One thing’s for certain in life, death, taxes…and the fact that Nissan never ships America their best cars. For starters, every 240sx chassis we ever received was simplified for the stateside enthusiasts, becoming merely a commuter car to get from point A to point B. Then the drifting craze started in the stateside, and everyone learned what a SR20DET swap is. Then American enthusiasts realized that there was even a bigger and better animal we never received, the coveted Skyline. From the R32 to the R34, enthusiasts on stateside soil still drool at the rare sight of one or the dream of owning one.

T.C. Smith is no stranger to Nissan cars, and is very well aware and educated on the Nissan counterparts on Japanese soil. So when he started building his S13 project, he wanted to get the best of all worlds while preserving some pride in the American chassis. Even though he saw the craze from the SR20DET swap and everyone else converting their 240’s to mimic those from Japan, Smith wanted to something similar while staying different. The result? A right hand drive converted, S13 Silvia front end swapped 240sx coupe… but KA powered! That’s right; don’t let that front mount intercooler fool you to think that it’s SR20DET off the bat. Smith takes great pride in the fact that he rebuilt the KA from the bottom up and boosted it to compete with the SR20’s out there, and he’s had great results.

To start, Smith revamped his KA with Crower rods and Arias pistons to withstand the entire boost he was going to force into the motor. Not to mention that the KA had seen its fair share of miles, so it was almost a given to have it rebuilt. The head was ported as well and the motor went back together with a Cometic head gasket in between. The turbo kit starts with a Turbonetics T3/T04e and a DeltaGate wastegate. Smith then custom fabricated many of the exhaust and intake components himself, hooking everything up to a JohnnyRaceCar intercooler on the cold side and mufflers from Magnaflow and Summit Racing on the hot side. Additional fuel has been added to the system through a Walbro 255lph fuel pump, a modified stock fuel rail and 810cc injectors.

Continuing on with the performance aspect, the drivetrain, suspension and brakes were completely overhauled as well, borrowing parts from its Japanese brother in the form of the R32 Skyline. In the front and the rear are R32 Skyline brakes equipped with slotted front rotors and EBC brake pads. At the core of the suspension goods is a set of A’PEXi WS coilovers along with custom fabricated power brace and tension rods by Smith himself. JGY Customs came in with their LSD and rear aluminum subframe collars. Smith informed us that he has newly added Megan Racing traction arms and toe arms to his setup. Getting all the power to the ground is a Zoom stage 3 clutch kit and a D21 flywheel. Each shift is short and snappy thanks to a B&M short shifter.

On the exterior, Smith wanted to convert a little bit of JDM goodness with the Silvia dual projector head lamps. His own touch to the aesthetics however came in the form of a Version Select Series 1 body kit and wider front and rear fenders. The car was then repainted a shade of Nissan Smoke Metallic and Smith was content. Finishing off the exterior is a pair of 17x9 Enkei RPF1 wheels in the front and a pair of wider and 18x10.5 Enkei RPF1 wheels. Every corner is wrapped with high quality rubber from none other than Falken Tires.

In the interior, the custom fabrication work continues with Smith doing a right hand drive conversion to his S13. S14 seats were then tossed in along with a R33 Skyline steering wheel. A Razo shift knob fits comfortably in Smith’s hand while the audio has been handled with components from Pioneer and Alpine.

Smith informed us that the majority of the work was done by himself including all the fabrication and he takes great pride in keeping his S13 KA-equipped. The tuning has been accomplished with the help of the guys at Akron Horsepower on their 24 DynoJet and a BikiRom mega board. We can’t wait to see what Smith has in store for his S13 down the road!