Ok so... i need to swap the motor in my 82 GSL. Last Friday i ran a 17.2 at Moroso i currently have a stock 12a with a 3 speed auto-tranny. this setup lost to a toyota yaris some thing has to be done. Money is kinda short right now so the question is.... should i buy the 13b-t with a 5 speed top mount intercooler or a 13b-re cosmo with a five speed? i can get the 13b-t for probably around $1200. the cosmo will blow that motor away though.. but that swap will be alot more $$$ because im going to have to replace the rear end too. does anyone know how well a first gen will run with the 13b-t??? thanks

 

You can get the 13bt for 1200 yes, but it will take that amount again to get it swapped in and running correctly, and thats doing all the work yourself... I am in the finishing stages of a 13bt swap and its well over $3k at this point, and I've done all the work myself. The top mount is garbage, you will need a front mount to make the swap worth you time. You will also need bigger than stock exhaust, you also have to do something about the fuel system and don't for get wiring....
I don't know what your level of experience is, but you might want to start a bit smaller than jumping right in to a engine swap... Ditch that auto trans for one...
Just my 2 cents... Good luck whatever you decide to do though!

 

Thats pretty funny you lost to a Yaris, as that is what I just bought. I recommend the 13b-re (cosmo). It can be had for 1500 with shipping. The rear end you have, wont be very good no matter what, but it can be used if you have too. I would run it until you can get a good rear end. Just think about what you want to do with the car, and that usually tells you the answer on what you're going to need. Since you like drag racing, you're going to need to tighten up the drive train, and get slicks ect.

Oh yeah, plan for a Haltech too, that will be well worth it.

 

Really its more like level of common sense. Do you have another car, and a place to work on this? First vehicle?

 

the auto tranny is obviously a must delete. Like everyone else says, you have to factor in the cost of everthing else as well.

 

and it also depends on what kind of driving you plan on doing too; touge, drag, road-race, drift, etc...

 

Yea that is a important factor too, level of experience still counts though...
I'm definatly not knocking the idea of swapping engines, I've only put 2 miles on my 13bt swap and it's already a totally different (better) car, he just needs to be realistic about the cost and time needed to do it right...

 

Definatly as all of them have different requirements, I'm assuming he is shooting for more of a straight line car given what he said in his first post, but thats just a guess...

 

I have another vehicle and a garage where i can store the car. The reality of cost and time is something I am trying to figure out before i go jumping into things. So you think swapping the transmission to a 5 speed is a good place to start?

 

a 5speed is definatly going to be better/faster than that crappy auto, but if you eventually want to swap to a 13bt then you would really want the turbo trans along with it.
The 13bt swap done right will easily be $3000, possibly more. Well worth it, but just keep that price in mind.

 

i suggest a carbed 350... grannys speed shop has everything u need to drop it in AND they will tell u how to keep the balance of ur 7 the same (battery to the back) my first thought was man a v8 is heavy but theres really not much of a differance. a lot of people consider this swap sacrilegious but think of it this way ur 7 will finally have some ballz