Thread: How to build a 300 WHP/Liter SR (on the cheap?) discussion.

According to him the front cover from a FWD engine is needed when putting a FWD VE head onto a RWD block. Also it just occurred to me that I'd still need the SR16VE crank, not just the head...

The options seem to be:

• Buy the entire FWD SR16VE engine and get a custom bellhousing for the RWD transmission to mate to.
• Buy the entire FWD SR16VE engine and get a RWD block for the RWD transmission to mate to.
• Buy a RWD block, FWD SR16VE head and SR16VE crank.
  

Hmm... This was supposed to be cheap and easy. =]

Then we get into oil pans...

No wonder everyone just does a DET and makes due with 300-500 WHP...

It wouldn't be much of an engine building exercise if it were easy I guess.

there is someone on the other sr20 forum that did a rwd sr16ve as he wanted it for a race clas, was a great guy with informed posts, but dont expect him to post anymore, he was sick of the crap.

i am doing a rwd sr20ve now, and i ended up buying the whole engine as it was cheaper and easier. I used the whole head setup, oil pump, lower intake manifold as the standard runners are massive, and just made my own custom plenum from them, you also get the loom, a computer to remap (i am not using them, but they did come in handy, and should for you if you are doing on the cheap) then just sold off the pistons.

if using a sr16ve, then it would defiantly make more sence to buy the whole engine as you will need the crank, and the pistons fetch a bit due to the high compression

dont know about over there but blown or low comp rwd sr20's go for couple hundred, so even for my build i bought one to build up, saw no point in tearing apart my sr20det if its running fine (might throw into something cool later).

so just buy one of them a a sr16ve whole, sell off the pistons with that cash get a rwd block and have change left over. for your power you need to rebuild and machine anyway so no extra cost there. Make your own plenum, or take the lower manifold to a local fabricator who has done that stuff before and get made up, get a calum real time, big maf, then the usual stuff for a good det. i would use 16ve cams not n1's. i would also save cash on the fuel rail, the ve one should be fine. I would also use a cheap plain bearing 50trim stage 3 or the holset if you want to keep the cost right down. It can be done cheap if done right, with the right parts.

i wonder what the compression ratio would be from sr20det pistons on 16 rods in a rwd block. As they might be able to hold 480hp right? but too much of a gamble imo. I personally would just cough up a little extra for the cp's as machining cost soo much anyway, whats a little extra for the the pistons. and run some chevy or honda eagle or brian crower rods. I personally like the brian crower billet h beam rods better than eagle for sr20, the dont cost much more and have better oiling and a more stout, the only negative is they weigh a little more, but dont even know if the make them in the honda or chevy ones that are needed for sr16ve

the goal of 300whp per litre will be easier in a s16ve as the short stroke, big bore will result in less stress than a 600hp 2.0, due to the piston not having to travel as far. This will also mean you can run higher comp/more boost and higher revs a bit safer to reach your goals. Also a ve will cost a lot less to get reving high than a rwd sr20det as you will need solid lifters and so on

The negatives will be more lag and it will be gutless off boost, but your goals were not a a responsive street car are they, but rather 300hp per litre for as cheap as possible.

Tons of great advice ca18 bluebird, thank you very much. You mention re-using the VE fuel rail. It is a side feed or top feed rail? I don't really want to try to find cheap 1,000cc side feed injectors... Unless there are some. =]

it is side feed, but if you are only going for 480hp a set of side feed 850cc sards should be up to the task and are very proven

if you plan on using e85, well i dont know to be honest, but they will out flow a walbro by a fair amount

To keep costs down on the fuel system as well you can run a walbro in tank 255 and run another one in line for a booster. It sounds ghetto but one of my good friends tim is running the two pumps like this and his 99gsx is making over 800whp, and thats at all 4 wheels @50psi, oh this is also on eagle rods so if your wondering if they will be up to the task they will be. He is using precision 1000cc's if i remember correctly, but they are close to maxxed.

He bracket races his car at the tracks around here and hasnt had the rods or fuel system fail yet. Trannys are another story.:o Its a bit off topic but if you want to see some old vids of his car type in tim zimmer on you tube, the thing rips!

I agree the sard 850cc should be plenty and you could always up the base pressure on them as well with an adj rising rate regulator like the nismo or sard unit. And for a trans you can use a 300zx twin turbo unit with an sr bellhousing i believe, and it bolts up and also has been proven to be stroger than the sr or ka unit.

It looks like we might be coming to the end of this story. I'd love to talk FWD to RWD conversion and more detail about fueling systems and all the little details that have been left out but I think the goal of my thread has been accomplished. It seems that while the SR20VE would be up to the task, the SR16VE would do it much more gracefully. With money spent in the right places, expensive parts/machining avoided when not necessary and a few DIY parts the goal could be reached for about $10k give or take a few, plus the extra 20% or what ever for padding. =]

I wouldn't look for updates on this for a long, long while. This idea isn't going away but it's not current enough to keep anyone's interest. For now I'm focused on finishing my current project. It is 5 years in the making and seems like it should be finished soon, and not take longer than another year to finish. I have a career now and it pays me well and I have too much sense to go up scale to newer, faster, more expensive cars so the money will be dumped on something only someone as stubborn as me would think up and follow through with.

Thanks to all who helped. I gave a lot of thought to a lot of different options. I went from a Ford 5.0 V8 (Twin Turbo, 800 WHP) to an RST-V8 (2.0 liters, Twin Turbo, 700 WHP?) to a Hartley V8 (2.8 liters, Twin Turbo, 800 WHP?) to an RB26DETT (600 WHP) to an RB25DET+T (600 WHP) to an RB20DET+T (600 WHP?) to an SR20DET+T (600 WHP?) and now to an SR16VE+T (480 WHP?). We'll see what happens. I just need to stop saving for retirement and start saving for my next project. =]

It seems like your set on the SR. Some other similar options I thought of 4g63T and the 4g61T(1.6L, Turbo). I'm not sure if the Mitsu heads outflow the VE head but they are worth a look at. Either one you can probably find cheap as 61 guys usually rip it out to put in a 63 , and six bolt 63's came in several american models. Early 63's are also available through Engine importers.

As for making them RWD it can be done. Starion guys have been doing it for a while now, and I think the Mighty Max transmission will also work.

Let's not forget that there are products on the market to put a Chevy small block into a 240..Sure could save a ton of $$ and make 600whp easily with a 70 trim dangling off the manifolds...(goes and cries in a corner at the mere thought of Chevy power soiling a Nissan)..

Not really interested in anything with a large displacement anymore as I've decided to push the limits of WHP/Liter on pump gas. If I grabbed a small block I'd have to make 1,500+ WHP just to be happy with the specific output of the engine. I don't want to spend what it'll take to do that, and I'd rather show off a tiny motor.

I'm not, but I'm pretty partial to them. I would have to find an engine a lot better and a lot cheaper to build to abandon the SR engine. It wouldn't be worth it in my opinion if the engine were only slightly better. It would probably be a lot more expensive too.