Area shops that pull swaps

[pez]

I live in northern Indiana and I am wanting to have a redtop SR20DET dropped into a '98 240sx SE. MY first problem is selling off my prelude and buying a 240. It should be that hard to sell my car there are enough tweekers around my house that will eat that **** up. I like doing plenty of research before I buy. I dont' plan on doing the swap at home. I want someone that specializes in or at least has performed a few nissan swaps to take care of it for me. Who does it? I don't want to drive anymore than 4 hours to get this done. I will go a little south of Indianapolis if I have to. But like I said, 4 hours normal driving time is enough. Can anyone help me out? There has to be someone in the chicagoland area. Thanks.

[matt0941]

you mean shouldN'T right? Mind driving to Iowa?

www.afterdark-tuning.com

[pez]

Originally posted by matt0941
you mean shouldN'T right? Mind driving to Iowa?

www.afterdark-tuning.com

Yeah, I did mean shouldN'T.....

I'm unsure about Iowa. Where in Iowa are they? I've sent an email to dauntless before regarding a swap. I'm not passing judgement or anything, but it seems like people tend to jock dauntless on this site quite frequently. Don't take this the wrong way, but sometimes people on web boards tend to go with the flow and say something is tight because alot of people say it is. Internet chat can be decieving. I'm not saying I am uninterested in what After Dark has to offer however. I just would like to talk to them personally about that before I make the trek to Iowa to find a hole in the wall APC dealer. I'm not ripping on After Dark Tuning at all. I'm sorta making a point about saying something on a web board that you aren't sure about.

<b>matt0941...</b>
Thanks for the link! I'll be sure to check it out. Can you get me a phone number or address? I couln't find it on that site. I did see some nice prices though!

Thanks for the help.

Is there anywhere closer?

[KiDyNomiTe]

Originally posted by pez

Is there anywhere closer?

Not really, I know in Illinois (or at least the chicagoland area) there haven't been any publiscized SR swaps done by a shop. The farthest I know of a shop doing it in chicago was just putting the engine in, but the wiring and stuff was too complicated (or something along those lines) so they gave up and the owner did the wiring himself. I am sure you could be the first to test out some shops, or you could just ask around and get some help from people who have done the swap, but I doubt they will do it for you.

Other than afterdark, there is heavy throttle, but they are somewhere in the southeast (I think Florida, don't remember).

Best of luck with the swap.

[Agent_S13]

Originally posted by KiDyNomiTe

Other than afterdark, there is heavy throttle, but they are somewhere in the southeast (I think Florida, don't remember).

HT (heavythrottle.com) is up in New York... seems kinda far for you. Though they've had numerous people vouch for them here and on FA.

I guess you could also try UnstableHybrids in Georgia as well since they also seem to have stuff in stock and might be closer than New York. (I'm from California so someone on the East Coast can confirm or provide the right info)

I thinks Kid was referring to Enjuku Racing in Florida and they offer lots of SR parts too.

HTH!

-Aaron
'91 240sx coupe

[Yoshi]

um... what about Santeca?
(www.santeca.com)

[matt0941]

Don't worry Pez, Daunttless should respond to you very shortly. He actually opened his shop due to the demand of 240 work. It should be open as soon as the website is up and running. He has about 3,500 posts on 240.org and has contributed (i am pretty sure) alot of effort and money to the NICO cause. He also gives warranties on his stuff and all his SRs come with less than 35k on them, not missing any parts.

[KiDyNomiTe]

Originally posted by Agent_S13
HT (heavythrottle.com) is up in New York... seems kinda far for you. Though they've had numerous people vouch for them here and on FA.

I guess you could also try UnstableHybrids in Georgia as well since they also seem to have stuff in stock and might be closer than New York. (I'm from California so someone on the East Coast can confirm or provide the right info)

I thinks Kid was referring to Enjuku Racing in Florida and they offer lots of SR parts too.

HTH!

-Aaron
'91 240sx coupe

I actually had all 3 mixed up (UnstableHybrids, Heavy Throttle, and Enjuku), I knew one of them was in georgia, and one in FL, so I said southeast, but I guess I was way off.

