OK, so I need a rebuild soon, and I convinced my Mom to let me take out a loan for get a turbo II engine swap. I believe I'll have enough money for some mods as well. Anyways, I live in Sarasota, Florida and need some help (engine hoist, experience, etc.) if anyone is interested in making some quick $$ and is in the Sarasota/Tampa/Ft. Myers area, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know so I can make my car sooo much better. Thanks guys!! Also, if you have any opinions on what I should do to my car with the money, let me know!!

Here are some pics of my car as it sits right now:

 

As much as I love my car, and as much money I put into it, its not worth going into debt over. Just my advise...., I wouldnt take out a loan for something like that.

 

take out a loan and buy a t2 and sell your NA. You will be better off. But I bet you will not take the advise and the next time you post on this forum the title will be
"why won't this thing run"
From the looks of your car its a clean S5 with no mods. Sell that and use the cash + loan to buy a t2.

 

I agree with the posters above me. Sell your car and with the loan money buy a TII.

-Destin

 

Although I agree, some FC owners have it in with their cars. I can't afford to sell my car. I'd never see a /6th of what I have invested in it. Just not worth selling.

On the other hand, if you have a bone stock n/a (no susp mods, body mods, ect) and you want a turbo... sell your n/a and get a tii.

If you have a.. say gxl with power windows and a body kit, and various other stuff you've put your hard *** labor hours into, you would be more interested in keeping your car than you would be getting anew.

Just the way I look at it. I've got so many hours and $$$ into my car, that if I wanted a turbo, I would be building a turbo driveline, not buying a different car.

Bonestockers never understand that though.

 

I would post in the southeast regional forum to find someone in the area that could help you. Check out Kevin Landers site for tips on the TII swap if you haven't already. www.rotaryresurrection.com

If you have the money, I would try to get a standalone EMS (Haltech, Microtech, Wolf, etc) right off the bat. It may cost you a little more now, but its a lot easier in the long run if you plan on running high horsepower (350+) later on. Just a little tidbit from my own personal experience.

 

I hear the "sell your car and buy a TII" thing all too often. People DO become attached to their cars and want to upgrade THAT car rather than buying another one. A TII swap into an NA is a fairly easy affair if you can find all the parts you need. I recommend getting a JSPEC motor, having it rebuilt (rotaryresurrection is a great choice) and a proper installer handling the swap. The JSPEC route is a nice choice because you get the core motor and can often find longblocks with complete turbo, intercooler, wiring, accessories etc... BE sure to save some more cash for "in case something happens" money. Something always goes wrong. Another $1K in your pocket for various crap is a good idea.

 

thanks for all the opinions guys, but only having a payment of 100 a month for a couple of years isn't a big deal to me. and taking a loan out is my choice, not anyone elses. but anyways, i love my car and don't want to sell it. i want to do a turbo II swap.

 

Go for it!! Just make sure you have about another $1K as "just in case" money. Save for a few more weeks, or a couple months...whatever it takes. You'll be glad you did because something ALWAYS does happen.

 

Do what I did. Wait for an awesome deal on a good car for cheap. For example. I bought a '90 GTU off an old lady for $800. Car was in awesome shape but sat for 2 years. I put some work into it getting it cleaned up and tuned. Sold it for $2300. Paid the loan for $800 and put $1500 in to my car. My car has way to much personal value for me to ever sell it. The wisest thing would be to sell yours and still get the loan and buy a badass S5 TII. But if the car has value to you then a turbo swap is your best bet. Unless you want to run a bridge port with a supercharger on your 6 port motor. That would be cool but $$$.

 

3k is what a swap will cost. And it won't get you a standalone. Also where are you going to find a s5 harness t2 and ecu? This will end up costing you more than 3k. Try 5k. And like I said before you can get a nice t2 for 5k and still sell your NA. The only reason you should do a swap is because you have a vert or you have a attachment to the car that matches the size of your wallet. And with comments like "I finally got my Mom to say yes" would tell me a young kid like this doesn't want anything to do with a trying to wire up a S4 to S5 t2 swap.

 

Try to find a used haltech, get the ECU and motor done at once.

