Engine Replacement VG30DETT

[KitsuneNyx]

Hello all! This is my first post here I blew my head gasket, and since my engine is at 175k miles, I just plan on replacing it with a lower mileage one (I think it's best). I can't afford the RB30 swap, so I will just be putting another VG30DETT in there. I was wondering where the best place to find one in reliable shape, with low mileage at a decent price. I've found some online for a little over 1k, but not sure about the reliability of the sellers, and I worry about shipping costs. Right now I have $1200. I can save up a bit more (I work part time so money is tight at the moment). Any ideas? Also, I was wondering about possible upgrades that anyone would suggest since I will have the engine out anyway. I may get an engine with a manual transmission included, but not sure. Mine is already manual btw! Thank you in advance

[evildky]

I would suggest you spend that money rebuilding your engine. You have a blown HG which isnt a big deal. You can either just do the HG job which will could you a hundred bucks for gaskets or do a full rebuild which unless you have to oversize anything should still only cost around $1k. You take a lot of risks buying a "low miles" pallet motor, unless it comes with the cluster it's mileage unknown and might have more miles than the engine you replace regardless of what someone tells you. Even then by the time you replace all the "while the engine is out" bits you in addition to the cost of the pallet motor you will be way more than simply rebuilding a known engine and only addressing the items doe for replacement while it's out. I've been down this road many times, please learn from my mistakes and simply fix what you have.

[KitsuneNyx]

I would suggest you spend that money rebuilding your engine. You have a blown HG which isnt a big deal. You can either just do the HG job which will could you a hundred bucks for gaskets or do a full rebuild which unless you have to oversize anything should still only cost around $1k. You take a lot of risks buying a "low miles" pallet motor, unless it comes with the cluster it's mileage unknown and might have more miles than the engine you replace regardless of what someone tells you. Even then by the time you replace all the "while the engine is out" bits you in addition to the cost of the pallet motor you will be way more than simply rebuilding a known engine and only addressing the items doe for replacement while it's out. I've been down this road many times, please learn from my mistakes and simply fix what you have.

So, you think that even with the engine being so high mileage, and having overheated enough to stop three times, I should just rebuild? What if things in the engine were warped or need resurfaced and all that? I've read a few things online saying that the cost can get pretty high with that. Also, is there a good resource to go to for looking up shops that do rebuilds? Thank you for your taking the time to reply. I'm still fairly new at all this lol! Btw your 240Z is my dream car! I've always wanted to '71!

[NolimitZ32]

With your engine you have known demons, you know where the potential issues are and can repair them while you are in there, with a palatalized engine you never know what you're getting. I myself along with numerous others have taken the gamble and lost. When I bought my JDM TT swap I was in a similar position to yours, my engine ended up having a bent rod and loads of calcification in the water passages so I went from $1400 on a "ready to drop in swap" to I stopped counting because I should have bought a house with the money instead. Heed our warning, if money is tight, spend it on repairs. Unless you spun a rod bearing or F'd your cams you should only need to have the head mating surface machined, maybe the block but that's highly unlikely (though still good practice), that will run you a couple hundred bucks. After that all new gaskets and rings will be another couple hundred, and you're back in business. This is assuming you do all your own work (other than machine work of course). If you don't it's still ok, a full rebuild shouldn't run much more than a grand.

[KitsuneNyx]

With your engine you have known demons, you know where the potential issues are and can repair them while you are in there, with a palatalized engine you never know what you're getting. I myself along with numerous others have taken the gamble and lost. When I bought my JDM TT swap I was in a similar position to yours, my engine ended up having a bent rod and loads of calcification in the water passages so I went from $1400 on a "ready to drop in swap" to I stopped counting because I should have bought a house with the money instead. Heed our warning, if money is tight, spend it on repairs. Unless you spun a rod bearing or F'd your cams you should only need to have the head mating surface machined, maybe the block but that's highly unlikely (though still good practice), that will run you a couple hundred bucks. After that all new gaskets and rings will be another couple hundred, and you're back in business. This is assuming you do all your own work (other than machine work of course). If you don't it's still ok, a full rebuild shouldn't run much more than a grand.

Awesome! Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, and giving me some insight. Sorry that you learned this the hard way though, and I'm much more confident in my decision to go ahead and just rebuild the engine that I have now! It would honestly be my first time doing engine work, but I have a couple people who know quite a lot about cars who will be assisting me in whichever process I choose to do. If you have any resources you'd like to share with me regarding engine repairs that you have found helpful that would be greatly appreciated! Again, still learning! My friends have worked on turbo cars before, but not Z's so I want to make perfectly sure I have as much info as possible before delving into anything! Again, thank you!

[NolimitZ32]

Your best resource is the FSM, that along with google and dedication is all you need to get going. That's how I learned.

[evildky]

be sure you get a tub of fresh motor oil to soak your lifters in while everything is at the machine shop, bleeding air out fo those things can be a nightmare.

[KitsuneNyx]

Your best resource is the FSM, that along with google and dedication is all you need to get going. That's how I learned.

Awesome! I have one for my Z31, so I will have to get my hands on one for my '91 as well. Thank you again for your help

[KitsuneNyx]

be sure you get a tub of fresh motor oil to soak your lifters in while everything is at the machine shop, bleeding air out fo those things can be a nightmare.

Thank you for the advice, and I will most certainly do that! I generally use Royal Purple, and luckily I have 5 quarts here at home already. Again, I really appreciate it!

[Ace2cool]

FYI, we have the FSM's all available here on NICO. http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM

[KitsuneNyx]

FYI, we have the FSM's all available here on NICO. http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM

Great! Thank you so much!