I’m falling in love with these imports that have American iron in them. How difficult can these get to do? I would love to throw a 350 into an S13 240 one day.
Difficulty is lessening daily, but there will always be challenges in any build.
There are a lot of aftermarket companies releasing parts to make the swaps easier/more ‘bolt-in’ (s14/ls2 for example)
The members who are active in drifting will have more info as this seems to be the type of motorsport activity where these swaps are most prominent
Look at my Jetta project. In my head it seems like a cake walk, once you cut the steel it gets harder. lol Keep in mind I am making a front engine RWD race car from a front wheel drive economy sedan, first one ever of its kind.
Unibodys suck. Thats the first thing. If its not RWD to start, you have to hack up the “frame” to support the power. Then the front end wasnt built to just steer, so the CV’s hubs, steering rack, etc isnt inthe right places. And the motors arnt ment to be turned 90 deg’s either, so that needs to be fixed.
BUT a RWD car your just swapping power isnt half as bad. The front end can stay untouched if you wanted. the rear end, as long as it can physically take the extra power can be left mostly alone too. All you need is a motor and transmission. A custom drive shaft can be build cheap, to couple the existing rear input shaft to the new transmission, and to get the length right since the motor/trans combo will be different length wise (unless you can think ahead and keep the output shaft on the new trans the same as the original and fit the motor in there accordingly).
Also keep in mind the electronics, and engine management. If the car has 150lbs of wire in it originally, and the new motor is carb’d then start cutting and removing. Cluster, steering stalk, signals, brake switch, heat/ac, look at what you want to retain and work from there. If the new motor is a LS7 get a computer degree and go hit the shop. If its a 350 with a carb, you could have it drivable in a few hours if you were good!
inspection? road legal? Get a shell pre 1995 and you are good. Safety inspection only (for the most part). If its newer, good fucking luck. Might need to run 2 different ecu’s, custom ecu written to hard set readyness codes, who knows what works for you.
If Gatville still had the 240 and I sold my truck, I would swap a LSx/T56 and standalone into it for cheap and drove the balls off it, and kept it “legal” on the road.
Moral of the rant, it can be easy, or hard, cheap or expensive… what are you after?
They have kits for LSx/LM7 in S13 and S14s. Best thing to do is get something 1995 or older. The kits make the swaps easy, just have to pay $$$$, if you want to fabricate some things like headers or wire harnesses than it would be cheaper.
I know sikky makes a great kit for this swap, including driveshaft, oil pan trans and motors mounts. No cutting of the cross member needed. I am also selling a rolling s13 chassis check out the vehicle fs section.
lol Thanks for all the info. This isn’t anything I would be doing anytime soon. I’m really just shooting ideas around my head because I’m bored out of my head at work.
I appreciate all the info. This would be something fun to do and drive as well.
Ls1 Miata
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this
it really is becoming a bolt in experience, just check with any sanctioning bodies you want to compete in about modifying front crossmembers (comes into play in formula d i know). i’ll be doing it as soon as i have a job.
just buy a american car that has a aluminum v8 in it…
+1
There are tons of info on LSx NA and NB Miatas, FC and FD RX-7s and S13 and S14 240sxs. Just go to: http://forum.miata.net/vb/, http://www.rx7club.com/ or http://zilvia.net/ and search around.
LS9 Miata w/ TVS blower. Wat?
My old roommate is doing an LSx FD. that should be fun when its done
yeah. with todays offerings. this shit is actually very straight foward
its the dumb ppl that make it a nightmare for themselves lol
x3. srsly.
There was a Chrysler Conquest set up for a Dodge small block on Craigslist recently that was clean and fairly cheap but didnt include a motor.
The rear ends in the imports are the weak link because theyre only built to handle a >200 hp 4 banger in most cases. Even domestic cars like Mustangs have different rearends for 4/6/8 cylinder cars.
You could swap in a Ford 8.8" or 9" or a GM 12 bolt and be good though. Probably will need some custom fabrication to mount it and then a custom driveshaft though but any competent fabricator should be able to do it without an issue (other than cost).
some people don’t find anything besides the motor appealing, i am one of them.
Imports are often way lighter and can be had for cheaper than most ammmmmurrrican cars.
Swap is fairly straight forward like everyone is saying, just can be big dollars depending on what engine