EDIT: Didn't know Santeca was in Indy, they fit your bill perfectly

Commonly performed tuning includes but is not limited to:
- Engine swaps including but not limited to SR20, CA18, RB, IJZ, 2JZ, 20V, 4AGZ3.
- Turbocharger, exhaust, intake, boost controller, fuel controller installation.
- Custom fuel system setups including fuel cells, an fittings, lines, pumps.
- Standalone engine management installation and tuning.
- Suspension installation and setup.
- Clutch, flywheels, and LSD installation.
- Coming soon: FCON V PRO installation and tuning.

[KoukiS14]

Hey welcome to the (almost, anyway) Indiana kouki s14 club haha. . I'm in Lafayette, and I gotta 97 LE. .

There was a shop in Indy... gawd... was okinawa. . etc etc. . I can't remember what the name was changed to. . haha. . but. . anyway. . there was / is a shop in Indy that does the swaps. =)

There's a guy locally from Elkhart that has an SR powered S13, but I don't think I should pimp him out haha (he did the swap with his dad and one or two other people)

[Firelance]

Something I'd like to add about the nico forums is that while dauntless and crew seem pretty helpful, a lot of guys on nico rag on other shops that are cheaper (not dauntless himself). In particular there has been a thread about davies2k (who has advertised in zilvia classifieds) over on 240sx.com and who has been critized as being shoddy because his prices are too good. No offense to the nico guys but maybe they shouldn't talk **** about other shops, especially established ones like jdmrecylcer. There are other examples, but basically, any swap shop besides afterdark and heavythrottle aren't really recognized as legitimate there.

[DuffMan]

Heavythrottle, Unstable, whatever. They all buy their engines from venus or some other importer and charge $1000 in mark up for their name.

I think I am going to get an engine from that Davies2k guy and pay the expensive shipping and install it myself. That's the sucky reality of shops in chicagoland.

The fact that people on NICO don't like him is only a plus in my book.

[thelinja]

Originally posted by KoukiS14
Hey welcome to the (almost, anyway) Indiana kouki s14 club haha. . I'm in Lafayette, and I gotta 97 LE. .

There was a shop in Indy... gawd... was okinawa. . etc etc. . I can't remember what the name was changed to. . haha. . but. . anyway. . there was / is a shop in Indy that does the swaps. =)

There's a guy locally from Elkhart that has an SR powered S13, but I don't think I should pimp him out haha (he did the swap with his dad and one or two other people)

What shop is this? I only know of two "import shops" in the Indy metro area and they both suck ass. There is one in Greenwood by my house which doens't even sell parts that we would consider name brand. And then there's Indy Import Performance. I like IIP more than the other shop, but I still don't really trust them. And besides I emailed them over the summer about SR swaps, and they said they only do Hondas. Are you referring to AIM Tuning on Gasoline Alley? I don't think it would be them though because I thought they only dealt with RX-7's.

[KoukiS14]

Originally posted by thelinja
What shop is this? I only know of two "import shops" in the Indy metro area and they both suck ass. There is one in Greenwood by my house which doens't even sell parts that we would consider name brand. And then there's Indy Import Performance. I like IIP more than the other shop, but I still don't really trust them. And besides I emailed them over the summer about SR swaps, and they said they only do Hondas. Are you referring to AIM Tuning on Gasoline Alley? I don't think it would be them though because I thought they only dealt with RX-7's.

Nope. . not AIM tuning. . read my original post hehe. . =) I can't remember the damn name and I'm way too lazy to look fo that post on it haha. .
(plus I gotta get goin, but when I'm outta class I may go ahead and check up on it =)

[pez]

Originally posted by KoukiS14
Hey welcome to the (almost, anyway) Indiana kouki s14 club haha. . I'm in Lafayette, and I gotta 97 LE. .

