Man, I've had some great memories with this engine... I drove my SE last night and the oil smoke has gotten a lot worse so I need to do something before I try driving it hard again. I can't decide whether I want to fully rebuild my stock SE 13B or swap an S5 NA 6 port into the car.

For those who may not know, when driving at ~5500 rpm or higher, constant gray smoke emits from the exhaust and on downshift a HUGE puff of translucent gray smoke emerges. I've been informed this garners a rebuild.

Right now I would prefer to swap but I'm unsure of exactly what I would need. I have a 6 port ITB setup on the way so I'll be getting new fuel equipment and a standalone eventually. Other than that though, would anyone know what could fit the S5 engine from the S3 i.e. Racing Beat header/exhaust system, transmission, clutch?

If the task seems too daunting and/or expensive I'll just go with the rebuild then. Does anyone have experience swapping something similar?

Thanks and I'm open to any advice.
Appa

 

I think the car would be more valuable with the original -SE 13B rebuilt. Are you looking to upgrade/aftermarket the intake? I think keeping the OE block is a plus.

 

Try some golden eagle stop leak, cut down the smoke on my 12A like you wouldn't believe.

 

I'm not really planning on doing a intake port because I learned from Racing Beat that doing so on a 6 port isn't that useful. I could be wrong though. Is that what you mean?

 

I would rebuild your current engine or replace it with a known good SE engine. No messing around with modifying the harness, nonswapping of manifolds etc. Just drop in your rebuilt engine and you're back on the road. Plus since its an original engine it will be easier to diagnose running issues should they arise.

 

the middle ground is to use an S5 FC engine, all of the GSL-SE stuff will go on, and all of the passages and emissions will all work. the FC engines have larger ports, its a good combo. the S4 engines have different emissions passages and it is not compatible with the GSL-SE stuff.

so it is kind of the best of both, you keep all of the stock systems and it all works just like the shop manual says, but you get larger ports, better seals, lighter rotors, etc

 

The S4 engines also had a slightly different leading spark plug location. GSL-SE and S5 are the same plug location.

 

I just finished installing an S5 NA engine into my GSL-SE. I did a subframe swap as well. I am using the racing beat exhaust header, GSL-SE transmission, S5 intake, and GSL-SE fuel, vacuum, emissions, ECM etc. I don't have it 100% perfect yet but it hasn't been too bad so far. It's definitely a route you can go without too much hassle. S5 NA parts are not cheap though relative to S4. Housings and rotors both cost a lot more