Originally posted by agent
does the ka have any weak spots?
Pistons are the first to go, or rather, the skimpy rings/ringlands. Detonation is the KA's doom. The limit of those varies. 350-410hp on stock pistons has been done. I'd say prolonged amounts of 350+hp is gonna test what shape your motor is in. Rods are decent but still dinky. They'll be the next to go, and will probably take chunks of your block with it. If your motor is strong, you'll be lucky to just pop headgaskets rather than disintegrate blocks. Cranks are beefy, dont require any work (other than normal rebuilding methods like a polish or balance). If you want to rev it beyond 7000, just get an SR20. KA's can do it, but KA-T is a 3000-6000 power tq beast. doesnt need vtec or 11enty billion rpms.
how reliable is a ka-t?
as reliable as you want to make it. money=tuning=longevity and safety
can you safely get 300-350hp from it?
is it a time bomb?
yes. a good handful have been running 330-350 for 3 to 5 years now. stock blocks (it should be noted one in particular im thinking of was a 97 motor with ~20k miles on it [in an s13 chassis] and the other was turbocharged [1997 motor and chassis] with ~17k miles and has been running ~1 bar for almost 5 years now. 330whp and no problems.
It comes down to tuning. 50# injectors, Z32 MAFs, JWT ECU or ROM tune, or Greddy E-Manage/AEM/etc. will make it the easiest for you to get there.