ElliotV

So you managed to stick a z24 distributor in a ka block? Do you have more details on the build? Which intake are you using?

If it runs and drives and doesn't make any crazy noises that would maybe go for 1500-2k around me titled and whatnot. Is that spray foam on the cab mount? Engine bay is really dirty but the undercarriage doesn't look horrible. I paid 4k for my 85 4x4 kc with zero rust and straight fenders. 155k on it when I bought it. I'm willing to bet that those front cab mounts are gone. They like to rot out because the pads catch first and water, not hard to fix.

I think what I'm going to end up doing is just go to a junk yard and see what I can find, if I can remove a ka and the harness from a d21(no 240sx available near me). If I can get the harness figured out I might just do the head swap since that will be best for ease of use and it looks like a ka distributor and oil pump driveshaft will swap into the z block. That would give me full use of the ka electronics without having to worry about motor mounts/oil pan mods. I've got extra motors so I figured I'll pull one to rebuild from my other trucks and mess with seeing if everything will line up.

I've found lots of stuff but nothing that's a clean how to on the wiring part of it and no one seems to sell the can-am boxes anymore. In addition wouldn't I be better off finding a 4x4 d21 since it would have a oil pan for the front diff.

If I were to run the dual plugs, keep the timing low and get rid of the vacuum advance do you think I would be good with less than 8psi on a turbo

So my best bet is finding a d21 for the trans and a 240sx for the harness and motor? I'll be honest I tried looking at the route of just doing a light turbo on the z24 as well with a blow through setup <8psi but the problem ends up being the hypereutectic pistons and no one makes anything but factory style pistons for the z24

If I were to go ahead and just swap a ka-e into my truck what's the best way to wire them up? I've seen some stuff saying that the factory ECU for the ka is separate from the chassis harness for the most part. Is there any good write ups on this? I've only found tid bits of information. I messaged redeye to see if they still sell mounts.

I thought the c series used different ratios like the b series did but I just looked and I've only been able to find one set of ratios for a c series.

If I do a c series swap I would need to find two c series transmissions and use the gears from a 4x4 case in a 2wd case. Is there even anyone who still sells the swap mounts? I know that the can-am box isn't sold anymore and megasquirt efi stuff is expensive and not very plug and play.

Part of the reason for this is to get rid of the carb for a simple efi unit. From what I have found the efi unit can operate separately from the timing control so one would just set the timing as normal.

I know it's something a lot of people have talked about is how slow these trucks are. I think I've made a discussion about this before or at least talked about it in other discussions. I know Mike has started this project before but I don't know if he has ever finished it. So some backstory to what has started this train of thought. June 1st I left Oklahoma on poverty tour. It was about 300mi a day or maybe more since we weren't going far we had time to explore a little bit. We drove all the way west to gallup NM hitting 6500ft elevation on the way and in Utah hitting 8000ft, and up to kanab and then Moab utah where I ended my leg so I could stay in Moab a few days to explore before I head home to Oklahoma. I only had to jet down my Weber 32/36 once changing my main jet on the primary and the air corrector on my secondaries. One thing I notice with my truck being completely loaded down with camping gear, tools, and spare parts was after we started to hit more elevation and especially some of the hills we were hitting when we started to go north I was running up hills at 3500rpm in 3rd gear and even second gear on a couple. It was a big struggle to maintain even 55mph in a lot of areas although the little z24 didn't care and hauled my fat ass through the mountains screaming the whole way albeit slowly. I would like to start doing more trips like this but if I'm going to start losing this much power at elevation I'm not quite sure how feasible it is especially since I would like to eventually build a ultralite camper trailer as well. I've been thinking about the best way with minimal heavy modifications to get more power out of these trucks and I've been floating around the idea of building a ka/z hybrid motor since it was mentioned to me that the ka-e head is supposed to bolt right onto a z24 block. All you are supposed to have to do to run a ka head on a z24 block is plug one of the oil returns on the ka head. Benefits: More modern head design Theoretically ~45+hp with no mods to the head Fuel injection? Arp head studs to stop blown headgaskets. Still using z24 block stronger mains and no motor mount mods required. Cons ? Complexity? Efi is hard, perhaps a 2300 tbi unit on a d21 tbi intake? Cheaper than megasquirt? If anyone can find any real cons I would love to hear them, I know it would be more complex than maybe a stock build but other than that can't see any major issues. Here's a list of parts I think I would need. I would maybe like to stick with stock internals which I've read people have gotten 300hp out of but I don't need that much and that would require a lot of boost which is not going to happen for a while. Ka-e head/valve cover Ka-e intake preferably off a d21 with tbi. Z24 timing gear?(Supposed to work on ka cam) Z24 block, timing kit, crank Ka-e pistons since there is a difference in combustion chamber between ka-e and z24 heads Arp head studs for ka24e Either ka rods or z24 rods whichever is stronger. Aces efi dueces wild tbi unit Custom adapter to adapt d21 tbi to 2300 flange. Anything else? I'm thinking I can get all these parts except for the aces unit, of course a timing set and gaskets/rings at the junkyard for maybe a few hundred bucks. What does everyone think of this? Bad idea, good idea, is there more bang for buck and plug and play solutions?

If you only had to shave one pin off that's a good deal I think

Which brand did you buy and did they actually fit? The motor mounts have been a big issue on these trucks.

I paid 4k for mine in Oct of 2023. Came from New Mexico, 85 4x4 kc all original 155k miles. I've still had to put some work into it but it was worth the money in my opinion just because of the lack of rust it's easy to work on. Interior was in good shape too. 3.5k seems a little high for a truck that sounds like will have a lot of issues. I paid 500 bucks for a rusted out one with a title and a ton of spares

Yep which is why I really did not want to go with any alternators over 100a. I really don't need it either. And if this one goes bad for whatever reason it's much easier to get a replacement and all I have to do it swap my pulley setup onto it and drill out the lower mounting holes and I can just slap a new one in.