186k mileage KA worth to turbo?

[ghostuss]

After listening to all my friends telling me the pros and cons of getting a Ka-T or SR-t I decided to go KA-t. I am wondering if it is worth it for me to do something big to my 186k KA? The engine has being kept in mint condition, Compression checked - very good. and no leak or anything. Should I just turbo it and drive it until it blows and rebuild? Or that is too risky that I should just completely overhaul the engine and rebuild it then turbo? Any advise is good as this will determind what I will be working toward for the next year or two. My final goal is 350ish WHP when needed and daily drive at 250ish.

[Bbandit]

hmmm... if I were you, I'd find another KA block for cheap and start rebuilding it...
turbo the 186k KA and if it blows.. swap in the built KA

[90RS13]

I personally don't ever judge an engine by mileage. If the compression check is very good, and the engine is in perfect condition like you say then it is safe to turbo it. Now, if your goal is 250 HP and higher, then you will at the very least need lower compression pistons. Detonation is hard to hold back with high compression and 15 psi and higher. Also, with 186K on the motor, bearings are going to be pretty worn. They might not go right way, or even for 20K miles, but 186K miles is a lot of time for people to kill the bearing, like letting the car get too hot, letting the car go to long without an oil change, or letting it get too low. It's not a definant that you have to rebuild cause of bearings though. Mobile 1 has done tests with their syn-oils and had engines last 300K miles with various load, so it might not be a must, but if you have the money for a rebuild, then go for it. It's always good to start on a clean slate. I forgot what I'm even talking about now (haha) so I hope this helps, tell me if it doesn't.

[AN89HATCH]

I have 184k miles on my ka24, that will be turboed next month, but I will only be running 4-5lbs of boost so it shouldnt be to stressful. People told me to just do a compression test and if it comes out ok, then it should be fine to turbo, Ive seen ka's with 200+ k miles turboed that are still running. Alot of people say its not really how many miles it has on it, but how well it was taken care of, compression test result and if it was abused or not. This will determine if you can turbo a High mileage engine. with 186k I would turbo it and if it blows rebuild, I would probally run low boost tho, just to be safe.

[ghostuss]

yea the thing about blowning an engine is not just the engine itself, but you have to tow the car, etc, etc. Well I just totaled my front bumper (Lost control while drifting and hit a curb) so I guess I won't be getting anything right now.

[9524tee]

just do it lol itll be fun to womp on an old motor and while this one is in the process of blowing up start saving for a new ka :squintd:

[Pepperoni]

Just wait and get a lower mileage KA. It'll be worth it in the end.

[Gladman]

Boost the motor, when it blows - get another one.

Why sit around waiting for this one to blow, you could be having fun with it right now :)

[RBS14]

^^^^^

EXACTLY my centiments!!!

I'm boosting mine on 144k. It should be within a month. I'm also going to be running just 5psi too. I'm personally just gonna pick up another low mileage ka and put a thick head gasket on it then run the shit out of it. Hopefully i can do that asap so i can just wait for this one to blow then swap it out. Ka's are a dime a dozen, go for it!

[PooPoo240]

Touge Factory has two low mileage KA engines from 1995 and 1997 240sx.
Call'em up if interested...or I think it's on Ebay.

[Ghettokracker71]

Yeah,you can get KAs pretty cheap these days. What I'd do is turbo the current KA....once you've got the turbo set-up as much as safely possible for the stock KA,buy another KA+start building it,that KA-T will die someday. Once you've finished building your KA block up,then swap it regardless of how the old duffer still in your car is. Then sell your old one,and enjoy your turboed 240 with a brand new engine:) (and the new block should make more power too:boink:!)

[ftrs13]

168k right here, going strong at 7 psi.

[sr240mike]

hey ghostuss look on craigslist.org. There's a guy selling a freshly rebuilt ka for 700 with tranny in the east bay. There usually a bunch of people selling their ka's on there for real cheap due to all the local sr swaps.

[ryan hagen]

do your cmpression test then get a oil pressure gauge and see where its at, mines 20psi at 1000rpm, and 30psi at 7000rpm :bash: so mine is about ready to shit on me :eek2: