Which engine for my 210...SR20DE vs KA24DE

[sunny310]

Considering an engine swap for my 79 210. Just want you guys opinion on which engine would be better cost wise and how also difficulty. Will be a budget swap...that's why I'm not considering a turbo SR. Anything will be better than my A14 and auto lol

[datzenmike]

How can an SR be included in a cost wise budget swap? KA24DE all the way.

[paradime]

Although I don't know what's available in S Dakota, in general the KA is the cheaper of the two and would have better torque, but the SR would be more fun, has outstanding potential, better online aftermarket support, and get better gas mileage. In terms of ease of swap and cost of required mod parts it's a toss up. For ease and a cost effective power upgrade, an L20 is hard to beat. Not fuel injected, but that's part of it's charm. 

[datzenmike]

The '97? and up D21 Hardbody 2 wd with 71C 5 speed would be perfect. The Car EFI intake looks cleaner and the EFI harness is separate from the car harness, the truck is integrated into the main harness and hard to salvage. The truck oil pan won't fit any car chassis so...  ]2eDeYe has engine brackets that might also work on the 210.

[sunny310]

I actually did consider the L20B swap but I want the fuel injection and the power. 155hp in that little beast will be more than enough for a little street machine weighing 2000lbs. I see the KA has good torque too compared to an SR20DE. But the SR is a lighter engine so considering that too. Might want to go boost later down the road. I would go with an SR20DET but don’t want to pay over 3k. That’s more than it cost to do my 5.3 swap in my C10 truck

[sunny310]

8 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

The '97? and up D21 Hardbody 2 wd with 71C 5 speed would be perfect. The Car EFI intake looks cleaner and the EFI harness is separate from the car harness, the truck is integrated into the main harness and hard to salvage. The truck oil pan won't fit any car chassis so...  ]2eDeYe has engine brackets that might also work on the 210.

Can a 240sx oil pan fit on a hardbody KA or no? Also what else would I need for the swap? I’m trying to make a list of parts so I can start gathering stuff

[metalmonkey47]

KA > SR all day. Parts are available at any parts store / dealer, easy to find, cheap to acquire, more displacement = better NA capability etc.

[paradime]

I agree the KA is the cheaper swap and offers access to OEM parts, but better NA capacity? An NA high flow high compression ratio SR can put out 340BHP and spin well above 9000rpm. All the new aftermarket parts needed to accomplish that are available on the internet.

[Icehouse]

SR20DE!!!! 1500ish on ebay.  Way cheaper then rebuilding a KA.  The way the power comes on feels better IMO as well.  

[sunny310]

1 hour ago, Icehouse said:

SR20DE!!!! 1500ish on ebay.  Way cheaper then rebuilding a KA.  The way the power comes on feels better IMO as well.  

Yup I saw that. That's not a bad deal at all. How hard is it to do all the wiring?

[paradime]

23 minutes ago, sunny310 said:

Yup I saw that. That's not a bad deal at all. How hard is it to do all the wiring?

 

Depends on your experience level, but with a Wiring Specialties SR universal harness, it's MUCH easier. If there's one piece of advice I could pass on, iif you use the harness that comes with the motor do all your mods testing and repairs on a bench and not in the car. 

[sunny310]

Whatever engine I choose to go with won't be modified much at all. Don't want too much power that would get me killed lol. A nice intake and exhaust and a dyno tune should be fine. Not trying to build a race car...just a fun little cruiser 

[Icehouse]

Wiring is super easy.  It's cool wiring specialties does harnesses.  I'm to cheap for that though.  

[sunny310]

10 hours ago, Icehouse said:

Wiring is super easy.  It's cool wiring specialties does harnesses.  I'm to cheap for that though.  

Wiring is too much for me to handle. I saw how much wiring was involved on my 5.3 c10 swap and had my buddy do it for me instead lol. Dont really know how to fabricate either so I'll need help with that(engine and trans mounts)...everything else i can handle...i hope lol

[paradime]

Easy as it might be for some, wiring is time consuming, and to pay a garage to do it would blow your budget. You either get good at it, or you stay tight with buddy of yours. 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

The time needed to wire any EFI engine swap job is always grossly under estimated. I can get 35-50 hours into wiring on an engine swap, no problem. I hate telling the customer that. They never believe me or they think I'm screwing them.

[bottomwatcher]

Numbers like that make the premade harness a deal. I had my ka24e running on a stand before installing. Much easier to trace everything and room to spread it out. Doing that hanging upside down would have been a pia. Also for me the larger intake manifold makes access to the passenger side of the engine difficult.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

That brings up another point. The engine almost never goes in and stays in on an engine swap. It goes in the first time to measure for engine mounts, then back out, then in again with the new engine mounts, then back out again. An engine may go in and out a dozen times before everything is fit and fabbed.

