correct me if im wrong but it just seems risky

[import_racer87]

buying a used engine that is. everyone is doing it. the honda guys have been doing it for years, every other 240sx you see these days is swapped. but heres the dilemma, ive driven in two 95 240s with almost the exact same mods, with the s14 black top, and one felt much faster than the other. same injectors, same full pump, same spark plugs (they were built by the same guy). The only explanation that he gives me is one motor runs better than the other and its just luck with getting a good motor. is it really all just luck? what makes one motor like that run better than another motor with the exact same mods?

[ThatGuy]

How badly was each of the motors abused before they were shipped here and swapped into the US cars? What mods did the previous owner do the engines??

[import_racer87]

Originally Posted by ThatGuy

How badly was each of the motors abused before they were shipped here and swapped into the US cars? What mods did the previous owner do the engines??

.........thats what im trying to say. how do you know if youll get one that was torn to shit by some dorifto kid, or one that was in Grandpa Wing Wa's daily driver.


the fact is you dont. that why it just seems like luck.

[bing]

best bet is to buy a completely stock engine and one that is an AUTO_TRAGIC is even better because the computer wotn allow it to be revved above 5500rpm or something like that.

alot of people love to get the clips with mods on them to save money, but that just increases the risk that the previous owner beat the poo out of it.

sure you could argue that they modded their car and therefore took care of it, or you could wonder why a guy who dumped cash into it would let it go to a wreckers?

alot fo the engines are from accident cars, and an accident car with mods was 99.9999% drifted.

[mrmephistopheles]

Originally Posted by bing

an accident car with mods was 99.9999% drifted.

Not necessarily true.
There's tons of drift-look folks here. For example, there was a care for sale not too long ago nearby that had coilovers, 2way LSD, FMIC, all sorts of HKS goodies, GT wing, and some ugly, poor offset wheels (they were just in bad taste). I seriously doubt it was ever drifted unless by accident.
Why? It was an automagic.
Now if you didn't know better, you might think it was badass and someone drifted it on a daily basis. Not the case!

[bing]

yeah man, i accounted for that in the 99.9999%, i did however forget to mention the margin of error, which i estimate at about 0.05%.

buy engines from reputable suppliers, and try and inspect first, check the oil pan for dents and the usual.

there is an element of risk in damn near everything, if there is no risk invloved, then there is likely not much gain to be had either.

[evilimport]

Your best bet is to buy from a very reputable company that compression tests the motors and has guarantees for start-ups etc etc... ask around, the more people that are happy with certain companies the better off you are. And dont get cheap when looking for engines... a cheap-skate is almost certain to get a garbage engine or one that the company is just trying to get rid of....

[fliprayzin240sx]

Originally Posted by bing

best bet is to buy a completely stock engine and one that is an AUTO_TRAGIC is even better because the computer wotn allow it to be revved above 5500rpm or something like that.

Thats so true. One of the engines we swapped was an Auto and when we tore it down to change the head gasket, the internals were so clean that the hones on the cylinder wall looked like it was still fresh from the factory *this coming from a 92 redtop mind you* Me on the other hand, I learned the hard way. I decided to get a S13 blacktop thinking its gonna be bette cuz its not as old. Yah its a bit newer than the redtops but you gotta remember something...all s13 blacktops were in 180sx. I have yet to see a 180sx that was not drifted or abused. So yah my luck turned on my blacktop when the oil pump went out. Needless to say...I got 3 new *oil drains* on the side of my block when i threw #2 and #3 rods

[TurK]

exatcly...the shop who is doin my swap here in Northwest FL calld MPH automod...gets ther motors from these japanese ppl in Cali who sells clips and all....they make sure they do Compression test and leak test and also makes them send pictures and see howmany mileage the clip got ...and asks for my OK before the clip is shipd....if your shop cares they will do this for you....its just better then them sendin you a random s14 clip that u dont know if it has been moded or whatever....I got 4 pictures of different s14 clips....and i made the choice of which one i wanted....ther was one that was beat down...one that was modded ...and one had like bondo on the engine bay....and one that had all the parts and lookd very clean other sum dust and it only had like 50k miles....yeah guess which one i pickd...

[ZK]

I got a stock 1998 180SX blacktop clip which cost some more but I thought it'd be worth it because it was newer, less miles etc. Less than 15K miles later, there is no compression on #3 cylinder due to damaged valves... The head went off to the machine shop for repair. When it was taken apart, it looked like it was very poorly maintained and the original owner probably never changed the oil, deposits everywhere, leaking water pump and bad valve seals.

From what a lot of other SR owners tell me, it is very hard to pick out a good motor. A lot of the better ones get picked up by locals in Japan before they get shipped here. And you definitely do get what you pay for most of the time. Keep in mind these are USED parts and always sold AS IS so luck is definitely a part of it. When I got my motor it looked super clean, good compression, low miles but until you take it apart you can't tell much.

Now for the cost of repairing my motor, I could probably get a another blacktop but I don't want to deal with the hassle of a mystery motor...

[KiDyNomiTe]

If you have to ask stuff like this don't buy one. Don't buy anything used for that matter (regardless of car products or not), just buy an EVO or something. Anything used could be abused, I wouldn't expect to buy a someones modded car and it not be somewhat abused, but you can abuse something and still take care of it.

[SirWarrior]

if you get one that is abused, it just means you go through the fun of boring it, putting in cams you know you wanted, replacing all the bearings, seals, and the water and oil pumps, like you know you should.
Dont think this is fun stuff???
GO buy a camaro. crate motors are cheap @ about $1500 and up for LT1

[import_racer87]

Originally Posted by SirWarrior

if you get one that is abused, it just means you go through the fun of boring it, putting in cams you know you wanted, replacing all the bearings, seals, and the water and oil pumps, like you know you should.
Dont think this is fun stuff???
GO buy a camaro. crate motors are cheap @ about $1500 and up for LT1

so what you are trying to say is, even if you get a motor that is not running great becasue of abuse, theres always a way fix it. (well unless the motor is such shit that you blow a rod through the block or something.

[ZK]

Almost anything can be fixed... just depends on how much you want to spend on it.

[bchumley]

yeah, and if money REALLY isn't an object, buy a Tomei Genesis crate motor in the neighborhood of 12k I believe.

[nightwalker]

buy a cheap cheap motor, tear it down and rebuild it. No more guess work.

[twitchy]

i know if I was going to sell my stock engine for any reason i would beat the hell out of it first

[Vatche]

or u could just fix as u go when something breaks like me....haha but the only problem is my engine itself runs great...the turbo went back the clutch went back some other shit too but the engine when that starts to go bad ill fix that....its called a money pit or as i like to call it ....my baby