My friend and I are thinkin of swappin my 325is for his '91 240. He just blew the motor a month ago. H'es getting the engine rebuilt right now, then maybew a trade. How strong of an engine will it be?? Are rebuilt engines 'like NEW'?? Will it be likely to blow again?? The mechanic is an o.k. mechanic. He's basically his only choice right now. Should I consider this rebuilt ka24de????
Thanks

 

like new, yes. hence the point.

 

if he is going to rebuild it have him toss in some other parts... like pistons and rods from a 1990 sohc motor... have hime bore the block a little over sized... get the head rebuilt with ca18det springs and titanium retainers and toss in a better set of cams... the motor is ripped apart might as well build some power into the motor now instead of doing it all over later... if you can get him to do some things to the motor while it is apart then go for it...

as far as a trade goes... if you want it go for it...

 

^^ but all that costs a lot of $$$$$ and if the mechanic is just ok.. it could take forever.

Save your 325. a 91 240 doesn't cost that much anyway.

 

Sell the 325....use money to buy a 240 and work on it.

 

^^^what he said^^^

 

I'd keep the 325

*here come the flames*

...that is unless you get the bore and head work.

 

thats why i said get the engine work done befor you trade... lol... or have your friend buy the parts and you rebuild the motor... good way to learn... who knows you might turn out to be better than the mechanic doing the work...

as far as a lot of money... the pistons can be bought for 155 bucks (non forgrd units) the rods for 220 (non forged) the head can be done for 300 bucks and the springs and retainers are another 300... so for a grand more you have the basis for a strong motor...

but if you are rebuilding the motor anyway to like new you will end up buying new pistons and rings to begin with... so scratch off the price of the pistons... they are the same price... same with the head work... new springs and retainers for the ka24de motor run 255 new... so you are only spending a few extra bucks... these are parts that should be replaced anyway so why not upgrade the parts while you are in there...

 

curious: why the pistons and rods from a sohc motor? And isn't the 91 cams one of the stronger cams? You mean get aftermarket cams? I'm doing a search before I get a de

 

Yeah....I tried selling my 325is on here for a while, no offers on it. My buddy said he'd pay me $1600 on top of his car .My 325 is a '92 auto 150,000 miles. Very nice, but miss the rawness of the 240 and want to drift again. But yeah he blew the motor and is having it rebuilt. Will I have to "break" in the engine???3000 miles or so before I can "push it" hard???

 

I'd take that offer. Rebuilt engines tend to produce more hp if you ask me

 

naptime to answer your questions... the reason of putting in sohc rods and pistons is... you raise your compression ratio... higher compression ability to get more hp... add to that the head work with new springs and retainers... even more potential for hp... the reason i say different cams is... you can get bigger lift with longer duration for more air and fuel into the combustion chamber... which means more power... you dont have to go all out and get forged units... but they will last and take a lot more abuse than stock units... this is the basis for my fully built motor... all of the parts i listed but mine are forged units... and a lot of machine work...

for a beginner in motor builds this is a basic set up... and you still have room to grow and build as your skill level goes up...

 

Thanks wikd240 for the info. Much appreciated

 

isn't lower compression ratio better for turbo?

 

compression ratio on turbos is a topic that is still out for debate... you can build a turbo motor on 9.0 to 1 compression ratios... you wont be able to boost as much as if you used 8.0 to 1 compression...

the problem is detonation... if you can control that then you can build a motor with high compression and high boost... some people believe that the motor responds better with a higher compression with less boost... others believe the more boost you can get the better... it depends on how you build and tune the motor...