Spectrum24x

Hey guys, i was just hoping you all could shine some light on this, i bought a 91 N/A CLEAN for a great price when searching for a T II, i found such a good deal on this i could not pass it up and decided to plan ahead for a TII swap.. Well, now im ready to buy a motor and get the swap rolling. I did some searching and honestly most of what i found was pretty straight forward swap write ups.. i actually was originally intending on doing the swap myself in the garage.

My intentions are to purchase a jdm swap online with motor, tranny, ecu, and harness.. Its my understanding this is EVERYTHING i need to do the swap (am i correct or incorrect?) The reason i am asking all this is i called a few local shops and they either refused to do this swap, or said they would do it.. but its really not worth all the hassle, one guy said i'd spend about 5 grand just in parts to do it.

I am confused b/c i originally thought this was a simple straight forward swap but as im asking people more and more are saying WHOA! don't do it its too much work, too many parts required and too costly...

Thoughts?

AGreen

iTrader: (11)

A little searching couldn't hurt, but I'll be kind.

You need to think about things like:

1) How you'll bolt your exhaust on. Does the engine come with a downpipe, or will you have to find one? You'll still have to customize your remaining exhaust anyways.

2) The driveshaft won't bolt on. The thread I'm on right now just clarified what to do about that. https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showthread.php?p=8778737

3) Your hood won't allow airflow to the top-mount intercooler. Will you buy one of those hard to find TII hoods, or go with a FMIC?


This one's not really necessary, but
4) Do you want to do a little refreshing before dropping it in? I'm replacing all the 21 year old vacuum tubing, hoses, and those damn brittle oil injector lines.

I'm not saying you shouldn't do it. I am currently working on one right now obviously. All I'm saying is that it's relatively easy as far as swapping different engines go, but it's not a completely in/out thing unless you have a donor car with the engine, trans, pressure sensor, variable resistor, afm, driveshaft, differential, and half shafts.

Spectrum24x

1. I was planning on doing an aftermarket exhaust with downpipe.
2. I saw the thread where you can get the custom driveshaft for 280, i'll probably do that
3. I am doing Greddy FMIC
4. I will probably do that refreshing as i go, i just want to get it running turbo first.

Will those four things along with a complete swap from online take care of it? Or will i have to seek out the pressure sensor, variable resistor, afm, differential, and half shafts?

solareon

iTrader: (1)

to be honest just buy a t2. The little problems and nit picky items you will run into with the swap will end up costing you more than just buying the real deal to start with. Plus you'll have two cars. So when the turbo hot rod is down you can drive the nice conservative na

Spectrum24x

Well, i thought about that ^ but to find a turbo II anywhere near as clean as the N/A i found would cost like 7 grand... which is why i bought this n/a for 2300 in the first place.. 97k original miles only one owner, an old lady... and bone stock

dot_txt

iTrader: (1)

The JDM Swap really isn't that hard as long as you get a good engine. Heard good things about Japan2LA. TigerJapanese is.. well.. not the greatest.. but not the worst.. The engine I ordered from them once only had a stuck seal (MMO and PB blaster took care of it no prob)

Whole thing should cost you in the range of 2400 if your not ultra conservative. 3500 if you need a rebuild.. Cost breakdown for me was something like this.

Engine $950 (used N/A Trans and rear and engine harness)
ECU $150
Fuel Pump $150
Extra odds and ends $100 (MMO, Oil, Fluids)
Intake Duct, AFM, Bypass Valve, and Pressure Sensor could be had for around $150 to 200
Hood from scrap yard: $200

I might have forgotten some things in there but that was basically the cost of my turbo swap (If everything had gone right.. It ended up being WAY more.. mostly because of dumb mistakes)..

Good luck

dawicka2

^^^^ I will vouch for that price too. Thats about where i am on my series 4 swap with fmic. I am using the na trans dshaft rear and axles though.

