Newbie engine conversion questions

Hey guys, I am a newbie to this forum, but a long time Nissan enthusiast.  I just wanted to make things clear.  I am looking through the forums and see people with ka24de, sr20de, and ca18det.  People mentioning the ca18det being the easiest swap, but when I look at the procedure, it seems the same as a ka24de.  This what I know from what i read.  1) the sr, ka , or ca, swap requires the mounts from the sr, ka, or ca.  2)it seems like your guys are using the exhisting ca20e gearbox for either swap.  If someone can break down the basics for a newbie it would be a great help.  Of course i understand the wiring and some heater hoses might not fit, but what does it take to bolt it in!?

The reason I am asking is becaseu i have a Datsun 510 with sr20de.  I heard about someone using a 200sx crossmember on a 510.  So I was thnking of using a 200sx crossmember for a sr20 engine with OEM 91 sr20 engine mounts(compared to 71 510) and a rack and pinino steering conversion.  I don\'t know how many people are familair with 510 sr20det swaps, but the stock steering gearbox is in the way of allowing people to use a stock sr20det manifold.  SOrrry so long

The stock engine is usually a CA series engine, so if you go the CA18DET route, you don\'t need to change the mounts, they\'re identical. For the DET swap, the only things that you need to do is 1) Use the old transmission (unless you wanna drill another hole fot the shifter and try to relocate the trans mount, and not to mention- new driveshaft. 2) Get an intercooler and fab up some piping, 3) Possibly new exhaust (old one won\'t mate up) 4) Splice about 6 wires and you\'re \"done\". I will be doing this swap in a few months.

Thanks, sounds fairly easy.  So if u go ka24 or sr20, u better get the origional mounts that came with those engines basically.  And if u do not swap over teh gearbox, the driveshaft would need to b shorter and shifter hole be recut.  Thanks.  I will let you guys know if i ever end up doing the rack n pinino conversion on my 510 sr20.  Thanks

And I\'ll be getting his motor   :p

CA18ET into an MKII CA20E car  ;)

you dont have to cut a whole new whole for the shifter, you just have to dremel the old one out a bit. The wiring tho is more complicated for the ka/sr swap. My first gen ca18det looks exactly like my ca20e on the outside only with a different head.

Sam, how did the wiring line up?  Do you think that the CA18DET wiring is fairly close to the CA18ET?  I\'d think so, except with a different head, but what do I know?  :p

EDIT:  Wait... your car\'s an MK I.  prolly different than mine.  :|

mk1 wiring is different then mk2. But, here is where i run into a headbanging wall. My engine is a first gen ca18det out of an 89 s12 rsx, super rare, and different in a couple of aspects to the s13 180sx ca18det. When I got my engine i got an ecu, a hacked pulsar harness and the harness on my engine is cut. So I am working on right now finding an rsx harness from europe hopefully with everything I need. I am going to be putting my engine into the car in 2 or 3 weeks with the the old harness still hooked up so i can check to see if everything is going to have proper clearance and make sure everything bolts up the way i picture it in my mind it should. Now however, I feel i should elaborate on some of the differences bettween the 1st gen and the 2nd gen. 1st gen has one coil pack sending spark to each individual plug, 2nd gen has individual coil packs for each plug. 1st gen wasnt intercooled and has a throttle body that crosses the valve cover with a charge pipe running right to the turbo like a sohc ca18et, 2nd gen has a front facing throttle body with a smic. The ecu\'s are a bit different, but most of it is prolly the way the chip has been programmed to run the timing and the coil packs. A smic actually drops the intake temp about 30 to 40 degrees. Due to this difference in intake temperature the timing has to be advanced furthur(or retarded furthur...thinks its advanced, but dont quote me, and plz correct me if i am wrong.) due to the hot intake air coming off of the turbo. Also the 1st gen has 8 intake runners instead of four. The engine came with a variable intake system, similiar to the 2nd gens, which opens up the bottom valves at higher rpms. Supposedly the first gen system doesnt handle higher boost as well. I am without the control box so to my understanding, unless i have a vacum leak somewhere, the engine will run fine without the control box and the bottom 4 valves will be open all the time, which will hurt lower end torque a bit, but will make for a better high end, and the engine will prolly handle boost better once the turbo spools up. The valve cover and top of the head look to be a bit different, but i am not sure about the heads internals, or the blocks internals, i imagine they are really similiar if not the exact same.

damn...i should of just made a thread comparing these two engines.

The wiring tho is more complicated for the ka/sr swap.

Hey, I had a question from this other Nissan forum.  SO what you swap a ka24 , sr20, or ca18, you use the origional ca20e NA gearbox, right?  I forgot to ask if the clutch needed any modifications, and if the spline was the same for all these engine swaps?

My reason for asking is becasue someone was asking for a ca18det gearbox upgrade that could handle more power

i am going to be swapping my centerforce dual friction clutch/pressure plate onto my 18det off of my 20e and running my 20e b transmission as it should bolt right up. I may eventually swap over to a C tranny....but i think i may need a custom driveshaft made, i am a bit unsure of that as of yet. The b should last awhile tho with the hp i will be making, but i want the c eventually cuz the b tranny is like shifting a truck.

so would the spline for the clutches be different? Is a ka24de and a ca18det have teh same spline for the clutch?

the ka24 and ca20 clutch disc splines are the same.  so im pretty sure that a ca18det would be the same too.

Pretty much all nissan engines share the same spline count, it usually goes by factory power output. The more power, the bigger the clutch.

i am going to be swapping my centerforce dual friction clutch/pressure plate onto my 18det off of my 20e and running my 20e b transmission as it should bolt right up. I may eventually swap over to a C tranny....but i think i may need a custom driveshaft made, i am a bit unsure of that as of yet. The b should last awhile tho with the hp i will be making, but i want the c eventually cuz the b tranny is like shifting a truck.