There was a shop in Indy... gawd... was okinawa. . etc etc. . I can't remember what the name was changed to. . haha. . but. . anyway. . there was / is a shop in Indy that does the swaps. =)

There's a guy locally from Elkhart that has an SR powered S13, but I don't think I should pimp him out haha (he did the swap with his dad and one or two other people)

I'm at Purdue right now. I've peeped all the 240's on campus. My friend just got a 96 (i think) SE. He goes to school at Purdue as well. He lives in Indy and was telling me about okinawa. I'm not sure about their qaulity of work. If they are just as good as Dauntless is cracked up to be then I think I'd reather go there. It would be so much closer.

I've spoken a bit to your guy with the SR powered S13 in Elkhart. We met up with a bunch of Elkhart guys to do a little racing one night this past summer. I saw his 240 but he was whining about he clutch. I really wanted to see him run. His **** didn't sound too hot to tell you the truth. Hope he got problems worked out and will run his car next time.

Dauntless said he has performed 20 swaps and his employee has performed countless swaps. So what's up guys? You all say that he has zero cumstomers and blah blah. You doubt the engines as well. You have no proof either way about the milage either.

I'm not sold on anyone yet....

[Ryan of Velocity]

We are actually connected at the hip to AIM on gasoline alley. Shane is a RX7 guy at heart but he also deals with some other rides (has a bad ass spec miata himself) but won't touch a Hoonduh.

We are on the opposite side of the building as him until next week. We are moving to a new joint, same place just a little further back and WAY bigger. 2500 square ft and more bays.

We can do the swap no problem and we aren't a IIP or Extreme or any of those other riceboy shops. All we do is projects, no retail.

At the moment we are backed up though, RB25 is going into an S14 at the moment, twin turbo Z33, among other things. Plus Obie (Project240.com) is sick of doing swaps and is referring people to us. lol.

My suggestion is this: Do it yourself. It's not hard, it's all basic pull the motor and put the SR in till you get to the wiring but after you do that once it's no biggie.

[brage]

You shouldn't have a problem doing it yourself if you can find at least one very mechanically inclined person to help you.
The worst part is the wiring, and making sure you have EVERYTHING before you start. I recommend getting a complete clip from someone like unstable-hybrids.

For the wiring you will have to extend the wiring harness to the ECU (if you don't know what this is - maybe you shouldn't do it yourself unless you have a good mechanically inclined friend..)

When extending the wiring harness make sure to use the same guage wire, do each wire one at a time don't try to cut the whole thing and then splice them all together. USE PROPER SOLDERING TECHNIQUES and make sure you shield the soldered connections with plastic shielding (crimp) and black electrical tape.

good luck.

PS it is a LOT cheaper to do it yourself you will save $1500+ and you can probably get it done in a couple weekends...

[KoukiS14]

Originally posted by pez
I'm at Purdue right now. I've peeped all the 240's on campus. My friend just got a 96 (i think) SE. He goes to school at Purdue as well. He lives in Indy and was telling me about okinawa. I'm not sure about their qaulity of work. If they are just as good as Dauntless is cracked up to be then I think I'd reather go there. It would be so much closer.

I've spoken a bit to your guy with the SR powered S13 in Elkhart. We met up with a bunch of Elkhart guys to do a little racing one night this past summer. I saw his 240 but he was whining about he clutch. I really wanted to see him run. His **** didn't sound too hot to tell you the truth. Hope he got problems worked out and will run his car next time.

Dauntless said he has performed 20 swaps and his employee has performed countless swaps. So what's up guys? You all say that he has zero cumstomers and blah blah. You doubt the engines as well. You have no proof either way about the milage either.

I'm not sold on anyone yet....

Whoa kick ass. .right across the river!!! I've got a green 97 LE (currently has 95 Maxima SE rims with snow tires)

Yeah, I think he may have some probs... but did the swap himself, so that's pretty cool. =)

I tell ya what. . I'm 100% sold on unstable hybrids. . seen their work (91 hatch with RB20DET) and it is perfect, runs great, very clean install. etc. .

It's in Atlanta, but Jason comes up here every now and then. .

I'd be tempted to drive there for the swap, but I got friends and family there I can chill with until it's done hehe

[thelinja]

Originally posted by Ryan of Velocity
We are actually connected at the hip to AIM on gasoline alley. Shane is a RX7 guy at heart but he also deals with some other rides (has a bad ass spec miata himself) but won't touch a Hoonduh.

