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SR20DET Swap
http://store.driftingshop.com/srswdvdbyrsh.html
SR20DET Swap Info
There are allot of posts in this forum asking pretty common and basic questions about SR20DET engines/swaps. Just like some of you get tired of searching the posts, some of us get tired of repeating ourselves all the time, but still want you all to be as informed as possible. So as requested, I am posting up this FAQ and hopefully it will answer a lot of the common questions you have. I also am giving some general “approach” advice based on my own and others’ experience. This is not supposed to be be an all encompassing manifesto of SR engines, it’s just a rough guide. I am far from the most knowledgeable individual on this subject, but I did my best to be thorough, and I encourage anyone to make constructive additions to this thread. It may seem like there is a lot of long boring stuff in here, but I assure you it’s all very important so you don’t waste time or money or end up with a car you don’t like, or crashed or hurt or killed. I took the time the write it because I want you all to be safe, dedicated, and respectable motorists/racers/tuners/mechanics/enthusiasts, so you should take the time to read it. I hope this helps you guys!
So you have decided you want an SR20DET. Hopefully you have reached this decision by assessing what you general goals are as a driver, and are at least somewhat familiar with all the basic automotive systems, terminology, technology, etc. Assuming these to be true, congratulations! Here are a few of the factors you should consider while making decisions about your SR:
SR20DET Swap Info Continued
-What are you going to be using the car for primarily? drift, drag, commuting, auto-x, road race, show, etc. Spend, build and tune accordingly. Every part serves a specific purpose, so get what you NEED and will USE.
-What are your main criteria for this type of use? Horsepower, low end vs. high end hp, keeping your engine cool, flexibility, etc.
-Do you have another reliable means of transportation? Second car, parent’s cars, don’t even really need a car, etc.
-How much money do you have to spend on your SR swap alone as of today? Will you have more money flowing in over time? If you are reading this with $900 you’ve saved over a year and can barely make rent this month, don’t give up, because in time you will get the right thing for you if you’re patient and work hard.
-How much time and money will you have a month to maintain and tune your engine, spend on insurance and gas, deal with emergencies? Again, if you are serious, you will be willing to make some sacrifices to meet your wants and needs.
-How knowledgeable and experienced are you as a mechanic? How comfortable are you working on your own car? How familiar are you with the car this engine is going into?
Remember, you are switching to a completely different engine. This should go without saying, but make sure that the rest of your car is going to be able to live up to what your car is going to be like after the swap. This means brakes, suspension, tires, etc. Not just “yeah yo I have springs and rims” but are your bushings/links/arms all in good shape? They don’t all have to be upgraded, just safe and reliable and suited to your driving needs. If you fall short in any of these areas, administer to them first.
Getting your new engine running well is priority #1. NOT DROPPING IN A FULLY RACE TUNED 400HP ENGINE! Don’t go all out buying all sorts of power upgrades yet. The bolt on stuff (intake, fmic, exhaust. Etc) is great though.. Upgrading too much at once along with your swap will not only increase downtime and costs of the swap, but also can make troubleshooting a nightmare, as well as magnify the extent of what could have been minor damage on what could have been an easily fixed stock engine. Make sure it’s good and reliable first, then you can upgrade over time to your heart’s desire.
Next, choose an SR engine that best suits your needs and budget. People have different reasons for choosing which SR they get. Most people opt for the S13 red and blacktops because they are cheaper and after the same amount of modification, put out about the same power as the S14 and S15 SRs. I chose an S14 SR for the reasons that I don’t need more than the stock turbo, and the ball bearing T28 is perfect for me, plus I got it for a decent price in extremely good condition. Some people don’t like the S14 and S15s low head port design, but there has been absolutely no good proof that this interferes with making good power. S14 and S15 Silvias making tremendous amounts of power are all over Japan and Australia, and I personally consider this issue to be of little practical significance. The same goes for the S14 and S15’s VTC, or variable valve timing. Supposedly this can be a nuisance when making over 400hp. Aside from these factors and the difference in the type of turbine; S13, s14 and S15 are pretty much the same. The S15 SR has VTC in both intake and exhaust. The VTC doesn’t make any more power in case you were wondering.
