Engine swap help????

[scholtmj]

The cheapest way to go = buy a faster car

It's a lot cheaper than making a slow car fast.

[meissen]

It depends on what you want. I hate the arguement of "buy a new car." That's the easy route to take and, sure it's cheaper, but what's the fun in that? If you have a 350, I'd look into building that up. There's a company that makes an intake so the 350 block can have an LT1 intake on it.

[Aguilar2287]

yea im dont really want to go out and get a new car i like tha one i already have ..... whats tha company that makes the 350 intake ??

[bmwmcars]

i wouldnt really bother with the lt1 intake if you are going gen 1 sbc. there is no point. there are better intakes out there (vic-e, etc) for the sbc (infact a number of lt1 guys are converting to single planes).

if starting from zero, no motor, no k-member, no nothing, i would seriously look at a lsx motor. you can get crate motors on ebay for 2k that have everything for the motor+harness+pcm. they have a HUGE aftermarket for them and can make HUGE power. lt1 is good, but aftermarket blows.

in reality you should figure out your realistic working capital (total cash available over the course of the project), and go from there. work out some options that fit your budget and get you the closest to your goal- goals could be things like crazy fast 1/4mile, good streetability, fuel economy, "rare/odd" factor, etc.

however, unless you know every single little cost involved, and are super good at budget management, i would spend around 80% of your budget, max, on your big stuff. little crap can piss away the other 20% easy. if you are building a crazy build (1500hp tt v6 stroker) i would lower that to as low as 50% or 60%.

for example: when i was building the 4.3v6 turbo in the other truck, 5k on the short block, no worries, nearly home. add gaskets, head work (replace pressed in studs with bolt in), new injectors, fuel pump, lines, hose clamps, water pump, new hardware, fluids and all the other crap-ola that i needed, this came to like 2.5k on top of the short block.

not saying your situation is the same, but i have seen it happen quite a bit.

[Aguilar2287]

you spent 2 grand other than on tha block and thats including tha turbo??? if so im takin tha v6 route lol

[bmwmcars]

you spent 2 grand other than on tha block and thats including tha turbo??? if so im takin tha v6 route lol

haha, no. already had the turbo, headers, intake, intercooler, ecu that was setup for boost, map sensor, wide band o2 for tuning, etc.... most of that though came over from the factory setup. if you are turboing a car there is a long laundry list of bits that are needed.

idk if you know all the bits you would/could/possibly need... but here is a brief list of potentials:

1/ lower compression, fully, short built block (if you intend to run high boost and have it live)
2/ turbo
3/ manifolds/headers
4/ downpipe
5/ wastegate
6/ intercooler (not required per se, but hot air=detonation=bad news)
7/ plumbing for wastegate, intercooler and charge pipe
8/ fuel pump
9/ injectors
10/ oil supply line to turbo
11/ return line from turbo
12/ fittings for oil lines
13/ modified oil pan for lines
14/ some sort of ecu that can deal with boost (749 sy/ty ecm, fast, dfi, bs3, etc)
15/ wbo2 (not required, but you will want it to tune)
16/ tuning gear (laptop, chip burner, emulator, etc)
17/ wiring harness (unless you mod your factory one)
18/ sensors (if you go 3bar, etc)
19/ air intake of some sort (filters and what not)
20/ t-bolt clamps (yes, they can get pricey)

this is not an all-inclusive list, by no means, but it is a decent list of the things that you should consider when looking at a turbo project. add prices to these, and you can start to see what it would cost. of course, it doesnt include a HUGE expense if you are not doing it all yourself: LABOR.

anyways. good luck which ever route you take.

edit:
btw: i am not trying to turn you off of any of these choices, only trying to share some of my experiences having done a few builds now (two of which being boosted). they are fun for sure, just go in eyes wide open.

[Formula Z]

sounds like you have a lot of info peter. what to do, what to do??