Arro's S12: Rising From The Ashes W/ KA24DE Inside

So as some of you might have seen, Sterling has talked me into taking back my original S12. The so-called "Christmas Car", because of it's green over red paint.

A bit about the history of this car...

In '02, Club-S12 was created and went online, but for Arro, there was no S12  It took almost a year before a car was located. In December 2002 (fitting, eh?), and $300 later, a 1985 200SX Turbo was nabbed, with half the engine in the trunk, a funky 1G Integra seat sloppilly mounted inside, and some mismatched wheels. It was also painted forest green, but the doorjambs, engine bay, and hatch were left glaringly red. Total eyesore when you opened a door or the hood.

Over the course of 2003, I put together the engine, obtained a rebuilt turbo from Ebay, and basically got the car running again. Some minor electrical issues were resolved at an auto electric shop, and a 2.5" turbo-back exhaust w/ Magnaflow race-series muffler were added to the mix, as well as a set of new 16x7" wheels.

And so it sat at Sterling's aunt & uncle's place. And I got disenchanted with S12 from the bad luck. I got away from cars entirely for a couple years, and then picked up the 2G Neon. That car brought my auto enthusiasm back, and I dumped a small sum of cash (hah understatement) to get it up to shape, and then looking good and handling well.

Sterling had been planning to move out to California ever since he'd seen it. He'd been out here a few times at this point... met some of my friends, including Greg.

Then last year, he sent me an email telling me I should check out this guy "Asparagus" and all the cool shit he'd been doing to his S12... Sterling also said that a lot of the people on the forum had been doing more with the cars. So I got curious. And I came back.  And I liked what I saw, despite the typical but occasional drama. That was back in January.

It was around that time that Sterling suggested I take back the car. He'd mentioned it half-joking over the past year, but this time I was receptive to the idea.

And so him and I decided it should be a swap. The choice was easy: KA24DE, for all the reasons that have ever been said before.

I sourced an engine from sr20store.com, which some of you oldtimers might remember as the shop that produced that cool as hell burgundy Mark 1 S12 w/ the SR swap (Cesar's car). I sourced the transmission from a craigslist ad. After waiting almost 2 months for the engine to finally be ready to pick up, the swap was green lighted.

But before I got the engine... the windshield had been destroyed while the car was at Premo's, so Sterling used some plexiglass and a tarp for the time being. The old engine was tossed out, and the bay was cleaned up:









The car was basically gutted in the bay, but the rest was left alone. You cans see the Magnaflow dual-wall 4" tip is still shiny like the day I bought it:



In case anyone is wondering, this is the tire size I have on the wheels:



Time to go to sleep for the night...



Zzzzzzz.....

Before the engine was picked up, we were talking about the coolant bottle issue. As in the stock ones were disintegrating.

We were in Autozone, and they had some universal coolant overflow tanks. One of them had a cool cage that it came with. It was around $7. So we bought it.

He modified the bracket a bit...



And after removing the battery tray (we plan to relocate the battery to the rear), Sterling mounted it behind the inner fender:



...and widened a pre-existing hole to accommodate the fill neck...



...and it looks great with the cap on!



Almost a month later, the engine was pulled from the customer car at sr20store.com's shop. I went and picked it up, and Sterling took it from my place back to his aunt & uncle's place in the morning.

The operating theater:



In preparation for the transplant, Sterling finished detailing the engine bay some more, including the trans tunnel, and painted the spot where the paint had flaked off (it was bare steel):



He modified where needed...



The transmission I got didn't have a shift lever, so I ordered a part from Ebay that is a complete replacement for the shift assembly.



It's a copy of the B&M design, although the B&M piece is built better...



Pay attention to the offset middle holes on the B&M piece. I'll come back to that in a bit.

Anyways, the B&M is over $200, and this one was around $60. So I bought the cheaper one.

But there was an issue with the one of the two middle holes:





The middle holes on the aftermarket shifter are both centered, but on the S14 trans, the middle holes are *offset* from each other. Also, the mating surfaces on the stock shift plate are inward more, whereas the aftermarket places them out a bit farther. With luck, it will stay sealed as is (four bolts and sealer), but if not, I'll go with the more expensive B&M unit if they can confirm via email the correct bolt pattern and mating surface.