The specs for the different generations of engines can be found in the FAQ section here: (I don’t want to list everything, make a few clicks yourself) www.heavythrottle.com
SR20DET Swap Info Continued
Now that you know which engine you want, make sure you buy it from a good supplier. EBay does NOT fit this category, no matter how tempting. Any of the good shops are well enough established that they have enough demand without having to resort to eBay. Besides ensuring that you get a clean, high quality, complete engine set, and good support/customer service, you will also be returning support to some of the people who made it possible to get these engines and parts over here so easily and truly live for this stuff, not just out to get a buck. The main ones I recommend are: Heavy Throttle, Phase2, Enjuku, JSpec, and several other local regional tuning shops like Secret Services, etc. I am not going to go into this as there is too many to discuss.
Okay, that being said, here are some of the basic minimum things you will need and should definitely do along with your swap.
Fuel pump: Some people will argue “your stock fuel pump is okay up to X amount of boost so don’t waste you money on it.” This is just plain dumb! Think about it. Sure, it can flow at such and such rate, but chances are it’s already had some good use on it, and using anything at the peak of its capacity is a great way to ensure that things will go wrong. You’re not Gilligan trying to get the Minnow barely running to get off the island; you are going out of your way to swap in a high performance engine to drive hard, not barely hobble along with no margin for safety. Do you drive your car all over town all day, constantly at redline? Of course not, so don’t treat any other system in your car that way. ~$120<
Mounts: You just dropped in a sweet turbocharged engine, take it out for a drive, and your engine moves around, reducing the power you can put down, potentially damaging other parts, and now you have to pull the whole darn thing out again because you were too cheap and lazy to make sure your mounts were good. You deserve it. Make sure your engine and transmission mounts are in good shape, and maybe even upgrade to stiffer ones like Nismo, Kazama, Cusco, etc.
Spark plugs: you already know you need the replace these with your swap. Get the right heat range and your engine will love you. ~$25<
Intake: It’s not all that important what brand, just that it cleans well and helps your car breathe better. Generic K&N cone is fine. ~$50<
Downpipe: Most likely you will need this anyway, as many clips/motorsets do not include the stock one. In conjunction with a large diameter exhaust, it will increase hp, and improve turbo response. ~$120<
Intercooler: hopefully your engine came with the stock one. If not, it’s a good excuse to upgrade to a front mount unit. You will need to upgrade over the side mount anyway if you are boosting over 10psi, or you will be risking detonation due to high intake temperatures. The Japanese FMIC kits are very nice, but are also very expensive, and are a huge leap above the stock one. Most of the time, you will never need a core that big, as they are good up to 4-500hp. Keep in mind FMIC kits require you to switch to a smaller battery or relocate your stock one. ~$400<
Exhaust: Pretty much a necessity. Your car will run with a stock exhaust, but it will suck. You got this engine to make your car run well, right? You’re better off having this on you car when it’s N/A than having a restricting little pipe on your turbo car, so get this whenever you can. ~$400<
Oil pan: make sure your new engine’s oil pan is in good shape. Otherwise you may deprive your engine of oil, and that’s never a good thing. If not, or you just want more capacity and ground clearance, upgrade to an aftermarket one.
Clutch: One of the best upgrades you can do for your driving pleasure. Don’t rely on the one that came with your engine to be any good. And no better time to do it than while the transmission is out of the car. Select according to you needs. ~$300<
Fuel filter: Keep that high octane flowing smooth and clean. 300zxtt/Z32 is logical and economical. Cheap goodie =)
Cooling: SRs can produce a lot of heat. It’s a good idea to upgrade your radiator, cap, fan, and even thermostat. Not always necessary to do all of them by any means. See what you need, just be nice to your engine in the meantime.
