RacnJsn95 Posted November 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 It's true, some people have managed to mount a KA24e head on an L block... Check this out here... http://zac510.ozdat.com/ No one has successfully documented a swap using the ka24de head on an L4 engine.... The KA24e head is not just a simple bolt on ordeal though. As for using an L head on a KA block, I'm going to go with "No", until I see it done... I took this quote from the link above... "The oil drain welded is on the intake side of the camshaft. This oil drain clashes with a water gallery on the L20b block. The picture shows the weld location circled." To me, that sounds as if you weld up that hole on the L head, like you would on the KA head, you may have cooling problems? As far as I know, there aren't any automatic KA transmissions with more than 4 gears, so you might as well keep the L or Z block, unless you're just gonna swap a whole KA engine and trans into your car. Quote Link to comment
pope_face Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 I've got a J-Series in there right now, so regardless of which engine I choose it'll still be a complete swap... all the mounts and everything have to be changed, so if I'm going to do it once I may as well do it right. I don't think the J-Series ever had an auto transmission... However, I did just find out on Friday that I can replace the FI on a KA with dual carbs, so that's what the plan is... Haven't decided between the E or the DE yet, so I'll have to do a bit of reading on that, but Specialty Engineering has a DE out of a late model pickup that they'd sell me... Only thing is, they want about $2000 for just the engine itself, plus whatever it costs for a manifold, carbs, and whatever else I need... not to mention an automatic transmission to go with it... They say it's got about 40,000 miles on it... is this a reasonable price, or am I blinded by my eagerness to start this build? However, I ought to ask... if I swap the KA over to carbs, I'll need to use a different distributor or EI, correct? Or can I reuse the stock KA ignition? Sorry for the thread hijack... like I said, I didn't want to waste any more room in the engine forum for questions that have probably been answered already somewhere else... But, I've looked through most of the threads on here, and almost all the relevant threads on the 510 Realm, and haven't found much out about this... Quote Link to comment
RacnJsn95 Posted November 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 IMO that's a lot of money for a KA engine missing a bunch of stuff...... You can pick up SR20DET's for that around price, sometimes even with a transmission. I wouldn't think you should spend more than $1200-1500 for a KA24 engine, with a transmission... But that's just my opinion. Quote Link to comment
pope_face Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 Makes sense... I would say it's too much as well, but technically it's not really missing anything, as far as I know... it is a complete engine, I just don't need the intake and ECU and whatnot on it, so those are being replaced... The other thing is, I'm not sure about price differences between here and down there. It seems like most people haven't gotten used to the fact that the dollars are pretty much equal. I suppose I'll keep looking... I was considering trying to find a wrecked pickup with an auto and pulling that engine/transmission... seems like the simplest way to find an engine, see it running, check the mileage, and get it somewhat cheap... I can always consider getting it rebuilt after that. Actually... this is probably a really stupid question, so forgive me if it's been covered before, but if I get a KA (either the DE or the E) and transmission out of a car (240ZX or Maxima or whatever had them), will it mount up the same as one from a truck providing I swap the oil pan to the truck rear-sump one, or are there more differences between the car and truck motors that I'm not aware of? Quote Link to comment
RacnJsn95 Posted November 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 I dont see why not... They should be the same, aside from the oil pan stuff you mentioned... You'd need the engine from a 240sx. To my knowledge, the maxima didn't have the Ka24, and even if it did, the era of maxima that might have one would be FWD, and it would really complicate things. More work than it would be worth... You know... Why don't you just keep all the injection stuff? Icehouse made a great write up in the "How to" section for wiring KA, CA, SR into anything, and he did a pretty much complete documentation on the KA24e swap into his 620. Quote Link to comment
hang_510 Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 if i was upgrading to a motor other than an L, id go FI... w/o :blink: Quote Link to comment
