ProjectSR20

Nope, no hurt feelings here, so don't worry. Just throwing stuff out there in the interest of keeping option open. I agree that it might be over the head of the OP, but with the help that is available from everyone here it could be a doable swap for alot of people. One interesting thing that I learned from reading some posts by Alex at Vildini is that his SR20 engine cradle works just the same with the KA. It seems that the KA and SR share alot of similarities such as motor mounts, manifolds and so on. But yeah, you are correct that turboing a n/a motor is not for the faint of heart.

I've got to disagree a little Gollum. I think the KA24 DE-T would be a good motor. Well maybe not, depends on what he wants for power. It is just written off too fast. I know I was set on the SR20, hence the screen name. But after spending time over on http://www.ka-t.org I have since changed my philosophy. There are plenty of people over there that are running in the 400-500 hp range with stock compression and a good number of them are still on stock internals. What's funny and I have seen proved multiple times over there with numerous dyno's is if you take all the stock parts off an SR and swap it to the KA, the KA will make more power. The SR from what I have seen could potentially have a higher max power output due to the design of the heads, but thats not till you are pushing over 500 whp. And for alot of people 300-400 for a Z is plenty. The aftermarket for the KA is exploding too. There is some really cool stuff people are working on for KA's only. Then there is the price difference between the two motors. For what it costs to get an SR shipped and make sure you have all the required stuff like MAF and ignitor that yards love to leave out or charge you extra for, you could have a reliable 300 hp KA with more torque. And at that point the SR would still be bone stock. The other nice benefit of the KA is the increased displacement over the SR, which equates to a broader torque band. Check out the dyno pulls of the average stock internalled KA running a T3/T4 on stock internals at 12-15 psi and your mind might change. I am not trying to start any kind of flame war here at all, or what motor is better so I appologize if I offended you. I just hate to see the KA put down. As for your points on drifting, I could not agree more. Too many people are hung up on having the perfect car, when this really is only a small part of what makes a good drifter. Mostly its just plain old seat time. To the OP: I can guarantee you that if you start off practicing with a car that is not set up ideally or even marginally good, and switch to something more geared towards that venue, you will probably kick some a**.

Wow, I forgot about this thread. I am wondering the same thing too. Thats just way to sick of a swap to abandon.

No, not so much. There is quite a bit of work involved in turbocharging a motor that was originally NA. You will need a new exhaust manifold, fuel pump, injectors, turbo, downpipe, all new exhaust possibly, some form of engine management, the list goes on and on. Just make judicious use of the search button and you will probably find answers to all of your questions. When it comes to info on modding Z's, this site is the best, period. Also, if you have cams that are designed for a NA application they might not work well with a turbo. Cams have a certain ammount of overlap that is needed depending on the application. Also what compression are you running? High compression and turbos are not fans of each other on a motor without a cross-flow head. There alot of things you might end up changing. Better yet, tell us exactlly what your setup is and we can probably point you in the right direction. Also, is there really a T-26 turbo? I have heard of the T-25 and T-28 but never a T-26. Plus,. something that small would probably not cut it with the displacement of the L28. Basically you would just be turning your turbo into a massive heat pump. I would assume something along the lines of a T3/T4 would be good, depending on your power goals. Sorry for the long post, I'm bored at work...

Not sure about those ones, but I have looked into the ones made bu techno toy tuning (sp?). I spent a while on the phone with them asking questions about their spacers. It was brought to my attention that they run them on all of their personal "drift" cars and have yet to break a single one. The price seems pretty reasonable too. I have also heard good things about the other products they carry so they might be worth a shot. Just my 0.02.

Ok, I don't want to just hop in here and take over this thread, but the discussion of the ceramic coating has me a little interested. Could part of the problem that people are experiencing be due to overheating the cylinders? It seems that everyone that said they had problems with it peeling also said that they had detonation. From what I understand detonation can cause massive spikes in both temp and pressure within the cylinder. If this is true would it be too much of a stretch to think that the extreme temps and pressure is what caused it to flake. Is the coating really designed to take that kind of abuse? I am just throwing this out there hoping someone can comment. Please resume your regularly scheduled thread. Also, sorry to hear about your motor troubles Austin. I have loved that Z since the first time I saw it. I am sure you will be back on the road soon though, with more power!! Good luck to you sir.

Well I just got paid today so I'm going to throw some money in the pot. I really want to reach out there and give a big thank you to everyone that decided to get this project started. I am sure that this will prove to be invaluable to the Z community. Now we will finally have answers to what helps these cars stick to the ground! So thanks again to everyone involved, you rock! **Update: Payment sent. It's not alot, but I hope to be making at least 1 or 2 more before testing starts. Thanks again guys!**

Dude, you freakin rock! You have no idea how long I have been searching for stuff like this on Turbo Tom. Please keep 'em coming.

Well after finding some pics of NSX's I can tell you that its not one...

I can't find anything on this thing. I can make out the word "TOKAI" on the back of one of the people puching the car. I searched for that but didn't turn up anything. I did find a Tokai Racing in Japan that looked like they had alot to do with Honda's so maybe it's a modded out NSX?

