Hi everyone, first off let me say sorry if these kind of questions get posted all the time. I want to get out of my boring and problematic Camry, and I'm considering buying a 240SX coupe. So far, I've only heard good things about their potential. So the first thing I want to know is, what should I look for if/when I go to look at a 240? Are there any particularly notorious problems that these cars have? Second thing I want to know is, is there a decent aftermarket for these KA24 engines? I've seen lots of complaints about how they aren't powerful enough. Thirdly, I'm debating on something. Either I look around for an older 240 (S13 era) and swap in an SR20, or I buy a newer one with lower mileage, and keep the stock motor (since I couldn't afford an engine swap in a newer car). How many of you have done the engine swap? After reading this article, it seems like it'd be out of my scope. Even though I am mechanically inclined and do as much work as possible on my own, I'd probably end up having to pay even more money to have the swap done professionally. And I've no idea how much that would cost. I would just wait around for one that already had the engine swap done, but then you never know how reliable it'd be, plus they aren't exactly dime a dozen in this area. (I've never seen one.) I'm also a bit scared to do it, because I don't know much about turbos. Then again I'm a fast learner, so I'm sure that wouldn't be much of a problem. What do you guys think? Thanks for any help you can give.

 

hmmm... let me get first crack at this. Sell the Camry, go find a low mileage 240 (any year), and learn how to drive the wheels off of it. Going from a Camry to a 240, you should have plenty of power to work with while you get used to rwd. If you're already adept at it then my advice would be to just keep poking through the forums and learn more about the cars. Not too sure where Tyler is in TX, but I see plenty of 240's for sale in/around TX, AZ, and such. Just look for the usual things you check when buying a car~ no rust, no leaking oil, shocks that aren't blown, hoses + wires all where they should be, and of course push the car some on a test drive prior to buying it. Go buy yourself a Ka powered 240 and drive it until you get sick of it, THEN you can worry about everything else. G'luck.

 

Thanks for the help! Yeah, I will have to sell my car for sure. That's one of the reasons I've been so reluctant...it's going to have to be a trade to a dealership, which means I'll be losing money. Either that, or I'll have to get someone to go with me, sell my car for cash, and then proceed to buy another car to drive back. See, I use my car daily, so there can't be any gap in the time I have a car to drive. Also, I've never driven a stickshift car, although I know how to do it in theory. And on top of that, I've never driven a car with an FR layout, either. (Well, I learned to drive on my dad's Explorer, but that doesn't really count.) The other thing is that the used car market is very limited in this area, so if I want to find one, I'll have to drive up to Dallas probably. Tyler is in northeast Texas, about 100 miles southeast of Dallas. I know I sound like a stupid noob here, but I really want to get out of my current car (due to problems I can't afford to fix and just don't want to), and I've fallen for the 240. The Toyota Camry name ought to sell itself, so I don't think I'll have much of a problem there. Oh, and as far as power goes, my car is a V6, and the Camry is light for a sedan (3250 lbs.), so it's probably relatively the same as a KA powered 240, if not a little more. But a 5-spd and rwd will make it a lot more fun. Anyhow, thanks again for your help, hope I don't sound like a stupid noob here. Nice avater btw.

 

Ok, this isn't related, but how come my post count is still at "1"? I don't care about post count, but it still says you're the last poster, so just wanted to make sure my post went through...

 

^its not... says 3, who cares anyways... look for all the other standard stuff you'd look at when buying a used car. KAs last a long and run good with high mileage if they are taken care of. KA-T is a good option too

 

Haha yeah, it says "3" now because I've posted more, and it will say "4" now as of this post. But it should say "5", because this is my fourth post in this thread. Anyhow...one thing I've been wondering is which is the best year to buy? From what I can see, the old cars didn't have an LSD, but the newer ones are a lot less fun to drive, due to a softer suspension and slower steering. I don't know though...I really prefer the look of the newer ones, unless I were to do a JDM front clip conversion on an older coupe, but that would cost way too much.

