Mesmerize

I've been thinking about getting one for a while now, and the other day I found a (mildly) trashed s13. It's the 89-94 fastback body style. This is ok as I want it for sort of a project car. I don't want to do anything too crazy with it, but I would like to add some performance mods once I get the exterior looking a bit better. I've been looking into the car a bit on the internet, and I've learned that the J-spec car comes with the SR20DET engine, which generates considerably more power than the engine in the US version.

My questions are as follows:

How comparable is the US engine to the Japanese motor?
How expensive is it to get one of these engines into the car?
Should I even bother getting the J-spec engine, or can similar performance be obtained with the US engine?

Stare At The Sun

All i know, is that for the most part, "j-spec" engines are just engines from a junkyard in japan, as opposed to a junkyard here. Might be different for those, but i know for dsm's, only like 10 percent were better....

Cool car, and it would be a fun project, but if you want a good project, i'd go w/ a dsm(Talon/eclipse/laser). BUt im pretty biased, still should be a fun project for you, sorry i cant give you more info.

mystic511

1) There is no comparison. The US 240sx engine is a 2.4 liter nissan truck engine that they shoved in. The sr20det is an engine that can push high horsepower numbers easily. How high? depends on how much effort/money you have.

2) You can get a silvia 'frontclip' for 2000 bucks. Sports compact car actually built a 300 horsepower 240sx to silvia conversion for less then 10k dollars total. A frontclip is basically the whole front of the car from the windshield to the bumper.

3) If you go the frontclip rought, i suggest getting an older model s12. Since you're getting the whole front of a silvia, you can change swap the tailights and everything. You'll save money by getting an older car, and still have the looks of a newer car. Personally though, I like the fliplights.

3b) There ARE turbo-charging kits available for the 240sx engine though. If you go this route, you'll definately max out on your potential. It's the difference between 7 psi of boost on the stock engine, or a sr20det that can handle 30psi+ of boost.

I suggest you do ALOT of research to make sure you get exactly what you want. Don't get the car expecting to do a silvia swap, but thinking that you can figure it out later. If you do that, you might get disappointed at the work you must put in.

Here's a small breakdown from the work and money involved (based on average prices).

-240sx $4,000 (you can get one cheaper or more expensive, depending on year. Mileage won't matter either since you'll be replacing the engine)
-Silvia front clip $2500 (canada will have them, or you can import from japan)
-Labor to swap front clip into 240sx $3000 (more or less depending on who you found and how much expertise they have)

There's the base 10k. You can of course get a really cheap 240sx, and maybe even instead of a front clip, just find a good condition sr20det engine and all the parts you'll need for the install.

I'd like to say that besides the engine, the 240sx has a great aftermarket for everything else (suspension, braking, rims, bodykits) since it shares the same chassis as Japanese Silvias.

Hope that helps. If i didn't answer a question properly or raised even more questions, just post and i'll answer. This is one of my favorite cars, so I've been studying it and waiting for an opportunity to build my own Silvia.

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Elitegibson

The SR20DET is a lot more powerful than the one that we got in america. The KA24E we got was also used in nissan trucks in america. It's got more displacement and is made for low RPM torque, not rev happy HP. The SR20 is a bolt-in if you wanna swap it. It's a very common swap. There are a few mods available for the US engine, but there are like coutless ones for the SR20. Here's how sportcompactcar magazine did their swap.

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/tech/0205scc_silvia/

Have fun if you end up getting that project car. Wish there was a cheap 240sx around here...

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-Erik

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ph3r3d

the sr20det is turbo'ed of course its going to have more power!

most sr20's you get shipped over here will have less then 30k miles on them, because japan is so damn strick with their emissions. so no, most of them arent junk like one of you said.

If you do, do the swap it will be the best thing you can do for that car. And its only going to cost a little over 3k, that was my buddies price.

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waz000t!#!#&!!

Mesmerize

Thanks for the info. I haven't managed to contact the seller yet, but it looks like something similar to car in the article that Elitegibson posted. Looks well used, bad paint, etc. I won't be paying more than $1,000 for the car itself, which is why I thought it looked like a good project car to begin with.

I can get the engine in myself, so I shouldn't have to pay labor to get it in. Just gotta spend the time. . .

Is there anything I should look out for when buying the clip/engine? I was looking at something like this or this. Anything wrong with either of them? The clip looks like a better deal, and I'll probably go that route. Does it really matter which SR20DET I get, or will the all fit? Thanks for all the answers so far!

shakran

here's a trick: Go find a sentra SE-R or 200SX SE-R that's been hit from behind. Get the engine out of it. You now own an SR20DE. Put a j-spec turbo on it. You now own an SR20DE-T.


btw, the SR20DE is no slouch engine itself. Very impressive!

ph3r3d

you cant just slap a turbo on it.. you have to add oil lines, vacum lines.. etc etc.. its easier to just buy the engine w/ a turbo already.

there are different types of Sr20, there are redtops and black tops, i'm not sure why, but the reds have a higher HP.

Do a search on google or something and look for a forum dedicated to 240s.. i would say they have a better input then most people on this board.

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mystic511

That's the wrong mentality and gets people in alot of trouble. Adding a turbo to a non-turbo engine of the same block type doesn't make it a turbo engine. It makes it a turbo'd non-turbo of the same name.

like ph3r3d said, there are things that must be changed. Like adding an oil line will require some kind of drilling and welding. But also, the non-turbo version will use different internals, and you'll be spending much more money rebuilding the engine to turbo specs then you would just swapping.

PS, swapping a turbo engine into a non-turbo car isn't always the best option either. DSM owners fall under this misconception all the time for 95-99 non-turbo eclipses/talons. It's not the same drivetrain at all. But for a 240sx/silvia the parts are interchangable.

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