Options for s13 SR swap......

[s13Silvia]

I've been browsing this forum for a month now and I've been trying to weigh my options. I read one post where Daunttless compares prices between himself and two other shops. The problem I'm having is that all of the places I've researched are charging inflated prices. I can understand that the SR swap is becoming very popular from magazine coverage, but I'm beginning to wonder if this is all worth the expense.

If anyone lives in the NYC area and has had a successful SR swap, please tell me where you had your work done. The shop in my area does excellent work but they charge an arm and a leg! If I can't find a good price, I might have to drive to Iowa (DAUNTTLESS- how far away are you from NYC???) to get this done.

I want to get this project started in the Spring and I've been spending every night on the computer trying to get as much info as possible. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[ST240]

I can understand that the SR swap is becoming very popular from magazine coverage, but I'm beginning to wonder if this is all worth the expense.

Well you can consider the other options

Running N/A which prolly wont get you going to fast in the end :pface

You could turbo the KA24DE which would end up being quite a bit more hassel and/or money than doing an SR20 swap.

Or you could put in a CA18 for a little cheaper than an SR20 but i dont know all the differences between the CA and SR as i have been trying to find out

Hope this helps

-Andre

[SpeedRacer1]

I do believe that Heavy Throttle is in Poughkeepsie, NY and they know there SR20DET swaps. Though since everybody seems to be reffering the same 2 or 3 companies about swaps they may be a little swamped. If you wanted to try out swaping it in with a few of your friends that can always be fun. It is pretty sad that an engine that can be found for $700 in Japan costs 1500+ here.

[Daunttless]

Have you tried to import an engine Speedracer? : ) Do you know how sad all the costs of getting it across that little pond are? Its not exactly a hop, skip, and a jump to America. : )

In the short run, the CA18 will cost you as much as a SR20 with equal stuff to get it up to par, the stock turbo and manifold suck. If you can live with that, you can safe a few hundred dollars, however, I'm offering SR turbos with an upgraded manifold for a relatively cheap price, however it makes it so the CA18 isn't any cheaper, which is sad, but unfortunately the way things are.

Heavy-Throttle is a great company, pricey, but worth their money. I am just under 1000 miles straight west of you. : ) My prices will be lower, and I can do a swap on any day of the week, so I won't have a problem getting you in. You may wish to check with Heavy though, as they are so close to you. I don't know if you save money by coming to me, because you'd have to think of gas money, food money, hotel money, the time away from work or whatever, I probably wouldn't be the cheaper option. Unless you were looking to do the install yourself of course, then it would be cheaper to buy everything from me than it would be from them and do all the work yourself, but its however you wanna do it. ( I'm almost 100% positive that with shipping all my prices would still be lower.. )

Anything else we can answer for you? : )

[usuck]

Daunttless, have you looked into shipping prices to ship a car across the states. I know it won't be cheap but in the long run it might be the best idea for someone who doesn't live close to you. I live in south Texas and no one locally has any idea what an sr20 is. I know of a place in Dallas and Houston but that's still 400 miles away:( . Anyways, it's just a thought.

[Daunttless]

I'm right in the middle of the country and seeing what shipping companies I can set a deal up with. It will be less than 250 pretty much anywhere in the continental United States because I"m right in the middle of the country. If you live in podunk, nowhere at the very tip of some corner of the US, it might be more. : ) But I don't expect it to ever be more than 300.

[usuck]

is that for a car or for the engine?

[Daunttless]

Thats for my 100% complete setup. : )

Engine/transmission/ECU/Harness/SMIC+Piping/Turbo....everything... 2200 + shipping for the redtop. : )

[usuck]

ok, but what i'm talking about is shipping a car. like if i could find a decent 240 (maybe in your area). then have you install the engine. and put it on a truck and send it south:D. how much would it cost to send the entire car with the swapped engine?

[ST240]

Hey Daunttless, I know the SR20 has an aluminum block while the CA18 has an iron block.

What are the pros/cons of each?

Thanks

-Andre

[Daunttless]

Thats been discussed a bunch, not sure if it was in this forum or in the CA18 forum, but its in one of the two under questions about the engines.