BOV: These can be seriously overrated and are a matter of preference. Atmospheric or recirculated, you should give compressed air someplace to go when your throttle body shuts. You can source these from other vehicles, use stock one, get kits, weld on, or whatever. That’s a whole other topic though.
Boost gauge: Even with stock boost, it’s good to be able to check your boost levels for spikes, over boost, creep, etc. Having peak hold and warning features is ideal but not necessary. Vacuum reading is good too, so you can fully see your throttle response, even before you start building boost. ~$100<
Water pump: It is always a good idea to replace your water pump, regardless of how new or low mileage your engine is. The reason for this is the seals in the front can go bad, causing it to leak, and leaking coolant is not good. I replaced mine and my engine only had 35k miles on it. But who knows how long it sat around. Better safe than sorry. <$130
Wiring harness: unless you did the dumb thing and disregarded everyone’s advice to get it from a reputable source, you should have a complete, uncut wiring harness. Wiring these is not necessarily all that hard if you are familiar with wiring, but S13 vs. S14 vs. S15, A/C, ABS, accessories, etc. can make this a hassle. Unless you are confident in automotive wiring, leave this to a professional. There are plenty of places/people who will splice/convert your harness for a reasonable fee ~$350
SR20DET Swap Info Continued
Now that you have a healthy, strong SR installed and running in your car, you will naturally want to upgrade things. The next steps to take are:
Boost controller
EGT and or A/F gauge
Engine or just fuel management
Larger injectors
Larger MAF
Rocker Arm Stopper-(especially for you revaholic drifters)
Valve Springs -ditto
Head gasket if you plan on upgrading your turbo
Cams
Turbo upgrades
Surge tank or intake manifold
Pulleys
Rebuilt internals, stoker kits, etc.
And on and on. Use your imagination to achieve the results you want.
http://drifting.com/sr20det.php
SR20DET Swap
http://store.driftingshop.com/srswdvdbyrsh.html
http://store.driftingshop.com/srswdvdbyrsh.html
SR20DET Swap Info
There are allot of posts in this forum asking pretty common and basic questions about SR20DET engines/swaps. Just like some of you get tired of searching the posts, some of us get tired of repeating ourselves all the time, but still want you all to be as informed as possible. So as requested, I am posting up this FAQ and hopefully it will answer a lot of the common questions you have. I also am giving some general “approach” advice based on my own and others’ experience. This is not supposed to be be an all encompassing manifesto of SR engines, it’s just a rough guide. I am far from the most knowledgeable individual on this subject, but I did my best to be thorough, and I encourage anyone to make constructive additions to this thread. It may seem like there is a lot of long boring stuff in here, but I assure you it’s all very important so you don’t waste time or money or end up with a car you don’t like, or crashed or hurt or killed. I took the time the write it because I want you all to be safe, dedicated, and respectable motorists/racers/tuners/mechanics/enthusiasts, so you should take the time to read it. I hope this helps you guys!
So you have decided you want an SR20DET. Hopefully you have reached this decision by assessing what you general goals are as a driver, and are at least somewhat familiar with all the basic automotive systems, terminology, technology, etc. Assuming these to be true, congratulations! Here are a few of the factors you should consider while making decisions about your SR:
SR20DET Swap Info Continued
-What are you going to be using the car for primarily? drift, drag, commuting, auto-x, road race, show, etc. Spend, build and tune accordingly. Every part serves a specific purpose, so get what you NEED and will USE.
-What are your main criteria for this type of use? Horsepower, low end vs. high end hp, keeping your engine cool, flexibility, etc.
-Do you have another reliable means of transportation? Second car, parent’s cars, don’t even really need a car, etc.
-How much money do you have to spend on your SR swap alone as of today? Will you have more money flowing in over time? If you are reading this with $900 you’ve saved over a year and can barely make rent this month, don’t give up, because in time you will get the right thing for you if you’re patient and work hard.