 

Wiring is done on the engine, out of the car/truck after a mock up of how the wiring will lay out in the engine bay, and through the firewall. I like doing my engine wiring on a massive rolling cart or on the chassis while the body is off.

 

 

[Tom1200]

This may be a silly question given the desire to have EFI, but why not just go with a simple carburetor / carbureted engine. You may lose a bit of mileage and it may take a minute or two longer to fully warm up / run flawlessly on cold mornings.  Besides the wiring you're also going to have to do the plumbing for the FI. Having to put 60hrs and or $2000 less in a project is a huge benefit.

 

So back to your choices; if your not going to be building a performance motor go with the KA, you can find a wrecked vehicle with all the parts you need for next to nothing. Real world the bigger motor with broader powerband will nicer. 

 

I get wanting to swap out the A14 as 75hp in a 2000lb car is rather anemic, not to mention getting any power out of them requires revving the nuts off them. If my coupe was a street car rather than a race car I would have swapped out the A-series motor long ago. 

 

The L series or even Z series engine is nearly a direct bolt in and with very mild tweaks would be a 40-50hp increase in the car. With that kind of increase the car would feel like a F#**%ing Saturn Rocket........well at least for the first 10 minutes (damn car poeple can never have enough power). 

 

 

[sunny310]

1 hour ago, Tom1200 said:

This may be a silly question given the desire to have EFI, but why not just go with a simple carburetor / carbureted engine. You may lose a bit of mileage and it may take a minute or two longer to fully warm up / run flawlessly on cold mornings.  Besides the wiring you're also going to have to do the plumbing for the FI. Having to put 60hrs and or $2000 less in a project is a huge benefit.

 

So back to your choices; if your not going to be building a performance motor go with the KA, you can find a wrecked vehicle with all the parts you need for next to nothing. Real world the bigger motor with broader powerband will nicer. 

 

I get wanting to swap out the A14 as 75hp in a 2000lb car is rather anemic, not to mention getting any power out of them requires revving the nuts off them. If my coupe was a street car rather than a race car I would have swapped out the A-series motor long ago. 

 

The L series or even Z series engine is nearly a direct bolt in and with very mild tweaks would be a 40-50hp increase in the car. With that kind of increase the car would feel like a F#**%ing Saturn Rocket........well at least for the first 10 minutes (damn car poeple can never have enough power). 

 

 

To be honest I wasnt considering the KA and SR swap until recently when I started seeing videos on youtube...plus a buddy of mine kept suggesting it to me. I was actually going to just do an L20B swap...which is still in the back of my mind. A nice L20B with some dual webers headers and a 5 speed would be fine by me...if i can find me a good engine n trans I may just do that instead. Finding one out here in the Dakotas will be a challenge. 

[sunny310]

8 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

That brings up another point. The engine almost never goes in and stays in on an engine swap. It goes in the first time to measure for engine mounts, then back out, then in again with the new engine mounts, then back out again. An engine may go in and out a dozen times before everything is fit and fabbed.

 

Wiring is done on the engine, out of the car/truck after a mock up of how the wiring will lay out in the engine bay, and through the firewall. I like doing my engine wiring on a massive rolling cart or on the chassis while the body is off.

 

 

Brings back memories of my first 5.3 swap in my old 74 C10 truck  It was fun but frustrating at the same time...got the same swap in my 83 C10 now

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I am on the fence with an LS for my K30...

 

An L20B with dual carbs would look more appropriate, but the 12 valve KA would be super simple to swap in too. The oil pan and motor mounts are about the only things you'd have to modify. And the trans crossmember too.

[sunny310]

13 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

I am on the fence with an LS for my K30...

 

An L20B with dual carbs would look more appropriate, but the 12 valve KA would be super simple to swap in too. The oil pan and motor mounts are about the only things you'd have to modify. And the trans crossmember too.

Do it!...thats the best thing i did to my truck. Tons of power n torque...lots of fun. Which KA is better for the swap..240sx or Hardbody?

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

The pickup KA is easier. The car block has a cast in flange at the bellhousing that is very bulky, and the car block also has a main bearing girdle, which makes oil pan mods near impossible. You can always swap a car intake onto a truck motor for the better induction and nicer look.

 

An LS in my K30 would be like lipstick on a pig, but I still want it. If for no other reason, I'd have EFI, which would be stupid simple to keep running (I drive it only a handful of times a year.)

[sunny310]

25 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

The pickup KA is easier. The car block has a cast in flange at the bellhousing that is very bulky, and the car block also has a main bearing girdle, which makes oil pan mods near impossible. You can always swap a car intake onto a truck motor for the better induction and nicer look.

 

An LS in my K30 would be like lipstick on a pig, but I still want it. If for no other reason, I'd have EFI, which would be stupid simple to keep running (I drive it only a handful of times a year.)

Oh alright kool. What about the transmission? Which one should i use?