Hello,
I am wondering what the average labour cost to do an engine swap would be?? (with and without transmission change)
for example: SR20 into a 240sx, RB20,25,26 CA18 etc.) and any other vehicles as well not just 240’s.
I used the search fuction already to find the info but there are so many topics with the word engine and swap that it’s kinda hard to get the info.
Thanks for any info!
sr-3800-6000
rb-4000-9000
ca-1500-3000
all approximates, it depends on the mods and labour that you dish out for.
Hey Varunski I think he was talking about JUST the Labour and not including the Parts and Motor.
physical swap with no wiring harness change: 1000$
physical swap with wiring harness change / modify: 1200-1500$
then there is more for installing other parts like intercooler, exhaust etc.
Can’t stress this enough …
You really can’t put an average price on it.
Every motor seems to come in varying conditions. Not only do you have to factor in all the added costs of extras (upgrades or even OEM replacements) then understand that your engine is coming from someone other than the mechanic, so if the motor needs work, you still have to pay the mechanic to do it, whether or not the importer warranties the parts.
If you come to the swap with all the parts needed, (ie, I/C piping, exhaust) and they are bolt-on, not bolt-on with some mods, or full custom, the full harness is there (AND INTACT …), MAF is there, the clutch is fine (or you have a replacement) the flywheel is good, the swap is going in to the same generation chassis, and the chassis it’s going in to isn’t a rotten piece of crap, doesn’t include auto to manual swap …
You can probably find someone to do it for $2gs.
Although you’re going to find a lot of shops unwilling to do JDM motor swaps any more. It’s too frustrating to try and explain the process to owners who come in with a degree in Googlogy, some bad 3rd hand information and a limited budget.
It’s almost impossible for a shop to make money on these swaps. Then you have to deal with this customer for the next while every time something goes wrong.
We’re at the point we’re turning work away. Other shops are fed up with hand-holding and babysitting cheap owners who expect a $50 junkyard motor to run and act like a brand new 0 mile top fuel drag motor. So they’re trying to outsource the work to us.
They don’t feel like tying up a bay that can churn out 5 or 6 $100 jobs in a work day for a car that eventually is going to work out to $100 a day.
When these motors fail, owners don’t like to find out a) the shady guy they bought the motor off of won’t warranty it, or b) that even if the guy warranties the motor, you still have to pay the mechanic to remove it, and put it back in again. Then you’re playing Russian Roulette with another motor.
With RBs or anything that requires custom work, you’re at the mercy of the shop. I’ve heard of enough people dumb enough to agree to hourly work for a custom engine swap, only to find out that at $85-100/hour a months worth of work adds up really fast.
Sure there’s guys that will do straight swaps for less. But when you agree to a $500 swap, that’s going to be a driveway, no warranty, no liability, straight swap – what the motor comes with, goes in.
What you save there, you’ll be paying out when the motor has to come out again for a clutch swap, when the pigtailed and electrical taped wiring falls apart or gets wet, fuel pump when it burns out.
God forbid you get electrical gremlins. Call Nissan and ask them what they charge for wiring inspection and diagnosis on a swapped motor. If they’ll even agree to it, that $2-3Gs to get it done right in the first place will start to seem like a pretty good deal. Especially considering it’ll probably be a 20-year old tech with a fax from Japan scratching his head raping you by the hour to figure out what’s wrong.
Simply swapping a motor for another one is a lot cheaper though. Like a KA-KA or SR to SR.
puttin an RB into an S13, no matter which RB, takes some more serious modifications.
plus not many people have very much experience with RB’s into anything really.
for SR’s and KA and CA swaps you shouldnt have a problem finding quick and inexpensive installs.
chris (canadiandrifter240sx) may even come to your place and do it as opposed to moving cars and engines all around the province
For an S13 SR into an S13, doesn’t 2g’s for a person who has -all- the swap bits (and a rustless chassis to put it into) seem a bit excessive?
Not meant as a flame or criticism… only a question.
It depends.
$2Gs is the safe number, on the high side. Because no matter how confident you are that you have everything, there’s always something. Usually with SRs it’s the oil pan. So you buy a nice oil pan. Then when the mechanic drops the bent oil pan, he finds your pickup sitting in the pan. Then you’re out a new pickup. Then there’s still a lot of other things, and they won’t show up until you actually start the motor.
Water pump, turbo, gaskets, hoses, etc.
So yeah, $2Gs is high, because it allows for a lot of things that may or may not go wrong.
You have to keep in mind that until these motors show up in North America, no one pays any attention to them. Imagine you were an underpaid dock worker in Vancouver. You’re tossing your 100th junker 302 or chev 350 onto a boat that day, are you really going to care if it falls, gets put on its side or has another motor ride on top of it for the trip? No, and they don’t either.
The worst part sometimes too is that even though your supplier is a great guy and will warranty those broken/missing parts, say you need a new water pump and you can’t get one off the shelf. Then you’re stuck waiting days or weeks for the part to show up.
Or say, the MAF is dead, and you know you can use a KA one … well, you still gotta pay the mechanic to change ends and wire it up. Small job sure, but it’s still another hour’s labor.
A swap can be done for less sure, and sometimes it happens. But you have to be prepared for it to not go well and cost extra. If you budget $1000 for the swap and only have $1,000 when you find out you need an extra $500 worth of work/parts, the shop manager isn’t likely to be your best friend when you tell him you can’t pay him for another 2 weeks.
If you budget $2Gs and it only costs you $1,200, there’s another $800 you have left over to go in to making the swap worthwhile.
i charge 1000-1200 labour for a basic sr into s13 swap…i never charge more for labour on manifolds and shit like that…However, on electronics, and stuff that is just as hard to install when the motors allready in i do charge more. One policy i swear by is that the person does not need to pay more for their labour even if the motor is screwed up when i put it in as long as he buys it from me…This makes people a lil more confident and they truely have no hidden costs to worry about…2000 labour is a lil high, but for an s13 into s14 with intercooler piping and wiring i can see people paying that much for sure.
Thanks for the info, I have been debating if I shold offer motor swaps or not, I might give it a try and offer to types of install.
We are already doing someones SR install now using the option 2 method, I guess im charging to little, 725$$
Anyway when we officialy open the mechanic section of our shop I’ll post it up here and on our website.
Thanks again for the info, and enjoy your holidays! 
i charged a grand to but rb20det and 25 in s13 including mounts
and all were mint…and running strong
extras like engine bay preped and painted any other customer asked work extra
and i always guarintee my work …dam i hate spelling