Legal Motors for the '97 240sx

[Chimera]

ok so i bought a '97 240sx se.and sometime along the future i am planning to swap the engine, for a more powerful setup, (not extreme horsepower, but around 280-350rwhp??)

so after looking at a couple sights, and giving it some thought, my brother first suggested a rb26dett swap, at first i thought, that would be one ****en sick *** car.then after searching and finding out how much it would cost and how much work it would take, i settled for the rb25det.BUT, my other bro says it wont pass smog, i want a setup on my 240 that can pass smog:so can an sr20det from japan be swapped into my 240 that can pass smog specs?

sorry for the long post, noob here , and if anyone remembers, me and my bro went to the fremont meet, we went in a jeep rubicon, parked away from the nissans. at that time i had a '91 g20, i sold the g20 saturday 4/10 and drove to roseville to get a 240sx...-jerome

[thelinja]

the motor will pass smog if you keep all of the emissions components....but will it pass visual?...no

[gabossie]

Simple answer is no, ESPECIALLY in Cali. Here, you have to have a CARB sticker for even the smallest modifications ( I was forced to remove a cone filter on stock intake piping last week ). Any and every engine swap is illegal and will not pass smog without finding someone to pay off, which is getting harder and harder because they are really cracking down on that ****. If a CARB officer or other knowlegable officer asks you to pop your hood and catches you, you are screwed, plain and simple. But my all means, don't let this stop you, after all, it's not stopping me

[IveBeenBad]

You could stick with the KA and get the GReddy turbo kit for it for about 3k

[Chimera]

****!so im totally screwed, btw gabossie u sound exactly like my older brother, he said the exact samething you said...my bro told me a possibility to get an sr20 from a car here in the states (maybe from a g20t? sentra ser??) damnitso if i really wanted the sr20, id have to goto another state, and then it will pass there, THEN bring it to cali then it will pass?

[jdmfreak]

Dont worry about all that just do what IveBeenBad said and get the GReddy kit. It'll give youabout 220 to the wheels. The kit plus intercooler will be about $3600, but you can get a different intercooler if you want.

[C-Kwik]

Any and every engine swap is illegal and will not pass smog without finding someone to pay off, which is getting harder and harder because they are really cracking down on that ****.

Every engine swap is not illegal. There are a few basic guidelines. The motor must be available here. It must be from a car of the same year or newer. If the car is a california smog equipped car, it must receive a motor from a California smog equipped vehicle. The car/motor must have all it's smog equipment. A BAR referee needs to sign off on it. Essentially you can go as far as putting a C5 vette motor from a California car and it can be made to be legal. SR20DET's and RB's can not because they were not available here.

[C-Kwik]

You could stick with the KA and get the GReddy turbo kit for it for about 3k

AFAIK, the Greddy Kit is not CARB Certified yet. Not sure if it ever will be.

[240sick]

so what about a car that came from another state to begin with. i just moved from va, to cali and havent even got my car yet its geting shiped as we speak. what do i have to look forward to as far as smog and what not the car is completly stock just got it in feb.

[C-Kwik]

If it's stock, and all systems are working properly, it should pass the test just fine.

[Chimera]

yea my 240's from las vegas...any possibilities of putting an engine that las vegas can legalize that cali cant?(have the motor shipped to las vegas....)

[redamnavit]

Well... kinda.

I've seen one or two examples of people swapping a 2JZ into a 240sx. That passes a)available in the states and b)same year or newer. With a 1997 240sx that gives you... 2 years worth of US engines from an expensive limited production vehicle.

Theoretically possible? Yes. Practical? No. You'd almost be better off establishing a cheap residence outside of Cali in a more lenient state and attempting to register your car under that address (claiming it as your primary residence), or finding a friend with an out of state residence to do so. Either of which (I believe) is somewhat illegal, being fraud and all.

This isn't all to rain on your aspirations. Odds are if you're not doing anything stupid on the road, and don't have a horribly loud exhaust, a lot of the legal worries won't be an issue regardless of your swap choice. Its just nearly impossible to be 100% by-the-book.

[Adikt]

Since the SR20DE's were available in Sentras and G20's couldnt you say that you swapped it from one of those cars. Essentially just swap in a SR20DET and keep it NA for the emmisions tests and then just slap the turbo on it when your outta there. Would this work?

[Onizuka]

2jz is not legal in any 240sx in any state, the motor HAS to be from the same manufacturer.

-97 J30 VG30DE-97+ Pathfinder VG33E and VG30ER-02+ G35/350Z VQ35DE-97+ Q45 VH41DE and VK45DE-97+ RB25DET or RB26DETT out of a legalised Motorex skyline (good luck)-05+ Nissan Frontier QR25DE

Thats all I can think of that would be legal in california.

In pennsylvania, it can be from any year as long as it has emmission equipment compliant to the year of the receiving vehicle and is of the same manufacturer. Nan nan nan nan boo boo.

[SoCalS14]

Since Motorex has gone through the trouble of making the Skyline compliant, shouldn't they be able to sell motors as well??

[yellow_jacket]

the motor will pass smog if you keep all of the emissions components....but will it pass visual?...no

It won't even pass that part seeing as how Cali is running OBDII emissions and the SR is not OBDII compliant.

[SoCalS14]

What the hell is compliant mean here? Passing a sniff test? Measuring the toxins exiting your tailpipe?

[andrave]

You could buy a motor from a street legal US skyline. A few years ago someone crashed an R33 motorex skyline. if you kept all the emissions equipment and went through the correct procedure, the engine from that vehicle would technically be legal for your 240sx in california.

[SoCalS14]

But if the "whole" car cann be made compliant, why can't just the motors!?!

[Onizuka]

The DOT and the EPA have no set procedures to allow for 3rd party intrests to apply for motor-only legalization (that I know of). But they do for whole cars, thats just the way it is.

[SoCalS14]

We need REFORM!!!

[240sick]

are there manny good perfomance parts that can pass the visual b/c i have never been threw a test thes draconian so, i just wanna kno what to expect ya kno

[SloMoe]

If it has a CARB Executive Order number, then and only then will it pass the visual test.

[C-Kwik]

Well... kinda.

I've seen one or two examples of people swapping a 2JZ into a 240sx. That passes a)available in the states and b)same year or newer. With a 1997 240sx that gives you... 2 years worth of US engines from an expensive limited production vehicle.

I believe the Turbo version of the 2JZ saw it's last year in 97 in Cali and 98 everywhere else.

[SoCalS14]

Cali...love the women, the sunshine...hate the law!!!

[Onizuka]

The toyota supra motor is NOT legal in ANY nissan in ANY state.

[virus77]

I recently had a crx with a motor swap in california that got Certified by a referee and i talked to the referee about swaping motors from different cars. He said as long as its from the same class of car (For ex: Heavy duty truck to light truck motors are illegal, but a mustang engine in a miata is legal) as long as it has all the smog equipment and it passes a full visual, functional, and tailpipe test. You could even fabricate your own mounts as long as it is safe.The rule is the engine has to be offered in a vehicle of its same class that is newer so you can swap it.

[240sick]

so you are saying that the rb is good??

[virus77]

i forgot to mention, the engine has to be offered in a vehicle of its same class that is newer your car, and the engine has to be a motor from a U.S. production car, so the skyline motor is not legal because it wasnt on any car in the U.S. Except i guess if you got a skyline motor from motorex.

[SoCalS14]

Hmmm... that raises the question about the SR. They were offered it in Sentra's...What class are those?