KA24e into a 620

[Icehouse]

My 620, the first day I bought it, stocker :)

 

 

 

Now its look'n good :D

 

 

 

 

Now for the installation. This will require a welder. I have a Home Depot mig welder (very inexpensive, even cheaper on CL) with the gas bottle. It's all you will need and it's a great tool. I don't know how I lived without a welder.

 

 

Parts need to make the job simple...(yes there are other ways it will work, just the ka can start a thread of its own.)

 

 

1. KA24e from a 91-98 nissan pickup

 

The pickup block is different than the car block, so for a pure bolt together bell swap use the truck block Also the oil pans are different (2wd is the one you want. Don't forget the pickup tube from the 2wd if you have a 4x4 engine, they are different.)

 

 

 

 

Bad photo, but if you look hard you can see me pulling the engine out of a 95 4x4 (4 hrs of work..... 4 wheel drive is a pain)

 

 

 

2. 89 90 ka24e s13 intake manifold, ecu and wiring

 

I used the car intake, wiring and ecu just to simplify the install. I've wired quite a few s13 engines, ka ca sr and they all use a very similar wiring harness design. Now I didn't try the hardbody harness, from what I heard its integrated with the chassis harness aka pain in the ass. I battled a s12 harness, which is integrated.... never again. Also the 12v (engine you are installing :) and the 16v have different manifolds, notice pic)

 

 

 

(note: the one on the right is the 12v, way less crap)

 

 

 

 

3. tranny or bell

 

Depending on the year of your truck you have a few different options.

 

 

A. If you have a 5 speed you can do a nap z bell swap. The ka is clocked opposite in the engine bay to the L engine. The L is angle to the passenger side, the ka and nap z are to the drivers side. So without the use of the nap z bell your 5 speed would lean, I guess it would still work if you wanted to build a different tranny mount :) The negative aspect of the stock 5 speed is the low 5th gear. With the bigger displacement, ka lower rpm's are a must.

 

B. The 280zx trans. Great 5th gear and bolts in also with the bell swap. This is what I did. I'm really happy with the gear ratio's. Make sure it is a 82 or 83 for the highest geared 5th.

 

 

C. The last bolt up option is the 720 nap z trans. It is also the same trans as your stock 5speed or the zx trans with different gear ratio's.

 

 

If you have a short tail 4 speed you will have to get a long tail 4 or 5 speed driveline form a wrecking yard. You may have to do some research on this conversion because I've never done it. I know this is possible with the 521. Once again I have never done this either. So once again do your research... maybe someone on this forum knows or can do a write up.

 

 

 

Tagen and I doing the bell swap :)

 

 

 

I was test fitting the bell in this picture.

 

 

 

 

4. Radiator

 

This is a wide open area, there are tons of rad's that fit. I know people use the vw rabbit rad with their ka swaps in 510's. It works well because both outlets are on the passenger side. The 81 and 82 nap z 720 have a stockish rad that has both outlets on the passenger side. Datsunmike referred that one to me. I wanted to try something different and a little closer to stock style. So I decided to try the 720 one. It worked great, as far as fit-ment. It's 5 inches wider but the same height. The biggest draw back to me is that the upper hose isn't far enough to the passenger side. The hose hits the intake pipe. I was talking to Datsunmike about it and he said if I heated the pipe with a heat gun I could mold it away from the upper hose. (Gonna try it, I will report back) Besides that I loved it, it cost me 26 bucks at pull a part and they had 3 so I grabbed the best one :)

 

 

 

5. Air intake piping

 

A 12v s13 intake pipe will work with some trimming.

 

6. throttle cable

 

I got it from a 82 720. Make sure it looks similar to the one in the photo. 720 cable has a bigger ball where it connects to the gas pedal than the stock cable, its not a problem though. You will need to straighten the fire wall end a bit, besides that its a bolt in :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, now that we got the parts list done lets start pulling that wretched L motor out.

