KA Stock Cam Swaps (a guide)

[punxva]

well, i found this on another site, so i thought i'd share, i havent tried any of these out, i take no credit in making this guide, im just reposting it for everyone on zilvia, enjoy bitches!!!

ok as requested, heres what each cam comes from...


248 - S13 exhaust
232 - S14 Intake and Exhaust
240 - S13 Intake




all of the impressions here are based on a 92 s13 hatch, automatic, fully rebuilt to stock by me, except apexi panel filter

i've tried 248/248, 240/248, 248/232, 240/240, and now i've tried 248/240

its been a while since i've tried any other cam swap besides 240/240, and i've never had 248/232 on the automatic car, but i did install it on a friends automatic, and it did net similar results to my manuel car so i feel it's semi-fair to compare

248/248 - is by far my least favorite cam swap. there is a noticable loss in low end, and the motor never rev's high enough to take too much advantage of the additional top end power. I'm not saying the top end isn't there, it just really only starts pulling until right before 6000 rpm, and pulls to 7000. then you hit the rev limiter and crave for a few more revs. maybe an automatic ecu and 7200 rpm mighyt be beneficial, but i love to rev it out and i shouldnt be allowed to have 200 more rpm. if i had a more top end oriented motor 248/248 would be a great thing to have, but until i can afford it, i wont ever use it again. the sound you get from this beast is nice though

240/248 is obviously stock, its been a while since ive actually had a car with 240/248. but from what i remember the low end is decent but it does fall on its face in the top end. the 248 exhaust cam is trying to make top end power, but the 240 intake cam is trying to provide more all-around power, not just low or top end. i dont like it because of how bad it falls on its face before even 6500

232/232 - i never tried, but i got em so i could.... but come on 232/232?

240/240 - has a really snappy low end, probably the best low end ive tried, and its the only times ive ever spun the tires into second gear in the automatic, granted its gotta be wet outside... anywho, 240/240 is what i'm directly compareing to 248/240 here. 240/240 has a nice pull even in the top end, and power is quite prominent in the 4000 rpm area. i'm still a big fan of 240/240 and i'd like to try it on my manuel car, but that car already has the hands down best stock cam swap possible....

248/232 - this is hand-down where its at. If you have some s13 cams and some s14 cams you should have already done this. the power production is great everywhere. you only lose a little bit of top end over 248/248 and you gain more low end than you get with any other swap besides maybe 232/232. the KA craves this swap, it loves the low end and, chances are you only rev to 6500 anyway, so thats why this is the cam sawp for you. only don't do this if you wanna get beat by me. i'm only kidding, i'm too poor to be fast.

248/240 - you read all that crap just to get to here so here it is. coming from 240/240 in a nearly stock automatic car, i'm very disapointed. the only major difference is a slight gain in top end, maybe 2hp, but the loss of low end is noticable. i'd rather have that torque back for this daily driver than the slight bump i got in top end. granted this car is actually proven quicker now than the 240/240 car, but its less satisfying. everyone wants to be put into the back of their seat right away, not eventually.....


240/232 - this is what i just put in my automatic car. im a huge fan of the low end here, and its better than 240/240. the overlap is always off by about 2 degrees or so when you use an intake cam used as an exhaust cam or vice-versa. So for that reason, 240/232 works very nice. i can tell it doesnt have quite as much pull in the top end as 248/232 but its part-throttle driveability is great. you really only feel the low end torque when you are at part-throttle anyways, so you need ot make a decision....

240/232 - is great for a dailydriver, where low end torque is favored over top end merging power. in the automatic, after shifts the car has noticably more power than it does with 248/232. I would say if you have an automatic get the 240/232 because you spend more time in the midrange becasue of your gearing.

248/232 - is for the manuel car. ive gone to and from this cam swap in both cars at least five or six times, and i always come back. its the best there is, and its greater than stock. its ideal for forced induction, and its cheap to do. i can imagine this swap would be even more devestating with a redrilled cam gear.

248/248 - is something im going to look at again with my current setup on the manuel car. (redrilled cam gear, intake manifold, SAFC, 3in exhaust, and dc sports header) it doesnt do any good in the auto, the loss in mid and low end isnt worth it. ive seen a dyno of 248/232 vs 248/248 and the difference in top end is something like 2hp, but the difference in midrange is 6 peak hp and all kinds of torque.....

[Jung918]

Good read. Do you have his other posts on the 248 +5/248?

[punxva]

no i dont, but i can find them, and post them into this thread, iirc this is from nico

[pbcstylez]

can you please designate which cams are from what car? 232/240/248 etc? which are oem intake or exhaust cams? i think this can be sticky worthy

[punxva]

yea, im going out for a few, but ill revise the original post saying which is which

[punxva]

ok ive edited the original post to include where each came is from

[~4N~]

I'm running the 248/232 setup, using an S13 exhaust cam as intake, and an S14 exhaust cam as exhaust.

By the way, that's DjPantsSpecR's article from NICO, http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=152578, no hate.

[punxva]

like i said i take no credit for it, i am just reposting

[punxva]

im going to be running the 248/232 soon

[the terrible one]

very good info. PUT IT IN FAQ!!!

[S14DB]

How do you use an Altima exhaust cam on a 240sx head?

[Tenchuu]

yeah need to check those sources.

