Way back in the day it was pretty well known who the good and bad guys were in the JDM import business.

I'm on the hunt for a low mile VQ for the race car, and I think the easiest and most cost effective way about it will be via an import. But my JDM hotboi days are a lifetime ago, and there's lots of new names in the game.

Who's good, who's not? Who supports the community? Who might like to see their name on the side of a racecar for even a tiny discount.



Pic of my chariot, which brought us home some hardware this weekend, despite having 190,000 street miles and 65+ race hours. Being down on power, leaking oil, and running the whole weekend with 280° oil temps and 230° water temps during 16 hours of racing

Just looking for a stock drop in replacement? I would have thought you'd at least be doing some kind of race prep/rebuild to the thing.

SEARCH found 281 matches: engine importers

Rogue One wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 17, 2021 5:10 am

SEARCH found 281 matches: engine importers

Did you actually read your own search results? Because I spent an hour digging through search results using multiple key words. I posted in the 1 relevant thread regarding the subject, then the results quickly devolve to content which is 5+ years old.

I am asking the Nico hive mind specifically because there doesn't seem to be any current data on here regarding importers.

Good try though.

PapaSmurf2k3 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 16, 2021 11:36 pm

Just looking for a stock drop in replacement? I would have thought you'd at least be doing some kind of race prep/rebuild to the thing.

We have to stay stock internals, and so far the VQ doesn't seem to have any internal weaknesses at stock power to worry about. So it's far more cost effective and timely to lightly refresh a pullout vs doing a build. We have approximately 8 weeks until next race, and all the machinists in the area are 4-6 weeks out. And seeing as the JDM VQ is identical internally, finding a low mile swap from Japan seems like the play.

I gotcha. I'm with you, I haven't heard anything good or bad one way or the other recently.
I bet Greg or Torry knows someone in the biz though.

PapaSmurf2k3 wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 17, 2021 6:03 am

I gotcha. I'm with you, I haven't heard anything good or bad one way or the other recently.
I bet Greg or Torry knows someone in the biz though.

Yah, that's who I was hoping might chime in. I briefly considered just texting them, but decided this would be more fun.

IanS wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 17, 2021 5:49 am

Rogue One wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 17, 2021 5:10 am

SEARCH found 281 matches: engine importers

Did you actually read your own search results? Because I spent an hour digging through search results using multiple key words. I posted in the 1 relevant thread regarding the subject, then the results quickly devolve to content which is 5+ years old.

Good try though.

Wow.

Rogue One wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 17, 2021 8:25 am

IanS wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 17, 2021 5:49 am

Did you actually read your own search results? Because I spent an hour digging through search results using multiple key words. I posted in the 1 relevant thread regarding the subject, then the results quickly devolve to content which is 5+ years old.

Good try though.

Wow.

I spent an hour of my morning on hold with an aftermarket warranty company attempting to get pre-approval for a $6000 repair job for a customer. I'm just a little spicy today.

Salty Ian!
I am too. Been a s*** couple of weeks at work.

PapaSmurf2k3 wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 17, 2021 4:02 pm

Salty Ian!
I am too. Been a s*** couple of weeks at work.

Yah, we're booked a solid 2 weeks out all the time, and I can't find a good tech to save my life. Most of my customers are understanding, but when someone I've known for years calls with grinding brakes, it's really hard to tell them I can't do anything for 10 days or more. It's very demoralizing. Every shop in town is hiring, and we pay more than most. I can't even hire a kid straight out of college, they just don't exist.