Could you justify swapping this?

[xTomCatt]

Hey guys, about 5 months ago I purchased an all original 1990 coupe which has been a dream car since I was in high school. Now the catcher is, it's an automatic, which makes the car an absolute bore to drive as we all know and only has 20,056 miles. I purchased the car with 19,659 miles. And I'm really just trying to figure out if I can justify doing an SR20 swap. I'd like to know if you guys/gals would do it if you had bought one in this kind of condition? Any feedback you guys could give me would be a huge help in this decision making process.

[xTomCatt]

Here's a few pictures for you guys.

[ehhhregartless]

Not only is it a boring drive but it looks boring too. I'd liven that car up by going 2J swap, robe font end while you're at it, full duraflex kit, grip royal wheel, xxrs, pladti-dip exterior, welded diff and hyperwhites all around. A roll cage would help too. Then it'll be fun.

[xTomCatt]

You have a good sense of humor bud!

[zenkicpe]

Nice pick up man! You wont find many 2 tones in PA..

Ill give you my 2 cents, in this all PA thread so far

Id go CA18det, keep it as close to oem looking as possible. Maybe deviate to front mount intercooler but thats about it. If you do that (and do it clean) it would only be worth more.

Personally I think that would be fun to drive and be close to "stock". A nice set of proper offset quality wheels with properly sized tires, lowered a little... sex

Good luck, choose wisely

[Maxstyle]

Originally Posted by zenkicpe

Nice pick up man! You wont find many 2 tones in PA..

Ill give you my 2 cents, in this all PA thread so far

Id go CA18det, keep it as close to oem looking as possible. Maybe deviate to front mount intercooler but thats about it. If you do that (and do it clean) it would only be worth more.

Personally I think that would be fun to drive and be close to "stock". A nice set of proper offset quality wheels with properly sized tires, lowered a little... sex

Good luck, choose wisely

Couldn't agree more. The CA18 is a great motor and will be less of a pain in the ass to deal with. The Power Steering plumbing will not have to be changed like it will be if you do a SR20. Even the Factory radiator will work if you don't want to buy an aftermarket one at this point. Upgrade to a S15 Spec R turbo and enjoy. The CA18 is a true cam over and will not have rocker arm issues. Iron block. It pretty much a 4cylinder RB engine. The SR was introduced in order to cut costs in manufacturing. Making the CA was not much less them making an RB25 in Nissan's eyes.

[dizzariot]

Originally Posted by xTomCatt

No man, i havent shipped the car yet. Im active duty military stationed out here with a few months left on my contract. Once im done, it will be shipped back to PA.

Replied to your PMs. You're military? Me too. Like I said man you've got help over here if you need it. I fully support the stuff you're talking about. Let me know when you need help.

Originally Posted by Maxstyle

Couldn't agree more. The CA18 is a great motor and will be less of a pain in the ass to deal with. The Power Steering plumbing will not have to be changed like it will be if you do a SR20. Even the Factory radiator will work if you don't want to buy an aftermarket one at this point. Upgrade to a S15 Spec R turbo and enjoy. The CA18 is a true cam over and will not have rocker arm issues. Iron block. It pretty much a 4cylinder RB engine. The SR was introduced in order to cut costs in manufacturing. Making the CA was not much less them making an RB25 in Nissan's eyes.

...so if someone wanted to build their CA18DE...where would one start

[xTomCatt]

Thanks man! Like I said, any feedback is good feedback. The CA18 would be year correct based of the year I have and I have always thought they were interesting motors. I'll have to read up on them to get a bit more knowledge. But I agree. Keeping it close to stock is what I want to do. There aren't many of these cars left in this kind of condition, so I truly baby it when I'm back in Hawaii.

[tuzzio]

Wait until you realize your "dream car" is something you'll absolutely hate.

[xTomCatt]

Haha I feel you man. I've already pored quite a bit into it just on maintenance shit alone.

[S14kouki805]

Originally Posted by tuzzio

Wait until you realize your "dream car" is something you'll absolutely hate.

Fucking aye...damn it if this isn't the truth

[Nissan2nr22]

Don't go ca18det. LOL. Ca18 is 100% fanboy status.

If you dont beat on your car and maintain it put a stock sr in it, and maintain it right with the proper fluids, wont give you issues if done right and last you long, never had a problem with a SR, owned many. I only had one SR knock on me and I bought the car knocking to flip it.

[pacotaco345]

Originally Posted by Nissan2nr22

Don't go ca18det. LOL. Ca18 is 100% fanboy status.

If you dont beat on your car and maintain it put a stock sr in it, and maintain it right with the proper fluids, wont give you issues if done right and last you long, never had a problem with a SR, owned many. I only had one SR knock on me and I bought the car knocking to flip it.

This guy's onto something. Just go pick up a stock SR and keep it stock with the exception of some breather mods. A set of nice coilovers and bronze TE37 wouldn't hurt either.

Just don't do anything that you can't unbolt and make sure you take your time and do it right.

