CA18 Rebuild help

Hi guys,

Most of you know my story (or should that be horror movie...) with my SX. Now I still need to rebuild but need some help/info.

Firstly - The CA18DE that i got for free looks brilliant. I took the motor apart and everything looked in excellent shape. So now my question: Is the block, crank, rods, etc the same for the DE and DET?? If not - what can I use from the DE??

If this is the case I'll be able to save a lot of money on the rebuild.

Second - Does anybody know where I can buy a set of decent pistons for the motor? Something like ACL forged pistons - I've searched all the engine parts places that I know of in pta as well as Masterparts in the cape - no luck.

Or is it better to simply stick with the Nissan pistons? I would really like to up the power later on and thus want to build the motor properly the first time.

Thirdly - What other basic mods do u guys think I should look at while the motor is being rebuilt??

Help would be greatly appreciated...

I think the DET has stronger rods than the DE.

Fit CP pistons, get in touch with REZLO he will be able to help you out with that.

ARP head studs, steel head gasket are a must.

Ummm I've never seen a DE block so I might be talking kak, but I've built 3 CA18DET's with success

So here is my views

DE pistons is different that I know, if you don't want to spend big money, rather source your self some cast pistons, like ChemCool did in his Project F, will cost you less than R500 for the set. Forged is really just required if you plan to make really big power, but it doen't help you just add forged to add forged, you need to go all the way or go gome... MLS gasket, ARP studs, racing bearings...

Oil squirters, DE block might not have oil squirters verify this.

Basic mods, there are none really that will add significant power like a headflow as with VW/Audi engines... Best is source a T28 and get an MLS gasket for reliability.

That is my view... In my case I've built a R12K engine, but is making less power than a stock CA18DET, reason is my engine isn't being utilized correctly its meant for big boost (since the compression is dropped)... Work out your exact needs, budget and plan around it...

Vlade wrote:

MLS gasket, ARP studs, racing bearings...

Oil squirters, DE block might not have oil squirters verify this.

Where can I buy this stuff. Like I said all of the engine parts places that I know of don't stock these things and they don't know of places that do...

Good point about the oil squirters - will have to check that...And I'll measure the rod lengths once the motor from my SX is stripped.

Would the standard Nissan pistons then perhaps be the best thing to go for?? Also Alert engine parts gave me a price of R450 for a Payen head gasket - And the guy confirmed that it was for the DET and not the DE - is this possible...

The DE and the DET head gasget are the same, thats about the price for payen gasget on it's own, the sets are well over R1000.

You will have to go to Rezlo.com or to a place like smart racing in pretoria so they can order it for you, but be sure you give them the right sizes and so forth that you get from your ingeneers.

I'd say go for forged pistons and proper rods, at some stage you will want to upgrade....trust me, so do it right from the start....

How much power are you planning on making??

Vlade I thought those CP piston you have keep the CR the same??

use the de intake cam

After some careful deliberation with the much older and wiser guys in the workshop here at the varsity I've decided that standard is the only way to go.

I don't have an income - as such R6k for pistons is not gonna happen. By quick inspection it seems that just a fairly basic rebuild is gonna cost about R10k in parts.

This means that I'm gonna hav to sell my old bike - which totally f@kkin sucks...

My hate for the Snail now grows deeper...

rat wrote:

use the de intake cam

Why? will this improve performance? What is the DE cam specs - DET is 248 ex and 240 in according to workshop manual.

Why dont you buy an import motor and drop it in??

More lift, cheap mod that gives good results

Gary57 has done this i think it is in the articles or mods section

More lift and duration. the DET cam is 240 and the DE is 248.

Gary57 wrote:

Why dont you buy an import motor and drop it in??

Then I'm still stuck with the same prob. U can never tell with these import jobbies - for instance the DE that I got for free I wanna use as much as I can because it basically looks brand new inside.

