Ok, this will probably be a stupid newbie question but here goes anyway.

I am getting an 89 240sx coupe for free tomorrow night. Problem is that its an automatic and the timing chain has slipped. My initial intentions were to Let the car sit a few weeks and get an SR20DET swap and do the manual swap at that point. Someone told me however that I would be smart to go ahead and just fix the timing chain and do a KA Auto to Manual swap now and then later bolt on the SR. Question is...how would everyone go about doing it.

Thanks ahead of time.

PS-it is not going to be a daily driver...yet.

 

that second choice would be hella dumb. get the SR now.

 

Yeah, that is what I planned...just wanted to make sure the swap wasn't going to be too difficult. I can let it sit as it wont be a daily driver so all is good. Thanks for the reassurance.

 

Rob, I would just get the s13 front clip, and find somewhere were you can do the swap, cause your gonna need alot of jacks, jackstands, and a engine hoist and possible tranny hoist. The swap from what I understand is simple and straight forward, im not sure if you have to do any welding for the manual tranny but good luck and let me know where you get your engine from...man now there is gonna be someone i know rollin around with an sr20det....and i thought i would be the first out of my group...

 

well wushu4u
the olny advantage you'd have buy fixing the timing chain problem is you'd make a few $$ selling the engine.
just go head and do the SR/manual conversion.
you'll olny need to have the manual driveshaft.

 

hey, i have an AT 95... if/when i go sr, would i need a different driveshaft???

 

don't bank on it ,but the KA's auto and manual driveshaft are diffrent lenghts. that may not be needed if going to manual SR.....


yeah, you'll need the manual SR driveshaft. because the auto KA shaft is too short.
i almost confused myself...

 

DJ (silvapwr)-

I got a guy with a full body/mechanics shop in his house (including paint shop) that works with me. He said he would help me with the swap...and I told him i would send a few bills his way. He is located down in shenandoah area though (skyline drive) so it is closer to you than me. No, I dont think he would help with yours as he is kinda helping me neglectantly (sp?)...but maybe if you want to get your hands dirty you could help me? Johnny and Achilles said they would help with it so more the merrier right? BTW, rudeboy, thanks for the help...I figured that with the money I dont spend on the timing chain I will be about 1/4 the way towards my swap. If I can find a good price on a whole front clip (dash forward) I will be in better condition.

 

actually the timing kit(complete) is $280
the essentials are about $90
tensioner and stright guide......
mabey timing cover $99 is that has been chewed through

 

oh,
www.venus-auto.com
has good prices

 

My cuz (formerly his car) said he may have bent the valves in the K motor...so more excuses

 

although you do not plan to repair the KA (which you should to sell it) the cam timing is most likely off. which is why there is no compression and lots of unburnt fuel on the plugs.
my car did not run because of the same problem when i bought it for $500.
i thought the same thing.
so

just dont throw it away yet ok

 

Yeah, once I get the engine out of the car (assuming the car arrives this week as scheduled) I planned on doing the timing chain and whatnot so I have a way to make a few bucks back. But you are right as their is little compression though it can be driven up on a ramp if need be...I wouldnt street the car.

 

 

Does anyone have a detailed writeup of how to do the auto/manual and sr20det swap in one whole writeup? Would make my life SOOOOOOOOO much easier as well as many other people.