But for now, this one is on and will hopefully work for the time being.

The S13 and S14 transmissions are longer. This is an issue in two ways... the driveshaft and the trans tunnel.

This car's been all over socal!

So Sterling needed to modify the trans bracket. First he grinded down part of it...







Then he started cutting down the other half:



...and test fit them together:







Then the washers were added, and the trans mount was slotted:



Completed, assembled piece:



Once this was done, the transmission was mounted easilly.



And the repositioned shifter fit without a hitch, since the trans tunnel was already pre-cut:

I am getting so juiced looking at this thread.

[01:52] modmastaz: damn sterling does a good fucking job
[01:52] modmastaz: like we do LOL
[01:52] henryisarobot: lol
[01:52] henryisarobot: he fucking gets down to biz
[01:52] modmastaz: lol yeah
[01:52] henryisarobot: like that trans mount
[01:52] henryisarobot: MAN
[01:52] modmastaz: i know
[01:52] modmastaz: that was smart as fuck
[01:52] henryisarobot: seriously
[01:53] henryisarobot: my face blew up

With how fast you are working on this project it will be done in a couple weeks.

LOL It's going to be done in a few days.

Look at how much room is on the sides of the KA24DE in the S12!

Oh, and here's a pug in a polo shirt for your random enjoyment:

asparagus
[01:53] henryisarobot: my face blew up

Arro...dry cell... This is what I'm going with... it's what Sterling suggested originally, but I wanted to get a few more opinions first.



http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.a...mp;autoview=sku

...and mounting it with this:



http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.a...mp;autoview=sku

Should work well... Sterling and I saw it used in an S13 hatchback w/ an RB26DETT swap, so it should work fine for what we're doing.

good shit when's this beast supposed to be done so you can bring it to vegas and we can have some fun

pug in a polo shirt...game over. p.s. you guys are dominating that s12 good job!

Sweet!

right-fuckin-on bro!!!

ewww pug

that trans mount looks great! very helpful, i love the pics.

hmm, the ka swaped s12's are taking over. whats up with that trans mount? no bellhouse swap for you then, your useing the whole s13 trans, right. and that hole in the firewall is that where the wire harnes is going to go or something else, if it is for the wires where do you plan on mounting the ecu, in the stock location or under the glove box somewhere?

Not sure yet where the ECU is going to be mounted, but that should be sorted out soon... yeah, the KA24DE is the logical choice for those of us who want to keep a NISSAN engine in the chassis, but are willing to go outside of S12 purist engine options. More hp and torque than the SR20DE, and the compression ratio is perfect for forced induction.

I'm glad that I used the S13/14 transmission... I always felt that the S12's shifter was set too far forward, and I never liked having to lean a bit to get it into 5th. This moves it about 5"... PERFECT! I'll be relocating the stock center console, and paneling in the front to close it up.

The engine itself is ROOMY in this engine bay. I was astounded at how much room on all three sides it has. The slimline Stansa fans fit well on the stock S12 radiator. I like this engine the more I see it. The camshaft setup is a bit whacky... looks something like an L-series that has been modified for two cams. I don't see how those tiny cam sprockets can be adjusted. I know that you can get adjustable sprockets for the FJ, but the FJ sprockets are larger, so...

But there's camshaft options, and really I wouldn't want to mess with the timing anyways. I'll run with the NA setup for awhile and get the rest of the car cleaned up before I think about boosting.

We were comparing Sterling's KA24DE to mine... his must be out of an earlier car. '95 and up have black valvecovers, and his has a silver one (like Henry's)... also some '95 cars were OBD2, and others were OBD1 w/ some OBD2 innovations. Mine falls into the latter category, and my hoses and such are much simpler than Sterling's engine. He had a bunch of vac lines in the rear that I don't, and he has the intake butterflies, and I don't, so there are indeed differences throughout the KA24DE's.

ahh this is so perfect

KA24DE seems like the perfect choice, and here you are doing it.
just too bad, because once i end up buying a clean KA24DE im not gonna have a serious mechanic or anyone familar with S12

which blows

Hmm well where are you located? (tsk tsk you're supposed to put that in your profile info, dude  go fix it  ) Maybe someone nearby can help you sort out the wiring... Sterling is documenting most of this, and as long as you aren't afraid of getting your hands dirty, it can be done with help from the forum. That's what we're here for, after all.

haha LOCATION UPDATED

sorry, but hell yea im willing to get my hands dirty.
i like your interest of explainging things in detail, like showing the difference between the trans, really good. keep it up,

and same thing with your friend, a walkthrough would  be awesome.
but my project is gonna have to wait a year, till graduation, or till a decent job.

