ComicArtist

So, I had a Miata for a while since it was given to me and hated it, so I sold it and got an FC. Two of them actually.

I actually started a build thread a while back in a different section, but everyone was like wtf would you put a KA in an FC. Hopefully it'll get a little better review over here.

What I got rid of for the FC:



Basically here's the FC when I got it:



And heres what it looks like now:



And here's what's in it:



I built a rear sump oil pan, rear pickup tube, tranny mount, engine mounts, and had a driveshaft built. It took about a solid month to get it all done, in and running.

Also got PBM coils:



A K-Sport hydro:



And it's just pretty much chilling until I get it insured and tagged right now. I put a welded diff in it, I've driven it maybe 30 minutes since its been running, slid it a little and done some donuts, but I don't want to drive it too extensively until its street legal. It feels awesome though, handles amazingly sideways.



And here's a pic of my daily for ***** and giggles

DriftDreamzSS

iTrader: (4)

Damn thats a lot of work for a KA, lol. I hate those damn motors, what made you want one anyway?

ComicArtist

It generally gets a lot of hate lol.

In my opinion, a naturally aspirated KA is one of Nissan's most underrated motors. It's cheap, has tons of aftermarket support, and has an excellent powerband to do what we do.

Most of the time (and don't think I'm pointing this at you), drivers who dislike KA's dont have the experience or the skill to fully utilize the KA's potential. Most people write it off as an underpowered piece of garbage, and go SR, RB, or LS. However, in doing so they lose their opportunity to make themselves better drivers.

I'm not saying you should stay with a 160hp KA forever, I just believe you should exhaust all your limitations until power is your last limit.

ComicArtist

Also, the 13b was blown when I got the car, and I had a KA in my garage. Lol. I also fabricated all the parts myself, so the only real cost was the cost of the driveshaft.

sil8ty

A local az dude fucked with NA KA's a few years ago.

He did pretty much everything he could to it. high comp, crazy porting, crazy intake/exhaust manifolds, fuel, etc. It made 200whp and that was after spending millions on it.

If you want any sort of power stick a turbo on it.

ComicArtist

I'm not planning on anything but stock power out of this KA. When I'm ready for more power, it'll either get an SR or a 1j.

DriftDreamzSS

iTrader: (4)

Yeah, I started out drifting KA's and while you can have fun at first I feel you outgrow the power real fast. I just find it funny you put in that much effort for that thing lol, too bad you didn't have a vq sitting in your garage instead. At least you don't have a 4ag or na rotary tho!

driftfcbuckey

iTrader: (8)

We did this exact setup at a shop i worked with here. The car was surprisingly decent. Had more torque but still wasnt much different from the NA motor. Ka-t missile setup would be pretty easy (obviously you know this) would be pretty stout too.

I like seeing different things. If you do ditch this for a JZ later you will love life.

ComicArtist

Got my oil pressure and temp gauges hooked up. A tach is going in the middle in case anyone was wondering.

bewst12psi

iTrader: (7)

If you're keeping that wood in the dash area... That's awesome! Varnish the **** out of it.

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

A local az dude fucked with NA KA's a few years ago.

He did pretty much everything he could to it. high comp, crazy porting, crazy intake/exhaust manifolds, fuel, etc. It made 200whp and that was after spending millions on it.

If you want any sort of power stick a turbo on it.

Strange, we had a local racer build a NAP-Z bottom end with flowed KA head and it made 300+hp on the dyno NA.

Now that was a motor begging for a turbo, but he was running it in under 2.5L NA class.

ComicArtist

Either way, building NA KA's isn't worth it. For the money, you could have something way better. Honestly I'm not a fan of KA-t's either. I think they should be left stock, they can serve their purpose and take a beating.

Gonna try different oil today, I'm running 10w30 and getting a lot of head noise. May post up some donut vids later

ComicArtist

Oil change didn't help. I thought it might be because the motor is tilted back a little bit, but I jacked up the tranny to correct it and it didn't make a difference.

