Justin.b

I never claimed to be the end-all of anything.

I didn't come here looking for advise on how to swap in a motor that you obtained in one of the least-wise purchases ever - an SR20DE without harness/ECU.

Honestly, if you paid more than $500 for that motor you're a fool, because that is the upper limit of its worth in that condition.

Now you're going to make this wonderful purchase the centerpiece of your JDM project. Because, as we all now know thanks to you, JDM is always better just because it JDM.

There is just one very, very flawed notion of your whole complete JDM conversion - your car is not a Silvia, it's not a 180SX and it never can be.

With a car that has so many possibilities, why would anyone with more than two brain cells rattling around in their vacuous skull try to turn the car into the one thing that no amount of money, time or effort can make it?

I'll tell you what, when I seek you out to ask about how to swap in a harness-less motor minus ECU that is significantly less powerful than the stock piece, then please, PLEASE reciprocate and give me **** about it... because if I ever do that I have obviously lost my mind and need to be slapped back to reality.

Now good luck to you - you'll be the JDM'est mothphuquer pho sho!

-Justin

Justin.b

Anyone with a running KA under their hood has every right to bash you for THIS project.

Can someone please translate this for me? I'd like to repond, but I don't even know what the heck he's trying to say with this. My car has been called a sh*tbox before, but never a can of soup.

Is a can of soup better or worse than a sh*tbox?

What would be about 15hp lower than a can of soup? Oh yeah, that would be you after a motor swap!

Buena Suerte, Amigo!

-Justin

positron

Ouch, I think I struck a nerve everyone! Now this master is tossing out replies and curses at me like a professional baseball pitcher. Dude, switch to decafe!

Justin.b

Please don't swap in the SR20DE. I'm asking nicely.

I like these cars - I like them because of their performance potential.

I can appreciate a longing for the things that were sold in the Japanese market that were/are better than what we had available here. If you chose to swap in a more powerful motor from Japan because we never got it here, it would be easy for me to understand.

SR20DET, RB20DET, RB25DET and RB26DETT are easy to understand. It's obvious why someone would ditch the KA for any of these beasts.

An engine is a little more than a fashion accessory, and I just cannot comprehend why someone would go through that much trouble to swap in a less powerful motor.

Not that you have to justify yourself to me, but I certainly am curious why you are set on following through with this swap.

-Justin

positron

Point taken. I understand what you are saying and you are absolutely right. But look at it from my point of view. At the time my KA had slung a rod and my car had been sitting in the back of a garage for months. I loved driving this car and I could not afford a SR20DET swap at the time so when the chance came for me to accquire this motor I jumped at it...perhaps prematurely so. But now I'm stuck with it and I'm going to try and make the most of it until I get a shot at the holy grail of engine swaps...the SR20DET swap. So your advice has not fallen on deaf ears, just broke as a joke no SR20DET money ears.

Justin.b

Is there any way you can sell the SR20DE?

It's seriously going to be a pain in the *** to install considering you don't have the complete harness or ECU. Realistically, you're probably going to have to allow another $500 to get that motor the parts needed to run it, and a significant investment of time.

I can find low mileage KA24DE's for ~800. Not that this is the best engine going, but it will probably be your easiest path to a running car... especially since much of your wiring work to get the SR20DE in there will have to be scrapped if you ever do get an SR20DET.

Check out www.car-part.com for listings in your area. It just seems like you're travelling down a long bumpy road to frustration with the n/a SR.

-Justin

positron

Believe it or not but I have managed to find a ECU at SR20parts.com and the guy that I purchased my folding mirrors from has accquired a harness so the install is back on track. There is a SR20DET in my future though.

Justin.b

In that case the swap should go relatively simply... and it'll be good practice for the SR20DET.

In the mean time you can say you did it to be original.

-Justin

silviaivlis

Im not sure how old this thred is, but i actualy signed up to this forum simply to reply. You see, the conversation here is so amusing i had to make a remark. I also feel i am justified and qualified to respond to this thread because I drive a 300rwhp SR20det converted 240sx. I found this site through google whilst trying to find info on swapping a NA sr into my other 240sx. Why? Let me tell you.

First of all, Justin.b and Positron seem to be pretty new to the whole nissan thing, i shant comment on that now: my fustrations as well as my amusement shall be directed to the jackass justin.b, for he obviously knows diddly-****e about anything regarding said company. My first problem with all things he says is that the 240sx and the silvia/180sx relation are totaly different, that a "240sx no matter how 'JDM' you make it will never be a (JDM equilalent=silvia 180sx)". Let me explain something to you Justin.b, the 240sx and the 180sx/silvias ARE THE SAME CAR. All parts are compatable, chassis codes are exactly the same, and all of these car, wherether they be USDM, JDM european, austrailian or whatever where all made in the same factory by the same people. The differences are a)motor b)badging (names) c) marketing logistics (RHD LHD and d) MONEY. The SR never made it into the US market because of cost. Do any of you know WHAT CAR the KA came stock in, in Japan? It's called the ATLAS. Its an overhead box truck much akin to the Isuzu NPR and other DELIVERY TRUCKS. The KA is a piece of ****e and is worth every bit of nothing, but since it was cheaper to build and passed ridiculousy stringent American smog tests, they put it into the S13 and S14 chassis here. Also, as a note, Yes the KA has more torque, but it does have less hp than the NA SR's (135vs140 for the SR, and s14 NA sr's are 160hp with VVT)and since the NA SR's are all aluminum, they are conciderably lighter than the KA adding to HP-weight ratios thusly making it a faster car than the KA powered 240sx ever can be, stock for stock. However, even without converting it to Left Hand Drive, the s13 (and s14) chassis are the same thing, and if Positron wants a "JDM" s13 chassis, it will be so with the right attantion to detail, and he may call it a 180sx (or silvia if its a coupe) if he wants to. I call my car a USDM Silvia, and for someone who loves nissans so much, justin.b, then you would realize that calling it such is far more honorable than calling it a 240sx, powered by a damned delivery truck engine.

