Hey all, I have an 88 TII, and was wondering what would be cheaper, an engine rebuild, or try and swap it out for the same motor but less miles, cuz mine is getting up there, and I don't want it to crap out on me. Especially because I have no idea on how the previous owned took care of it. Its clean, and it runs strong, bu tI dunno for how long. And help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

depending on what you replace on the rebuild and where you get the stuff from. The rebuild will cost more, but your engine will last a lot longer if you take car of it right.

 

If it's clean and runs strong then don't bother. I think a swap is cheaper if you find a motor for a straight swap IMO. can you get a hold of another motor for less than 1500 bux? Are you a hands on type person? can you get another experienced person to help you?if you answered no to any of those questions then you should have a shop do it. I am working on my very first swap.....so far I took the motor out of my crashed TII, now I need to install it........good luck

 

the swaped motor might just be worse then yours... if it runs fine forget about it. and just save some money incase you need it later.

 

 

Save for a rebuild, bottom line is if you take care of the care after the rebuild it is almost guaranteed to last longer than a swap. Besides don't just do a swap/rebuild if you're not having any problems with the engine. Maybe you might wanna get the compression checked, etc. which will let you know about the condition of the motor. I've read about n/a with 200,000 miles on it, don't know about tII though.

Jahan

 

The rebuild kits are like 900 from atkins and racing-beat. Those j-spec motors are about 1200 w/ shipping. After that it all depends on whether u are doing the labor, or a mechanic.

 

I think you answered your own question. Absolutely no way to tell the condition of the used engine your buying, even if they say it's rebuilt. Compression only an indicator at that time. Don't forget these cars are 16 years old and I don't believe there would be many used engines in great condition for the price. All J specs I see have 30,000 miles on them, and that's been for the years. Hard to believe.
If money not a problem, buy a Mazda remanufactured ($2000 with gaskets). If you want to do some upgrades, pull that one apart and have fun.