Basically its getting a lot of head noise, rattling and clacking. It's kind of intermittent though, and it doesn't sound like its coming from the block. It's either something in the valvetrain or a really really broken lower timing chain guide. I guess I'll be pulling the cover off to check em

rictask8er13

I know my on my old ka the upper chain guide was snapped right off and just smacking around, kinda scary, I just pulled it out and changed the valve cover and yeah it stopped.

Riggs

Yeah, the infamous KA timing chain guide rattle of death. fix that if you want the engine to last you very long. But once you do, it will last a LONG time.

krgoodwin

Interesting swap, but why didn't you just trade the Miata for an S13?

Why did you hate the Miata so much anyway? I loved mine.

RXSpeed16

iTrader: (41)

Fixed! LOL! Good job doing it in a month. Most turbo swaps take longer than that. Nice Daily, too!

ComicArtist

I've never been crazy about S13's, I've driven/slid quite a few and don't really like how they handle. Granted, I'd never driven an FC, but I figured I'd give it a chance and if I didn't really like it I could go another route.

Turns out I really like the FC.

The Miata was fun as **** to drive, but a pain in the *** to slide. With enough mods and **** it would've been all right, but never competitive.

Finishing up my tubs today, starting on engine bay paint tonight. Then hopefully picking up another KA this weekend for another shot at this.

Hayseed7

iTrader: (2)

For all the work to do a custom swap, WHY NOT DO AN SR20??. Sorry, I don't mean to yell, but you dont understand how much cooler that'd be.

mastawyrm

SR20s are overhyped and overpriced simply because they're newer. A KA-t can work very well and if you want a factory turbo nissan, get a ca18, which was only replaced by the sr20 because the ca18 was too expensive and needed the emissions to be improved.

ComicArtist

Eh, I don't want to overpower it until I master handling it. And cost is an issue. I don't want to drop 2k on a motor, build a bunch of custom **** for it only to have it blow because it didn't work. KA's are a lot cheaper to replace than SR's.

And by the time I want to go with more power, I'll probably just go with a JZ instead.

o_alcha3

do you have a build thread or pics of what it took to get the motor in there?

ComicArtist

Only extensive thread I have is on Nismokc.com. Mounting brackets are pretty simple to build though, basically you just position the motor/trans where it needs to be inside the car, sitting it on blocks/whatev, and then just build the mounts around that. I positioned the whole thing around shifter location, getting the shifter where I needed it and building the trans mount, then bolted that up and positioned the front of the motor where it needed to be and built the mounts for the block. I have about an inch and a half between the back of the head and the firewall, so it all worked out great!

mikerbike

What happened to the KA? You said it had a rattle noise then it's out. haha

I actually have an SR20 with an S15 T28 and a KA24 with an S14 T28 right now. Honestly, it's a really tough choice which one is 'better'. The SR makes more power above 6200 rpm and pulls harder all the way to redline. The KA starts pulling hard around 3000rpm (SR @ 4-4.5k) but fkinda flattens out at 6200 or so. Basically, the KA powerband is about 1k rpm lower, but pulls pretty much the same.

I'll just continue rambling. Once, i was on the way home from a drift event, drivign my SR car, while my buddy was driving my KA car. ~80mph, we did a 5th gear pull. Almost instantly, the KA pulled 3 car lengths on the SR and the SR could not catch up. That's the only time
I've 'raced' them.

Also, KA ran 8psi and had STOCK exhaust, SR ran 10psi with 3" exhaust. Just an unbiased opinion..

ComicArtist

True. The displacement of the KA gives it an immediate advantage over the SR, but the manufacturing is the problem. Still, once I get a little power hungry I may throw an SR turbo setup on it for a little more juice.

Pulled the ka to check the timing chain, it was fine so I'm assuming its in the bottom end. Plus it started getting worse. Picking up another ka in a week or so.