KA24DE - 2000 Nissan Frontier

[Roc1479]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has done a swap using the KA24DE out of a 2000 Nissan Frontier. I've attached a pic.

If you have, are there any difficulties? if so, what did you do to overcome them?

I have a 72 4dr 510.

Thanks

[Edm620]

I'm interested in your choice of engine for the swap. Why did you choose that engine? I'm yet undecided what motor will end up powering my '76 620.

[yenpit]

We too have wondered if this Frontier engine will work in our 510 swaps, cuz they are pretty plentiful at this point! I bet this Frontier DE twin cam longblock is the same, but the intake plenum assembly & throttle body are likely NOT a good choice, especially since we haven't read anywhere that the wiring has been figured out.....?? The 240SX DE's are getting harder to find, cuz the drift guys & other swap guys are using them up! But, if you can find a good Frontier DE & a good 240SX DE complete intake ECU & wiring, might work out nicely..............?? Following this one!

TJ

[datzenmike]

You can easily enough make and bolt on an aluminum adapter plate to replace the throttle body and mount a Weber carburetor on a truck intake. All that's needed then is to remove the CAS and slip an L20B EI distributor and spindle in. You need to drill and tap the second bolt hole for this. There you have it, connects to the car's electrical system and no EFI to bother with.

]2eYeDe (Steve) on Ratsun sells a KA engine mount kit for trucks.

[datsuntech]

You can easily enough make and bolt on an aluminum adapter plate to replace the throttle body and mount a Weber carburetor on a truck intake. All that's needed then is to remove the CAS and slip an L20B EI distributor and spindle in. You need to drill and tap the second bolt hole for this. There you have it, connects to the car's electrical system and no EFI to bother with.

Anyone have any pics or vid of this actually running? Interesting alternative..

[demo243]

I believe he has a thread on Ratsun... somewhere, but I could be wrong...

https://www.instagram.com/farmerjoe620/?hl=en

Dig back a bit for the info. If you want to run a carbed KA that is the easy way...

Or you can go the route Duke and I went with MegaJolt, but requires some real luck to find a sidedraft mani for the de or some fab skills.

Always worth mentioning that the KAs are NOT high revving engines... For me that was part of the draw, a big 2.4 with lots of low end grunt makes for a fun streetable car, just dont expect to rev it to the moon, but 6.5k is easily doable, and 7k without sustained revs should be fine. Pair that with a light weight fly wheel and aluminum driveshaft and it revs quick!

[datsuntech]

I already have a 240SX KA24DE in a 510 and love it as, like you, I think it suits the car. But a carbed one would just suit it better. Fab skills are not an issue, but I'm cheap. The KA24E would be easier to adapt a matchbox dizzy to. Which is why I think the truck KA24DE would be similar. Just would love to see some pics of how someone did it. Can't seem to find any pics.

[DADZSUN]

I'm running a SOHC KAe truck block with S13 SOHC head.

I ran it carbed (ITB Yamaha R1) for awhile but EFI just makes it so much easier to quickly jump in and go, regardless of the weather etc... A little more power down low too w/EFI despite having sliders on my ITBs.

Agreed the KA is not a rev'er and I too like it for that. I rather grunt than revving the snot out of it. Doesn't sounds as nice as a nicely tuned screamer but that's a minor con for me. While 6.5 might be doable, it only creates noise on the SOHC (WITH a JWT S1 cam I might add) and is FAR from refined... Best to shift around 5-5.5 and enjoy the torque band.

I'm thinking of looking for a DOHC head/block in the near future, my MegaSquirt PnP thankfully works with either version. My sole reason for swapping is that the SOHC hydraulic valve lifters have been a royal PITA. New oil & lifters, and various voodoo routines can't get these things to shut the hell up despite adequate oil pressure and only ~15,000km on a complete rebuild.

[datsuntech]

I don't daily the 510 and it only sees warm dry weather, so the couple of extra minutes to warm it up is not an issue for me. It is definitely nice to just jump in and go, but my days with a 510 as a daily driver are long ago over.

I'm running a SOHC KAe truck block with S13 SOHC head.

I ran it carbed (ITB Yamaha R1) for awhile but EFI just makes it so much easier to quickly jump in and go, regardless of the weather etc... A little more power down low too w/EFI despite having sliders on my ITBs.

Agreed the KA is not a rev'er and I too like it for that. I rather grunt than revving the snot out of it. Doesn't sounds as nice as a nicely tuned screamer but that's a minor con for me. While 6.5 might be doable, it only creates noise on the SOHC (WITH a JWT S1 cam I might add) and is FAR from refined... Best to shift around 5-5.5 and enjoy the torque band.

I'm thinking of looking for a DOHC head/block in the near future, my MegaSquirt PnP thankfully works with either version. My sole reason for swapping is that the SOHC hydraulic valve lifters have been a royal PITA. New oil & lifters, and various voodoo routines can't get these things to shut the hell up despite adequate oil pressure and only ~15,000km on a complete rebuild.

[duke]

Another guy here with a dual cam KA in my 510. Mine is from a 240sx, which is architecturally different than the truck KA (truck KA's don't have a crank girdle, piston oil squirters, and have a different front cover/distributor drive), but I would imagine they have pretty similar driving characteristics. I believe the truck KA oil pan is rear sump, but I recall seeing somebody doing the swap into a 510 and they had to notch the sump to clear the steering linkage. Other than that there is the usual engine swap things such as motor mounts, transmission mount, and wiring.

My car has been primarily built as a street car/autocross car, and the KA suits this well. It has a nice broad power band and at autocrosses I regularly take mine to the 7000 rpm rev limit without issues. I have done some modifications to facilitate better high rpm performance such as JWT S1 cams, a header, and side draft carbs, so a stock KA will be different I'm sure.