240sx for 600 bad or good deal?

[nissanpower]

the engine is locked up and nothing really else wrong with the car i might be buying it off of a friend me and him as worked on it and I was gonna buy it from him for 600 and put an ka engine just to get it running or maybe just put in an sr20 motor and i have about a 4.5k budget for the motor swap if that is enough to do one if not im gonna buy a ka engine and build that up and put a turbo on it

[free motion]

I'd say get it and put in the sr. This can be done for 4,000 to 4500. You'll need coilovers and an lsd and some decent tires.

[JonnySlick]

I'd say get it and put in the sr. This can be done for 4,000 to 4500. You'll need coilovers and an lsd and some decent tires.

for 4500 i'd do CA, coils, LSD, tires

[DRIFTER-M]

the engine is locked up and nothing really else wrong with the car i might be buying it off of a friend me and him as worked on it and I was gonna buy it from him for 600 and put an ka engine just to get it running or maybe just put in an sr20 motor and i have about a 4.5k budget for the motor swap if that is enough to do one if not im gonna buy a ka engine and build that up and put a turbo on it

I say probably go SR, SR price has come down. Everybody acts like buying a new KA and turboing it is so cheap. Good used KA 600$ at best. Turbo parts(even used) are going to put you up about another 800$-1k. 1600$...
Sr redtop goes for like 1900$ today...
With the 300 dollars saved you can buy some blown coilovers? An aero peice with damage?
However, I do know some people that like their KA turbo setups, so really its all in the eye of the beholder. KA is easier to find replacement parts if you live in the US, junkyards, part stores have them plentiful. SR is known for its reliability and good acceleration for drifting. Whatever you prefer is what you should get. Oh yeah, and since this matters to most people now, SR usually gets the better gas mileage of the 2.

Other options: Ca18DET, not too much cheaper than SR now, and definantly not as much punch. Good for the power and price though, and some people wouldn't even trade theirs for a Rb26. Oh yeah, also pretty light weight engine.

RB engine series: Rb20Det=mild priced, rare for parts in the US, but supposevly pack good reliablility. RB25DET or RB26DET. Both Skyline motors. Definantly not cheap and you will have a hard time fitting them into the stock 240 engine bay you have. However when all the work and money is said and done the plus side is, power you will not be use to

Also, Ls1 is becoming popular and packs a very nice punch for the price. Will cost you 4-6k give or take alittle to do the swap. Worth it? Well...v8, good torque, USA made so parts aren't very hard to get. Oh yeah, did I mention they were powerful and get good mpg? Oh yeah, they are powerful(thought it deserved to be mentioned twice)

[HasNoTiresLeft]

Eh... rebuild the KA... make it a KA-T. More torque for the buck. Not to mention you can still go to your local autozone and get parts afterwards.