-How much time and money will you have a month to maintain and tune your engine, spend on insurance and gas, deal with emergencies? Again, if you are serious, you will be willing to make some sacrifices to meet your wants and needs.
-How knowledgeable and experienced are you as a mechanic? How comfortable are you working on your own car? How familiar are you with the car this engine is going into?
Remember, you are switching to a completely different engine. This should go without saying, but make sure that the rest of your car is going to be able to live up to what your car is going to be like after the swap. This means brakes, suspension, tires, etc. Not just “yeah yo I have springs and rims” but are your bushings/links/arms all in good shape? They don’t all have to be upgraded, just safe and reliable and suited to your driving needs. If you fall short in any of these areas, administer to them first.
Getting your new engine running well is priority #1. NOT DROPPING IN A FULLY RACE TUNED 400HP ENGINE! Don’t go all out buying all sorts of power upgrades yet. The bolt on stuff (intake, fmic, exhaust. Etc) is great though.. Upgrading too much at once along with your swap will not only increase downtime and costs of the swap, but also can make troubleshooting a nightmare, as well as magnify the extent of what could have been minor damage on what could have been an easily fixed stock engine. Make sure it’s good and reliable first, then you can upgrade over time to your heart’s desire.
Next, choose an SR engine that best suits your needs and budget. People have different reasons for choosing which SR they get. Most people opt for the S13 red and blacktops because they are cheaper and after the same amount of modification, put out about the same power as the S14 and S15 SRs. I chose an S14 SR for the reasons that I don’t need more than the stock turbo, and the ball bearing T28 is perfect for me, plus I got it for a decent price in extremely good condition. Some people don’t like the S14 and S15s low head port design, but there has been absolutely no good proof that this interferes with making good power. S14 and S15 Silvias making tremendous amounts of power are all over Japan and Australia, and I personally consider this issue to be of little practical significance. The same goes for the S14 and S15’s VTC, or variable valve timing. Supposedly this can be a nuisance when making over 400hp. Aside from these factors and the difference in the type of turbine; S13, s14 and S15 are pretty much the same. The S15 SR has VTC in both intake and exhaust. The VTC doesn’t make any more power in case you were wondering.
The specs for the different generations of engines can be found in the FAQ section here: (I don’t want to list everything, make a few clicks yourself) www.heavythrottle.com
SR20DET Swap Info Continued
Now that you know which engine you want, make sure you buy it from a good supplier. EBay does NOT fit this category, no matter how tempting. Any of the good shops are well enough established that they have enough demand without having to resort to eBay. Besides ensuring that you get a clean, high quality, complete engine set, and good support/customer service, you will also be returning support to some of the people who made it possible to get these engines and parts over here so easily and truly live for this stuff, not just out to get a buck. The main ones I recommend are: Heavy Throttle, Phase2, Enjuku, JSpec, and several other local regional tuning shops like Secret Services, etc. I am not going to go into this as there is too many to discuss.
Okay, that being said, here are some of the basic minimum things you will need and should definitely do along with your swap.
Fuel pump: Some people will argue “your stock fuel pump is okay up to X amount of boost so don’t waste you money on it.” This is just plain dumb! Think about it. Sure, it can flow at such and such rate, but chances are it’s already had some good use on it, and using anything at the peak of its capacity is a great way to ensure that things will go wrong. You’re not Gilligan trying to get the Minnow barely running to get off the island; you are going out of your way to swap in a high performance engine to drive hard, not barely hobble along with no margin for safety. Do you drive your car all over town all day, constantly at redline? Of course not, so don’t treat any other system in your car that way. ~$120<
Mounts: You just dropped in a sweet turbocharged engine, take it out for a drive, and your engine moves around, reducing the power you can put down, potentially damaging other parts, and now you have to pull the whole darn thing out again because you were too cheap and lazy to make sure your mounts were good. You deserve it. Make sure your engine and transmission mounts are in good shape, and maybe even upgrade to stiffer ones like Nismo, Kazama, Cusco, etc.
