So, I have a 1990 GTU NA and I wanna swap it for the turbo 2 engine how much would it cost me ballpark for engine transmission and labor? and how hard is the preocedure if i did it myself?

 

Anywhere from 1500-10,000 dollars depending on your skill level.

Search button is free, though.

john ny

 

Asking how much it cost is akin to asking how to cook food.

The biggest thing you need to sort out is what your goals are. 200~225whp isn't that hard, nor that expensive on the scale of things. You would need a complete engine and turbo setup including the ECU. You can get a JDM setup for around $1000. You'll then also need to run a front mount intercooler ($300+/-) or get a TII hood. You have to make sure that everything is like-year...for you the donor car would have to be 1989 and newer.

That would be enough to get in the 200~225whp area, and is beginner friendly. 250+ and you need the TII tranny, too...anything over 300 and you need to do everything different...and neither are in the "novice project" category.

 

i guess what i'm asking is is it worth going through the trouble to figure out how to do it myself to save on installation cost? If some one else has had it done by a shop how much did it cost them? and is the added horsepower worth alll the trouble in the first place?

 

Doing a proper swap with minimal performance modification goals you're looking at having a "no name" shop pull it off for around $2500~3500 with a used motor.

 

including the motor?

 

if you were to take it to my shop i would charge 1500 labor, and that includes modifieing your stock diff to accept the turbo driveshaft, the motor and trannsmission are up to you on were you want to get them from, being anywere from 1000 to 1700. look on ebay.
That is of course assuming the motor you buy comes with an uncut harness and ECU and transmission, then i'd still have to source any sensors left out.

This is all assuming the motor passes a compression test and passes a coolant pressure check, and oil pressure check.

 

My suggestion is, a S5 n/a is a great car, leave it alone and sell it to someone who will appreciate it for what it is.

Then take the cash and "buy" a nice TII.

You will save a ton of $$$, headaches and have a properly set up car in the end.

To do the swap you might as well build the motor for it $4,000 + $1,000 core, get a TII transmission $1,000 for a great one, standalone for the future power upgrades $1,500, labor if you cannot do it yourself $1,500.......you see where this is going??

In the end you will just have a TII tribute, never worth the same as the true thing in the same condition. What is worth more, a true 69 Camaro SS396 or a clone.

Sell yours and do some smart shopping, many deals to be had in the states.

 

well the fact is my car to me is better than any other car i could buy. i don't want another RX because I love mine. I just want the Swap. i dont care how much it's worth to someone else.. because it's worth the world to me.

 

spend the time searching the boards on Tii swaps , take a look at how mechanically inclined you are, see if its something you can realistically do, if you are like 80% sure u could do it, hey wing the other 20% , great learning experience, im at the end of my first t2 swap, and ive only ran into minor issues that the "search" button helped, but i think its worth doing yourself just to learn !

my $.02

Reed

 

JReed, How long is the swap taking you? I just want to give KidA an idea of how long a swap might take him if he would tackle the project himself (giving if he is mechanically inclined as you are). Also KidA, you will not drive your GTU for a while when doing the swap, there might be un-foreseeing problems. Patient will be your true test. Oh and if you are going to tackle this yourself, record, take pictures and label everything you take off your engine. Taking things out is the easy part, putting things together is the hardest part. Taking pictures and labeling will make it a bit easier to get everything back quick.

JDM engine + tranny _+ ecu+uncut harness rang from $1,100 to $1,500 on ebay or JDM engine sites, the price is not including with shipping. Shipping can rang from $200 to $400 depending on residential or commercial area and the distance you are from the seller.

Then, have an extra $1,000 for back up just in case you need to rebuild the turbo, or the oil pan is dented from shipment, and whatever else problems you might run into.

Also, you need the right tools, so if you don't have any tools, it gets really expensive.

I would say, make a list of how much everything cost... the total would be how much it would cost for you to do the swap yourself, then go to a shop and get an estimate, see if there's a big difference in price. If the difference isn't crazy, then put it in the shop and let the pro's do it, but if you want to learn then you should jump on it like JReed said. It is definitely a great learning experience.

Good luck with your decision.