CA18DET Forged rebuild

How-to's, project cars, and various other articles posted by club members

Moderators: P3g4sus, Daniel, rat, Draco, Riekert

Post Reply
User avatar
Gary57
Club Rep
Posts: 5976
Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:56 pm
Car: S13
Location: Durban

CA18DET Forged rebuild

Post by Gary57 »

So if any of you know me, you will know I love my CA18 without exception. But it has done 140 000km since the last refresh and 140 000km at over 200kw is pretty damn good going.

When I bought my SX a little over 8 years ago my goal for the car was "to build the car Nissan should have", this cannot change. So over the years I have done just that, every mod has been with OEM ideals in mind and of course reliability has always been paramount. I have had probably the most reliable SX I know, and I know a good few. Drivability was better than OEM, thanks to Wolf 3D ECU and literally 100s of hours of tuning.

Now it's time for the next chapter for my SX, she currently sleeps in the garage and is a car for Sunday drives. I love this car, no really I do, not like most people, it's way worse. Car is in my PreNup and my Will, so I will keep her for ever, hence the plan to make this build last 20 years.

I have decided to rebuild the motor with no short cuts and no budget, only the best will do. The plan for this build is to last another 20years, don't laugh I actually mean that.

Parts list is too long to mention but a main goodies are CP 9:1 pistons, K1 Rods, full ARP bolts, cometic gaskets, ceramic coated manifolds, bla bla bla. Rods are 110g each lighter than stock, this was the reason I opted for them. At the power levels I'm aiming at, stock rods would have been plenty but 110g is a huge weight saving. I haven't weighed the pistons yet, but there should be a decent saving there aswell.

The machining has been done and all the bits are ready to be assembled. Busy CC the combustion chambers and port matching the manifolds, once done it will go for flow matching to ensure each cylinder flows the same.

Keeping to the original goal and with drivability in mind I cannot change my current turbo. I have thought long and hard but my current TD04H 15T will stay. I will upgrade the thrust bearing, Mellet make an upgrade kit that changes bearing, wheel retainers, clips etc. This turbo is good for 440hp or so which is plenty and the 9:1 CR will help achieve that. The car was currently running around 200Kw on the wheels and that was enough, I would be happy with the same power and a bigger safety factor built in.

Here a few pics of the goodies I have so far.

Image
Image
Image

This is the Enginebay before the motor was removed.
Image

Intake ports after 140 000km, you really gotta love Water/Meth.
Image

The OEM look I have achieved.
Image
DriftZ: "I swear if a CA18 beats my SR im getting a RB!"

User avatar
DriftZ
200SX Maniac
Posts: 2611
Joined: Mon May 05, 2008 7:48 pm
Car: S15
Engine: SR
Location: Durban

Re: CA18DET Forged rebuild

Post by DriftZ »

Awesome Gary!!

SonOfAnarchy ZA
Administrator
Posts: 2512
Joined: Wed Aug 17, 2011 9:10 pm
Car: S13
Real Name: Jason
Location: JHB

Re: CA18DET Forged rebuild

Post by SonOfAnarchy ZA »

i love that engine bay supper neat!
"I'd rather lose by a mile because I built my own car, than win by an inch because someone else built it for me"

User avatar
Grobblere
0.6 Bar Boost
Posts: 681
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:35 pm
Car: S13
Real Name: Eugene
Location: Centurion

Re: CA18DET Forged rebuild

Post by Grobblere »

Great stuff! you are building to the same specs than i did mine, just do yourself a favour and replace the water pump and oil pump.

Tell me, where did you get the valve guides?

User avatar
Gary57
Club Rep
Posts: 5976
Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:56 pm
Car: S13
Location: Durban

Re: CA18DET Forged rebuild

Post by Gary57 »

Brand new OEM water pump and Oil pump, brand new OEM lifters, will be going in.

I got them from USA, never ended up using them anyway, why do you need?
DriftZ: "I swear if a CA18 beats my SR im getting a RB!"

User avatar
Grobblere
0.6 Bar Boost
Posts: 681
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:35 pm
Car: S13
Real Name: Eugene
Location: Centurion

Re: CA18DET Forged rebuild

Post by Grobblere »

Great! ye i really need some, Yip i think they are causing my cab to smoke under acceleration :-D If you could help that would be great!