We are on the opposite side of the building as him until next week. We are moving to a new joint, same place just a little further back and WAY bigger. 2500 square ft and more bays.

We can do the swap no problem and we aren't a IIP or Extreme or any of those other riceboy shops. All we do is projects, no retail.

At the moment we are backed up though, RB25 is going into an S14 at the moment, twin turbo Z33, among other things. Plus Obie (Project240.com) is sick of doing swaps and is referring people to us. lol.

My suggestion is this: Do it yourself. It's not hard, it's all basic pull the motor and put the SR in till you get to the wiring but after you do that once it's no biggie.

Sweet! I'm going to have to come check you guys out sometime.

[pez]

Originally posted by Ryan of Velocity
My suggestion is this: Do it yourself. It's not hard, it's all basic pull the motor and put the SR in till you get to the wiring but after you do that once it's no biggie.

I have no problem doing anything. Plus my dad would love to work on the car with me. The thing is, I'e been doing some reading bout how people document their swap. The wiring is a serious pain in the arse. What makes it so hard? Does it help to get an uncut wire harness?

I never take my cars in to get work done. I've always do my own shid. I would do it myself if I would find a nice walk-thru or maybe a list of things to watch out for. Swapping a motor isn't as easy as installing an intake or a clutch. Seems to me that someone who has performed countless swaps and know the job and nissan inside and out would do a better job than me. I would love doto it myself. Just seems that people say it's too much and i get discouraged.

[Ryan of Velocity]

I'm not going to sit here and say it's a cake walk. It takes some work and time, especially if you want it to look factory. Routing wires, and harnesses, etc.. But if you do your research you'll be fine, especially since it sounds like you have some tuning skill. If you can swap a clutch, you can swap an SR.

An uncut harness is a plus. Alan at Project240 got us a great hookup on a brand new harness for our project s13. There were some issues since it was for a kouki 180 and we were dropping in a red top but nothing too complicated.

But like I said, go at it yourself. You mentioned that an "experienced" shop would perform the swap better, which is possibly true BUT if you do your own people will want you to help on theirs. And the more you do them the better you get and the next thing you know you can swap an SR in without breaking a sweat and it will look stock

But if you still wan't a shop to do it your more than welcome to bring it to us.

And if you want to come down (long drive) and hang out some weekend at the shop and check out our S13 to see how our swap on it turned out your more than welcome.

[pez]

So if the harness is uncut then all i have to do is plug it in. Is there additional wiring? Ryan...you said you got a hook up on a harness? So if I get mine and it's cut, would I be able to get one though you? You said that you've done an S13. Is there any difference is using an S14? I'll be going down on S14. Where is your shop located?

I would jump right into this thing if I knew there was someone that could help me out if i got in a pinch and couldn't get something figured out.

Also about front clips. Are they all junked up when you get them? Are they usually covered up in the junkyards or where ever is it that they get them? I woudl hate to have an old sunbaked, bird****ted on front clip.

[Ryan of Velocity]

It's definantly not a plug in deal. There is splicing and soldering required. Takes some work and patience (especially your first time). There are tons of write ups on various webpages on the SR install. If I were you I'd start researching and then ask about anything that you question. When you feel confident that you understand how the wiring works then go for it.

The front clips look like they've been sitting in a junkyard. They aern't the prettiest thing in the world. Some importers will clean them up a bit and again some won't. But as long as everything is there works it's all good.

I personally have never done an S14 swap. But Brian (head tech) has. I believe it was an S14 motor into an S14 if I recall correctly. There were a few diferences but nothing major. The car is in Chicago, black S14 owned by a guy named Samad.

Like I said if you are mechanically inclined you can do it yourself. It will take longer but it may be worth it for you. Of course if you take it to a shop it will be in and out and you can enjoy the feeling of roasting hondas like they are nothing (oh wait they are)

[pez]

Originally posted by Ryan of Velocity
There is splicing and soldering required.

Like what? I know that it needs to be lengthened, but what else? What will the SR harness not hook up to? Any helpful links to some wiring diagrams? Also, what's the point of getting an uncut harness?