Rebuild or Used JDM

[Zelfear]

Ok well I have a 89 N/A now. I have picked up a GTE with rod knock. I got it for free so if I don't use it thats not a waste of money. Right now I plan to put every thing in stock form. I have everything to do the swap including a
R-154 besides the turbo, the oil and coolant feed lines, and DP.

My question is should I rebuild the motor I have or should I buy a jdm engine?

I can get a Complete motor from tiger japanese for $1175.
Does any one have an estimated cost of a rebuild with a MHG and arp studs? because if I'm doing a rebuild I would use those.

I want to try to keep it under $1500.

Any suggestions for a rebuild or a motor from a different importer would be great.

Cliff Notes:
I have $1500.
Rebuild Rod knock 7mgte or buy JDM Engine

 

[IJ.]

Tear down and inspect the RK motor first then decide.

 

[Fubar231]

What ij said. Depending on how bad and the marks on the cylinder walls are you might not even want to re-use that block. Another thing to think is a MHG is going to cost 200$ minimum, then another 100$ for arp studs. So if you want to use that, your 1,500 is now 1,200. But like ij said, tear the block apart and examine it, and decide if you want to build it, granted its going to take longer and such, but it will most likely be a healthier motor when your done with it, rather than some unknown milage "JDM" 7m.

 

[92nsx]

REBUILD!!!!
Or spend the 1100 and rebuild the JDM First option sounds better/cheaper to me.

 

[suprahero]

I just rebuilt George's 7m for him and it cost him this:
machine work, honing block, installing new rings and bearings.........450.00
newly rebuilt head..................................................................395.00
titan 1.2mm head gasket.........................................................120.00
new oil and filter for two changes...............................................60.00
new antifreeze........................................................................10.00
labor for someone to help me pull motor and disassemble................100.00
labor for someone to help me put it back together and reinstall........200.00
sent the injectors off to be flow tested...rc did them for free..............0.00
new gasket set from ebay...........................................................45.00
miscellaneous items I had to replace.............................................100.00

Roughly 1500.00 total for materials and labor. My labor of course was free.

 

[jugodegolf]

REBUILD!!!!
Or spend the 1100 and rebuild the JDM First option sounds better/cheaper to me.

:boink:

IJ's advice is good.

 

[Sawbladz]

I just rebuilt George's 7m for him and it cost him this:
machine work, honing block, installing new rings and bearings.........450.00
newly rebuilt head..................................................................395.00
titan 1.2mm head gasket.........................................................120.00
new oil and filter for two changes...............................................60.00
new antifreeze........................................................................10.00
labor for someone to help me pull motor and disassemble................100.00
labor for someone to help me put it back together and reinstall........200.00
sent the injectors off to be flow tested...rc did them for free..............0.00
new gasket set from ebay...........................................................45.00
miscellaneous items I had to replace.............................................100.00

Roughly 1500.00 total for materials and labor. My labor of course was free.

The only thing I would add to this post would be to skip the ebay gasket set and buy one from Toyota. A friend used a recommended gasket set from ebay and he had a bunch of issues with it. He bought a Toyota set and had much better luck. It seems like a good deal now. How good will that deal seem when your rear main start leaking?

 

[suprahero]

George had used this set before with no problems and felt good about using it again. I had a toyota rear main seal and two cam shaft seals from Toyota and they look EXACTLY alike......same color, size, and markings. I'm not saying they are the same, but they looked like a great set. If this engine leaks then I'll post back up and let everyone know.


George probably should have paid Toyota to build it since he had to buy my lunch for a few days, and this fat boy can eat.

 

[92nsx]

George probably should have paid Toyota to build it since he had to buy my lunch for a few days, and this fat boy can eat.

:rofl: :rofl: I guarantee the lunches were a hell of a lot cheaper then Toyota at $100+ hour

 

[Sawbladz]

George had used this set before with no problems and felt good about using it again. I had a toyota rear main seal and two cam shaft seals from Toyota and they look EXACTLY alike......same color, size, and markings. I'm not saying they are the same, but they looked like a great set. If this engine leaks then I'll post back up and let everyone know.


George probably should have paid Toyota to build it since he had to buy my lunch for a few days, and this fat boy can eat.

Sounds good. Any link to the set you used?

