engine rebuild or jdm swapp????

Hello all im in the middle of having to put a new motor in my car do to it locking up /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bawling.gif and was needing help with the best action to take I have found a rebuilt short block for 1000.00 and it will cost about 450.00 for my head to be rebuilt plus the cost of gaskit kit and timing belt and whatever else I might need.... Then there is a local shop that carries a jdm import with 50k miles long block and most brackets and ac..power stearing ect . For 1650.00 what is the best buy and smarter option my big problem is time since I need a car and im borrowing tools for the job and hate to be the guy who keeps tools for years hehe thanks for the help

 

If time is against you, simply get the jdm longblock change the water pump, all the belts & timing pullies. Drop it in.....done

 

if it is a jdm evo3 motor (510 cc injectors big 16g turbo etc) and time is against you I say go for the jdm motor........I was in a very similar situation and did the same thing....but note the jdm ecu was not a direct swap...you must use a usdm ecu and hopefully you have a SAFC or MAFT or something to compensate for the slightly bigger injectors, or you'll just run a little rich , also the thermostat housing was different but thats just a minor issue to over come, if you do have some spare time you could probably build a pretty good motor for $1650 and then not worry about rebuilding/needing to upgrade for a while

 

Im not sure if it is an evo 3 motor here the link to the website but it does not give very good details click

 

[brisvr4]

^^ How is he going to get around the fact that a Evo3 motor doesn't have a provision for front or rear engine mounts? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif
I would NOT go with an Evo motor in a VR4, too much crap to go through for no gain imo.

That is unless you are telling him to get a JDM VR4 RS motor with the big 16g etc.

 

brisvr4........it is not very difficult to make motor mounts.......you make a front and driver side mount and your good.......I have been running one for more then 2 years this way and no issues. The front mount is the the easiest to make and use unless you have a gigantic turbo........the side motor mount can be made by taking the stock mount, cutting the main flange off, moving it and welding it back. But if welding or fabrication is an issue that I agree the evo3 motor is not worth it...........as brisvr4 said the jdm galant motors would be easier....although I thought they had a small 16g? ( I could be wrong)

also per that link I am pretty sure that is a jdm galant motor, not a evo 3 motor as the evo3's had a silver valve cover.

 

[brisvr4]

The engine in the link does look like a vr4 motor.
what did you do with the side mount ( the one under the turbo ). Did you actually weld to the block to fit it?

 

brisvr4- I think you and I are looking at the motor different , in my view there is the rear, pass. side, driver side, and front , where the rear is closest to the firewall. For the front motor mount back when I had a normal person sized turbo (16g) I used s pieces of I believe 1/8" steel for the mount, one square that mounted to the cross member at the stock location, on angle cut longer bar with a hole drilled in it that mounted to one of the ears on the transmission (had nothing mounted to it).......then I welded them together.......it's not the prettiest thing in the world but if you'd like I could take a picture in the next few days.

 

[alansupra94]

I rebuilt my motor in a week /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

However, I didn't need machine work because I checked clearances myself.

 

I have no idea what is good on my motor as it is just now being pulled but it has 176k and never rebuilt . it was making some loud tapping sounds from the top of the motor and befor I could change the lifters the motor locked up when moving it one day this happened with no warning that was it just done so I guess we will se what the damage is when i open her up this weekend ... I will post some picks latter thanks all ... Oh and as for the jdm motor if its a vr4 jdm motor how can i tell if its a 16g turbo td06 h05? are there any markings

 

[boostedinaz]

IMO, I would just rebuild the stock motor. It will be about the same amount if you put the short block and the head together yourself and you know that everything is 100% checked out or new. When you get a JDM motor you have no way of truly knowing how many miles are on it unless they have the entire front clip of the car. Even then you won't know the condition internally until you finally get it running. What if it smokes, leaks like crazy, or just runs poorly.