Spark plugs: you already know you need the replace these with your swap. Get the right heat range and your engine will love you. ~$25<
Intake: It’s not all that important what brand, just that it cleans well and helps your car breathe better. Generic K&N cone is fine. ~$50<
Downpipe: Most likely you will need this anyway, as many clips/motorsets do not include the stock one. In conjunction with a large diameter exhaust, it will increase hp, and improve turbo response. ~$120<
Intercooler: hopefully your engine came with the stock one. If not, it’s a good excuse to upgrade to a front mount unit. You will need to upgrade over the side mount anyway if you are boosting over 10psi, or you will be risking detonation due to high intake temperatures. The Japanese FMIC kits are very nice, but are also very expensive, and are a huge leap above the stock one. Most of the time, you will never need a core that big, as they are good up to 4-500hp. Keep in mind FMIC kits require you to switch to a smaller battery or relocate your stock one. ~$400<
Exhaust: Pretty much a necessity. Your car will run with a stock exhaust, but it will suck. You got this engine to make your car run well, right? You’re better off having this on you car when it’s N/A than having a restricting little pipe on your turbo car, so get this whenever you can. ~$400<
Oil pan: make sure your new engine’s oil pan is in good shape. Otherwise you may deprive your engine of oil, and that’s never a good thing. If not, or you just want more capacity and ground clearance, upgrade to an aftermarket one.
Clutch: One of the best upgrades you can do for your driving pleasure. Don’t rely on the one that came with your engine to be any good. And no better time to do it than while the transmission is out of the car. Select according to you needs. ~$300<
Fuel filter: Keep that high octane flowing smooth and clean. 300zxtt/Z32 is logical and economical. Cheap goodie =)
Cooling: SRs can produce a lot of heat. It’s a good idea to upgrade your radiator, cap, fan, and even thermostat. Not always necessary to do all of them by any means. See what you need, just be nice to your engine in the meantime.
BOV: These can be seriously overrated and are a matter of preference. Atmospheric or recirculated, you should give compressed air someplace to go when your throttle body shuts. You can source these from other vehicles, use stock one, get kits, weld on, or whatever. That’s a whole other topic though.
Boost gauge: Even with stock boost, it’s good to be able to check your boost levels for spikes, over boost, creep, etc. Having peak hold and warning features is ideal but not necessary. Vacuum reading is good too, so you can fully see your throttle response, even before you start building boost. ~$100<
Water pump: It is always a good idea to replace your water pump, regardless of how new or low mileage your engine is. The reason for this is the seals in the front can go bad, causing it to leak, and leaking coolant is not good. I replaced mine and my engine only had 35k miles on it. But who knows how long it sat around. Better safe than sorry. <$130
Wiring harness: unless you did the dumb thing and disregarded everyone’s advice to get it from a reputable source, you should have a complete, uncut wiring harness. Wiring these is not necessarily all that hard if you are familiar with wiring, but S13 vs. S14 vs. S15, A/C, ABS, accessories, etc. can make this a hassle. Unless you are confident in automotive wiring, leave this to a professional. There are plenty of places/people who will splice/convert your harness for a reasonable fee ~$350
SR20DET Swap Info Continued
Now that you have a healthy, strong SR installed and running in your car, you will naturally want to upgrade things. The next steps to take are:
Boost controller
EGT and or A/F gauge
Engine or just fuel management
Larger injectors
Larger MAF
Rocker Arm Stopper-(especially for you revaholic drifters)
Valve Springs -ditto
Head gasket if you plan on upgrading your turbo
Cams
Turbo upgrades
Surge tank or intake manifold
Pulleys
Rebuilt internals, stoker kits, etc.
And on and on. Use your imagination to achieve the results you want.
http://drifting.com/sr20det.php
SR20DET Swap
http://store.driftingshop.com/srswdvdbyrsh.html
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