$20K For New/rebuilt Engine. Options?

[Missileman]

lol i tend to agree ^^ maybe a warm fuzzy feeling inside, or a sense of elitism, who knows.

[Sinista32]

After 2 rebuilds I suppose yes a little extra piece of mind, at least for me.

[Tyranus]

For 20k you can get the following:

N1 Block

Monster Head

And a stroker kit

[DVS JEZ]

fark... i get the shits over 2 weeks... never Waited more than 3.

Last build of an sr20 from a melbourne builder quoted 4-6weeks, took 4months

[fatz]

Just slap anothe used engine in 3k well spent

[SS8_Gohan]

you can also check if some of the bigger workshops have engines ready to go - they'll get customers from time-to-time who start a build, but can't finish or it gets built but they can't afford the settle the whole thing.

Racepace could certainly build a very reliable 26 (or stroker) for the budget your friend has. That's most the building they do, 26's or variations of.

RIPS would be an uber reliable job, but you'd be soo tempted to go RB30, might be more effort than your friend wants to go into. Can't see any reason why their 26's wouldn't be as reliable.

[XGTRX]

Been down this road a few times. I think the best place to start is what power you want rather than how much money you want to spend.

If you don't know then go for a drive in cars with different set ups and power levels and see which one you want. This will dictate what engine specs you need and the supporting mods, turbos, cooling etc etc.

Just remember, just because you build an engine capable of 450+ kW and run it at 370 doesn't mean over time it won't wear, it won't break but it will wear.

So doesn't matter what you build if you want to keep the car forever its a good idea to freshen it up every 5 or so years.

Point is if you have a stock engine and want 400+ and reliability and need to upgrade other stuff you probably need deeper pockets.

If you want a forged bottom end and run 330kw and the rest of your stuff is OK then you will have a fair bit of change left over for you freshen up in 5 years..ha ha

Summary...go to a sau meeting and go for a drive and see what you want first and network with other members and don't rush mate and what ever you do don't get hooked up on dyno figures, get hooked on driving experience.

[Hadouken]

A rebuild every 5 years huh? How about build it once and build it right.

[XGTRX]

I woould rather spend 2k for a freshen up than 10k on a full rebuild. But that's me. That's the way I do things and never had issues. All you every hear on forums everywhere is hipo motors having issues after 5 years. Then getting sold because people have had enough. My mechanic has done this to all his cars and his regulars that's why his 9 to 11sec cars have never failed and a lot of them are more than 15years old running massive boost on all rbs and ls engines. Speak to any engine builder and they will say the same thing. I plan on keeping gtr for a life time so I don't mind

[Hadouken]

What does a 2k freshen up entail then? The 2k might just cover pulling thw engine out and putting it back in

[a20089]

Thanks for some of the suggestions, my mate is certainly looking for peace of mind in a solid engine. I have doubts $20k will get a good stroker engine with all the rest needed inc labour

The more sensible suggestions I'm getting from this thread are:

1. Insert another second hand engine $3k, $2k install = Total $5K, repeat when it blows and hope there are no issues with the engine when purchased.

2. Check if some of the bigger workshops have engines ready to go or near ready from sales that have fallen through.

3. Ask a known builder to suggest a build, like Racepace.

4. Look at standard built engines from bulders like Lewis, RIPS

5. Talk in detail to the actual builder and tuner, how many RB's have been built. Know exactly what is going to be done.

[XGTRX]

Don't know. Not an engine builder. But I do listen to experts that know and do it over and over again with results to back it up. This guy wants advice just trying to help. Just speak to an engine builder that has the runs on the board. The freshen up issue is up to the individual mate but in my mind if it's going to cost me 2k every 7 years its a good safe guard. That's $5 a week on a 30k set up. Makes sense to me. Everyone is different I suppose.

[Hadouken]

If I were in the position of getting a "freshen up" I would like to know what is being done, instead of paying money and not knowing. For all you know youre paying for the most expensive oil change.

It just seems that 2k is to little for taking the engine apart and checking things.

[XGTRX]

Who cares. Trust mate that's what I am talking about. That's why its important that you have a engine builder that you have a good relationship with. Mate people buy new cars and get slaughtered by dealership workshops every day, for what. They plug in a computer and change some fluids for 600 a pop. Apprentices work on the cars while the supervisor is too busy sorting out the stuff ups. You want a workshop to talk to you about your car and treat it as their own. Eventually its a win win. My Mate who has a blown gen 3 has been running low 10s for 10 years has got 300 000km. In 2003 spent 10 on the motor had a freshen up 3 years ago cost him about 3k. Car runs better than ever. He does a basic service every 5000 and gets everything at cost through the workshop. Win win. That's the type of relationship I want with my engine builder. Each to their own I suppose.

[black bnr32]

Thanks for some of the suggestions, my mate is certainly looking for peace of mind in a solid engine. I have doubts $20k will get a good stroker engine with all the rest needed inc labour

The more sensible suggestions I'm getting from this thread are:

1. Insert another second hand engine $3k, $2k install = Total $5K, repeat when it blows and hope there are no issues with the engine when purchased.

2. Check if some of the bigger workshops have engines ready to go or near ready from sales that have fallen through.

3. Ask a known builder to suggest a build, like Racepace.

4. Look at standard built engines from bulders like Lewis, RIPS

5. Talk in detail to the actual builder and tuner, how many RB's have been built. Know exactly what is going to be done.

you don't have to 'hope' for option #1. a proper inspection can eliminate most of the risk before you purchase.

[BLITZ-26]

seems expensive depending on the parts i had my engine built by jem and it cost half of what your mate has to spend, so do some shopping i was extremaly happy with work and turn around think it was 3weeks even after i said dont have to have it done straight away

[usmair]

my tuner quoted me $8k to forge the motor when we were fixing the head

it included labour (which was probably discounted as the motor was already out) and $2,000 odd for tomei oil pump and baffle

could pretty easily bring it down to around the $7k mark if you shop around for parts and go for a cheap pump

fairly reasonable I think

$12k for bolts on should be plenty

Edited November 20, 2012 by usmair

[R31Nismoid]

For 20k you can get the following:

N1 Block

Monster Head

And a stroker kit

Ah... Yeah not quite... Plus a N1 block is a waste of money to start off with.

He's looking at spending up to $20k on an engine or a rebuild, in all labour etc.

He only has a standard engine, so will need computer, fuel system, turbo's etc.

Budget around the 10-13k for the motor and 7-10k for everything else (fuel, ECU, turbos, clutch etc).

As that is where the money is going to realistically go. So it's not a "20k" motor, it's more like "I have 20k, where should i spend the money".

Which does bring back what you can/can't do quite considerably as if the car is indeed basically stock, 20k is not going to get you far.

[simpletool]

OP: What is wrong with the current engine ?

Does he want to do track work? High cornering speeds?

Something between the $13k and $6.75k package would be good, the budget package with rods and cams perhaps = $10k? Then you'll want turbos ($3k), ECU ($1k), tune ($1k), injectors and pump ($1.5k), dump pipes ($1k), intercooler ($1k), fitting ($1.5k). Easy $10k apart from the build.

[Tyranus]

Ah... Yeah not quite... Plus a N1 block is a waste of money to start off with.

Why is it a waste of money? You could save me some cash here.