 

um, yeah i had it done against everyone's advice, but its true, if your not a complete sap, sell your car and buy a TII. If you are a sap like me and cant bear to part with your first car after 9 years, spend your money. I partially regret it because i came across a super clean 1990. it was NA, but it had 38K original miles. the guy wanted 5300 OBO. so for slightly more than what i paid to "hook up my car" i could have had a clean mint car. instead i have a fast car that needs about $3500 worth of interior and exterior work to look good. i could have parted my car out, added what invested so about 6K + 3-5K that are still going to go into it, thats getting close to FD territory

something tells me that what your car is worth + 3000 = a nice TII. so if you can bear selling your car, that is by far your best bet.

also remember that 3000 financed can take a long time to pay. pay more than the minimum each month, 2-3times as much if possible.

 

chexmix78 yeah I am with you a spent a ton for a turbo vert. Only because it was a vert. And yes telling a young kid to try a turbo swap in his driveway is asking for trouble.

 

The best way to go is buy a lowmileage rebuilt Turbo II which will run you a good $6K and up. I didn't have that much money so I just bought a Jspec motor to swap. Lemme tell you this tho, I spent over $4000 on the swap. I did buy some performance parts because the Stock parts would be expensive still like the raditor and fuel pump i wanted new. $1500 for engine and tranny from jspecautosports.com, $300 for the TII hood, $125 for the TII ECU, $435 for Fluidyne Radiator, $235 for Nippondenso Fuel Pump, $175 for HKS Intake. $400 for S4 Clutchtype LSD rear end + axles + driveshaft, $75 for MAF Sensor, $50 for TIIcluster, $100 for used good condition intercooler, $250 for complete stock exhaust system, and $400 for the swap. Did I mention this doesnt include fluids, o2 sensor, new spark plugs, new wires, new belts, new etc. that jus looks fucked up. Well, its very costly. Cheaper than a lowmileage TII. But the process is much more complicated than jus walking up and buying a TII. Any TII lower than $6K is usually f*cked up or has high mileage. If u finf a better one then your lucky. Just be prepared to use a lot of money, because that Jspec aint coming to you perfect. Can't wait to drive mine right now after the rewiring is done. O yea, the harness needs to be rewired and you need the Jspec TII harness or a US TII Harness.

 

I am one of the dumb kids who did the swap in his driveway. I actually did mine for about 3k, but it was only that cheap because fate smiled on me and dropped a parts car with a complete driveline and wiring harness into my lap. Also, not having alot of time to work on it, I spent almost 8 months completing the process. It is an incredible experience, but I honestly can say that I would not go through it again or reccomend it to others. Just my $.02.

 

For the experienced rotary shop, with a longblock ready to go in, the swap canbe performed in 1 week, in and out.

 

yeak kevin did mine in a week

 

ok, DONT tell me how hard it is going to be to pay it off, blah blah blah...and I'm not a kid... I'm a sophomore in college tahnkfully paying off thousands when i graduate. I dont feel like I should be telling you all my money situation. Thanks for the opinions everyone.

 

you're right sorry

 

I did mine in my driveway in 3 days, with the help of some capable friends and air tools.

 

I'm sure you won't have left-over money from your loan for mods. Its gonna be more than $3K jus to swap. I'm not saying dont do it, but its a pain. But if u love the rotary that much, and dont have $6K and up to spend on a real TII, then do it. Im about to drive mine for the 1st time once I get the vaccum hose diagram and coolant hose diagrams.

 

How dead set are you on making a TII? I ask because there are usually several decent NA longblocks for sale, cheap, that will keep you running until you can figure out what to do.

Personally there is nothing wrong with taking a loan out, sometimes its the only way to get things done in a timely manner. 3k over 2 years is not very much and the high interest is by far offset by the enjoyment you'll get from the car running well.

I think there are two avenues as everyone else suggested - buy a TII instead or <b>SLOWLY</b> swap your car over. Gather the parts you need, clean them up and check them out, and when the time is right (IE downtime is not an issue), do the swap.

As others said you will need the complete engine, engine wiring harness, ECU, pressure sensor, AFM, etc. I'd suggest a Jspec but you will have to find all the other stuff. I had to for a project and it was a pain.

BTW everyone is telling you what they would do, do what makes you happy (and what won't make you broke!). 3k will do the job but you may not be able to buy any mods. Also rebuilding a Jspec will make you broke and I don't consider it a necessity with a good cleaning and checkover.

 

haha My 1990 TURBO II widebody and rebuild is gonna cost me 30g+ TOP that hahaha!!
Well partly cause the motor is gonna cost like 6g to complete RE here we come with 650 HP