List them here! I've looked all around and cannot find a place or thread that is at all helpful in providing more than just ONE idea that may cost $20k to do. Mostly ive found ls2 swaps..great! except its not within my $12k budget. Does anyone have any idea on what i can do to my motor/trans for 12k? I was hoping for a brand new motor (0 miles), brand new transmission, and exhaust for basics.

What are your ideas for either building a motor/tranny, or swapping something in.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MNQf_t6Qgc

 

i would do the ls2 imho

 

uh... you can put any motor as long s you have the money, if you have a 12k$ budget why not boost the vq?

 

I dont think its been done before but why not RB26? I know its a 900cc drop in size, but it could produce monster power if you do good weight reduction. ive seen rb26 motors for sale in the low $3,000. i even saw one once for about $2,600. i know there is a guy building a 2jz 350 here: https://my350z.com/forum/engine-and-...50z-build.html

but i did Boost for $8,000 and i make 400whp. Not a bad route to go. A lot of people dont realize the power VQ motors can make. v8's in my opinion are a waste of time in the z since they are heavier and the z is already heavy enough as it is. Especially ls1 or ls2. Ls1 is a 5.7L (2,200cc bigger) and ls2 is 6.0L (2500cc bigger)= heavy as fawk.

 

perhaps you should google the swap, not just keep it to the forums limits.

 

+1. If you want 0 miles on everything, then rebuild your block or buy a rebuilt one and rebuild your tranny then boost. That should be close to being in your budget. 4.5k for rebuild, 1k for rebuilt tranny then then 6.5k left for boost! There are a ton of motors that sell on here that have been rebuilt the correct way and that can more than handle 450whp on boost.

 

^plus like many ppl have said you don't have all the extra weight of a big v8.

 

12k for me means boost the VQ...but a RB26 swap would be nice!

 

I wonder what the difference in weight in an aluminum block V8 and a VQ35 with all the extra FI parts on it.

 

with 12k..built motor and twins..seems like a ls2 swap could be done for that money though..or check into the 2jz swaps

 

turbo lq9

 

Keep it JDM Swap = 2JZ or RB26 with RB25 trans.. And those motors will have miles on them! For 12K i'd slap on a boosted performance turbo kit and romp on it till it blows and save the other $$ for a built short block! With a 2jz swap you'll want to go single and for good power (above 400) you have to spend a good amount of change on standalone ECU and all that goes along with it.. RB swap overall might be less as all you really need are custom down pipes, mounts and driveshaft and stock ECU... but good luck finding a good motor set! 2JZ's are easy to find!

 

Hmm I didn't think of it that way. Interesting question. I'm curious now also. I feel google fever coming on

 

Where is the nub smackdown at from bmccann?? This stuff has been covered a hundred times over including rb26 swaps, even a g35 in the ny area with awd rb swap. 2jz has been done many times also.

If you read the ls swap thread in engine sub forum you'll find the weight differences which are minimal. Plus you can make a reliable 400whp on an LS NA and not have to worry about shredding your bottom end.

LS3 w/o accessories = 375#
VQ= roughly 300#

add a few more for trans on the LS, you're not looking at a huge weight difference. plus you'll be making 150 more horse power.

RB and 2jz are both cast iron block, they will weigh considerably more than any aluminum block LS.

 

RB26 has been done, just google it and see how many images pop up. A few years ago there was a drift SR20DET swapped Z.

 

Nubes coming out in droves today, it appears.

Longblock vs longblock, the VQ is heavier that the LSx...

 

i want to boost my vq. i really do but my car has 86k on the motor, so putting a brand new turbo setup on it doesnt sit well with me. It sounds like One option i could consider would be rebuilding the motor and then boosting it. All i really want is more power for my money and i definitely plan on keeping the car for a few more years.

Im not really concerned with weight issues of the lsx motor compared to the vq, all id really be concerned about is that is xxx thousand pounds but is a god damn beast when it comes to power. Not to mention the fact that having an lsx motor and a sweet exhaust would be ...excuse my language....totally ****ing amazing. But i am not willing to strap down $16-20k doing it. I've read a lot of threads and have sub'd to a few, and it sounds like its a flat out freddy kruger scene where he's hacking someone up. (in terms of problems that can go wrong)

 

If you did a lot of the work yourself and shopped around, you could do a stock LS2/T56 swap for $12k easily. The problem you run into when putting a swap together is when you start buying all kinds of **** (suspension, brakes, diff, seats, steering wheel, etc) because you realize the chassis will need upgrades to handle the newfound power properly. I probably have $20k in parts and I still haven't even started the swap yet. I also have a bunch of upgrades (coilovers, twin disk clutch, upgraded fuel system, custom clutch hydraulics, pieces for custom exhaust, rebuilt diff with Quaife LSD and 4.08 gears, bushings, etc, etc) and ended up with a built LS2 longblock that puts out 600fwhp. I went with the "do it once, do it right" way of thinking and threw my budget out the window. We can sit here and speculate all day long or you can recruit some good help and just jump in and do it, consequences be damned.

 

If you are worried about money and you want the car to last a few more years. You're not going to find a solution. As said many times before, you get 2 of these three: Cheap, Fast, Reliable.

When you swap stuff, you have to deal with electronics, custom fabb'ing, blah blah blah. It's not cheap, and since everything is custom, reliability will always be an issue. Granted, you get a NA LS, you shouldn't have any problems with the motor, but the swap itself won't be cheap unless you can fab everything yourself.

For 12k, if you really want to change something to your Z, get a turbo kit. I nice ECU, a good tune, keep it it safe and take care of it. You shouldn't have too many problems.

But you have to realize if you want a lot of power, you're going to have to throw a budget aside. Budgets and a lot of HP do not go in the same sentence together.

You have to pay to play with the big dogs.