Arro, you should know better.  *stamps out ashes* It's SoCal.. things like this create fires man.  Shame on you.

Nah, all KA's have that silver/gold looking valve cover. I figured you painted yours black, previous owner did probably.

Draconis
Arro, you should know better.  *stamps out ashes* It's SoCal.. things like this create fires man.  Shame on you.

asparagus
Nah, all KA's have that silver/gold looking valve cover. I figured you painted yours black, previous owner did probably.

Yeah, absolutely. A lot of people paint their valve covers black though, and people tend to paint and sell them individually too.

Yeah, I saw all the Ebay crinklepainted and plain powdercoated valvecovers. Most of them boring blues and reds and blacks.

No thanks. I have something more interesting in mind...

lol i wasn't implying you should buy one, just saying painted covers are popular. should i be expecting something like purple with big pink flakes?

match the valve cover with the engine bay

David B
match the valve cover with the engine bay

Update:

As of May 15, 2008, at 3:25pm, my S12 has a running, working engine in it, for the first time in four years. I just heard the sucker start up!

It ran for a couple minutes then shut off, so Sterling is sorting out the quirks, but it runs and drives

finally now make your run in it to vegas so we can kick it and I'm not the only one with a running s12

I JUST CAME A LITTLE

lol It's still a ways off from roadworthy... I have a bunch of hoses and bushings and a driveshaft to address. Vegas is a little ways off.

^ eewww...

^???

(no clue what you mean)

Arro your car description underneath all your info says "85 240sx Hatchback" .

Uh huh, what's yer point?  

Marvin has no room to clown on me or my car, because mine runs, and his does not.

Lol?!?!

Skeet skeet

I get to drive it, right Jason?

EternalSwap
Skeet skeet

I get to drive it, right Jason?

6>4, bitch

I still love you

asparagus
I JUST CAME A LITTLE

Radracer_S
^ eewww...

EternalSwap
6>4, bitch

I still love you

But mine sounds sexier

asparagusNah, all KA's have that silver/gold looking valve cover. I figured you painted yours black, previous owner did probably.

What is next on the list...

1-piece driveshaft
Master cylinder replacement
Slave cylinder replacement
Exhaust downpipe (current one doesn't connect)
AIT sensor
New brakes & rotors

After that I can say it's roadworthy, I hope.

i like those rims on it. one of the more tasteful looking s12 rim combos ive seen on this site

oh, and id paint the engine bay to match the body color. it looks sloppy otherwise.

julie
oh, and id paint the engine bay to match the body color. it looks sloppy otherwise.

obviously. but its not my car so its not up to me. i just would have taken the time to get it matched up before doing the swap

^I agree with your viewpoint, but always wanted to return it to red, so I would have sooner repainted the bay red than matched the exterior paint. As it is, the engine bay cleaned up so well, that I'm even more resolute in my intentions to repaint the car red. Greg knew that, he was just being coy

But yeah, I can't stand cars that have mismatched engine bays and door jambs, which is why when someone says they want to paint their white or red car some other color, I generally tell them not to. Black, grey, and silver are about the only colors that look "okay" mismatched, and even then it's ghetto.

So red this car will be (once again), which is why my sig pic has a red Mark 1

(don't worry, I'm not ghetto, Julie lol)

oh and thanks for the compliments on the wheels, too bad I have to re-powdercoat one of them to repair some scratches that drunk partiers at Premo's apparently left all over the face of the rear passenger wheel (again I didn't think Premo himself did it)

theres too many red s12s in the community already. wouldnt it be more fun to keep it that teal color and be different?

It won't exactly be red, either   Keep the wheels in mind