 

[suprahero]

Here's the head gasket that I used.
http://www.titanmotorsports.com/timohegafor7.html

Here's the gasket set. Over 19000 sells with 100 percent positive feedback.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...0314915924&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT

For those of you wanting too. Don't turn this into a "If you didn't buy toyota gaskets, it's going to leak" thread. It's already been bought, installed, and driven. It's too late for that. This was George's car and his money. I did some research on it and this is what we bought.

 

[jugodegolf]

Ok well I have a 89 N/A now. I have picked up a GTE with rod knock. I got it for free so if I don't use it thats not a waste of money. Right now I plan to put every thing in stock form. I have everything to do the swap including a
R-154 besides the turbo, the oil and coolant feed lines, and DP.

My question is should I rebuild the motor I have or should I buy a jdm engine?

I can get a Complete motor from tiger japanese for $1175.
Does any one have an estimated cost of a rebuild with a MHG and arp studs? because if I'm doing a rebuild I would use those.

I want to try to keep it under $1500.

Any suggestions for a rebuild or a motor from a different importer would be great.

Cliff Notes:
I have $1500.
Rebuild Rod knock 7mgte or buy JDM Engine

Toyota has very exact tollerances so if you do go the rebuild route, make sure machine shop knows and follows the specs for the 7m

Jason would give you a brief summary. Toyota built my 7mgte in 07. They are only as good as the machine shops. It was never ascertained why after 3500 miles and just over 1 year of "Toyota's warranty" the car started smoking like a train. Anyway a good knowledgeable friend and I rebuilt the bottom end leaving the head alone.:3d_frown: Fast forward to Sept 09- Jay and I did proper tune and breakin on this build. Car had little smoke on startup pointing to valve seal leak. Went to dyno made almost exact same power. Drove back and car had a little miss, but was starting to smoke noticably. 18 pistons, 1 head, 1 T66 killed, and a good dose of grief later car is back together and should be good to go for many years. I keep my cars well maintained mind you.

 

[Lienhop Photo]

Ok well I have a 89 N/A now. I have picked up a GTE with rod knock. I got it for free so if I don't use it thats not a waste of money. Right now I plan to put every thing in stock form. I have everything to do the swap including a
R-154 besides the turbo, the oil and coolant feed lines, and DP.

My question is should I rebuild the motor I have or should I buy a jdm engine?

I can get a Complete motor from tiger japanese for $1175.
Does any one have an estimated cost of a rebuild with a MHG and arp studs? because if I'm doing a rebuild I would use those.

I want to try to keep it under $1500.

Any suggestions for a rebuild or a motor from a different importer would be great.

Cliff Notes:
I have $1500.
Rebuild Rod knock 7mgte or buy JDM Engine

Sell the block to me and for cheap and the go get a new motor

 

[suprahero]

I just rebuilt George's 7m for him and it cost him this:
machine work, honing block, installing new rings and bearings.........450.00
newly rebuilt head..................................................................395.00
titan 1.2mm head gasket.........................................................120.00
new oil and filter for two changes...............................................60.00
new antifreeze........................................................................10.00
labor for someone to help me pull motor and disassemble................100.00
labor for someone to help me put it back together and reinstall........200.00
sent the injectors off to be flow tested...rc did them for free..............0.00
new gasket set from ebay...........................................................45.00
miscellaneous items I had to replace.............................................100.00

Roughly 1500.00 total for materials and labor. My labor of course was free.

As I typed a new post a few minutes ago, I also forgot to mention that George bought me a new monitor for my computer that hadn't worked in six months. He also removed all of the stuff that was on it and installed the new windows and got it running again. I would have thrown it out and bought a new one, but he fixed this one as good as new. I can rebuild a motor, but I can't log onto supramania without calling for help............:biglaugh:

 

[Zelfear]

As I typed a new post a few minutes ago, I also forgot to mention that George bought me a new monitor for my computer that hadn't worked in six months. He also removed all of the stuff that was on it and installed the new windows and got it running again. I would have thrown it out and bought a new one, but he fixed this one as good as new. I can rebuild a motor, but I can't log onto supramania without calling for help............:biglaugh:

Well my labor would be free also... minus a couple lunches for some buddies. I will tear into it soon to see how bad it is. I did find a local engine remanufacture that will remanufacture (not rebuild) my engine for 2500 and it will come with a 60 month 100,000 mile waranty.