Dont forget t2 throttle cable and beefier na clutch if you plan on using your na trans.

john ny

Spectrum24x

So the TII motor will bolt up to my N/A tranny and i won't have to worry about the driveshaft or differential? Granted if that is true i will go ahead and purchase the whole swap and leave the tranny in the garage untill i find a complete turbo II rearend...

dot_txt

iTrader: (1)

Yup.. Good call.. I knew I missed something.. Although on the throttle cable, you could always make a bracket to mount on the TB to hold the N/A throttle cable. Then all you have to do is flip the cams... I just ordered the TII cable.

dawicka2

Stupid question but what year engine do you have lined up?

You need an 89-91, or the swap becomes an aids ridden prostitute.

john ny

dawicka2

Only japan2la or atkins too.

Thats it.

john ny

Spectrum24x

I am only looking at S5 swaps for now, i'm finding them easily for 1200-1400 opposed to japan2la's price of 1950... i figure if push comes to shove and i get a shitty motor i can use that 600 dollars that japan2la charges towards a rebuild..... I know he is reputable but from what i've seen out there i just feel he charges to much

dawicka2

It is all a crap shoot with jspec engines, That 600 dollars will not go very far if housings and rotors are trashed though.

John ny

vrracing

iTrader: (1)

I bought my Tii from TigerJapanese and the front iron was rusted thru and I had to do a complete rebuild. Got the front iron from Japan2LA btw and bought new housings on eBay.

If I had to do it all over again I'd just get the engine from Japan2LA and saved myself a lot of annoyance and frustration. Sadly, I didnt know about him at the time. That $600 seems like a big discount but chances are VERY high that you'll spend a lot more than that if you buy from those other sources. Japan2LA really seems to understand rotaries where the other shops are just moving generic engines from Japanese junkyards to your garage. The guy at Tiger told me on the phone the engine had been compression tested. He lied.

My plan was like yours, buy the engine, drop it in and go. But once I had to open the engine for the rebuild, I got new apex seals, new water seals, gasket kit, porting templates, carbide bits for porting, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc to infinity! $600 was a LONG time ago!

So if all you want to do is drop the engine in and go, buy it from Japan2LA. Even then keep in mind that "no plan survives first contact with the enemy". Or watch the 2nd gen Parts for Sale section for a member with lots of posts parting out their car. But dont rush and dont be cheap. You'll pay for it many times over.

Also, when you buy the engine DO NOT get the JDM harness and ECU. They are both useless in your car. In the 2nd gen archive you will find a writeup on someones swap. You'll see you can use your NA harness with a couple of 15 minute soldering jobs. Your hardest problem will be finding a N370 ECU so start looking now. You might get lucky and find one cheap, but the supply is drying up and prices are going up.

The "swaps" won't come with the AFM, boost sensor, etc. I got mine from Japan2LA.

Good luck. It's a fun and often frustrating process but in the end worth it. To someone else's point about just buying a Tii, I sure wouldnt try a swap in your daily driver. You WILL have problems and you WILL be without a car for potentially long period of time. And if you have to rush the swap so you can go to work on Monday, you are guaranteed to be SOL and need some $400 part that you can't get from the dealer and you'll be without a ride. Might check to see what the bus routes look like!

Good luck!

Jim

jackhild59

iTrader: (7)

If you feel the need to cut $600 out of the most important item in your project, you are planning to fail.

You are in for pain-lots of pain.

You heard it here first.

However, you just might get lucky. Since you are counting on it, I wish you Good Luck!

dawicka2

You mean "you heard it here 4th"

thats what we have been tryin to tell him.

John ny

Spectrum24x

I live with my fiance' and we work together, so while its down i can just ride share with her...
But to all the other points, maybe i will just go with the Japan2La swap..

To your point about not needing the JDM ecu and harness but instead finding a N370ECU which you mention is hard to come by, and doing some soldering.. wouldnt it just be easier to use the JDM ECU that comes with the full swap?

jackhild59

iTrader: (7)

No, you guys were beating around the bush. Then, he was 'arguing-countering' the advice. Yada yada yada

I thought you NY guys were blunt.

