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SR20DET swap into 98 Frontier

73K views 77 replies 38 participants last post by  jski701 
#1 ·
As the title says, I am in the process of a swap from a KA in my 98 frontier to a SR. Why?? Hell , Why not ?? So lets get to it.

Sr and her new home



I picked up a full clip from a shop in El monte. My plan was originally to get just a motor but with the whole japan tragedy, all i could get was a clip.. so we made due to get it home ..

Strapped it into the truck,





We used some japanese bale wire and two 1200 lbs ratchet straps to hold her down ..we arent going far , only 150 miles .:biggthump it made it!

We had to pull the clip out of the trailer by using a strap around a tree and driving the trailer out from under it



then onto the dollies and in the garage




once in the garage some dismantling to get it ready for removal from its old life in the S-13. It is kinda sad that a awsome S-13 had to die to bring the SRtier to life ..





This is just the start i got some more to share in a sec !!
 
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#2 · (Edited)
We had to cut out some of the front of the frontier to fit in the inter cooler we measured the sr and mocked it up on the ka just to get it close..we will be adding more as the build goes on !!










The intercooler fit like it is made for a fronty .. nice !!

. this will be one mean *** frontier when this all comes to the end !! next we will get a new sr for the car too



intercooler vs. stock


I have a lot more work to do including a 3 inch custom lift that is being fabricated as i write. Also a custom oil pan to clear the front suspension ..


That is it for now. any suggestion are appreciated.
I got a Couple questions too
Has anyone ever seen this frontier sr swap before ??

And the sr came with jeggs (Grey plug) injectors , anyone have ideas as to what cc they might be .. i may just get new ones anyway ..

::edit :: Im blind they are stock JECS 370cc i just couldnt see them , im proble not the only one who missread those tiny labels. We thought they only came in red or purple , my bad ::

thanks for checking it out ill have updates soon :biggthump

update we got the KA out of the fonty. It took some elbow grease but we got her.

here is today's shots

i cut the cross piece off so i can get the sr out easy


we are going to make a custom driveline from both the s13 and the fronty .


bolted up









out






we are doing more work tomorrow so ill get some new pics then

:biggthump

btw all photos taken with my iphone
 
#9 ·
I got a Couple questions too
Has anyone ever seen this frontier sr swap before ??
once or twice. you got the oil pan issue solved. the only other headache is the wiring. if you got the stock SR harness and ECU then youll be fine. just take your time.

if you really want to go the extra mile, ive seen people swap the 240 dash into these trucks before too. since yours is a RHD, you would need a RHD frontier steering box and linkage too. but lets not distract you with other projects. lol

keep up the good work, and the updates.
 
#5 ·
this is gonna be one kick a** fronty! definitely subscribed!
 
#7 ·
Wow! My Frontier is the same color as this which makes me relive my thoughts on wanting to do this. This motor basically drops right in! Even the motor mounts line up! What are you going to control it with? Stock ecu or are you going another route? Awesome project!
 
#8 · (Edited)
Thanks for all the props so far guys !!

We are stoked about this project, and dont want to fail here so we are taking it one step at a time !!

I will get a vid up as soon as she is running for sure !!!


As for the motor dropping right in ...well that is false you can mount it right on the stock mounts but the back of the motor hits the fire wall so we want to move it a tad forward about 1.5 inches or so, by drilling new holes and custom motor mounts .. This will also solve another problem the sr tranny is longer then the ka ( not to mention the stock truck was a auto ). so by moving it forward the stick will fit in the stock location cut out .

second the oil pan on the sr is forward and will hit the front sway bar and steering so a rear sump oil pan like the one off the ka will be tig welded to fit on the sr and the sr oil pick up will be extended ..so the answer is yes and no it will fit with a little fab needed ... at least i think
we are gonna find out >>>> :)

I am cleaning out the engine bay and painting it up today
 
#14 ·
Since I reused the stock transmission the only wiring I had to do to mine was for the diagnostics port on the interior and rewired the harness under the hood to clean it up (I didnt plan on using the a/c at the time) the wiring was fairly straight forward surprisingly to how I went about doing it few ignition sources was the basic things. I reused the KA engine mounts but I ground off the small alignment tab and flipped sides fit in like a champ. As for the trans I had a manual to manual swap and all I had to do was swap my stock KA trans onto the sr20 bell housing, few clips and some wiggling and had them apart and together without any problem. .. plus I didnt have to get a custom drives haft built.

Unfortunately delta knows what I had to do before I got it fully on the road :(

http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/f7/newb-70012/
 
#15 ·
Delta>>>>> oh yea we are converting it to manual we are using the sr tranny !! It will be cool :)

99srnissan>>> whats up buddy !! yea i was a little familiar with your build i saw the build thread, when i was searching for other fSRontier..bummer it didnt get finished , it is a pretty rare swap ..

just curious , how did you solve the oil pan issue, with it clearing the front sway and steering??
I was just going to fab a new one to fit ..

it is awesome to hear that the wiring isnt that bad ....
you used the frontiers cluster ??


I really want this to kick off with a bang, so maybe you can live vicariously through mine..

thanks for dropping in guys
 
#16 · (Edited)
Honestly with using the factory mounts I didn't have a clearance issue it was tight but worked, same thing with the firewall had about an inch or so in back. The thing I hadn't figured out at the time was for the power steering I think I had to get lines made or somehow build my own with after market fittings.
The cluster was stock because I never messed with the harness for fuel pump or the speedometer since the trans was still the original, I just reused the Sr temp sensor, whether that was accurate with the dash not sure and I never got around to wiring in the check engine light.
 
#17 ·
thanks 99nissan that gives us some good info that really helps :)


sr is out of the clip and the mount plates on the frontier are off we will clean them up and get the welder here to tack them in the new place. then a buddy is making the custom drive line...
my suspension was suppose to be done this week but i haven't heard from them yet hopefully it will be done in the next few days ..

we are getting closer slowly but surely !!!





 
#21 ·
Motor test fit !!

It has been a bit since i have posted , also worked on the truck for that matter .. Life gets in the way !! But that doesn't mean i don't have dreams of a burn out video to show everyone ....

We tested the motor positioning to line it up for the motor mounts and see if the piping all clears ... In all these pics it is all just mocked up in place for measuring purposes. Oh damn that's a good site you all have to take a look.. fits like a glove..







this shot is just for fun , it is from the security cameras on my house you can even see the sr there








from underneath



remember all that rusty suspension is coming off ,, i go and pick up the suspension from cal-mini's shop on monday ..good to be a local :) no shipping


we are gonna line up the mounts just slightly forward ..


Well that is it for now Getting closer ....My anticipation is peaking .

:willy_nilly:
 
#22 ·
That thing is going to be AWESOME
 
#24 ·
Subscribed! This build is awesome!
 
#27 ·
Sick yo!!! SUBSCRIBED! My friend has a 240 big fan of these motors... Can't wait to see the end result!
 
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