Prince George KA24DE swap

[dieter ka24de]

After much discusion we decided to start documenting the second conversion. Decided to switch from VG30 to the KA24de which was purchased from Carl after he decided to switch his project to a SR20DET.
We learned a lot from the first conversion. #1 you need really good brakes to go with HP upgrade. #2 The 40+ year old leaf suspension is a pile crapnot good for much.
Here is the list of projects for the 67 roadster.
KA24DE tuned to make around 175 wheel hp
240 SX brakes on all corners with power assist
Triangulated 4link with adjustable coil overs in the back
Adjustable coil overs in the front
Flaming river rack and pinion
I have few pics but can not figure how to post.

[Alvin]

subscribed!
at solvang we were discussing what mods would be needed to make the KA put down 200hp crank, so please share!

Also I am very interested in the flaming river mod(only for the steering rod) i thought about this awhile ago, it's prevalent in the hot rod group

[dieter ka24de]

PRINCE GEORGE 2010 spring1.jpg

[dieter ka24de]

PDM racing is been geting an extra 25 HP to the wheels just by tuning the computer,there are a few guys who went all out with cams/intake/exhaust and have pulled in 190s on the dyno. Keep in mind that these figures come from smog legal heavy 240sx cars not a stripped down bare roadster that only has a small altenator as a drag on the engine.
http://www.pdm-racing.com/features/dyno2.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[DatsunDave]

Oh this will be cool.

[Gregs672000]

With 2.4liters to work with, I can't imagine that 200 crank HP should be that difficult with a well done head. The power in any engine is in the head (of course, you have to get air in and out, so the intake and exhaust have to keep up, and then you need a cam that is not ground for torque). Just for fun I will talk with my head guru and see what he thinks of them stock (no offense, but probably not much) and what can be had with some porting. The KA was really built more for torque and not high rpms, and I think that is why they put the SR motors in the cars in Japan vs what a typical American driver is used to. Nothing wrong with torque though! HP is just a function of rpm. For example, my GTS celica makes 180hp from 1.8 liters (and Lotus gets 195hp with computer and cam changes I believe), but that is at 8000 rpms... a torque monster it's not (but damn fun between 6-8000rpms!). Years ago when I first built the U20, a former racer tried hard to talk me into a torque focused cam for that motor. In his experience, he knew a guy who road raced a U20 Roadster who had a torque cam, and he said nothing could touch him on the track. I'm sure that had a lot to do with many factors, but his point was that most of the time you are not in the high rpms of the engine, and with this cam he was in his power band (and a broad one at that) nearly all the time. Just some thoughts...

[Tomakze]

Oh this will be cool.

You read my thoughts exactly!

I am hoping to do something similar to my KA24E once i get my chassis in good enough working order (300zx/200sx brake swap and suspension comes first, as you said, you have to have everything up to par with the motor!)

I chose the SOHC because I love torque, and it makes lots of it! I plan to increase the compression to around 12:1 (still not sure how to do this, i cant find pistons that are aggressive enough, and im not sure how much i can get out of shaving the head) and then I will port match the head, I might bore the block, and I will run a water/meth setup so i can still use pump gas. I have no clue how much power it will put out, nor do i really have a goal, it just sounds like a fun project!

I cant wait to see more pictures of this project! it is giving me inspiration to finish mine!!! keep 'em coming!

-Tom

[DatsunDave]

KA builds have been done a lot. For me this thread isn't about the engine it is all the engineering going into the rest of the build that interests me.

p.s. KA-Ts have been built to easily over 300HP (I have two KAs sitting in my garage waiting for a vehicle to go into)

[Tomakze]

oh, dont get me wrong, the chassis is amazing! I am hoping they document the process behind the conversion, as coil overs for the front and rear sounds incredibly intriguing! The rear set up is awesome, although as much work as that is i am somewhat surprised they aren't going with an IRS setup. It would be good to have lots of pictures and maybe even some diagrams of the geometry, that way it could be copied! I am very interested in doing something similar eventually...

what are the coil over out of in the front and rear, anyway?

p.s. I love KA-Ts, but as small and light as the roadster is, i think it would be more original and more fun to use a naturally aspirated motor. It doesn't take much horsepower to move a 2000lb car! plus, turbos are inconsistent and more maintenance. the KA-T is especially so, from what i hear.

[Gregs672000]

Oh this will be cool.

I chose the SOHC because I love torque, and it makes lots of it! I plan to increase the compression to around 12:1 (still not sure how to do this, i cant find pistons that are aggressive enough, and im not sure how much i can get out of shaving the head) and then I will port match the head, I might bore the block, and I will run a water/meth setup so i can still use pump gas. I have no clue how much power it will put out, nor do i really have a goal, it just sounds like a fun project!
-Tom

One of the fastest cars I've seen at the track (Seattle Intern. Raceway, now PIR) was a 240sx with the single cam motor running dual Mikuni carbs, normally aspirated... it had NO trouble beating big hp corvetts down the straights... I have no idea what they were running for compression but that sucker moved! Could not believe it was a KA, single cam AND normally aspirated. I saw no other power adders.

Keep in mind the issue of high compression and pump gas as you said. My U20 is 11.7 to 1 and I must run real octane boost. The water injection systems are cool but can be spendy, and would probably work better on the KA set up if it's injected. You might be happier keeping the compression a bit lower and spending money on really porting the head right. I love high compression, but I'm not sure what I'm gonna do when I run out of my supply of Moroso racing fuel (they don't make it anymore!)

[spl310]

Has anyone tried a Singh groove in their heads?

[Gregs672000]

Has anyone tried a Singh groove in their heads?

A whaaa? What is that? Years ago I saw a BMW place doing "ditch cuts" in their head porting... we laughed about that. If anything can be done, my friend Steve has done it and tested it on the flow bench. Ditch cut... hehe hehe hehe...

BTW, regarding the KA and 200hp, per my friend "The heads are OK, but I would go for torque. 200hp is possible NA but a lot of things need to be done, including running a different intake altogether, like dual Mikunis. The engine is designed for torque and does not rev easily vs some other engines. Its advantage is its displacement." FWIW

[dieter ka24de]

I have no idea what is happening...the thread is about the chassis and document what we are doing. The KA24DE in my car rocks,the triangulated 4-link works great, 4-wheel power disc works very well. As far as the power and tuning of the engine PDM Racing knows their stuff.Why would any sane person put carbs on an engine ? Not ment to be answered just an opinion.
What is cool is the adjustable coil overs on all 4 corners,The 4 wheel power disc brakes.The rack and pinion conversion this summer is very trick. All of this stuff comes from the Hot Rod comunity who seemed to have figured how go-stop-ride and turn very well.

[Tomakze]

I have no idea what is happening...the thread is about the chassis and document what we are doing. The KA24DE in my car rocks,the triangulated 4-link works great, 4-wheel power disc works very well. As far as the power and tuning of the engine PDM Racing knows their stuff.Why would any sane person put carbs on an engine ? Not ment to be answered just an opinion.
What is cool is the adjustable coil overs on all 4 corners,The 4 wheel power disc brakes.The rack and pinion conversion this summer is very trick. All of this stuff comes from the Hot Rod comunity who seemed to have figured how go-stop-ride and turn very well.

Thread jacked! sorry about that. I really would like to see how you set up the coilovers! this seems like a viable option for a great suspension setup on a roadster!

any vids of it running yet? peez?

[spl310]

Dieter,

The subject of the thread specifically states the engine type. That is why it got the focus of the discussion...