[punxva]

because they are both ka's, one is just fwd, arent they basically the same engine?

[~4N~]

It actually works even better if you drill your own adjustable gears. I haven't done it, but a friend of mine who knows a lot about these kinds of things has experimented with drilling gears on all kinds of Nissan cam setups on a few KA's.

Here's what I'm talking about, sorry about linking to NICO, I'm not trying to start a flame war or anything, I just think you might find it informative, it's written by the same guy as the cam swap article.
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=199829

['90RPS13]

Hell yeah. +1 for punxva. Much appreciated. Let the hunt for a 232 begin! *a

[~4N~]

All S14 cams are 232's, an S13 exhaust cam is a 248, and an S13 intake cam is a 240.

[punxva]

as stated in the original post

[gunluvS14]

might need a little correction, Altima intake cam is not 248.. its 240... i searched the parts # on Nissan Fast and its only 240.

i have 248/240 setup in my S14, but my impression is no where near close to what that guy said about his setup.

[Tenchuu]

i have 232/232 right now with a set of the S13 cams laying around. one day when i get drunk/ and or confident in my ability to tear into my motor i might swap one out. until then i will keep on waiting to find a local with engine internal experiance to help.

[nissandr1ft]

Im stuck with 232/232 in my car right now with a set of S13 cams also laying around. Does anyone have dyno graphs between the cams, or have other opinions? I realize different dynos on different days would show different numbers, but it might show how the power comes on. I dont know about him, but my ass dyno hasn't been calibrated lately.

[punxva]

corrected, thank you very much

[2_fast_240]

So hes saying the 240/248 falls on its face in a s13, because its stock for that motor. But if you put them in a s14, it should give you a significant increase in top end power, correct.

[punxva]

yes because they are different durations

[2_fast_240]

different lift on the exhaust too.

[s14kouki44]

i have an s14 w/ stock cams and i have some left over cams from a 1991 with a blown motor...BUT, the reason im asking is because the 1991 had a new motor installed prior to me owning it so i was wondering how to tell the size of the cams from my 1991 THEY R NOT THE STOCK 1991 ONE's and i have no idea what year.

PLEASE HELP!!!

[punxva]

um, try searching on the forums, i know they have markings on them that you can determine which they are

[aznpoopy]

thanks for putting this together!

[~4N~]

Originally Posted by s14kouki44

i have an s14 w/ stock cams and i have some left over cams from a 1991 with a blown motor...BUT, the reason im asking is because the 1991 had a new motor installed prior to me owning it so i was wondering how to tell the size of the cams from my 1991 THEY R NOT THE STOCK 1991 ONE's and i have no idea what year.

PLEASE HELP!!!

The color stripes on the S14 cams are opposite from the stripes on the S13 cams.

S14 intake (232) - orange stripe, first lobe is aligned with the alignment pin
S14 exhaust (232) - green stripe, first lobe is about 4 teeth clockwise from the pin
S13 intake (240) - green stripe, first lobe is aligned with the pin
S13 exhaust (248) - orange stripe, first lobe is 4 teeth clockwise from the pin

[nissandr1ft]

I've been reading up on this also, and Im wondering if its true or a rumor about the 91-93 and 94 cams being different. The 93-95 Altima cam looks as if it could work, but I hear that theres something that needs to be cut off to clear the rear of the valva cover gasket.

1) ’91-’93 240SX (S13) - Note: '94 exh specs are slightly different
intake cam = 240 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6774” lobe height
(intake opens 1 deg after TDC & closes 61 deg after BDC)
exhaust cam = 248 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6931” lobe height
(exhaust opens 64 deg before BDC & closes 4 deg after TDC)
2) '94 240SX (S13)
intake cam = 240 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6774” lobe height
(intake opens 1 deg after TDC & closes 61 deg after BDC)
exhaust cam = 248 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6931” lobe height
(exhaust opens 60 deg before BDC & closes 8 deg after TDC)
3) ’93-’95 Altima
intake cam = 240 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6774” lobe height
(intake opens 1 deg after TDC & closes 61 deg after BDC)
exhaust cam = 248 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6931” lobe height
(exhaust opens 60 deg before BDC & closes 8 deg after TDC)

If thats the case running the 94 248/232 setup it would have 2.5 degrees of overlap, and the 91-93 248/232 would have 7 degrees of overlap. If thats the case, and the stock motors had 3 degrees of overlap... the 94 exhaust cam would be the cam to use correct? Im still a noob on cam specs, but is there a way to measure the specs with something like a digital caliper? My motor from my previous car could be anything from 93-95. The car was a 93, front cover said 1994, and intake mani didnt have a spot for butterflys. I know the only other owner, and she mentioned it never had a new motor put in.

[AkinaSpeed]

Alright here is the situation, I wanted to try the S13 exhaust cam on the intake side of my S14 KA. I used this pic as a guide from NICO.





According to this there is, 9 links between the marks on the cam sprokets.

1) Tried it the way its on the pic and my car wouldn't start.

2) Move the exhaust cam sproket over one link, so now its down to 8 links. The car started but had advance my timing up to 30 deg to get it to idle smoothly.

My question is where did I go wrong??? I TDC the motor with the cams lobes pointing out everytime. Should I scrap the this mod or should I attemp it one more time??