So, at the short of it,

"You're not a car enthusiast - you're a tool. No matter what you do to your 240SX, guess what - it's going to be a 240SX. It will NEVER be a Silvia."

I can officialy say the "tool" here is this jack ***. Do you know why its called a 240sx?? because it has a 2.4 liter motor, if it has any of the japanese motors in it, its a 180sx or silvia, and if you want a european flair, a 200sx. Its just LHD.

"Just that yours will be much slower than the rest."

when my NA SR swap is done i will gladly race you in any 240sx, DET or otherwise. Here is a motor plan for anyone wishing to free them selves of either a truck motor, or boost-lag.
s13 RWD NA sr
SR16de high compresion pistons (11.1-1)
FWD SR20Ve head, custom fitted with external oil lines (for VVT)
HKS headers
Tomei cams and head parts
Mines ECU
Toda individual throttle bodies

No KA could top that despite turbos or anything else, if you think otherwise about costs and such, just imagine how many times you will be rebuilding your truck motor to handle that kind of power. Oh, and to put it bluntly, why would companies like Toda and Tomei, Nismo, HKS and other make parts for the NA sr if they had no performance potential?? These companies are the top of the top and they make parts for the NA sr and not the KA.

Besides, I think Justin.b has issues with what he wants out of a car, you see, Power is only one aspect of many that make a car fast. The heavier low reving KA is anything but a performance motor, and yet Justin.b claims it is so good that anyone with a KA can mock this swap, and yet all i hear everydoy is how people hate thier KA's. Personaly i respect positron for trying something fairly original, and i would say stick to the NA sr and forget the DET for now. It is cheaper to fix and run, and down time is conciderable less if it fails because any SE-R, NX2000 or G20 part will fit the RWD sr's because they are the same motor. And as I've stated above, there is no lack of thins to do to these motors, and with the right setup, Positron will be smoking mild to moderatly tuned SR20DET's. I can gaurantee that. just dont forget that power isnt everything, do brakes, suspension and chassis tuning as well.

So, in conclusion, Justin.b is an idiot and Positron has the right idea. Oh, by the way, I havent tried this, but the guys who swap NA srs into old Datsun 510s and roadsters say that the KA wiring harness, ECU and ignition are so similiar that work with the SR. And the KA tranny will bolt up to it as well. So it seems that just buying the motor was the right and inexpencive choice all along. Another "up yours" to Justin.b.

Good luck Positron and Have fun with your far suprior motor than the KA.

DJ-of-E

hahaha...now what happen if people decide to put a totally different engine that isn't made by Nissan? I wonder how would Justin would respond. I know somebody who has a 280ZX with a porche engine.

KA, SR, CA....yeah, difference in specifications but it doesn't matter what engine you use, it's up to your preference right? Base on driving my friends' 240s, here's my opinions.

I like KA-Ts for their great low and mid range torque it puts out. Face it, you wouldn't use that much high end torque if you're going from stop light to stop light . There are also people who prefer driving with great amount of low-mid range torque.

I like the SR20DET for it's overall harmonics + torque and balance whenever I press the pedal, which is why it's a JDM favorite car. BALANCE. Though overly hyped, it can be proven on track.

I like CA18DET, so far my favorite engine. I don't know why. Again, it's driving preference. Smallest displacements of the 3, but I still have no clue why I had some much fun driving my friend's 240SX with a CA18DET.

Basically, it doesn't mattered what the hell you do to your car as long as you're happy right? I mean c'mon, we all should be helping each other and act more mature than that. We're not Honda drivers are we (joking)?

Plastic Phork

I didn't register to this forum to fight with someone over the internet but just because the ka24e came in a truck dosen't mean its a peice of **** engine. Nissan has an off roading truck it has a NA ka24e and it puts out over 600hp. Whatever engine you have in your car is up to you but by far the ka24e isn't a peice. Learn to respect peoples work, someone spent their time making the ka24e and now you of all people silviaivlis is calling their work of art a peice. The ka24e wasn't ment for racing and stock surely isn't ment to do anything other then get you from point a to b and I can tell you personally my ka24e has lasted 200,000 miles with no problems other then the normal wear and tear.

Be it a 2.0 sr20det or 2.0 srde or ka24e or ka24de they are all great engines and when it comes down to it its all about what the person wants. All of these engines are great. They are only better then one another in stock form. USDM or JDM its always going to be the same car we all know and love.

-HyJynX-

Why did you bring a over year old thread back up...it was dead! and will remain dead...