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KA24DE Rebuild

Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 9:50 pm
by DunDon
Hi! I know that this topic has probably been covered to death but this is my first post on this forum because I just bought a 1992 s13 with rod knock. I bought the car knowing that it had rod knock so I got it for a good price. I also did a compression test and found that cylinder 2 was at 70 psi and cylinder 3 was at 80. With all of this considered, I think it's needless to say that I need to rebuild my KA. I was thinking that I would do some upgrades while the engine is apart to future proof the car for some boost. My goal is for the car to be my daily driver (as reliable as possible) at around 300-350 whp. I'm new to Nissans and wanted to know what the best bang for my buck parts are available. I would like to budget out around 2k for the rebuild, but am fine with going a few hundred over. This is going to be my first time rebuilding an engine that I care about so I would like to know some of the failure points, and what I should replace while the engine is apart (the car has 202,000 miles on it if that changes anything). I read that the pistons and rods are the weakest link on these engines, so what piston/rod combo should I go with? Is the OEM head gasket reliable when pushing boost through these engines? Should I upgrade the oil pump or just get an OEM replacement? Is there anything that is a MUST DO when rebuilding these motors? Should I upgrade anything on the head or just replace the valve stem seals?(I also burn oil on startup) I know that this is a long post, so if anyone has made it this far, thank you!

TL;DR I'm an idiot that bought an s13 that needs a new engine and I have no clue what I'm doing. (Obviously)

Thanks!

Re: KA24DE Rebuild

Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2021 6:46 am
by mechavore884
Id probably go with Supertech pistons and Eagle rods..ARP head studs/mainstuds and king bearings (or some decent ones). OE replacement for oil/waterpump and Tstat

Re: KA24DE Rebuild

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2021 6:25 pm
by tuzzio
The rods aren't the weak link until youre 400+. Pistons are a definite. I would do a .020" overbore with wiseco pistons, ARP headstuds, Felpro head gasket and king bearings. That would be a plenty robust KA for your power goals.