 

 

 

That's actually the Ka, I just like the photo. :)

 

 

I tried to save all the hose and stuff just in case I need them for my swap. Okay, now I would get the ka ready before pulling the 620's engine. Bolt on the car manifold. (don't forget the support that goes to the block) Assemble the new clutch on your resurfaced flywheel (the stock ka flywheels and a stock ka clutch will work perfect) now that the clutch is torqued to spec you can slide your tranny on. Hopefully you have decided which combo to use. :) I recommend the zx one with the nap z bell houseing (Tagen and I will do a how-to on bell swaps some time in the future) now that you have everything assembled you can swing it into the engine bay or have it ready to. :)

 

 

 

This part requires cutting and welding on the motor mounts. Swing the engine in and bolt the tranny, drive line slave cylender ect. Now with the engine hoist still connected to the engine, lower it until the oil pan (2wd truck pan) down until it is 1/8-1/4 an inch above the crossmember. Now you can use a floor jack with a piece of 2x4 on the oil pan to level it out. The oil pan should be flat with the crossmember. Now mark the engine mounts with a vertical line. (I'm talking about the metal engine mounts that bolt to the block) Using your angle grinder cut through the engine mount making them 2 pieces. If you did this correctly you can bolt one half onto the engine, and the other to the stock 620 rubber mount. The cuts will allow the engine to drop down and be butt-welded back together (1/8-1/4 and inch above the crossmember) Sweet huh? Fits like it was born there.

 

 

 

The 4x4 pan will not work!

 

 

 

 

Now that you have the engine mounted and the tranny done, it's time for the engine bay stuff. Take the 720 throttle cable, bolt it directly to the firewall and bolt it perfectly to the throttle body. (that step was easy :) )

 

The radiator is a little trickier. The 81 or 82 720 rad is wider so I used threaded standoffs that I welded to the core support. It also depends on the fan you use. I used a s14 ac fan because it was free and I m cheap :) You might have to do something else for a different radiator. Thank you datsunmike for the rad recommendation. I may change the fan later to something a little better, for now mine is working fine (cold weather)

 

 

 

One of the heater hoses reaches, the other will need a coupler and a 90 degree piece of hose. Simple enough.

 

 

Hook up the break booster hose. I just used 4ft or so of straight hose from the auto part store. Don't forget to put the one way valve back in.

 

As for the air intake, take the stock 240sx single cam intake pipe and cut it a little shorter where it hooks onto the throttle body. This will make it clear the rad. I also made a bracket off the valve cover to support the weight. I wanted to use a factory air box. By the time I got to this step I was kinda eager to get it on the road. To save time, I slapped on a cone filter. Who knows, maybe some day I will custom fit the factory box.

 

Fuel, I almost forgot. Stock lines seem to be working fine in my truck with the zx external pump. I think if it was turboed it would need bigger lines and a better pump. My truck had factory AC which means it had an electric pump near the tank, basically in-between the cab and the tire on the passenger side. I removed the low pressure pump, drilled a couple holes and replace the lines with high pressure ones. It's also a good idea to use all 240sx fuel line clamps. They hold much more pressure than stock 620 clamps.

 

Okay, for the wiring I'm gonna do a separate write-up so anyone doing a ka swap can just skip the 620 install portion and figure out the wiring. If you can wire a stereo in a datsun, you can wire a ka in one :)

 

The exhaust will need some welding in multiple places. The "down pipe" hits the frame so use an angle grinder to cut through both tubes then reverse it. This must be done fairly accurately because it's going to fit inbetween the frame and the tortion bar. There is about 3/4-1 inch per side. I just hooked the ka's exhaust up to my old 620 exhaust for the time being. My truck is kinda on the payment plan if you know what I mean :)

 

 

 

Did I miss anything????

[71-521]

Nice first tech posting there Jeff!

Need more pictures!

[Icehouse]

that's all I had :)

[Jason]

Nice write up Jeff. Do a KA into a 510 and do a write up too! Better yet, do my wagon, I'll take pics and do the write up for you :D !

