ka24de swap guidance

[Chance]

hey, so im looking to Ka24de swap my 73 datsun 620 and looking for some guidance on the whole process. whats a good price to pay for a ka24de with manual transmission? Im looking to get the engine and transmission mounts from redeye and i heard that the drive shaft need to be shortened. also the can/am wiring boxes?  appreciate the help guys. 

[ggzilla]

Can/Am wiring box is simply thee relays with easy wire-connects. Can/Am is not needed for a swap, as the KA24DE engine wiring harness already has the three relays. But it is some work to separate all the unneeded wires and keep only the ones you need. There are two fuel pump relays and an ECU relay on every Nissan that came with a KA. You could either pare down the factory harness to include the relay, OR cut the harness and wire up the three relays separately. For an overview, see Tech Wiki - EFI Wiring

58 minutes ago, Chance said:

im looking to Ka24de swap my 73 datsun 620 and looking for some guidance ... also the can/am wiring boxes?

[Chance]

appreciate it @ggzilla

[UnderControl]

You'll need an engine harness and some ECU, either stock or other. Probably want to upgrade the radiator. I ended up needing to run the fan as a pusher from the front. Fuel system upgrade for efi.

 

Drive shaft will need shortened, don't recall by how much, I just gave the shop the measurements they asked for.

[Chance]

whats a fair price to pay for engine, trans, harness, etc. and any tips on finding this stuff would help a lot thanks. 

[ggzilla]

Best way is to buy a used Frontier/Xterra with KA24DE so you can take the time to get all the parts off it (transmission, ECU, wiring harness, resistor pack, fuel components, etc). Perhaps one with body damage, buy it cheap and drive it home to start the swap

 

Or "crate motor" without a lot of the stuff you need for the swap. A couple months ago there was talk of costing $3700. And still need to source 5-speed and wiring harness, ECU etc

On 6/27/2025 at 8:08 PM, SCar said:

Well, the crate motor (KA24DE) looks like it's about $1200 more.

 

On 6/26/2025 at 5:46 PM, SCar said:

I saw online that there a lot of Z24 motors that you can purchase for about $2500.

[UnderControl]

Found my engine and harness on a local FB drifting parts group for dirt cheap with a spun bearing. Found several other items (e.g. aftermarket intake manifold, megasquirt ECU, etc.) on S chassis forums, mostly zilvia as I recall.

[ggzilla]

A low-cost way to secure an engine for sure. Replace the bearings and it's as good as new

 

The S14 version (240SX) of the KA24DE will need an oil pan modification to fit the Datsun trucks?

Bonus: It reportedly has a much more swap-friendly (simplified) wiring harness than the truck version

 

[UnderControl]

1 hour ago, ggzilla said:

The S14 version (240SX) of the KA24DE will need an oil pan modification to fit the Datsun trucks?

 

Oh yeah, no pan modification, but did require flipping the center link. I opted to use heim joints with straight holes in the pitman and idler arms, others have used tapered inserts to reuse the tie rods.

 

Can't speak for the truck KA wiring, but the s13 harness is a simple engine harness. I ended removing about half of it since a lot of it was for accessories and emissions components that were no longer in use.

[Chance]

im seeing a couple of Frontiers that could be candidates if I could talk them down to 3 grand or so. other than the motor and transmission mounts would there be any other things I would need for the swap? mainly looking for a un abused engine as I want to put it in and be good to go, then later down the line I'll put a little money in a N/A build for a bit more power but still reliable. 

[Greaser2]

On 8/29/2025 at 9:29 PM, Chance said:

whats a fair price to pay for engine, trans, harness, etc. and any tips on finding this stuff would help a lot thanks. 

I paid $3500 on eBay for one parted out of a 97. Picked it up in Mobile AL. The harness was hacked but going to build a new one for an aftermarket ECU.   Wanted to get a wrecked car from Copart but without being a dealer it gets $5k fast. 

[Chance]

so im looking at a couple of frontiers for a good price with miles ranging from 220k miles to 300k would it be worth it to save the money by buying the higher mileage truck and do a full "rebuild" of the consumables gaskets, rings, bearings etc. thanks