pope_face Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 I appreciate the advice on going with FI, and I don't mean to be rude, but I just like carbs... I've never really had a thing for ECU's, or any kind of electronics for that matter. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate or use them... I have a computer, and an iPod makes it super easy to play all of my music in my daily without carrying around a bag of CDs (or tapes, or eight tracks... I don't think a record player would work too well in a vehicle though...) but I'm an old-school guy when it comes to certain things. I can tinker with carbs, I can't do the same with an ECU. To be honest, I was going to go with an L-Series... the reason I decided KA was due to how easy it is to find them, parts availability, emissions friendlyness, and power potential... Building a KA will cost me roughly as much as building an L-Series, but seeing as the end result will work better for me I've decided to go that route. If I couldn't get rid of the ECU on the KA even with carbs, I'd go with a turbo motor... maybe a VG30 if I could convince myself to try to cram it in. But, that's not the case, so it's a carbed KA. :D Quote Link to comment
69FJWagon Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 One of the fastest 510s I have driven that is N/A 230hp at the crank, NAPz 2.2 with a fully worked 12 valve KA head with a big cam. Ermish And Rebello hybrid Ok, this is probably a stupid question, which is why I'm posting it here rather than in it's own thread, but I read today that a KA head will fit on an L- or Z-Series block... Apparently it can be done in order to get an FI swap onto either block without modifying the stock heads. Can this be done? And, more importantly, if the above is possible, could someone mount an Z-Series, or (specifically) an L-Series head on a KA? I figure if you can swap the head and the block one way, the reverse should be true as well. The only reason I ask is that I want a carb'd engine, but I want to be able to get an auto transmission with more than four speeds... I'm just assuming the KA has five- or six-speed autos available just because it's a newer engine, as opposed to the four speeds available with the L-Series. Anybody have any input? here you go 12 valve KA head on a z series block, its alot of work but like I said its one of the fastest 510s I have ever driven that is N/A... if you want a carbed KA you can still buy intakes for the 12 valve KA and for the 16 valve from Troy Ermish without mating a KA head and a Z block http://www.ermish-racing.com Quote Link to comment
71-521 Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 has anyone seen or done a write up on this KA/Z block swap? Quote Link to comment
RacnJsn95 Posted November 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 You mean the KA head on a Z block? Look at my first post on the top of this page for the write up. Quote Link to comment
71-521 Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 Thanks...missed that somehow... :( Quote Link to comment
RacnJsn95 Posted December 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 Here is my latest idea that I came up with that I may build for a future Datsun. Short deck L20(L21?) (2.045 liter) •Have the main journals on an L20b crank turned down to fit in an L18 block •L18 block bored +2mm •L16/L24 rods •Std. bore VG30e(et pistons for turbo application?) pistons This combo would put the piston .1mm down in the hole. With a 1.25mm gasket and a closed chamber head you would get about 11.2:1 compression with the E pistons. 10.3:1 with an open chamber head. 10.2:1 w/ a 6cc turbo dish piston closed head, and 9.6:1 open head... I think if you could get a 2mm gasket, run a closed chamber head, with the turbo pistons it would be optimal for a turbo @ 9.5:1... I just think it would be cool because to any normal person it would look like a hopped up L18. Sleeper! And if you ever put it in a 510 or 520/521 there would be no worries about hood clearance. I'd like to build this for a 510, or 521 with a turbo. Quote Link to comment
dat620 Posted December 26, 2007 Report Share Posted December 26, 2007 has anyone done or know of a 2.2 block with L20b head, i've only done L20b head on L18B block , or complete vg30 engine swap..can anyone enlighten me...?:confused: Quote Link to comment
RacnJsn95 Posted December 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 People do that quite often actually. It's refered to as an LZ22 motor. Read http://forum.ratsun.net/showpost.php?p=13917&postcount=5 For info on using an L series head on a Z series block. Read more in the same thread for other similar combonations. Quote Link to comment
yello620 Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 Dat620, what did you swap a VG into? Jason Quote Link to comment
RacnJsn95 Posted December 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2007 Here's something I thought should be added... I think you can use the pre 4/87 factory vg30e rods. Not sure yet about the pre 4/87 ET motors, but the E rods have the same 21mm pin bore, and same 53mm crank end bore... The post 4/87 rods use a full floating pin, so stay away from those, but the pre 4/87 rods are press fit. Wish I had a VG30e rod to compare with some L rods. The length on the vg30e rods are 154.15mm. I know the vg30det(t) pin bore is 22mm, and all aftermarket vg30 rods have a 22mm pin bore. Quote Link to comment
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