I saw the earlier posts and had some laughs and learned a bit of info. This will be my first swap and im going to use an 89 thru 91 coupe 240sx. Atleast thats the plan. Ive heard guesstimations of the cost ranging from 5.5k to 10k plus. I would like to hear from the people who actually did this type of swap and get a price list from them, of what they needed to do it (parts wise) and the cost of the swap (including the car). I am going to attempt to do the Fab work myself, if i have to i'll break down an buy mounts, but id rather not spend 800 on them. So thanks for your time and info. I cant wait to dive into it

 

if you can fab stuff yourself you will save tons of money. i would say the swap can be done for under $4000. even less if you can find a complete donor car that has been wrecked. the driveshaft, motormounts, tranny mount, firewall modification, and exhaust fabrication are where you end up tacking on to the $2500 cost of the motor/ecu/harness.

 

Yeah I went nuts with mine, total cost with Cusco 1.5 and performance mods ran me $12,000 but that 2300 for the engine, 1200 for the trans, fuel cell, performance mods, shaft, subframe mods, J30 6 bolt LSD repacked with a Cusco 1.5 way, and a complete new suspension. My bill was 8000 from the shop who did most of the work.

 

Thanks fellas. The idea here is using the LS1 with stock ecu to get the fuel efficiency ( i know that doesnt make alot of sense since its a performance motor going into a lil 4banger....). Im trying to buil a very clean, very respectable daily driver. I am contemplating doing a twin turbo application to the car as time progresses, but i just need to piece enough of a plan together to know that i will get the return im after. I had previously wanted to do this with the 240z (still do) but the 240sx cars are alot easier to find, and alot cheaper (in most cases). Very interested in whether i can use a Stand alone system and still achieve the high 20's MPG on the interstate. I realize alot has to do with gearing as well, but in theory id like to get the best bang for my bucks, and build one hell of a daily driver.

 

Theres nothing wrong with putting a stock LSx engine in. 30mpg highway with 350+ super reliable hp and monster torque is perfectly okay in my book, you dont need to go nuts.

 

Its tough to keep it under 4K. You would have to find a steal on the motor. Those little things start to add up: driveshaft, master cyclinder, fuel lines and filter, radiator, headers, intake and piping, gto oilpan, fuel pump, just to name a few. You're looking at $1500-2000 easy right there. There are those deals that come along every once in awhile for motorsets that are in the $2500 range. But with everyone wanted to put this motor in their cars, its getting harder and harder to find them that cheap.

I spent under 7K for my swap and feel I did a great job keeping the costs down. I used Hinson's kit for the swap and figured I would have saved around 700-800 bucks had I made my own mounts. That still would put me over 6K.

Good luck on the project. Its definitely worth it.

 

So for you guys out there that have already been this route, i was told that the Independant Rear would only hold 400hp before it breaks, and that the ammount of torque is bad too. Did ya'll change the rear end? Im trying to figure out how you keep it to the ground, Wheel hop was an issue with the KA motor...

 

I have a cusco 1.5 packed in a Q45 rear with q45 spindles, should hold 700 plus i would assume

 

I've heard that going to a one piece driveshaft helps a lot with wheel hop too.

 

Well you can get whatever shaft you want made. Mines a two piece