 

go test drive both of them and you'll know for yourself. Don't just listen to what we tell you~ it's all a matter of personal preference anyway.

 

I see...well, I wasn't going to base my decision solely off of opinions on the internet...I was just wondering. I just wanted opinions from people who have actually driven the cars, to make sure that those things I read were not unfounded claims. But I will drive both, I guess. I'll have to wait around for a good one anyway....preferably I want something with less than 130k miles, which isn't easy to find on any older car.

 

Don't buy a car with rust, and check the tension rods. For more detailed info, use the "search" button - there's a bunch of posts like this.

Also, I'm not trying to sound like an *** here - but IMO before you swap engines or do anything, learn how to drive the car.

FF exp =/= RWD exp.

Good luck finding your car

 

imo you are bound to run into problems with your new 240, whether its a newer 240 or an older one. it is just a matter of time. i say, buy a 240 at a good price, learn to drive it (maybe ruin a clutch), save money, and when problem arises, fix it. Try to get a compression test before you buy it. KA lasts a while if they are treated well, a compression test should tell you. As you become more familar with the 240, you can decide on which direction you want to go with it, and at that time you will be plenty informed and financially prepared for it. Happy Hunting.

 

i think you have that backwards... overall the newer s14s handle much better (in stock form) than the s13 models... also, dont let price scare you away from buying a car, or parts... you'll never get anything done

 

GEEE thats funny, an ecu tune, and upgraded cams will get you about 190CHP, possibly 200CHP with a header.
Talk about power it makes more than the sr20det when boosted at half the rev...


USE the search button at the top of your screen.^^^^^^^^

 

BigVinnie, I may be new here, but I'm certainly not new to forums. I did search, and I couldn't find info on the specific things I was looking for. Maybe I just didn't search for the right thing. Also, please don't flame me if I don't know what I'm talking about...I was just saying what I've read. Now if that's not the truth, fine. Correct me, that's why I came here. But try not to be a dick when doing so.

Nsn, price doesn't scare me away, if it did then I wouldn't be looking for a 240 in the first place. I realize that owning a car costs money, especially if I'm planning to do anything to it. I'm just saying that I've got an initial spending limit, namely, the price of what I could get if I sold my current car (around $6500). Besides, now that I think about it, it wouldn't cost that much to do a front clip conversion. Maybe $2500-3000. And speaking of that, I bring up my next point.

Learning to drive the car before an engine swap sounds like a great idea. But then again, if I was going to do the swap, maybe it'd be better to do it right away. That way I'd be learning to drive the car from the ground up with that motor, and not have to worry about relearning anything after a swap. I just wish that there was some way for me to compare the two before I spend a ton of money. Unfortunately that doesn't seem possible. It also seems that it might be more cost efficient to just rebuild and upgrade a stock KA, but I'm not sure, since it'd cost relatively the same to have a motor swap done. Well, either way, I've decided not to worry about these things until I actually get my hands on a car. At this point I'm unsure of the direction I want to go with whatever car I get. I could see myself attending SCCA solo events and occasionally visiting the drag strip, but it would also be my daily driver, so nothing too crazy. Well, all that's in the future, so we'll see how it turns out. Thanks for all the helpful replies.

 

why would you want to learn how to drive the car after the swap? if you did that and then you did something stupid you just blew like 2grand+. test drive a 240 you will love it and i mean that. i've been addicted since my first ride in one. i'm currently on 240 number 2. i've never driven an s14 but personally it doesn't get any better then a fastback. and don't really worry about miles my car has 220k on it...granit i just replaced the timing chain but that baby runs great. i think she runs better than my wifes 2000 cavalier.

 

Maybe...wouldn't want to blow something up if I didn't know the car's limits. On a day to day basis I drive pretty conservatively anyway, and I baby everything I own, so I don't see that being a problem. It depends on what you mean by learning how to drive a car. To me that is pushing the car on the track, or somewhere that allows for high speed cornering and quick braking. Maybe I will just wait until I can test drive both engines and then decide what to get.