rb20det or sr20det?

[90s13hatch]

Hi everyone..i am planning on swapping my engine on my 1990 240sx...i want opinions on what would be better and sr or rb....i want rb cause sr's are so common...but i love sr's so i want your opinion on what i should do..thanks!

[ZoltecRules]

Step 1. SEARCH

This has been covered WAY too many times before.

PS. Being different tends to = costing more money.

[Ghost of Duluth]

Agreed.

Why in the world would you want to go Sr or RB anyway with good KA-T builders around???? Think about things man, there are so many reasons to go KA-T over either of those engines. Parts availability, ease of change, more torque than an SR, I mean there is no reason other than wanting to be JDM tyte or wanting to waste money that I can see. You can get parts for the KA from Autozone should you break something at an event and any time not spent on the towtruck home is time well spent. You blow that SR and damage the block and it's back to the importer for you buddy. Blow that KA and you can just about kick over a rock and find a block, especially since all the other yahoos are doing SR swaps and leaving thier KA's out to rot.

So throw your money away if you want. SR's and RB's are great engines, not saying anything against em but my money is on the KA-T.

[akuma S14]

KA-t will get you good power on modest budget. I sell the same kit as on the SHOGUN STYLE S14 for 3000 even. 8psi 230-240 hp. twincam only.

Terry

[banged240_drift]

yeah man if you wanna be different do the KA-turbo, or even a well setup all motor, like myself (hey a man can dream) seriously spo many paople are doing jdmtyte swaps that building the KA is going to set you apart from the crowd. just cause you dont see fast KA's in popular magazines doesnt mean thier arent up to par. i mean almost a half liter more displacement added with an iron block, its a monster

to answer your question, ide go with the SR, the RB is gonna be harder to find the motor and the parts

but i gotta say that KA is the way....i just wanted to rhyme

[HoosierDrifter]

i have the sr... and i love it.

1. All aluminum..(KA = iron block)
2. Awsome throttle response
3. can be boosted up to 400hp on stock internals
4. A whole lotta parts are the same as the 92 nissan sentra se-r's engine

[Leroy0053]

throttle response? the ka doesnt have it? plenty of turbo ka's well over 300 on stock internals. plus you say good to 400. are you even close to it? people around here brag how the sr can handle 400. well they have stock sr's and aint even upgrading. so why brag about it handling that much when you dont have plans to go that far. even if you went that far how many people keep the stock internals? forged pistons at least are swapped in. aluminum block. wow. but show me the weight difference in the 2 engines. you list info but nothin to back it. get cha weight up. the guys question was if rb or sr. sr has more parts availability. i would keep the ka personally.

[free motion]

Well, if you want to swap engines I'd say consider either the sr20det or the rb25det rather than the rb20det. Either way you get a great engine, it just takes a little more money and labor to go rb25det (which would be awesome).

[Hollywood]

this guy has a 1990 240sx, probably still has the KA24E motor, that motor is not worth adding a turbo to.

The RB20 is going to be much cheaper then the SR, (last one I sold was for $600) A used KA24DE will probably be a little less then that but have more miles on it. and in my personal experiences the RB20s do not run as well as the SRs

the KA24DE will probably be the most expensive, even if you just go with a stock block and a turbo kit, you will need fuel injectors and some kind of engine management system to make it run correctly.

the SR20DET should probably cost you low $3000 range at most shops, or you could probably do it on your own for a little over $2000. parts are easy to find for these now, the motor has plenty of power, and can easily and inexpensivly be modified to make more.

[HoosierDrifter]

throttle response? the ka doesnt have it? plenty of turbo ka's well over 300 on stock internals. plus you say good to 400. are you even close to it? people around here brag how the sr can handle 400. well they have stock sr's and aint even upgrading. so why brag about it handling that much when you dont have plans to go that far. even if you went that far how many people keep the stock internals? forged pistons at least are swapped in. aluminum block. wow. but show me the weight difference in the 2 engines. you list info but nothin to back it. get cha weight up. the guys question was if rb or sr. sr has more parts availability. i would keep the ka personally.

yes i do plan on getting a bigger turbo, yes i plan on getting bigger injectors...does anyone know the weight of the ka or sr?

[Ghost of Duluth]

All depends on where he is as to how much it will cost him. Also remember this, you blow a water pump on an RB, you gonna be down longer than you would with a KA-T. Little things like that can be a major headache on a motor that isn't sold here. As for cheapest you will probably make it out lowest with the RB though if you pay for everything and don't do it yourself.

I still think the KA is going to be the best. You can grab a Tophat crate motor for $3750 complete. That includes the block hot tanked and bored to 90mm, polished crank, shot peened connecting rods, ARP rod bolts, head studs and main studs, 3 angle valve job, Supertech 8.5:1 pistons, Boost design manifold with a t3/t4 turbo and wastegate. $500 to r/r your motor. Put your injectors and stand alone if you want it and you aren't that much more than an SR install and you know exactly what you are getting instead of importing some engine that may start and if it doesn't then you have to fight with the people you got it from. The frustration alone would steer me away from going SR.

But ask everyone a question and everyone will give you a different answer. The SR guys are gonna tell you that all is peachy with the SR and same with every other motor. I just feel that there is no reason to import an engine in when you can get something that can do the same thing or better here. Sounds like a complete waste of money to me.

[Ghost of Duluth]

yes i do plan on getting a bigger turbo, yes i plan on getting bigger injectors... yes you are a *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored* face... does anyone know the weight of the ka or sr?

No reason to call names caouse someone called you out. Don't do that again.

[Hollywood]

still sounds like a KA turbo motor is gona cost you way more then an SR20. for the $3750 KA-t sounds like your just getting a refurbished motor, just about every motor you refurbish has to have the cylinders punched out, the head ported a bit, and the crank turned. the only thing really different is the compression ratio, and most engine shops will offer you that option as well.

with the SR20 there are lots of cheap performance parts, cams, intake manifold, larger oil pan(very important for drifting)

but if you are just looking for something to drop in your car, and go drifting, the SR20 is perfect, its inexpensive, its a quick easy swap, no fabricating

[Ghost of Duluth]

Ok i'm going to repeat what I said above because I think you missed it.

"That includes the block hot tanked and bored to 90mm, polished crank, shot peened connecting rods, ARP rod bolts, head studs and main studs, 3 angle valve job, Supertech 8.5:1 pistons, Boost design manifold with a t3/t4 turbo and wastegate. $500 to r/r your motor."

I think you skimmed over what I wrote. But like I said, everyone will tell you different things. I would much rather have a rebuilt engine with a new T3/T4 turbo on it than something that gets yanked in another country, slapped in a container, (hopefully with all the parts there) and sent across the ocean to be off loaded at some dock in god knows where and then crated and sent across the country to land at my doorstep with a start-up warranty that I have to hope will be honored by an importer or garage probably from out of state because we all know that most importers have the "It wasn't installed correctly" clause that they like to fall upon.

But hey that's just me.

[Hollywood]

so what kind of warranty do you get with the KA crate motor? 2 years I would hope.
my point is that any motor rebuild company is going to do all that stuff to a motor anyway. of course they wash the block, and then they bore it out and use bigger pistons. and they have to use aftermarket parts because OEM parts are way to expensive. most motor supply companies do offer ARP studs, and choise of pistons, if you want to change them. city motor supply dose offer a motor just like this for $1100, the only difference is your adding a turbo kit to it.