they really arent that reliable. maybe im just a asshole to mine but its kinda got alot of down time.

for those moderate goals i would just mod the ka, and have like 200 flywheel hp, just keep the car light and it will be quick.

maybe like a ka24de intake, header, exhaust, clutch and flywheel. install it yourself and itll be about 1200$ if you find good deals / get used intake exhaust and header. then next would be ecu. any more then that you start to lose some reliablitly. just keep up on maintnece.

you could do a ca with a sr turbo, and fmic, intake and exhaust atlike 10 psi, but i dont think it wold be as reliable as a ka, but it would be considerably faster, and lighter so even faster.

 

If you take good care of them there's no problem at all.
The engines are quite old, so you'd might want to rebuild certain things. But other then that it runs good.

 

Sorry if I sound ignorant! but if u are looking to buy a CA beacuse it's cheaper. stay with the KA. I drive my CA everyday, the 1st CA i had, I drove it for a full year, with out ANY problems at all. and then sold the car to a buddy of mine, and he's been driving it for the past few months with out any glitch.
I'm driving my 2nd CA now, and before i drop this one in to my new coupe. I change the HG, timing belt, and seals. so far so good. drive strong, and i dog my car everyday.

So. yes CA is reliable. and i can say that with pride!! cos I can always count on mine.
also i guess. its where u get ur engine from. I highly recommended Jarco, good people, good price, awesome engine. C

 

i will agree with loofee on that.im the guy that has his old ca car now.i have been driving it as a daily driver for the last few months and i dog it out.i have made trips to the dragon (deals gap) with it drove it to altanta alot thats over 225 miles around trip.and i drag and autox it all the time.it is a jarco motor.you can get 200 flywheel hp with the ca too with little mods.
i have a rebuilt sr t25,safc,walbro 255,smic,and 3 inch exhust from turbo back and i have more then 200 fwhp at 10 psi.so yes a ca is a good motor in my book.if you ever in northeast alabama let me know and you drive mine.

 

I'm not exactly trying to cheap out, just find the most cost effictive way to do things. Basicly I'm afraid of spending my hard earned cash and getting a CA/KA/SR that seazes up on me in a week and needs a few grand in work. :eek4:

I think I generally would be content with a KA for a year or two, however, as I mentioned most are pushing 150k miles and if I'm going to spend money rebuilding and/or turboing, might as well do a swap. I found most turbo kits are around $3,500, which seems to be the running cost for a SR Motorset. Once again, the hope is the swapped engine will be in better condition and more relieble.

When you mention rebuilds, is that belts, gaskets, hoses and seals? Or considerbly more?

Also what would a swap generally run for if I'm having someone do it? I know a RX-7 TII swap is about $4,200 with new Apex seals and clutch, and a b16a into a EG is $3,800 with PS, AC and upgraded clutch. (ps/ac are needed from a Del-Sol or Teg).

Thanks again.

 

The swap will depend on the fecility, i guess. I've seen 1k, up to 1.5k. but again how long will the engine last , its the question of where u've got ur engine from, how many miles, and rebuilting in my book, will be to tear the engine apart and check every pieces and make sure that it still within spec. and replace as needed, not throwing part at it and hope for the best.

Again I don't want to get into, which engine is the best engine as there are ton's of argument point out there. althought it true that the CA is consider old, but the technology Nissan engineers put into builting this engine, there are not many engine out there that is up to par with it. So get ur self a good condition engine ( whichever it will be). freshen it up. and go from there. again BEFORE u put any amount of $$ into it. do ur self a favor, and do some research. C

 

and go from there. again BEFORE u put any amount of $$ into it. do ur self a favor, and do some research. C

Thats what I'm doing. :thumbsup

 

i kick the living shit out of my ca and daily drive it.. i did my whole swap for 1600 bucks with some basic maintenance and exhaust fmic downpipe and shit.. course i just got into an accident and fucked up my front end. BUT. the motor still runs fine so shazaam

 

same here. 14psi daily with gtir turbo on my ca stock internals and front mount. 30 minute drive to work and 30 minute drive back home. does well. i love it.

 

and i have more then 200 fwhp at 10 psi.s

ahahah am i the only one that caught this lol. just a typo i know but it's funny.
btw the ca is a good motor but you should know your stuff i guess u could say if you plan on having one of these engines. you sound like a very modest person so with some reasearch i am sure you could do the swap yourself and you'll be proud of yourself when your done. But if you dont really want to learnt hat much then just have someone drop in an sr. cause sr's have a ton of aftermarket and parts out there. so for a beginner the sr is good. and the ca is good with some research. but for overall potential the ca owns the sr

 

hmmmm hopefully it will be more reiable after the rebuild.

im guess just old motor and 5 drift events a month plus non event drifting too is hard on it ( yes 2 events a weekend once lol).

also its probably cuase im a bad mechanic lol

 

how is the ca a better designed motor anyways, i keep reading it and people keep saying research it. But they never post a link to the 'research'.

