Finally got my hands on a 620 KC

[Datsunworks]

 

Hi Everyone. Derek from Datsunworks here.

I'm in Central Florida.

I’ve been waiting for the right deal to come along in year, location and price. The stars aligned and I picked up a 79 that has a KA24DE swap. I wasn’t looking for a swapped truck but since I plan on swapping it out with a Z22 and one of my new KN16 heads I figured no harm no foul. Whoever did the swap did a great job but it seems like it was a project that never got completed. The person I bought it from said it was fine to drive without any work...Well my idea of drivable and his aren’t exactly the same 🙂 No matter as it’s forcing me to go through things in a way that I probably wouldn’t have.

 

 

If anyone knows wo did the swap I would love to ask 100 a couple questions.

 

Thanks Derek

[datzenmike]

What is a KN16 head????? and what makes it better than the KA24DE??? This is a step backwards.

[Datsunworks]

2 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

What is a KN16 head????? and what makes it better than the KA24DE??? This is a step backwards.

 

Do a search on Datsunworks KN20. The KN16 is the 4 cylinder version. 

[Crashtd420]

17 hours ago, datzenmike said:

What is a KN16 head????? and what makes it better than the KA24DE??? This is a step backwards.

If its anything like the 6cyl it's a custom head that's awesome...

The 6 was twin cam using Honda internals..... 

Unfortunately price is insane but well worth it....

 

[Datsunworks]

3 minutes ago, Crashtd420 said:

If its anything like the 6cyl it's a custom head that's awesome...

The 6 was twin cam using Honda internals..... 

Unfortunately price is insane but well worth it....

 

It's a 4 cylinder version of the 6. Same port design. Just a fun project for me. I don't expect the sell too many.

[Crashtd420]

7 minutes ago, Datsunworks said:

It's a 4 cylinder version of the 6. Same port design. Just a fun project for me. I don't expect the sell too many.

I love it to be honest ...

I understand what it takes to accomplish... if I had the money I'd buy one in a heartbeat....

[Datsunworks]

1 minute ago, Crashtd420 said:

I love it to be honest ...

I understand what it takes to accomplish... if I had the money I'd buy one in a heartbeat....

If I didn't make them there is no way I could afford one. Still less than the OSG 🙂

[]2eDeYe]

That's a nice truck. It looks familiar. 

I may be able to help with the swap questions, I have helped troubleshoot a few swaps in various states and got them sorted. 

[Datsunworks]

2 hours ago, ]2eDeYe said:

That's a nice truck. It looks familiar. 

I may be able to help with the swap questions, I have helped troubleshoot a few swaps in various states and got them sorted. 

Thanks. It seems to run well and the short drive I took it on was promising. As I had it idling back at the shop I noticed the electric fan never kicked on even though the cheap Dragon digital gauge was reading 205f. I jumped the fan and it's good. It looks to me they were running the fan with a relay going to the ECU which looks to be the factory unit. My experience is with megasquirt so rather than figure it out I'm going to hot wire the relay to ignition so it's drivable. I have to rework the entire exhaust from the header flange back first. If I was planning on keeping the KA my approach would be different. It has a pretty big oil leak at the front cover that I will need to address but I don't want to tackle that until it's drivable.

 

I've never purchased someones project vehicle before and it certainly has it's challenges. 

[FrankRizzo]

 I did the MS3 PNP on my KA24DE. It helped a lot (to me) compared to the stock one. My PO removed almost all the smog stuff, so I was able to tune it much better and get the timing really dialed in...plus all the stuff you probably know like COP, boost, etc.

 

Edited October 9, 2023 by FrankRizzo

[Datsunworks]

On 10/8/2023 at 9:37 AM, ]2eDeYe said:

That's a nice truck. It looks familiar. 

I may be able to help with the swap questions, I have helped troubleshoot a few swaps in various states and got them sorted. 

Ok since you offered 🙂

I found some literature in one of the boxes of parts and it looks like they used a Wiring Specialties harness. The IACV has been blocked off on the manifold and as of now I don't see the harness plug for the idle control harness but hit could be tucked somewhere. So is it normal to not have IAC control on these swaps? I went to great lengths to get it working on my 240 with ITBs and it sure is nice to have.

