Or just rebuild the one in the car for boost.

At the end of the month i'm picking up a 240sx (yay i decided on my goof off car finally) But it has a knock in the bottom end (i'm assuming a spun rod bearing)
I'm just wondering if i should swap in a junkyard motor turbo it and learn to tune the car with a weak $300 motor in it or if i should go ahead and spend the $1700 to build the bottom end of the motor change the oil pump timing chain all the gaskets etc. and then learn how to tune on a 2k motor that should hold 2-3 times the stress of what the stock one would?

5/15/2008 8:12:51 AM

i would probably pay now more then later but 300$ is laughable.

learning for 300$ sounds like a good deal

5/15/2008 8:21:56 AM

drain coolant and oil and see if you can get a rod out of the hood

5/15/2008 9:18:00 AM

if you're going big time boost, build the bottom end.

if you're doing low boost, just get another motor from somewhere for couple hundred.

DonkeyButt is going through the same thing. he picked up a 100K mile motor for fairly cheap. and is turbo'ing the stock motor with low boost.

dont waste money on built bottom ends if you arent gonna use it.

$1700 you can probably find a good deal towards an already built motor

5/15/2008 9:19:17 AM

^true

there is 2 rbs going for under 1000 on cl right now

5/15/2008 10:09:12 AM

rb what 20 or 25...?? Links please.
Then i have to worry about wiring and inspection stations actually looking under the hood and being like wtf? this manifold has 6 runners not 4 and omg 6 plugs tooo.

Its also not a plug n play swap either.. and if i build the ka it will be pretty much BRAND NEW MOTOR not some pos that may or may not be in bad shape..

the motor will eventually get built either way... i'm just wondering if i should risk a possible bad tune on an expensive bottom end or not ?

I guess what I'm saying is should i throw in some crap right now... take some time build the motor and probably a 300z transmission swap setup and drop that in later or just build up the motor and throw a new clutch in for now and do the tranny later?

5/15/2008 10:56:06 AM

pms sent
if you do end up building a motor i have and engine stand im willing to sell

[Edited on May 15, 2008 at 11:15 AM. Reason : /]

5/15/2008 11:12:42 AM

yeah they're both 20s though not a big fan of rb20s or sr20s swapping to lower displacement and still going to have to build the bottom end for my power goals doesn't sound like a good idea.. i know they rev way better than the k.a. stock but that can be fixed.

5/15/2008 11:21:03 AM

i can find a front clip rb26 for ya.

5/15/2008 11:37:35 AM

I don't want an rb 26 cause then i need to find an rb25 transmission and fix the oil pan and blah blah blah ... not to mention people charge way to much for them they're not that special.... shit i'd swap in a supra motor first.... at least it was sold here.

5/15/2008 12:42:46 PM

i would just build the ka24de 'ol pickup truck engine. it really depends upon how much power you want tho.

ka's can handle about 10lbs b4 they shit themselves. if you can keep finding replacement ka's lol u could go that route.

5/15/2008 1:05:50 PM

A KA can handle more than 10 lbs. Probably around 15-18 if the knock count is real low.

I want to build a turbo 240. I just have too many project cars to deal with right now. G35, SE-R, G20.

My cousin has a swapped SR20, good friend has a RB25. I want to turbo the KA.

Where are you buying your 240sx at?

5/15/2008 1:12:50 PM

if it has rod knock.

raise car up
remove x member
remove both oil pans
remove girdle
remove rod caps
replace bears
both everything back up. Let that bitch rip!!!

5/15/2008 1:14:19 PM

sell to unsuspecting mexican
....

profit

5/15/2008 1:29:59 PM

^ nahh the car is perfect for what i want right now... interior is stripped the car is dropped has some 16" light weight wheels on it and is cheap as balls

5/15/2008 1:38:01 PM

flatblack too?

5/15/2008 4:53:29 PM

hahaha its gonna be... it gloss black with the clear coat pealing

5/15/2008 5:03:48 PM

its the car that in Anderson SC. Black hatchback, lowered, rod knock. I seen it forsale

5/16/2008 7:23:22 AM

When you say you are going to risk a bad tune... bad tune on what EMS? What did you decide to go with, Megasquirt? If you are doing Megasquirt you are going to have your hands so full with that I would just drop in a junkyard motor. You will have to build/purchase the unit and assemble a custom wiring harness, or I guess you could adapt your stock one if you trust it. I had serious electrical noise problems on Megasquirt and I had a stock engine harness in decent shape. When I switched away from MS and went Power FC (on a different car with arguably a worse stock engine harness) all those problems went away. Now maybe shit's changed in the world of Megasquirt in the past two years.

I'd be more worried about the car never running right driveability wise than popping the motor, depending on the quality of the basemap you get. As I've mentioned in my buildup thread, It's easy to just throw fuel at and pull timing from a motor for safety. Getting it to drive anywhere near like a stock vehicle (cold and hot starts, idle quality, gas mileage, smooth acceleration under all levels of engine load) is the most difficult thing to do once you start running big injectors etc.

If this is just some SAFC shit you are planning to do on a 300whp build, then don't worry about popping a new, built motor. Btw if you do decide to go Power FC (I think they only have one for SR's and RB's though) I can help you out. From the Power FC maps for those cars that I've seen, they are way less complicated to tune (than an Rx-7 at least) because they don't have staged injectors or two timing maps like a rotary engine.

[Edited on May 16, 2008 at 11:09 AM. Reason : .]

5/16/2008 11:05:28 AM

Nah i'm going AEM or something of that sort. i'm still actually ecu shopping but i know i want to go to a speed density setup rather than a MAF system.

5/16/2008 11:21:19 AM

The car was hacked to shit.. the harness was all messed up the exhaust was all kinds of random tubing booger welded to a couple of cherry bombs. and the issue wasn't with the maf as the owner said its in the ignition.... i'm not in the mood for hunting down electrical gremlins at this point... .

Ohh yeah and it was def a spun rod bearing and to be honest i think the owner burned the tires off the car after the bearing was spun (rubber still stuck to the reat 1/4s) so the crank probably needs to check into a machine shop for a bit if the motor gets re-built.

5/17/2008 4:19:20 PM

I thought the SR20DET was like the ultimate 240 engine swap

5/17/2008 5:45:25 PM

no its the easy one... the ultimate would be rb or 2jz

[Edited on May 17, 2008 at 6:01 PM. Reason : or ls1]

5/17/2008 5:59:11 PM

if you are keeping the KA, I'd try and find a good condition used stock harness (not cut up at all for an SAFC or anything like that). I'm sure they aren't that hard to find.

5/18/2008 6:41:59 PM

Hey man I have a KA-T in the works PM me your number.....I have a spare KA in my garage and other parts.

5/19/2008 10:01:05 AM

mehh the project has been post-ponned for a bit...my jeep needs new control arms & track bar at the very least.

5/20/2008 10:44:52 AM

Post pwnt!!!!

5/20/2008 10:57:51 AM

I found one with a blown headgasket... is there anyway to make sure thats the only thing wrong with it before i buy it ?? Its supposed to have a built bottom end..too ... i guess i'll at least see the pistons if i pull the head off.

5/27/2008 4:13:15 PM

Who are you buying it from?

I would make sure the bottom end is infact replaced becasue the pistons going are a common problem with the KA's

5/27/2008 4:31:14 PM

to be honest i'm just keeping my eye on the ka-t website

5/27/2008 4:46:23 PM

If you need a motor I have one for you. I purchased an extra one to get me by till I was done with my swap

5/27/2008 4:51:16 PM

cool i may get back to you on that depending if i can find a decent car to use as a base.

5/27/2008 4:58:01 PM