Alternatively u buy an import and it is stuffed - you never know. That old saying: "goedkoop koop is duur koop"

I REALLY can't afford another stuff up financially so a proper rebuild that is gonna last hundreds of thousands of kilometers is what I'm aiming for. (touch wood 😀 )

They offer guarentees with the motors and you can get a low KM one. I know a guy selling a CA18DET if you are interested. Its not an import job.

Why will a Stock rebuild cost R10-000?

My rebuild, Forged pistons, metal Hg, Arp bolts, flowed head bla.bla.bla cost me around R 13000 not sure how a stock rebuild can cost 10 grand

dude - 10 grand??? it might cost that much if you dont do anything yourself.

but you say you gonna do it, so it could be more like 5 grand.

it all depends on your shopping list.

a full nissan gasket set for a ca18det is around 2 grand. that should include all gaskets and seals, but there are some little things left out. like the half moon rubbers - those are over 30 bucks each. you need two!!!

anyway - it can be done for 10k, but it can also be done for a fair amount less. its up to you!

@ enzio

CA18DE does have oil squirters, but you cannot use the block on your motor. Wasn't sure from your thread if that was your intention though - so just an observation from my side.

I think the CA18DE head may actually flow better than the DET head. Unless it's an import motor, in which case it will probably be the same. Measure the cc's of the dome and compare the two heads. Either way, use the CA18DE cam as someone suggested.

If you're on a budget then re-use your DET rods. Maybe get them shot peened to add extra strenth, but they are good enough for what you have in mind.

Now your pistons are fried right (or should I say "shrunk" ha ha). So you can eiher get some arias pistons or cp. Alternatively I think you should be able to find OEM pistons or similar from local parts stores.

I cannot think of any reason why the cranks would be different, but just check the spacer think that turns the oil pump. If it's diff swap it over.

Thx for the advice guys.

Got a lot of prices from QEC, Alert, Rezlo and Nissan. Will try to build the best I can with the available budget.

@VC: With all of the prices in front of me I could rebuild for about R5k in parts - but then it is all no-name stuff from Alert and QEC. I'd rather spend a bit more for something that I know like ACL bearings for instance. The other thing that worries me a bit is that a set of pistons and rings are R570 and R120 exc Vat - that just seems too good to be true....(Nissan OEM pistons and rings work out at R4k)

@DocG: Why won't the DE block work - if all the other components are the same, why would the block differ - different material perhaps? I want to use the DE block because it is still in good nick and from the pics I posted of my butchered motor, that has already been bored 80thou -> Way past the service limit of the block.

Anyway - any more help/advice would be appreciated.

CA18DE does have oil squirters, but you cannot use the block on your motor. Wasn't sure from your thread if that was your intention though - so just an observation from my side.

He can use the block on his car if it’s a RWD, also from what I have read the FWD block can also be used but the back-plate and starter need to be changed

I think the CA18DE head may actually flow better than the DET head. Unless it's an import motor, in which case it will probably be the same. Measure the cc's of the dome and compare the two heads. Either way, use the CA18DE cam as someone suggested.

Sorry there is no increased from what I have researched from in the N/A CA18DE head the casting numbers are exactly the same as the turbo model and the combustion chamber are the same as well all the increase compression comes from the Pent roof pistons.

If you're on a budget then re-use your DET rods. Maybe get them shot peened to add extra strenth, but they are good enough for what you have in mind

The Rods are shot peened stock from factory on the DET model.

Stick will stock pistons if keep the motor under 180KW in my eyes even if you go over then shouldnt be a problem unless the tune is bad.

The cranks are the same from what I have read as well.

The only real difference from the Ca18DE to the CA18DET is the injectors (High impedance) the intake system the cams the pistions and the flywheel (na is lighter to my understanding and the starter gear) I know Im leaving out a few things like starter, water-pump (cant take a clutch fan) and from what I have read as well the bearings.

N/A CA18DE head the casting numbers are exactly the same as the turbo model

I have seen 3 different casting numbers on different sx, I still dono what the differences are. There must be some difference if the numbers are different.

How could I find out??