 

Thanks

Derek

[]2eDeYe]

I have no idea why this gets deleted, it is how the engine idle is controlled via the stock ecu, but guys do it all the time. Guess they like random idle speeds? 

Mine wasn't wired up either on my green truck. I wired it back in, it was pretty straightforward after identifying which pins it went to on the ecu connector. 
Installing one on the DE is probably going to be a little bit of work seeing as yours is gone, but doable in a dayish with wiring. 
 

I bought a connector/pigtail from wiring specialties if I remember correctly.

[Datsunworks]

9 hours ago, ]2eDeYe said:

I bought a connector/pigtail from wiring specialties if I remember correctly.

Thanks for the response. I have the valve in a box of parts that came with it but who knows if it's any good. I guess I'll stick with my plan which is to rework the exhaust and hot wire the engine fan. This way I can drive it and determine if the engine has any issues. If it's good then I will see if I can get the IAC system working and then go from there.  Ultimately it will get a MS3 when I do the KN16 swap and the Wiring Specialties harness looks like it will play nicely so that may happen sooner than later.

[]2eDeYe]

You can still buy them new if it isn't good. 

[Danalive]

On 10/7/2023 at 8:04 PM, Datsunworks said:

 

Hi Everyone. Derek from Datsunworks here.

I'm in Central Florida.

I’ve been waiting for the right deal to come along in year, location and price. The stars aligned and I picked up a 79 that has a KA24DE swap. I wasn’t looking for a swapped truck but since I plan on swapping it out with a Z22 and one of my new KN16 heads I figured no harm no foul. Whoever did the swap did a great job but it seems like it was a project that never got completed. The person I bought it from said it was fine to drive without any work...Well my idea of drivable and his aren’t exactly the same 🙂 No matter as it’s forcing me to go through things in a way that I probably wouldn’t have.

 

 

If anyone knows wo did the swap I would love to ask 100 a couple questions.

 

Thanks Derek

looking forward to seeing this with one of your heads in it, how much power do you think you might get from the 4 cylinder head? 

 

do you know the paint code for this? it would be on a sticker under the hood if its still there.  looks similar to what mine was originally but was painted over in a lighter blue. 

[Datsunworks]

It's 307 Pacific Blue

 

As far as HP kind of a guessing game. The Rebello built Zcar garage 3.18L KN20 made over 100HP a liter at the wheels. Now I'm no Dave Rebello but I'm hoping to get close to that. Kind of depends on if I want to pay to get it ported and flowed. I may just do some smoothing in house and call it a day. I usually leave making big numbers to people with deeper pockets 🙂

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

On 10/8/2023 at 5:39 AM, Datsunworks said:

If I didn't make them there is no way I could afford one. Still less than the OSG 🙂

Amen - I can't afford to drive one of my builds either.

 

Nice truck and looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

[620_Brian]

That would be me. 
I’ve given Derek my number so we can chat. 

[Datsunworks]

On 10/9/2023 at 8:13 PM, ]2eDeYe said:

Mine wasn't wired up either on my green truck. I wired it back in, it was pretty straightforward after identifying which pins it went to on the ecu connector. 
Installing one on the DE is probably going to be a little bit of work seeing as yours is gone, but doable in a dayish with wiring. 
 

I bought a connector/pigtail from wiring specialties if I remember correctly.

You don't happen to have any documentation on this do you? PIN numbers to the ECU, power, zero volts etc etc.  I'd hate to let the "magic smoke" out of the ECU while flying blind.

 

Thanks

Derek

[]2eDeYe]

I recommend getting the service manual for the specific vehicle the engine came from.
This will get you everything you need to know. 

Nico Club is a great resource. 
https://www.nicoclub.com/nissan-service-manuals

[Datsunworks]

50 minutes ago, ]2eDeYe said:

I recommend getting the service manual

I would prefer that you spoon feed me 🙂

Thanks for the link.

[FrankRizzo]

I already did!

🤪