[d9m13n]

Damn thats the stuff of my dreams.
My 2 cents, stock sr20 swap with a 5 speed (obviously)
Tasteful correct fitment wheels, decent shocks and struts or coils to drop it a bit and improve the handling.
Keep the paint in excellent shape, as well as the interior.
We're probably just a couple years to a decade away from clean, stock(ish) s13s appreciating providing the market for this sort of car remains relatively stable and demand stays in place.
Overall, just dont fuck it up and youve got yourself a diamond in the rough

[Trap Star]

Originally Posted by d9m13n

We're probably just a couple years to a decade away from clean, stock(ish) s13s appreciating providing the market for this sort of car remains relatively stable and demand stays in place.

This has definitely been going on for a while already.

[Trap Star]

Why not just do a 5-speed swap with this engine? Much cheaper, pretty easy, and it keeps more of the original equipment. As soon as you swap in an SR you destroy the entire point of buying a car with 20k miles on it.

[travon47]

No, Its original in collector shape and mileage. I think you would be crazy, but im sure everyone else will say go for it. Your car, your choice

[5280VertDET]

You have 2 options IMHO:

2 Trade it for a good decent build with the parts you want already on it

OR

Keep it and 5 speed swap it.

[S14kouki805]

I'm interested to know the story on it...

Who owned it before?

[xTomCatt]

It was a two owner car before me. The original owner was an older Japanese lady living on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. She didn't have a far commute to work and stopped driving it in her later years and put it into storage. The second owner was a middle aged man that impulse bought the car off of her based off of the condition. He barely had the time to drive it and only put 600 miles on it from when he bought it off of her. Fast forward 2 years and I have a super low miles, full maintenance record from the day it left the lot to today. It truly is a 20000 mile car.

[JM216S14]

Originally Posted by xTomCatt

It was a two owner car before me. The original owner was an older Japanese lady living on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. She didn't have a far commute to work and stopped driving it in her later years and put it into storage. The second owner was a middle aged man that impulse bought the car off of her based off of the condition. He barely had the time to drive it and only put 600 miles on it from when he bought it off of her. Fast forward 2 years and I have a super low miles, full maintenance record from the day it left the lot to today. It truly is a 20000 mile car.

wow that's a far trip from hawaii to pa did you ship it?

[xTomCatt]

Originally Posted by JM216S14

wow that's a far trip from hawaii to pa did you ship it?

No man, i havent shipped the car yet. Im active duty military stationed out here with a few months left on my contract. Once im done, it will be shipped back to PA.

[lunchmeat]

Only 20k miles? I'm still trying to get my head around that.

[Nissan2nr22]

Originally Posted by lunchmeat

Only 20k miles? I'm still trying to get my head around that.

Me too, OP can you send a photo of the cluster? They are quite easy to flip back and when you flip back the mileage they become uneven across the board.

[xTomCatt]

Originally Posted by Nissan2nr22

Me too, OP can you send a photo of the cluster? They are quite easy to flip back and when you flip back the mileage they become uneven across the board.

Here you go man. It was a two owner car before me. The original owner was an older Japanese lady living on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. She didn't have a far commute to work and stopped driving it in her later years and put it into storage. The second owner was a middle aged man that impulse bought the car off of her based off of the condition. He barely had the time to drive it and only put 600 miles on it from when he bought it off of her. Fast forward 2 years and I have a super low miles, full maintenance record from the day it left the lot to today. It truly is a 20000 mile car.

[dezzS13]

I would just 5 speed swap it and run the KA24E until it died. But maybe prep an SR along the way :P

[dizzariot]

Originally Posted by dezzS13

I would just 5 speed swap it and run the KA24E until it died. But maybe prep an SR along the way :P

This guy has the right idea.

Originally Posted by tlieberman240

Leave it alone. Preserve it as best you can. No point in hacking up a perfectly mint car. Only way I'd be taking that engine out and putting an SR in it, is if it was a brand new long block... and even then, I'd wait.

Leave it be. Keep it in the garage and keep it mint. If you want something to put an SR, go buy another one that has a busted motor in it that's on its last leg and swap that.

...but there is also a point to be made here. The KA24E won't be magically awesome with a manual transmission. I just bought a CA18DE two-tone Q's out here and it's factory manual. While it's less boring than an auto it just barely keeps me awake.

I'm normally an asshole on this forum. I've been PM'd many times telling me so. I take pride in it and although you don't know me please trust me (a stranger) when I say that there is some good advice in here. Most new dudes posting threads like this get ripped new assholes.

Preserve it. If you want to 5speed swap it then do it. It's your money. If you want to put a motor in it, swap in an SR or even a low-mileage KA24DE. just please, for the love of the universe and everything in it, don't ruin another two-tone.

You seem like a nice guy. You've got a forum-asshole's vote of confidence.

Originally Posted by Nissan2nr22

Owned cas, junk.
Stop suggesting cas, ca was cool like 10 years ago

...dude you sold that car so fucking fast lol. 'fuckouttahere. I mean you're right, but...shit.

[hatch4life]

Any "upgrade" will be lost money... especially a ca

[Hakosuka1700]

I'd say preserve it, maybe a 5 speed if you really want it. If you decide to do an engine swap, SR over CA. I have a CA and it isn't a bad engine, but if something does go wrong it's a pain. There are crossover parts from the Pulsar NX 1.8 and some other Nissans of the time, but some of the parts specific to the RWD CA can be difficult to find, which gets very inconvenient if you need to use the car. Aftermarket support is very limited as well.

[lunchmeat]

Got a gem right there.