User avatar
Gary57
Club Rep
Posts: 5976
Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:56 pm
Car: S13
Location: Durban

Re: CA18DET Forged rebuild

Post by Gary57 »

Small update, started port matching the head and manifolds. Can't believe how far the plenum and injector manifold are...

Image
Image
Image
Image
DriftZ: "I swear if a CA18 beats my SR im getting a RB!"

User avatar
FUEL PERFORMANCE
Over Boosting
Posts: 1490
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2008 9:40 pm
Car: Other
Engine: RB
Location: www.fuelperformance.co.za

Re: CA18DET Forged rebuild

Post by FUEL PERFORMANCE »

WOW... No RB ?? LOL

Neat!
FUEL PERFORMANCE SA-UK-EU
HIGH FLOW SA-UK-EU


- Fuel Pumps - Fuel Pressure Regulators - Widebands -


Online Shop - http://www.fuelperformance.co.za
https://www.facebook.com/FUELPERFORMANCEUK

User avatar
Gary57
Club Rep
Posts: 5976
Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:56 pm
Car: S13
Location: Durban

Re: CA18DET Forged rebuild

Post by Gary57 »

Spent some time this evening checking compression volume and port matching.

Cyl 1 - 52cc
Cyl 2 - 52.5cc
Cyl 3 - 51.5cc
Cyl 4 - 53cc

Will do the math later to see how much of an effect this will have on compression ratio, I guess not much.

Image
Image
Image
Image
DriftZ: "I swear if a CA18 beats my SR im getting a RB!"

User avatar
BigKriss
SX Forumholic
Posts: 2332
Joined: Fri Jan 21, 2011 7:40 pm
Car: S14
Engine: RB

Re: CA18DET Forged rebuild

Post by BigKriss »

Subscribed !!
Image

User avatar
Gary57
Club Rep
Posts: 5976
Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:56 pm
Car: S13
Location: Durban

Re: CA18DET Forged rebuild

Post by Gary57 »

Just did the maths, comp ratio will vary between 8.81:1 and 9.01:1

Not sure if cleaning the chambers is worth the risk...
DriftZ: "I swear if a CA18 beats my SR im getting a RB!"

User avatar
Gary57
Club Rep
Posts: 5976
Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:56 pm
Car: S13
Location: Durban

Re: CA18DET Forged rebuild

Post by Gary57 »

Wasn't happy with my 0.5cc accuracy last night so went out and bought a pipette. This is accurate to 0.1cc.

New results are as follows:

Cyl 1 - 52.5cc
Cyl 2 - 53.3cc
Cyl 3 - 53.3cc
Cyl 4 - 53.1cc

I'm happy with those results, no need to clean up chambers.

Static compression ratio of around 8.85:1.
DriftZ: "I swear if a CA18 beats my SR im getting a RB!"

User avatar
Vlade
* - Club Pimp - *
Posts: 2775
Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 9:40 am
Car: Other
Real Name: Barend
Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Re: CA18DET Forged rebuild

Post by Vlade »

Nice to see you still have your 200SX Mr. Good luck with the rebuild!
Hairdresser MX5

User avatar
Charlvdw
200SX Maniac
Posts: 3882
Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:08 am
Car: S13
Engine: SR
Location: Pretoria

Re: CA18DET Forged rebuild

Post by Charlvdw »

Nice going, didn't think the comp ratio will vary that much.
197rwkw ,376nm

User avatar
Gary57
Club Rep
Posts: 5976
Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:56 pm
Car: S13
Location: Durban

Re: CA18DET Forged rebuild

Post by Gary57 »

Small update:

Sub Assembly is done, sump on and motor is right way up. Had to build a ring filer to gap the rings, worked like a charm just took time. Every part has been scrubbed clean and measured. Piston and rod are 220g lighter each, that is huge.

Sent turbo in for rebuild and the prognosis is its fooked. Turbine housing is cracked, waste gate wasn't sealing properly and has been corroded by the heat. So getting a quote to rebuild, will be basically a whole new turbo.

I am thinking about going GTX2867 or GT2864. Still undecided, think these will cost a bomb with the current exchange rate.

Image
Image
Image
Image
DriftZ: "I swear if a CA18 beats my SR im getting a RB!"

Post Reply