Anyways, ca18det is just like any motor, not like it was made for racing only. As long as you maintain it and change gaskets n what not, it should be fine. I changed my piston rings and every gasket, all i'm waiting for is a transmission. Does anyone have one btw? =]

 

i dont think youll find a tranny. need to go to the junk yard and piece a tranny together.

 

ahahah am i the only one that caught this lol. just a typo i know but it's funny.
btw the ca is a good motor but you should know your stuff i guess u could say if you plan on having one of these engines. you sound like a very modest person so with some reasearch i am sure you could do the swap yourself and you'll be proud of yourself when your done. But if you dont really want to learnt hat much then just have someone drop in an sr. cause sr's have a ton of aftermarket and parts out there. so for a beginner the sr is good. and the ca is good with some research. but for overall potential the ca owns the sr

why does everyone make fun of me?im going to cry then sell my ca and get a sr.those guys are so much nicer.lol

 

the reason we don't put any link to the way nissan desing the engine will be simply because WE DON"T WANT TO!, it's like " U have a homwork ,and u ask ur big brother to help u and walk away" then what will u learn??

if u expect everybody to spoon feed u, then u will never step out from that noob status. and learn anything. or just call me a selfish person, I don't really care.

Sr is a great engine, I drove both SR and CA before and for whatever reason I love the CA better. but maybe I'm weird C

 

the reason we don't put any link to the way nissan desing the engine will be simply because WE DON"T WANT TO!, it's like "

Sr is a great engine, I drove both SR and CA before and for whatever reason I love the CA better. but maybe I'm weird C

Sounds more like that its merely an opinion, no one can link to an irrefutible FACT that can't be challenged. Just like, whats better a 4g63t or sr20det, no facts one way or the other, just examples, stories and bragging.

 

Sounds more like that its merely an opinion, no one can link to an irrefutible FACT that can't be challenged. Just like, whats better a 4g63t or sr20det, no facts one way or the other, just examples, stories and bragging.

actually YES, it is JUST an opinion. C

 

opinions are like assholes, everyone has them and they all stink...


wait...

 

the reason we don't put any link to the way nissan desing the engine will be simply because WE DON"T WANT TO!, it's like " U have a homwork ,and u ask ur big brother to help u and walk away" then what will u learn??

if u expect everybody to spoon feed u, then u will never step out from that noob status. and learn anything. or just call me a selfish person, I don't really care.

C

exacta mundo. a year and a half ago i was going to pay someone to do my sr swap . with time and patience you can learn almost anything you want to. i now realize how dumb that would be to pay someone to do an sr swap lol.next im moving onto something a lil more difficult :supercool

 

claim
ca has benifits over sr, and sr has beneifts over ca. it comes down to personal preference.

data
44 pounds lighter
99% of stock parts availeible through nissan, autozone etc
iron block
no rokcer arms
timing belt
83mm stroke, good head
strong motor
cheap
wiring is same as sr20
no smog control to worry about
easily tuned ecu


warrants
the ca is ligher, and the weight is slightly farther back then the sr. i can stand in my engine bay with ca, rad, and efans in.
i just am wrapping up a rebuild, i was able to get everything from bearings to rings to head gasket through autozone/nissan. cheap. water pump was 30$. id liek to see a new sr20det water pump for that.
iron block. nuff said lol. most people on the forums wont even push the car to enough power for that to matter. but it is still a fact.
no rocker arms. save another 75$ by not having to buy aftermarket RAS
timign blet is more of a preference. i find them easier to work with even though i still suck at getting it right lol.
83mm stroke, good head. revs FAST, and revs high. i like it.
this motor is STRONg. i mesed up on timing belt, no bent valves. i went to 6 drift events on a motor with 2 cylinders at 60 psi compression. this shop didnt think i was gonna make it home my motor in that comdition. i was like i did two events this weekend lol its cool.
my motorset was 700$, with aftermarket dp, and str turbo. id like to see a stock sr for 1k more then that.
wiring is same, nuff said.
no egr to plug up no acv shit etc
daughetr board is easly chipped, you can do it yourslef through rom tunes or whatever.

there think criticaly about that shit lol. i completed the toulmin model so stfu now.

 

^^^^^sounds about right

 

Nice, you guys have been a big help.

I think I'm going to try and shoot for just a KA24de in good condition, work on the suspension set up over the next year and tune it out the way I want. (Think I want to get the handeling akin to an M3 :yummy )

After that, and after some more reading and what not, I might consider doing a CA swap myself (tools are still an issue, hoist ect). Obviously if my KA blows up I go to the CA quicker, but for my power goals and what not, I think the CA will do just dandy. :thumbsup

 

i didnt know the ECU was that easly tuned, that makes me super happy cause i'm good with electronics to begin with.

 

(Think I want to get the handeling akin to an M3 :yummy )

if that's your criteria, i think you'll be VERY happy with a 240...lol

 

dude i wish i knew more be4 i woulda got a piggy and threw in a ca. now im stuck with aluminum. lol but its just a mental thing my aluminum will be fine at the 400whp i'll have. but ca's can be rubuilt faster. rev better. and have more hp then sr. gay