making good, steetable power from ka

[lucki17]

so i dont have the cash to put down on a sr20det at the moment, but i would like to have more power, so i was doing some internet shopping and was thinking 1. new ecu 2.exahast 3.turbo kit (of course) 4. turbo goodies. so what do you think? should i just save for awile and go sr20? my car is an auto (sadly), and i would like to have it a manual, so if i go sr20, im going manual swap as well. please give me some info, my car has 119,000 miles, is that to many for a turbo?

[nissanfanatic]

Go one way or the other. KA-T or SR. How much do you know about either of the engines? KA-T is a little more involved than a SR swap. If you buy a kit, it is a lot easier but more expensive. Truthfully, after you buy a kit and some goodies, you could have already bought and installed a SR. What I have below is close to 2k and that is from Ebay mostly. What year car do you have?

[lucki17]

my car is a 89' and the main reason i was thinking of sticking with the ka is that any shop can work on a ka, but only a few on the sr20det, plus parts should be cheaper if something goes wroung. i mean i dont need a drag machine i just want to be able to beat a few cars and have a fun car to drive.

[nissanfanatic]

You make good points. It sounds like you have some common sense. If you want something reliable that puts out some power, then the KA will be fine. The first thing I can recommend is a compression test. The standard is 192psi and the minimum is 142psi. A difference of no more than 14psi between the cylinders. You would want around 160psi for a safe turbo upgrade. You should go with a T3 50 trim and a .50ar compressor and a .63 ar turbine. You could find one out of a Z31 and a manifold on Ebay. With a small compressor like that, at 5psi, no fuel or ignition mods would be needed and you should be in the 14s. Probably 14.7s. It would be very reliable and streetable.

[lucki17]

awsome, thanks man, is their anyway to test a turbo? their is a junkyard by my house and they have z31 turbo i could get some parts off of. just dont know how to test turbo for functionality, and just out of curiosity, what does your car run at the moment without the turbo?

[1viadrft]

A little Nitrous never hurt anyone... say a 50 shot?

First thing is first however: Header, UD Pulley, Intake, Exhaust...

[TheLogikal1]

ok you cant afford a basic sr swap but youll buy all this crap plus a ka turbo kit?

[_/_/_/M aurice]

Dude, build up you KA with Volvo 740 Turbo parts - T3 turbo, wastegate, BOV, rad, and I/C. All you gotta do is make your own turbo manifold and get a standalone fuel managment system. A laptop helps too.

My buddy built his KADE-T for under $1000CAD

[Ace$nyper]

well i'll go out on a limb a nice cheap swap is CA18DET
well go ahead i know i'm bout to be burned for this

[x~Underoath~x]

Yeah, id like to do the CA since im poor and too many are getting the SR. I still love the SR, but i wouldnt mind the CA.
Where can you find them...good quality but not a bazajillion dollars?
And hows the wiring? And tranny matches up?
There was something else....

[lucki17]

how much hp/tourqe do the ca have? i thought it was really low.

[x~Underoath~x]

hp is like 175 i think is what one website said.
but with the cheapness...thats not bad to me.Ohh yeah, do you need to change fuel pumps with the CA swap? And the other thing was the power steering, do you have to move it just like you have to with the SR?

[sRscooby]

they've got CA18det front clips goin for $1200 at venus-auto.com which is pretty good

it's probably the route i'm going, almost all the maintenence parts are here (thank you pulsar) so no extra-long downtime plus shipping costs

apparently the CA swap is pretty straight forward, almost everything bolts up, including the KA radiator, you should check out the information at the NICO forums, lots of cool guys there

edit

oh ya, the stock intercooler and turbo on the ca18det are pretty crap, so an upgrade there is highly recommended, T25/28 turbos do bolt right up to the manifold, so you could always get the sr turbo if you're not too hardcore, and get a FMIC. after that you'll be pretty even with the SR

[Ace$nyper]

ahh beat me SR and yea snag a garret GT t-28 nice FMIC you'll be a happy driver.

If i ever get a 240 with need of swap i'm going CA