[Bleach]

I don't have any really helpful pics to add but here are a couple more of the engine

[510_Dillon]

good job

[zookforbranes]

i deffinetly want to do a ka in my truck but i think i might try it with a ka24de out of a car, but will a truck oil pan fit on the car ka?

[Icehouse]

It will not fit the dual cam block. I have heard the dual cam head will bolt onto the truck block though, it raises the compression as well i've heard 10.5 to 1 and also 11 to 1 so who knows, maybe you could do a writeup on it :)

[datzenmike]

Very nice read, jeff! Did the 12v come with a P/S pump already on it? (hint, hint)

[airedout]

Good info, now i just need to find a a motor, tranny, and harness so i can swap one into my 521!!!

[RB_Shaggs]

the pathfinders had the ka24de and thats a truck block so if you wanna go twin cam try to find one of those then a car harness and ecu and u should be able to do the bell swap and everything the same as the single cam right????

[Bleach]

Yup, but how many 1998-2002 Nissan trucks do you find in a wrecking yard?

 

American trucks yes, but not imports :D

 

Its hard to find even a 90's Hardbody!

[RB_Shaggs]

true indeed but there has to be one somewhere you just have to really want to find it the other option of course is to order a rebuilt or a jap motor

[Bleach]

Japan uses smaller engines. They never got the KA24 in anything that I know of.

If anything, they probably use an SR20DE in their trucks. (non-turbo) not that its a bad engine but its not the KA.

[RB_Shaggs]

i could almost swear the ka was used in their trucks its the us that put them in the cars too.. but i could be wrong

[Bleach]

I could be wrong too. I think Icehouse and I were talking about this a while ago. He went to an engine importer asking about the KA24e from trucks and they said "we dont' get those engines. They weren't made for JDM vehicles"

 

or something along those lines

[BEEBANI]

Here's the question for you gurus; I'm not sure which KA I have in my '97, but I would like to put that drivetrain in my 620, anybody know of any drawbacks to using that year of motor? That thing has a lot of punch, I can spin my 33x12.50-15's through 2nd!

[Bleach]

Hardbody (1997) = SOHC

Frontier (1998) = DOHC

[Icehouse]

Here's the question for you gurus; I'm not sure which KA I have in my '97, but I would like to put that drivetrain in my 620, anybody know of any drawbacks to using that year of motor? That thing has a lot of punch, I can spin my 33x12.50-15's through 2nd!

 

I don't see any problem, well you would be killing a nissan. For some reason that doesn't bother me as much as it should :D

[BEEBANI]

I don't see any problem, well you would be killing a nissan. :D

I don't plan on taking my truck apart, I just plan on using that drivetrain if I can find one at a j/y or something. I'm selling my hb in hopes of buying a newer 300zx.:D

[Icehouse]

You've been talking about a 300z for some time now. I say you get one :) twin turbo :)

[BEEBANI]

You've been talking about a 300z for some time now. I say you get one :) twin turbo :)

Yeah, I have house payments and a payment on the Xterra, so I have to sell my hb before I can buy a car. Which also means no TT, they are still selling for 8-14k.

[wiwawy]

nice work i am currently researching doing the same swap into my 720 and this will be a big help i think

[wiwawy]

here is a link to some more ka swap info for those interested

 

http://groups.msn.com/NissanDatsun720PickupOwners/general.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=22547&LastModified=4675612277112478141&openpopup=1&posturl=general.msnw%3Faction%3Dmb_post%26mview%3D0%26ID_TopParent%3D22547%26ID_Parent%3D22547&pps=k

 

also icehouse did you do that wiring writeup you mentioned yet?

[Icehouse]

I'm really sorry guys, I've meant to do one for some time now. I was going to do Cookapoop's but he is to far up north so it ended up not working out. Sorry Cook. Dam I'm going to buy a harness and do it just to show you guys Maybe use it on the 521 or sell it....