Maybe he has some relocation mounts attatched to the motor already that he is selling with it. I noticed that too and it confuses me as well. I have been under the impression that the only true bolt in engine is another L-6. Can someone please inform me if I am wrong...

No, not quite. It takes alot of work to put a motor into a car that it was not designed for. Things like custom motor mounts, drive shaft, wiring, tranny mounts, possible cutting the body, suspension modifications to account for added weight, body reinforcement due to power output and the list goes on and on. The simple fact of the matter is that the Z has a huge engine bay capable of housing many different styles of engines. Just because it can physically fir in there does not mean its a bolt in swap. The only motor you can just bolt in would be another Nissan L-6, but even that can take some work if you are swapping something like a FI L28 into a '72 240z.

You may have better luck with another forum. I am not sure how many people on here run KA's. Try here... http://forums.nicoclub.com/zeroforum/130

I don't want to hijack this thread, but DrJ, how was the overall install? Any major fitment issues? Was it necessary to notch the mount to clear the steering? What are your overall plans with the motor? I am looking into doing this motor, but putting on a turbo. Do you think there is room for a turbo between the motor and the master cylinder? You pictures lead me to believe one might fit. Thanks for any info.

I would suggest doing a search first. Almost everything you can imagine has been covered here. I can shed a little light for you, but I am no expert so take it with a grain of salt. V-8 swaps are well documented on here. There has been almost every V-8 know to man swapped into a Z car. You can find more info on this swap than almost any other out there so I will not really get into this one. The RB series motors are great motors with tons of potential. There are a few on here that have done this swap with very good results. Another motor that I would put in here with these ones is the 2JZ-GTE out of a Supra. Both the RB's and the 2JZ's can make huge power with a mostly stock motor. The only downside can be the initial price of the motor and the ability to find parts. Again, I am not an expert so I could be wrong on the parts. The SR's are becoming a pretty popular swap on here. They are only 2 liters but can be pretty potent. There is a mount you can buy from Vildini that welds to the frame rails and the motor just bolts to it http://www.VildiniMotorsport.com . There could be others as well but this is the first one that comes to my mind. You will also need to do a custom tranny mount. The SR seems to be a pretty reliable motor and are cheaper then the RB or 2JZ. There are some things you can do to squeeze power out of an L24, but most will say if you are going to go with an L series motor to get the L28ET. It is a pretty direct swap with only some wiring that really needs to be addressed. They can make decent power but has a big restriction with the non-cross flow head. As for what's a better buy, it's really up to you. You need to take into account how much the initial cost of the motor will be and what, if any, performance parts you are going to put into it. Then there is the issue of labor if you are not feeling like you can take on the task yourself. To address one of your concerns about not wanting to weld or cut the car, it's pretty hard to do with a custom motor swap. Remember you are taking something that was engineered to be in a specific car and putting it in something totally different. There is a certain amount of things that go along with that. IF that is really a big concern for you then I would suggest doing the L28ET swap because you don't have to really cut or weld anything. Just search until your eyes can't take it anymore and you will come to a decision.

I currently don't have one, but I used to on my old civic. They are not the best but it did the trick. I never blew a gasket, had any rust problems or anything. There are certainly better manifolds out there but if you are on a budget or already have it I say go with it. I do know, however, it seems to have bigger runners and less restirction than any other manifold in the price range. Hope this helps.

Too many moving parts?? 26 moving parts, 31 total. Let me ask how many parts are in the motor in you car right now. Harder to seal? It looks to me like it is the same as a piston moving in a cylinder. I'm sure there are rings on the pistons as well. Its just a circular cylinder instead of straight up and down. Why would it not be "flow efficent"? I think this would be bad a** if it went into production.

Good luck man. I'm sure the car will be a blast no matter what motor you put in.

I agree with Dayz. It all depends on what you plan on doing with it. Both of those motors would push that car along very well. If It were me and I had to choose from the 2, I would go with the V12 just for the wow factor. It also depends on how much fab work you are willing to do. I would imagine that there would be less involved in swapping the V8. I think there is a thread or 2 pertaining to the the V12 swap. Maybe one of those guys can shed some light on what all is involved.

When you changed the head gasket did you make sure to torque all bolts to spec? This happened to my old civic and I later realized that the only thing it could have been was improper torqueing of the bolts. Also, how long did you have the car. There could have been a time when it got overheated way too much and warped the aluminum head. This would cause a head gasket to blow no question. Things also might look straight to your eye but the only way to be sure is to drop it on a magnaflux machine.

My opinion is that you are in denial, sorry man. I went throught the same thing with mine. Thats why the motor is on the garage floor. Now I'm just waiting to get my SR20 (it seemed like a better fix).

I wish I could get my car to Vildini. Like Lewis, it would take me over 2 days to get there but I know it would be more than worth it. Just take some time to look at their work and ask if yourself if you would want to take your car to another shop that might not do half as good a job just cause it was an hour closer. Plus I'm not sure, but I dont think there are many shops around that are as familiar with the swap as them.

Cool, thanks for the info. Is this true with all Garrett vs. Greddy turbos, or just the T88?

I guess I'm out of the loop. What is the differance?