[PatScottAKA99XE]

Here is the deal. I have a GA powered 99 Sentra. I want a Sentra with 300whp. Here are my choices #1 Swap a built SR20DET into the 99 or #2 Buy a Classic SE-R and Turbo it.

Pros of choice #1:
I have the car already.
All of my thourally reasearched suspesion,brake, and body mods will fit it.
I love 4 doors(yes its true)
Not resticted to modding the engine already in it(just replace it)
Cheaper(?)
Current chassis,interior, and exterior mods will carry over.
I do love my B14.

Cons of choice #1:
For Vermont State Inspection the car MUST retain OBD II compliance becasue of its year. (They hook up with a Scan-Tool and check for OBD II monitor rediness)
Down time during the swap.
Its a 4 door(weight).
Must swap engine,tranny,ECU, and harness(other stuff as well I imagine).

Pros of choice #2
OBD II..hells no I can go stand-alone with that baby.
2 door.
Can build the motor thats in it already.
Can use the stock tranny(modified(?)).
No vehicle down time(as I will still have the 99 to drive).

Cons of choice #2
Gotta buy a car, theres 4-5 grand right there.
Older car.
Must go reasearch chassis mods(it has taken me 2-3 years to find the stuff I want for the B14, do I want to start over?)
Most of the guages I would use I already have in the B14 I would have to swap or buy new.
Did I mention I love my B14.
More expensive(?)
Still paying off the B14


And I am sure the list goes on.
I NEED some help guys/girls. I am looking for tons of input, both from the professionals and the amatures on this board. All kinds of input, from technical issues to opinions. I have SE-Rs lined up to be bought, and a savings account that is slowly-but-surley rising.

 

[Teknokid]

I would personally go with B14 seeing as though you already have it. The smog inspection would seem tough and it is pretty strict here in California as many would know. The only thing I can see that sucks is the down time. Hopefully you can find a friend to give you rides to work or to get the parts you need. The other car may be able to turbo but you can also turbo the the B14. I know how you feel, I love my B14 as well. The other car is older and would keep getting older because of the research you have to do. Well this is all my opinion.

 

[tommy]

I personally would go with the B13 and sell the B14. I am not sure where you are getting the 4-5k price for classics, but they are not that expensive, especially if you find one with a blown motor that you can swap a DET into. I bought my classic for 2.5k and it was running fine.

Another reason I would choose the B13 is that swapping a DET for an SR20 is a lot easier than swapping a DET in place of a GA16. You will need to get a lot of small parts for the GA16 to SR20 swap.

You can probably get a good price if you sell your 99 and you will have a nice big budget to do a nice build up in a B13.

That is just my 0.02, and I am a little partial to the B13 too.

 

[Zak91SE-R]

It's a hard choice, man. I think you have most of the issues sorted out. After reading the options and pros and cons you laid out, I would have to recommend going with a B13 SE-R. They're cheaper than you think, you should be able to get one anywhere from $1500 to $3000.

You're right, you will probably end up spending at least a little bit more money on building up a B13. But here's the real reasons I recommend getting a B13.

-You'll have a second car. That means that you can keep your 99 XE the way it is and it'll pass smog and it'll be reliable.

-For the same reasons, you'll be able to work on the B13 without worrying if it's going to be running tomorrow. You'll also be able to turn it into a full race car if you want to. And as you said, it's OBD-1.

If you don't need the "second car" advantage because you already own a couple others, then maybe you should consider selling your 99 Sentra. Think about it - You want 300 HP. You've already as much as confirmed you can't do that with your 99 because of the OBD-II requirements, or at least it will be difficult. If you sell it (assuming you're not upside down on the loan) you'll have money to buy that 91-92 SE-R and then you can just go nuts on it. In your situation that really seems like the thing to do.

Don't worry about the chassis mods, etc. there's plenty of stuff available for the B13, I can even help you with that, as I'm going on my 3rd B13 car now, over a period of 9 years.

So to reiterate: I'm suggesting a b13 because of your specific situation, what with the OBD and everything. It will just be easier, and believe me, once you get that B13 up to 300 HP you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner. Then you just upgrade your suspension and brakes and you've got a killer SE-R that's capable and suitable for daily driving. That's what I think.

 

[SERprise In WV]

Xaqtly what Zak said.

A spectator at the autocross yesterday was asking me pretty much the same thing. He wanted to know how hard it was to turbo the car, etc. I told him that he could basically duplicate my car for $5,000 if he was a good shopper.

They guy's eyes about popped out of his head.

My point? B13s can be had for $2k or less, in good enough condition. You can turbo it up for another $2k *if* you're really frugal, take your good sweet time sourcing parts here and there, as they come available for a good price, and use some previously-owned items. Which is what I did on my B13. Runs like a champ.

$6k maximum is what a good turbo SE-R should cost you to build, one that puts out 300whp, IMHO. You can get *pretty* darn close to that number on the same T28 that I have in my car.

Good luck!

 

[PatScottAKA99XE]

Thanks for the replies peeps.
Even though you guys have suggested the B13, I am leaning hevily twords doing it to the B14. Heres me reasons.
1. I have found out OBD II compliance wont be a problem.
2. My B14 is in better shape than any B13 I could find.
3. Money is not an issue as I am going to take my time so it will be spread out. The initial hit of buying a B13 would kill me right now.
4. I really love my B14
5. I live close to work, if the car doesnt run I'll ride my bike. LOL I mean my fiance can give me a ride when I need it.
6. The cool factor of having a ex-GA powered SR20DET Sentra XE.
7. Like above, can we say sleeper(well my wheels are a lil hint)
8. Did I say I really love my B14.
And the list goes on.
I respect all of your opinions and thank you for them. Dont worry After the B14 is turboed I will some day pick up a B13 and build a Monster... Maybe a 240SX who knows.

