of this but u were a total noob before, just say yes or no u cant use this yada yada simple as that
mods please delete this thread thank u

[420sx]

bro calm down im not an expert like "you" are . thats why im asking , and if u read my post i said ( is that the right name chunky?) see it?? geez , so far the 2 post u have here are no help full at all , all you do is throughing fucking bombs . u must be a teen for sure
and i also said NONE TYPE X
this type of shit (forums) is kinda cool for some chicken heads so they can pick on people and dont get there ass kick like they decerve
with respect to others that help people .

oh rearrryyy?

[fliprayzin240sx]

Im selling the GT25 and getting a GT28

Get atleast a GT2871R .86 trim :bigok: Also, what kinda PFC do you have, L-jetro or D-jetro? D-jetro type, you wont need a the MAF sensor if you get their MAP sensor kit, which will help later down the road.

[bardabe]

As always, I second that motion. I have no doubts about anything with my car, I couldn't say the same had someone else installed the motor. It's worth the work and it's not hard at all, only time consuming. Do your research and you'll be fine.

yeah and he actually had the balls to do it out of a storage unit. crazy:bigok: mofoker

[lazierhobo]

yo dont get pissed, thats how zilvia works, if you say silly things people dont really hold back from bashing you. so either dont listen, or just think and search before you ask anything