Hello EveryOne;

This is my first post here and I wish I brought up something useful by this post, everyone can share thoughts and Ideas.

I have done many LS/Vortec swaps to jeeps and patrols. Now it is time for my loved 350Z. I bought it two days ago with engine knocking and annoying low oil pressure.

I had two choices weather to rebuild my engine or go for LS swap. I must tell that I will not pay workshop fees cause if I am doing a rebuild it will be done by my hands which will make it low budget rebuild. LS swap has its own costs of buying the engine, harness, and some other extra costs.

with LS swap. The high cost option, I will have affordable engine and high power gain.
with rebuild. The low cost option, I have no Idea if it is a kind of engines that will be affordable machine after rebuild. or it will fail soon.

Please advice me

All your comments are appreciated

 

cammed ls3 gets my vote

 

Depends on how bad the damage is.

I always vote to keep another VQ on the road. Especially with how much swaps cost in total. It's not a easy $1,000 and done like some people assume.

But LS builds are hard to refute. Ever think of staying JDM and looking 2j?

I'm a firm believe in the notion "2j and LS everything!" Lol

 

Ls3 and cam

Easy reliable power. No forced induction to worry about

 

I would do a 6.0 or 5.3 truck motor, cam swap, ported heads and a fast intake , make low 400s. Would save alot of money and still faster then 95% of VQ powered cars

 

What are your real goals for the vehicle? Daily driver? Drag car? Drift car? Circuit car?

That's what we need to know!

 

Well by the time your done mounting and porting the truck motor your basically trying to turn it into what the LS3 already is. But still not as good.

Not to mention after all that your well into the price range of just picking up a LS3.

But if you get to that point after supporting mods and everything else you'll need to complete that LS swap your basically in the range of being able to just build a VQ for close to similar or lower.

But the only problem with going VQ is FI is the only way you'll be able to make the LS numbers realistically, like HR said which is a head ache in and of it self.

Like they say, no HP comes for free, either way your ganna have to pay to play. With that MPH one way or another lol

 

Or the fact that the iron block is super heavy compared to a LS3

 

ppsssh, go big LS7 that puppy

 

That's chump stuff.

LS9 or LSX or nothin

 

http://www.lingenfelter.com/product/LPE19201990.html

or ls7 and trans combo for half the price

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-s00014/overview/

 

Daily driver

 

Well, that puts an end to anything with 8 cylinders then. To be honest, you can't trust a high-horsepower VQ as a daily though. It's not that they are necessarily unreliable in themselves, the cost of preventive maintenance will be very high to keep it in tip top shape as you drive it hard every day inevitably.

I like my current situation. 4 cylinder daily, twin turbo VQ for fun.

 

Where you are, which parts are more readily available?

 

LS3, with a heads cam combo, great power and should be reliable

 

As a cammed LS3 driver...

Go cammed LS3.

 

Personally I would vote for the 5.3 stock displacement don't mess with the cylinders(thats why the 5.3 iron block is stronger then a ls3 block. Pick up a brand new Summit 5.3 block. and build it up over the winter if you have 1. A fully forged 5.3 will be around 4500 all said and done short block put together by a reputable engine builder.

A brand new 5.3 summit block at 400 bucks shipped to your door, will be 1/4 of the price of what the ls1/2/3 blocks bring. Or you could find a l33(gen4) 5.3 aluminium block for about half the cost of a ls1/2/3 block. All the components will cost the same.

Bottom line a ls1/2/3 will cost you more(block vs block) and the blocks themselves(ls1/2/3) are done around 850-900whp. While the iron 5.3 with it's thick cylinder walls can handle 1000hp at the tires.
Buying a bare block is nice (that's what I did) but all the accessories/censors will nickel and dime you.

I understand you might not go FI but all the parts I bought and that's included in the 4500 price you could get all hi compression stuff for the same price ie,ls7 lifters,ls2 time chain ect.

 

Thank you guys, I appreciate all your replies. its clear that everybody is pushing for LS. I understand the aspects behind that. But when I came to calculations, LS rises the budget to more than double what I can afford. After disassembling the VQ, It's quiet clear that rebuild will not cost me more than 800$ -no workshop fees. In addition to that I have spare engine that I can use for spare pats. This puts me in budget and saves me a lot of headache and bucks.

Initially, I only need to replace Crankshaft, bearings, oil pump, gaskets, two connecting rods. That's all I found needs replacement.

Now, what brand is better for engine parts, average quality? Also is there anything else that is mandatory to be replaced during a VQ rebuild?

Many thanks....
Ragheed

 

Why not just spend 1300 on the AMS forged rebuild kit? Comes with all the gaskets and everything for bottom end rebuild.

 

Hah another win for a VQ back on the road.

Suck it all you LS sissies!

Lol jk I seriously love the LS. But like you said it's not cheap to do a swap of any kind. Your literally replacing the heart and half if not nore of what you paid for by buying the car in the first place.

LS/JZ swaps are awesome and I'd love one my self but it's not feasible when actually sat down and thought about.