Shipping a car from me to Texas would be about 500 dollars. : )

[Daunttless]

Actually, I take that back, it would probably be like 600-700.

[usuck]

that's a little better than what i was expecting, thanks.

[Daunttless]

Not a problem. : )

[s13Silvia]

Thanks for the replies everybody. I'm trying to weigh my options because my '90 240 SX is my 2nd car (I have a 3G Eclipse GS which is VERY SLOW) and I know it (SR20) has a lot of performance potential. I'm debating if it's going to be worth all the time and money to do the swap because it'll probably push only 205 WHP. Plus I'd have to switch my automatic to a manual transmission- which means even more $$$.

The main question I have is this: If I do the swap without any major mods = not making the turbo reach 250 WHP..... how long will the engine/transmission last? I don't want to spend 5K for a new engine that will last only 2-3 years. Keep in mind that I'll only drive the car once or twice a week- depending on my mood. My 2000 Eclipse is my daily driver.

Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[implict]

Where can i get that headlight conversion??? i have a 89 240sx

[Ace]

Unstable hybrids has headlight conversion kits. www.unstablehybrids.com

[implict]

wedsite isnt workn

[implict]

K got it to work but cant find it... its all about motors..

[Daunttless]

What kind of conversion do you want? There are thus far:

East Bear Headlights - Lighting sucks, most people think they're ugly.

300ZX lights - requires a lot of custom work.

S13 Conversion for the Sil-Eighty or Silvia Conversion - Easy, bolt-on and relatively inexpensive

S15 Conversion - expensive, can be bought in either bolt-on kits or can be pieced together yourself.

It depends on what kind of look you want, and how much you want to spend.

[ST240]

Autoimaging has this 1

http://www.autoimaging.com/all%20round/180_01.jpg

its pretty sweet imo

-Andre

[implict]

Nm, that would be ALOT of money... i like that auto image one!

[Ace]

Here is the site for the S13 conversion.http://www.unstable-hybrids.com/s-13silviajdm.html

Here is the site for the S15 conversionhttp://www.unstable-hybrids.com/s-15silviajdm.html

sorry I screwed up earlier.

Also here is some 180 SX conversion parts.http://www.unstable-hybrids.com/180sxjdm.html

[Daunttless]

My S13 conversion comes with triple projectors and headlight brackets, and its 1000, so 200 cheaper than Unstable. I know theres a couple guys in Florida selling them for 1500+ but I'm not sure what it comes with.

My S15 conversion for the S13 is 3000, 600 more expensive than Unstable, but it has Xenons and its fully bolt on, theirs isn't. I don't know of anywhere else selling it, you can piece together the bumper, fenders, hood, and headlights for 2000+ or you could just buy my kit. : )

My S15 conversion for the S14 doesn't even appear to be listed by them, but its about 2k. : )

I will have panels, but not tails for the 180SX, it was pretty hard for my guys to find kouki taillights, so I didn't have them keep looking for the first shipment, maybe I"ll get some in another shipment. : )

As far as the b-pillar windows, I may or may not bring some of those over as well.

[ST240]

so yer saying you cant get these daunt?



-Andre

[Daunttless]

I can get the 180SX center panel, but not the kouki taillights, not yet at least. My guys couldn't seem to find any offhand, but they were also trying to get the rest of my order together. : )

[implict]

Damn... thats not that expensive... i like the tail lights... im gonan try to get those.. they hard to install?? i wanna do it myself.... i also want to do the head lights but.. i gota take that to a shop i bet.

[ST240]

Im pretty sure that the 180SX tail lights are a simple bolt-on except for a bit of wiring

-Andre

[Daunttless]

They're easy, they replace the stock location. : ) In essence they are OEM lights.

[sr20meplease]

daunt your the man....your saving me so much money...i am saving at this moment for your red top....everything you said for 3100....1k off cuz i am gonna do it my self...then i am gonna more then likely get my s13 front end from you also... 3 projector lights...saves me another 200....anyway i am a long way from my goal...i'll get back to ya on it later though