Questions for the S13 240 Gurus
 

Ok I'm going to hit up northwestnissans, zilvia.net, etc for some answers, but thought I'd post at home on Revscene first.

My knowledge on s13s so far is light to moderate

Im looking at grabbing my buddy's 91 for a great price - its been sitting in his garage for like 2 years untouched.
The thing is, its got around 370,000 (documented highway) kms on the KA motor.
In addition, its going to need a new clutch, brake pads, and tires to get going. The only mods are a set of Tein lowering springs.
I've driven the car when it was road-worthy, and it shifted quite well for its mileage, except sometimes 2nd was a little touchy.

The question is:
at this point should I grab it and do a motor rebuild? If im going to do a motor re-build, would it be a good option to swap the pistons and then turbo the KA? Or is the KA-t an expensive and overall stupid idea, where the SR20 swap would be much more reliable/simple/cost effective?

Suggestions? I will be getting the car probably at around $1300 as is if i take it.
Dont want to dump a huge amount of money into it if I can avoid it, but that being said I'm down to do some things to make her a little faster

my suggestion would be to just drop the SR20 in it as it is worth it now if you're needing an engine rather than dumping money into a KA that you may not end up keeping down the road. and I highly NOT recommend the KA-T and theres no reason to be turboing a truck engine.

jun

KA-T or SR.. apples and oranges.

In your case, it'd probably be more cost effective to just go SR. For the cost of a rebuild on top of a turbo, you could have a decent SR instead.

Or if not.. there are people selling their old KA's all the time. Could just pick one of those up for like $200 and boost that instead as it would more than likely have WAY less mileage.

make sure the thing isn't rusty. i'd check for rust first.

what you can do is just KA-T the thing and save up for another KA, and have it ready to be swapped if the first one blows.

i wouldn't say KA-T is expensive, but it can be. you can be cheap and do it for like 1000-1500

i'd guess a SR swap would cost closer to $1500~ for motor + another $1000 for accessories.


suspensions more fun though :D

hope that helps

I wouldn't do an engine swap onto a 370k km chassis.

for $2k and some time you could find a waaaay better deal that wouldn't need a motor within a few weeks anyways.

i'd stay away unless you can get it for less than $500. seeing as how he'll have trouble selling that car anyways, lowball the hell out of him.

LMAO at 370,000km's for $1300. Sounds like your buddy isn't your buddy at all. You're getting ripped off my "friend."

ah good to know! maybe i shouldnt grab it then
actually, i think he just has no idea that his car isnt worth that much

also, even at $500 or less, you have no resale value whatsover.

i'd stay faaar away unless you just want a cheap rwd beater for the summer. don't fix it just drive it, if he'll give it to you for $500 or less.

Buy mine. 210k.
Rusted hatch, and thats about the only problem.
Drives great. Gets me to work everyday with zero problems. ;)

Rust is almost becomming a non-issue anymore since 80% of S13's have rust somewhere. It's so common you just expect it to be there when choosing one. Same with any older Nissan Z or S Chassis. If you're lucky, you can get a unrusted chassis for the price you were gonna buy your friend's for.

For a 91, 260+ is high. I wouldn't buy one that has anymore than that. It's jsut gonna be a big headache to change all the bushings since they've been dead since 3 owners ago.

my last one was an 89 auto coupe with rusty strut towers and 220kms and it was $1700 with a blown waterpump and dead battery. only cost me $100 to fix, but still, I was into it for almost $3k total by the time I had an RB20DET in it with a 5 speed. sold it for just over that, and it took 5 months to sell.

wait what didn't you swap an SR20 into it and still haven't figure out how to make it run yet?

Or you have 2 240s? :thumbsup:

Spugen has 3 i think Lol

3. haha

lol i had 3 240's too.. 93' hatch, 89' hatch and now i have a 96 zenki for sale if you're interested 8)
1996 240sx LE, sunroof, 5spd, everythings pretty good. just it has 244,000km's. no rust on struts or.. anything wrong with it for 6000obo. oh and its purple =) but people argue its red.. but no. its like a purple red.. i dont know. ill take pics if ya want.. lol

but yeah.. i wouldnt buy ur bud's 240.. 370,000 on chasis isn't .. safe =P

i would buy your car. lol .

but i'm sorta committed in mine now too far in.

buy mine! *shameless plug*

would this happen to be a red/burgundy one? if not, thinking of a different one.

YES burgundy! that's the color.. or closest color at least.. take some pics later if i get a chance to clean the car today. hope it doesnt rain!

^ burgundy or maroon.

did you wash your car? it snowed rofl. my car is FILTHY.


OP, i would buy another car and if you have more like $5000 to spend get a SR and some nice suspension bits

if not get a 91+ and turbo the KA. just make sure comp is decent.

haha yeah i washed it.. i knowww shiit.. what a day.. and now its outside collecting the snow :( crap.