My KA-t is complete, **pictures**

[docrice]

Originally Posted by 97DubTruck

That's relative. My stock sr internals held 320. You couldn't push that setup much further.

Lets not start a big SR vs. KA debate here...I'd reccomend looking at PDM racing's website, they just threw a turbo on their (severely) beat autox S13 with 210,000km on the motor and no rebuild, no internals, no nothing...with a t04 and good tuning they put down 295 whp on a beat-ass motor. Reguardless, both motors are very stout and the key to making power and not blowing motors is good tuning.

But thats not the point of this thread. this is about a well set-up car done on a budget. Sweet job man.

[s14unimog]

thank you and very nicely put!

[projectRDM]

We all know when tuned right, both motors can make over 400whp stock. And we also know that no matter what precautions are made if there's a history of abuse it really doesn't matter what you do, you're going to break it with much less power.

[s14unimog]

I would agree tunning makes or breaks a motor... mine is tunned way rich and really retarded in timing....more liability but less power. I'm happy

[s14unimog]

double post... my bad

[beetlejuice]

Tune, Tuned, Tuning.

[s14unimog]

Hey Russ are you running coolent lines on your turbo or does that turbo even have coolent lines?

[projectRDM]

Originally Posted by s14unimog

Hey Russ are you running coolent lines on your turbo or does that turbo even have coolent lines?

No I am not, but yes it does have coolAnt lines. I decided to forego any air bleeding issues by not running additional lines. If there was a better place to return on the exhaust side it might be worthwhile, but I also don't beat on it badly or shut it down hot, so there's no need for it.

[s14unimog]

yeah same here I decided moderate driving and cool down time would be much better than coolent lines

[CHARLIE2020]

S14unimog what approach did you take to removing your oil pan to tap it?

[NemeGuero]

Drop the cross-member... OR

unbolt engine/tranny mounts and jack up motor really really high.. (its a bitch tho)

[rossfashow]

that car is sweet, makes me want to do an a ka swap.. and turbo it.. i should have just rebuilt the ka motor with some forged internals. with that i could have saved so much more on the sr. i spend about 5k putting the sr swap together. and its all stock. should just rebuilt the blown ka and turbo'd it.

[nigel1]

man thats the only thing holding me back from doing ka-t setup...

I realy dont feel like pulling the motor out any time soon. is it really hard to drop the cross member? I havent read much about it being done. but I see everyone and their mom with ka-t setups so I know people take one route or another...

so basically the answer im looking for is...

yes the crossmember is not that hard to drop... just go pu together your turbo kit and be done with it.

or

no the crossmember is a bitch, just pull the motor...

[docrice]

Originally Posted by nigel1

man thats the only thing holding me back from doing ka-t setup...

I realy dont feel like pulling the motor out any time soon. is it really hard to drop the cross member? I havent read much about it being done. but I see everyone and their mom with ka-t setups so I know people take one route or another...

so basically the answer im looking for is...

yes the crossmember is not that hard to drop... just go pu together your turbo kit and be done with it.

or

no the crossmember is a bitch, just pull the motor...

Well, I decided to pull the motor out (not done yet, that's actually gonna happen in about a week). Reason? Consider this: how happy do you think your stock, abused, 1XXk miles clutch will like 240lb-ft(+ or -) of torque? So I said to myself "well shit, instead of dropping the tranny and the front crossmember to do 2 things that both need done, why not be smart and just yank the motor and tranny?"...Easy peazy to do both (and other stuff if there's more you want to do), slap that bitch back in there, and rock n roll...figure it would probably take a good full day to prep and pull the motor if you have a helper and you've never done it before, assuming you actually take the time to label stuff, drain fluids, and do a generally decent job of it. Don't anticipate it taking too long to pull, weld, and reinstall the pan, and the clutch is a quick job too (esp. with everything off the car).

That's my thoughts, but the decision is yours...

[swwifty]

Very nice setup. I'm planning on eventually doing the same thing to my s14. I've got a t25 for really cheap with a SR downpipe just waiting to be installed. I'd love to check out your setup sometime and go for a ride!

[projectRDM]

It's still way easier to drop the crossmember and transmission than to pull the engine. Crossmember takes 20 minutes, and with it lowered some the transmission will slip right out. And there's no need to pull the harness or drain all the fluids.

Look for the motor mount thread for crossmember removal info.

[nigel1]

thanks guys for the replies.

me= ready to tackle ka-t

btw... great freakin job on the turbo setup.

I am considering mimicing your setup but with an fmic... but my problem is... the outside of my car is so done up that it would look pretty lame to not do the inside up as well...

[95Blue240sx]

This is a great thread! Should link this to the KA-T thread.

Man i wanna do this setup, but its xmas time and i dont have any money@1$!@$

[nigel1]

I know... me too... sux. especially when your girlfriend has a big family to buy presents for...

hey I was lookin around for "affordable" manifolds and turbos, and I was just wondering where you got yours and for how much...

[95Blue240sx]

its on page 2 where he got the manifold.

[tofast2sweet]

looks great! way to go!

[s14unimog]

Originally Posted by nigel1

man thats the only thing holding me back from doing ka-t setup...

I realy dont feel like pulling the motor out any time soon. is it really hard to drop the cross member? I havent read much about it being done. but I see everyone and their mom with ka-t setups so I know people take one route or another...

so basically the answer im looking for is...

yes the crossmember is not that hard to drop... just go pu together your turbo kit and be done with it.

or

no the crossmember is a bitch, just pull the motor...

I did both actually, I dropped the cross member and raised the engine a little bit, its a pain either way you look at it.

As for all this positive feedback, I am so happy that my car got all of this attention and everyone can respect a decent budget build up, I highly recommend this setup to everyone and if you're in Atlanta/Athens GA then by all means send me a PM and I will be happy to show you my car. The more KA-T's the better!!!

Thanks again for all the complements, Zilvia!

[tunedis95]

I can't wait....i'm going for the exact set up...The budget build for a dialy driver so far i have......found some good deals
sr370s - $80 shipped
z31 turbo(t25)-$50
PLX wideband - $150
SSchrome manifold - $60 shipped
Sr SMIC - Free came with clip when i did RHD conversion
Autometer Boost Guage - $40

i've been piecing parts together over 3 months now...lots of looking around.....

I'm almost there...Love the set up...very sleeper looking, if you have any other info or pics of engine stuff please hook me up : [email protected]

also what is your timing at exactly....and hows the safc I working...i found one for $100

[JDMark]

z31 is a t3, but yea ur gettin some good deals

[tunedis95]

88-89 Z31 Turbo: VG30ET, CR 8.3:1, T25, 4.5psi, 205hp @ 5200, 227ft-lbs @ 3600


Turbo:
84: T3, oil lubricated, air cooled.
85-87: T3, oil lubricated, water cooled.
88-89: T25, oil lubricated, water cooled.

[s14unimog]

mine is 13 degree's retarded

[skiboard06]

can u please link me to a thread where you paid 110 shipped for your manifold thanks this thread is awesome well done

[MikeMurphy]

Wow, I am loving that dyno graph.

Definitely an inspiration.

[nigel1]

where you finding a good useable t3 for 50 bux?

[NemeGuero]

Did you have to be inspired 3 times?