Beginner wanting to ka rebuild

[DMACHINE188]

Please just dont tell me to search. Im knew to the community i got a s13 with 80k miles in early july and ever since i got it ive been planning to do a ka rebuild and then make it a kat im a senior in highschool and dont have all the money in the world to spend. i was planning on doing the rebuild over the winter but im not that big of a motor head yet. I have an uncle thats a mechanic and would be able to work at his garage and he will be helping me through the process. my goals are pretty much going to keep growing because i plan to have the car for a while but right now looking to get about 300 - 350 after the turbo. Heres my questions:
How long would it take with a proper rebuild kit to rebuild the motor?
How much should i look to spend and what kind of rebuild kit would you suggest?
Any basic tips and things i should know before getting into it

[xpinoyxmk]

With 80k you probably wont have to do a rebuild to reach 300hp. Do a compression test and if the numbers are solid across the board then just boost it. Stock block with good compression can hold a good amount of power, think its like around 400hp. Im about to boost my 186k ka that has solid compression. I guess the previous owners took very good care of my motor lol.

If you want to do it the cheapest, it will probably run you around 1500. But the cheapest is not the right way to do it. Doing it right is gonna run around 2k.

Go to Ka-t.org forums for reference. They have a lot of helpful stuff on there. Look at everything before you start asking questions bc they will jump on you if you dont.

[DMACHINE188]

thanks a lot still looking for more advice

[DMACHINE188]

i was just wondering if putting in new pistons and head studs would be worth the price and what kind of boost could i be running safely for a daily driver

[94cc0rd]

i heard no more than 12-14 psi on stock internals...

if you're gonna take the time to pull the motor out, then you might as well take the extra time to replace all the little maintenance stuff, since it'll be a lot easier if the motor is out of the car...

[fcdrifter20]

ur motor only has 80 k u should be fine. curently running one of my ka-t with 120k i didnt touch the botome end , and its hilding up fine on 12psi all day. only thing i did was get bigger injectors ,metal headgasket and bring back timing 2 degrees.

as far as how long it takes u, that all depend on u and how much time u can actualy comit to it daily. wut ever u do, make sure u have all ur parts ready beofre u tear it apart, i kno a lot of ppl that start doing little by little and start to lose bolts here and thr.and make sure u do it somewhere nice and clean.

pistons usauly run about 500 and rods about 300. then u got headgasket 200, rebuild kit about 120 for all new seals.about 100 for rod and main bearings getin the head resurface and new valve seals all depends on wut the mechinest in the area chages. and so ur looking at 1000-1500 on parts.

[DMACHINE188]

what turbo kit would you guys recomend i want a full kit with guages and boost controller and something i wont need to sell when i want more power

[myreds14]

what turbo kit would you guys recomend i want a full kit with guages and boost controller and something i wont need to sell when i want more power


This is where the spoon feeding stops. Seriously, search. And try the other forum that was mentioned already. Research everyone's setup over there, and then decide for yourself what you want. BUT, if you don't want to sell when you want more power, you're looking at more than $5000 IMO.

[RunninMeBrokeS13]

if you want some real ka-t answers come over to www.ka-t.org :: Index (http://www.ka-t.org/forums/index.php) and search that forum.

with only 80k on the motor its still a baby... check the compression. if you have good compression no need for a rebuild. cory is pushing 20psi on his stock motor and making 400+hp on his stock motor. its definitely due able.