thinking on doing a motor swap. cost ?
 

I have been thinking on boosting my sc but now ive thought about it I would probably be better off on maybe selling the auto and look for a clean title shell and dropping a 2jzgte or a 1jzgte . I can find the swaps and the car but I rather have someone that knows what they are doing to swap it rather do it right the first time . any ideas on how much labor would be to swap either of these motors into a sc ? I live in California in the bay area and smog wont be a issue for me as I know some guy who knows a guy

im a true believer of motor swaps, and i've been doing it since i was 16 when i learned the concept of "lefty loosey and righty tighty" since then i've been swapping bigger motors into smaller cars. I've personally done over 20 swaps in my home garage, ranging from toyota, lexus, honda, acuras.... based on "my" experience: knowing a guy for smog only last so long, selling or trading your car will cost you more money in the long run, waiting patiently is very important, planning your $$ is critical, keeping your eye on the goal is your motivation, forums like these are your best friends, and DIY is gonna save you a ton of money.

IF you ultimatly rely on a guy or a friend's friend to do your swap and your not in control, you fall behind and it all becomes a dream.. paying someone to do the whole thing no questions ask, is gonna cost a pretty penny.. Good luck!!

Very true man I only rely on the smog situation just because sometimes it is to much to pass emissions . im currently taking automotive classes and hoping to learn more but being around people that do swaps and such really would help but honestly I don't have many people that do a such thing that is why ive been looking towards club lexus just hands on working on cars would be preferred and I don't want to mess up and end up having to pay more in the long run

do your reseach and look at the build threads section....should give you an idea.....but for a 2jzgte swap you better plan on at least 5k.....more if you are going single turbo....

travi19, I can't comment on knowing a guy but if you do at this point in time and he'll help you out (IF he can help you out given STAR rule changes), then use it while you can.

To ensure you can pass smog without that kind of help or at least prove you aren't violating any rules should you be given a ticket directing you to a BAR ref... that's expensive. Some guys here have done it and it's something I'm working towards myself by piecing together a USDM 2JZGTE. In fully emissions compliant mode on a stock ECU with 91 octane and both cats the engine is limited to around 350whp give or take. You can keep it that way only for testing purposes but just to give you an idea of cost vs return within that limitation...

My car has had a lot put in to set it up for a turbo but it's still NA. The cost to collect all these USDM GTE emissions compliant parts which all amount to an entire engine build (or conversion to a JDM Aristo 2JZGTE if I already had one) is something I have in my receipt records but haven't been willing to tally yet. I'm sure it's high already and absolutely beyond the full JDM engines for sale on Ebay.

Outside of CA inspections I really don't consider this approach to be worth it. Me, I'm stubborn and I'm also not looking for 500whp from my car. Conversely, many, many owners find a way around these rules but the squeeze has been put onto the shop owners rather than car owners after 2013 smog testing rule changes. The test to pre 2001 cars is exactly the same but the allowable numbers might have been tightened. A good tune with cats should pass those numbers. It's just the visual you should be concerned about.

To that end, there is a place that will modify stock twin sequential JDM and USDM turbos to support more power (usually with fuel better than 91 octane) but it isn't cheap.

All that said... if smog is not an issue I'd still recommend an Aristo 2JZGTE swap rather than a 1JZ just because of it being so similar to the USDM GTE Supra engine.