 

[Boosterwitch]

$6k maximum is what a good turbo SE-R should cost you to build, one that puts out 300whp, IMHO. You can get *pretty* darn close to that number on the same T28 that I have in my car.
Good luck!

I don't think most people would be able to put together a $6k turbo SE-R including the car. This must be with you doing all the labor of the swap. THere are so many little things that need to be done. Exhaust, clutch, tranny strengthening, front mount intecooler and piping, engine management (JWT is the cheapest at ~$600), and a lot of other little things. But I guess Pat did say he would do the labor. It can be done for pretty cheap but remember not to skimp on things. You get what you pay for in the long run.

I don't believe a T28 can get even close to 300whp on pump gas.

 

[tommy]

Well, I'm definitely no turbo guru, but from what I have read and researched, you could get pretty close to 300whp on a T28 if you used a Cobra MAF or 300ZTT MAF and 50lb injectors running a 4 bar program on a JWT ECU. If I recall correctly, the T28 can support 320whp max. Can anyone confirm or deny this? I am curious as to if this setup could be run with pump gas and not suffer form detonation.

Also, PatScottAKA99XE, I can understand you wanting to keep your car that you have already spent so much time and effort on. I am a big fan of the sleeper route too as I have a 4 door 93 Sentra XE that is powered by a JDM SR20DE, and it is currently being fitted with a T28. Aside from the 3"exhaust and 15" wheels, there is no visual cue that my car is anything but a normal GA16 econobox.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Tommy

 

[Zak91SE-R]

Even though you guys have suggested the B13, I am leaning heavily towards doing it to the B14. Heres me reasons.

Okay, those are a good list of reasons. It looks as if you have my counterpoints covered, so if you feel you can do the swap then I say go for it. Tommy is right when he says the swap is harder to do in a GA16 car than an SR20 car though. Doing a DET swap in an SR20 powered car is a walk in the park compared to doing it in a GA16 car.

But as long as you're prepared I say more power to you. Ironically enough, my current car is a Sentra E model that's being converted, but SR20 Development is doing the work AND they have my old SE-R to pull parts from such as my SE-R's wiring harness, which makes it a lot easier.

But I know you're a mechanic yourself so I'm not worried about your ability to do it. It'll just sort of be a pain. If you're getting an SR20DE and building it up and you're gonna have 300 wheel HP, then may I make a suggestion? Get yourself at the bare minimum the AD22VF (NX2000) brakes. It's just that, with that much power, you'll be rocketing down the pavement faster than you anticipated and the need for better brakes should become obvious after the first few jaunts above 120 MPH.

So it sounds like you've made up your mind at this point anyway. I think you'll be really happy with a built SR20DE with low compression pistons. Be prepared for lots and lots of wheelspin, too.

 

[PatScottAKA99XE]

Zak91SE-R,
thanks man. Brakes.. Hell yeah they are gonna be bigger, I was thinking more along the lines of FastBrakes up front and rear disc swap, SS lines and Altima MC. As for suspension..a decent set of coilovers. All of this will be done BEFORE the engine swap. I want to make sure all aspects of the car are ready to handle the power and speed before I am running around with 300whp.

 

[Boosterwitch]

Well, I'm definitely no turbo guru, but from what I have read and researched, you could get pretty close to 300whp on a T28 if you used a Cobra MAF or 300ZTT MAF and 50lb injectors running a 4 bar program on a JWT ECU. If I recall correctly, the T28 can support 320whp max. Can anyone confirm or deny this? I am curious as to if this setup could be run with pump gas and not suffer form detonation.

The key here is pump gas. The smaller T28 when pushed to it's limits to produce that much power in not as efficient as a bigger T3/T04E. Lower efficiency = higher intake temps = greater chance of detonation.

A T28 making 300whp will probably hit that at about 5k rpm and then drop off a lot up to redline. The T25 turbine can only flow so much. The T3 turbine will be more efficient in the higher RPMs as it is not being pushed as much.

 

[Zak91SE-R]

Brakes.. Hell yeah they are gonna be bigger, I was thinking more along the lines of FastBrakes up front and rear disc swap, SS lines and Altima MC. As for suspension..a decent set of coilovers. All of this will be done BEFORE the engine swap.

Yeah, that's exactly how we did my SE-R. Brakes and suspension first. Sounds like you've got it pretty well sorted out now... time to start buying parts.

 

[Smoat]

I would go w/ the b-13 as it has independent susp. all around and four wheel disks and the front can be easily modified w/ larger calipers and rotors from the nx 2000plus the engine doesn't even have to come out.

 

[sentragtr20]

Ok,ok!! Here is a factor to put into your book. You want 300hp right?! Why not just turbo your GA16de. Replace your pistons,rods,cams,ect.. And Put in some unversal injectors, say about 450cc turn up the boost,and there you go!! much easier and plus you can say you have a 300hp GA!!

 

[Adam]

I'd say B13 just because you don't have one yet What's the 87 , a b12? So get the b13 and you would have had 3 consecutive model years, that would be neat. Also, I'm baised.

 

[Uni]

Stick with the B14..

IMO - you already have the B14 - you still owe money on the B14 - you've given yourself a headstart with research for it..

But above all of the mentioned.. you still owe money on it and own it.

 

[chimmike]

thanks captain old thread.