Engine Swap

[MR2_Jester]

Hey everyone, some of you may have seen in my previous post, but for those who don't know. My engine is completely shot and it's time to either do a swap, or sell the car. Just trying to figure out my options right now, and really have no idea where to start as far as where to look for a new engine. I've heard of a cases where people have done a V6 swap? Or on the other end, if I were to sell the car, what it would be worth to post it for. (For anyone interested, I will not be parting it out) Just looking for a little guidance on the first few steps to start this process. Thanks everyone.

[immorality]

How much money do you have to spend on this car?

[Oteck]

If you can find a decent engine to replace it with may it be a gen3 (something nicer) id take that route. V6's itself are not the easiest and has a steep learning curve. A direct swap would cost less and be done in a day

[MR2_Jester]

If you can find a decent engine to replace it with may it be a gen3 (something nicer) id take that route. V6's itself are not the easiest and has a steep learning curve. A direct swap would cost less and be done in a day

Awesome! good to know! Thank you. My budget is approximately $2000. I've been quoted $1000 for labor by a mechanic in Abbotsford who has always done great work for me. I found a bunch of JDM engine dealers on Ebay. Not sure if anyone here has ever dealt with them or heard any stories? Would the gen3 3GSTE be an upgrade? Bare with me, just learning about most of this for the first time lol.

[Oteck]

gen 3 has a nicer turbo and is map base so you can run your noise maker (bov) w/o consequences of running rich. 1k quite abit much but is pretty reasonable for a shop but i recommend you replace some refreshing like the hose from hell (HOH) and HOHOE. at that point your going you may aswell replace the clutch.

[MR2_Jester]

I actually just last year blew the head gasket on this engine, and Camshaft recommended I replace hose from hell and a bunch of other things while he had the engine all taken apart, so I'm hoping a lot of that will transfer over. Clutch is only a couple of years old as well, however it is an ACT Clutch which I've heard doesn't usually last more than 5 years or so. I've also seen that there is a 3SGTE 4th Gen from a Caldina that will fit in our cars. I read up on it a little bit and it sounds like a great engine. Is there anything screwy about dropping either the 3rd or 4th gen motor in our cars wiring or electrical wise or anything? I should mention I have a 91 JDM, so maybe the wiring will match up a little better?

[RePete]

IMO, $2k isn't enough coinage to do an engine swap unless you perform the work yourself. It's the little niggly things that start to add up which push it into the $3k and $4k zones. I'm not indicating that you don't do it, but just be prepared to double your budget.

Another option is you could get a 4th gen installed professionally by Prime in the States for US$4k, they'll do an excellent job, it means towing the car there though (they might even have one already done on the lot you can buy).

On the other (not so good) hand, you will now have a 4th gen motor that was never officially introduced into the North American market. That means sourcing parts in the future - while not impossible - will be time consuming and more expensive than a gen 2.

Taking a step back and looking at the big picture, you may need to ask yourself if can you find a car as good looking and fun as the SW20 for $4k?

[MR2_Jester]

IMO, $2k isn't enough coinage to do an engine swap unless you perform the work yourself. It's the little niggly things that start to add up which push it into the $3k and $4k zones. I'm not indicating that you don't do it, but just be prepared to double your budget.

Another option is you could get a 4th gen installed professionally by Prime in the States for US$4k, they'll do an excellent job, it means towing the car there though (they might even have one already done on the lot you can buy).

On the other (not so good) hand, you will now have a 4th gen motor that was never officially introduced into the North American market. That means sourcing parts in the future - while not impossible - will be time consuming and more expensive than a gen 2.

Taking a step back and looking at the big picture, you may need to ask yourself if can you find a car as good looking and fun as the SW20 for $4k?

Yeah very true about trying to get parts. I did look into Prime actually and they look awesome. I'm not comfortable sending the car away that far though. Maybe down the road several months if I'm not making much progress on this project I would consider scrapping the car and finding something else, but I have owned it for 10 years and just lost it over the weekend, so if I can get it back on the road for 2-3k I'd rather go that route even if pushing for something new and equally as fun would only be 4-5k

[Goopi]

Yeah very true about trying to get parts. I did look into Prime actually and they look awesome. I'm not comfortable sending the car away that far though. Maybe down the road several months if I'm not making much progress on this project I would consider scrapping the car and finding something else, but I have owned it for 10 years and just lost it over the weekend, so if I can get it back on the road for 2-3k I'd rather go that route even if pushing for something new and equally as fun would only be 4-5k

If you can wait 6 months then take my 3sgte, but it's definitely going to need a rebuild sometime soon as well.

2k is very low for having someone swap the engine. I know it's hard in your case, but to have more options your budget needs to be bigger than what it is at now.

[RePete]

...if I can get it back on the road for 2-3k I'd rather go that route even if pushing for something new and equally as fun would only be 4-5k

That's good, a true SW20 enthusiast.

But as stated a few times in this thread already, you cannot do an SW20 engine rebuild - or especially a swap, cheaply. $2K is just getting started, budget for $4K.

Also, I've heard many unfortunate stories on those cleaned up but shoddy engines on eBay - most if not all are on the very tail end of their life. Sometimes there's no way to tell that you bought a dud until you install it and run it for a few weeks. If you're going for a swap, I'd stick locally.

[MR2_Jester]

...if I can get it back on the road for 2-3k I'd rather go that route even if pushing for something new and equally as fun would only be 4-5k

That's good, a true SW20 enthusiast.

But as stated a few times in this thread already, you cannot do an SW20 engine rebuild - or especially a swap, cheaply. $2K is just getting started, budget for $4K.

Also, I've heard many unfortunate stories on those cleaned up but shoddy engines on eBay - most if not all are on the very tail end of their life. Sometimes there's no way to tell that you bought a dud until you install it and run it for a few weeks. If you're going for a swap, I'd stick locally.

Ah really? That's great to know, I've really been looking hard at the Ebay engines and have been pretty nervous about that happening. Any advice on where to start looking locally? Would it just be through forums and such? I'm in no rush at this point. the shock and devastation of this event has passed now, and I'll be saving up more to get it done properly, aim for next Spring or something like that.