I was direct. He is going to f- it up.

Where is

NO!

-Ted

when a noob needs him?

finishline

iTrader: (13)

https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-gen-archive-72/my-na-tii-jdm-swap-635663/

thank goodness for the archives.

dot_txt

iTrader: (1)

Used that thread to help with my swap. I got lucky on my engine from tiger (which I think was 1100 with shipping, no trans). But I would definitely go with J2LA.. He's the only JDM importer (I know of) on this board and has great reviews. Bust out the extra credit card and order from him.. save yourself an EPIC amount of pain..


1) you can use your N/A Harness.. Soldering extensions onto a JDM wiring harness will be the devil.. Did it once and I went through a couple cases of beer, and a few fights with the girlfriend before I was done.. Use your N/A Harness and if you choose to remove emissions I think you only have to solder in the knock sensor. Otherwise you also have to solder on the Boost Control Solenoid. Then use the N370 ECU. N374's are notorious for having problems, most likely damage in shipping. Bite down and get the n370. Save yourself pain.. Although to test the engine you can use the n350 (N/A ECU) to start and drive gently. You will need the n370 to do any spirited to hard driving though.

EDIT: I saw a thread in the past about someone getting the n374 working on another MAP.. I might be wrong but it might be worth a half hours search as they are fairly cheap.

dkwasherexd

iTrader: (8)

its simple. Since u have s5 na, a s5 jspec t2 would be ur best bet. You will need a t2 driveshaft and you can modd it to fit your na rear diff by extending the driveshaft holes with a dremel or air grinder. Then you will need a t2 hood. The motor drops straight in, find a USDM t2 s5 harness, jspec ones are short, so find a usdm one. PLugnPlay the N370 ecu and harness to the motor,afm, pressure sensor,map sensor,injectors, o2,water,oil and ur set.

dawicka2

We are, i just didnt want to come off like a dick while offering sound advice on something there is several ways of doing. He will only **** it up going in blind without a set plan.

john ny

john ny

Spectrum24x

Ok guys, heres the deal, i've gotten a lot of questions answered and for that i say thank you!!!! but heres my latest.. I found a JDM 13bt with aftermarket Turbonetics turbo for 1200 plus shipping from a JDM importer, no transmission, no ecu and no harness. My plan is to purchase this motor, and temporary run it in my N/A with the N/A tranny untill i get ahold of the Turbo II drivetrain. The motor comes with a 30 day startup warranty, i know its not Japan2LA but im going to have it shipped to Don Marvel, a great rotary specialist in the Dallas area, and when it arrives i plan to have him inspect the motor and if the compression is bad or is not in good condition simply tell them it did not startup and send it back, giving me the peace of mind. If the compression is good I will have this motor installed and run it temporarily and eventually get a Kaltek and Turbo II driveshaft and run 15lbs of boost later on down the road.

What do you guys think?

dawicka2

NO. That turbonetics turboed engine was from ebay...right? I remember that one. You are going to give that shitimporter 1200.00 and have to fight to get it back.........that is not an intelligent decision, best case situation you will **** away hundreds of dollars in shipping and a winters worth of work time getting your money back. You asked for advice.......here it is again "japan2la or atkins, thats ******* it" Listen to us or like jackhild59 said, "you are going to **** it up"

haltech well tuned w/15psi on a future turbo is doable......get the engine in 1st.

If you plan on running 15lbs of boost you will need the turbo drive train....so i would purchase the trans too from japan2la or atkins. You will also need a decent upgraded clutch. Might wanna put that in off the jump too. I fucked up and initially put an xtd na clutch behind my t2 engine, lasted 6thousand miles.


john ny

Spectrum24x

I don't undertand, if i get the motor with a startup warranty and before i even install it have it tested i can send it back if its no good, wheres the problem? yeah i'll waste a little money on shipping, but im a gambler, if its a good motor im getting a hell of a deal