# 1987 sentra sport coupe motor swap question



## E L0C (Oct 11, 2010)

hello I have purchased a 87 sentra sport coupe with the ga16i motor for 100 dollars from a relative. the body is in great shape and it runs pretty good. the only problems with it is it needs new struts gas hand does not work and the 5th gear is out from what i heard sentras of that era are famous for this. Anyway i am going to purchase struts next week so that be out the way. My relative has a 80's model 200sx rwd turbo with the c18et. body is no good plus no title but it runs. i was curious to know how difficult would it be to swap rwd ca18et in my fwd sentra or has anyone done this before. jdm ca18det and sr20det a bit expensive. He also has a 80's model mr-2 with the 4agze no title. i'm more curious about this swap too. people put sr20det in ae86 rollas why not a 4agze in a sport coupe. 4agze turns over but won't run. thanks for any info and help given


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

The RWD and FWD engines are very differant. Either of these swaps will be very difficult. Any engine swap, regardless of fit, is difficult as most of these swaps will require adapting the engine harness and ECM from the donor engine to the vehicle that it will go into. These means plenty of electrical work, as well as fabrication. If you don't have experience in either of these, expect this to be a long and lengthy, and possibly costly, swap, but one in which you will learn alot! The E16i was a good, dependable engine and easy to work on, but if you insist on a swap, you might consider a GA16DE engine and trans from a later Sentra. You could always get an add on turbo kit for it, if you have the extra cash and need to extra power.


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## E L0C (Oct 11, 2010)

Has anybody ever done that ca18et swap. As for the 4agze swap I'm leaning more over to that option but yea I have not done before it would be a learning experience I guess I start by taking measurements to see if it would fit. The ga16de maybe a better option I going to do some more research on the ga motor and what year sentra trans would I use.


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

People have done CA18 swaps on B12 Sentras, but using the FWD version. As far as the GA16DE trans, best bet would be to purchase the engine and trans as a unit. Better yet would be to get a 91-99 donor car with a good engine and trans, this way you have the ECM and electical harness and other parts required for the swap. Saves a lot of headache try to track down miscellaneous parts!


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## E L0C (Oct 11, 2010)

I went to ebay and found a awd ca18det for cheap and from what i read on here i can use the stock wiring harness just have to use a z32 afm and extend some wires. Ga turbo kits like the one from hotshot i think are like 3,000 mine as well get the ca18det or sr20det more likely the ca dnt really want to cut and weld on my car to put the sr in. Came across a pulsar/exa that has a e15et i think in alabama there is no telling wat you will find in back yards and fields. wiki said 82-86 pulsars/exa came with e15et in the us. anyway how hard of a swap wud it be to put a e15et in my SC. I want turbo power!!!


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## mille-16i (Jun 16, 2004)

Wow havnt been on here in forever. K if your gonna swap an engine into your KPB12 you need to do some simple research and find the ins and outs of what can fit in the car and which one offers more bang for your buck and which ones will break the bank for repairs/replacement. Face it your not wanting turbo power to not use it right and when you use it you break it. Now for a elementry education on the B12 you can easily install any E series engine including the E15et but really why would you a stock GA16DE makes more hp then it dose for alot less and parts are plentiful for this engine. you can install any GA engine into it personal opinion this is the best engine choise unless you want huge power levels and have seen many write ups of 200-300hp GA's more than enough for a 2280lbs(that is what mine scales at) car. you have the CA16/18DE/T now these are hard to find and need to be from a fwd car and will bolt in as they were factory option in every other market but the US :balls:. This is a good engine but again its cost to power potential makes it not much better than the GA. then you have the SR's some mods will have to be made but not supper hard but again has to be a FWD car and most SR20DET's are from all wheel drive pulsars so the trannys no good to you and you will have to find a donor SE-r tranny or buy aftermarket one. I have a 87 s/c xe that this summer will hopefully $ willing have a GA16DE in it as I have located a complete runing car for 500 and after I pull engine and everything I need I can scrap the car for 200 but thats my 10 cents on the subject. Do lots of research and ask yourself what you want out of the car is it a full blown race car (Sr) something fun to drive on the street (GA) or something period correct and cool but will not be driven hard much (CA) or do you need it to fit into a class rules like 1.6ltr engine (SR16VE-t)

Also I do not need to be blasted cause I know a CA can handle some abuse but how many of us have blown engines from driving them hard I have several times theres more SR's and GAs in the world than CA's or E turbos. Also look at aftermarket support.


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