LS1 vs 1Jz

[Rastadori]

Hello Everyone

I have a 1994 Nissan 300zx NA 2+0. It is just a complete shell with no engine in it and I'm ready to drop something new into it. My goal for this car really is to be a reliable street car while being able to drift/track occasionally. I would drive it maybe 2-3 times a week. My goal would be around 400whp. I have $5k ready to go into this but I'm wondering what you guys think would be the best option to go, what would be bang for buck? Which one will be the most reliable option to push 400 to the wheels all day? I'd want it to be reliable enough to drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles maybe twice a year for events. I know that 5k wont be enough but I know I can bring my budget up to 8-10k. Overall which one would be the easier/better option to go with?

Thank you!

[AZhitman]

Have you ever done a motor swap?

$10k might get you an early LS and a T5 trans, and maybe wiring and an ECU. You're still gonna need to go through the engine and re-seal everything. Suspension, wheels, tires, headers, cooling system, etc can easily add another $10k to the budget.

Possible if you do all the fabrication / welding yourself, but certainly not a task for an amateur.

[itsa300zx]

Neither of those two options are best bang for you buck at your power goal levels. JMOH. I hammer on my TT swap at 400whp all the time for the past 6 years it's been reliable and fun. I got very lucky and it only costed me under 1000bucks once I was finished. You should have no problems with 5g if you do all the work and no custom fab work.

[LIBRILZ]

Just leave it N/A and take care of it. Many folks have done such with a car that they tracked or drifted and daily drove just fine. Unless its quite high mileage and with unknown service history, then maybe you'd want to watch out.