I know this place is for people who get dirt under their fingernails, and I do. I'm actually an Army mechanic...but...
I bought a 1993 SE-R for $600 and come to find that it has a very bad knocking rod and terrible sludge buildup. Now I'm all for working on my car but I don't have the resources to change an engine or rebuild the bottom end. I live in an apartment complex, and well it would be complicated. It only has 113,000 miles on it and everything but the engine is in GREAT shape.

I was looking towards getting a used engine and having a shop swap it for me. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Best bang for your buck is a JDM 10:1 CR DE motor. VE's offer more power and many other things but a lower miles JDM motor can be had for ~$450, or less. That's really sad, the motor could have gone another 100k if the former owners changed the oil regularly and kept it topped off.

The tough part is going to be finding someone local who can assist in the swap for less than you paid for the car. Hopefully someone here closer to your location can suggest where you might go.

Thanks, I was looking at some of the JDM's on Ebay. I guess another issue would be to get the engine from a reliable source. I do eventually want to put in a VE, but right now I just want to get it on the road. I was thinking in the ballpark of a total of $1000 for the combined purchase of a used engine and labor for swap. $500-$700 for the engine and $300-$400 for labor?

I am in Hays, KS. And well, they aren't big fans of imports here. Unless someone knows otherwise. There are a few shops in town that claim to be "import friendly" or "import specialized".

If you flip the labor and motor to $400-500 motor (w/o trans) and maybe $200 in belts, hoses, fluids, all the little stuff you have to come up with, $1000-1200 is not unreasonable. Depends a lot on shape of your current trans, clutch, the stuff you keep. Wish someone from the Midwest here could chime in with good sources of motors, most of the ones I know are on the East Coast. But there's also some good dealers in TX. I'll ping some of the people who know these sources better than I do.

Thanks so much for the help. Let me know what you find out.

i have a shortblock you can have for like 50 bucks just i didnt want to ship it

depends on you want to do with the car.

but i would say since you seem new to sr20's get a jdm de and have it swapped.

find a local sr20 guy and pay him to do it as long as he knows his stuff.

i can locally find de's for 300-450 for a jdm. you might find them for about the same.

good luck.

stratton.

Thanks so much for the help. Let me know what you find out.

I heard back, but nothing local to you. Probably your best bet is to look at someone who will ship for reasonable fee or a trustworthy vendor.

IDK if anyone else can chime in here on some of the vendor experiences, but I'd look at tigerjapanese.com, like this motor:

http://www.tigerjapanese.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=104&category_id=8&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

That's the price range you want to be in, and JDM Direct would be another possible source.

Just be careful as I see some really wild fluctuations in prices right now for JDM DE's, essentially the same highport motor selling for just under $400 to over $700, the latter price is totally absurd. I was hoping to either get a local endorsement, or some of the people who purchase quite a few motors to recommend a vendor contact.

I'm in the same market right now, and ironically another vendor who has solid rep has VE's for $800-900, but his DE prices are pretty steep for motor-only.

Wish I could be of more direct help, if you were in the NE or FL, there's several options for purchase and pick-up. For me, even shipping from NY/NJ/NE vendors is usually around $100. Shop around, I'd recommend before you buy post back your choices.

Problem with many the vendors is for every 10 good experiences you find one person who swears that vendor is the worst thief on the planet, I've never been able to figure that one out.

Stay away from highport USDM motors, there are not going to be any low miles motors used by little old Japanese ladies with AT cars. The 10:1 in one of my cars now was so clean it was hard to believe it was used. This was right off the pallet before any clean-up, not even a little grime around the VC or the recesses of the block:

http://homepage.mac.com/stracy01/.Pictures/B13/IMG_5078.JPG

Thanks so much. I am pooling money right now and should make a purchase soon. Then I need to find someone to swap it, or someone with a garage and an engine lift. My next question is if the process for installing a JDM DE motor is any different than a USDM. Is everything the same?

^Do you need to pass smog? And what regulations are there?

he lives in kansas i dont think its that strict.

Will this engine drop directly into a 1993 SE-R?

http://www.jdmtigerjapanese.com/details.php?id=3768

Will this engine drop directly into a 1993 SE-R?

http://www.jdmtigerjapanese.com/details.php?id=3768

yup....should pop right in. too bad your not local. id have no prob swapping it for you. there has to be sr20 guys local that can lend a hand.
superblackz: that is one clean engine. i thought my ve was clean.

I know. I have the money to buy it and get the parts. But there is one import shop here in town and he won't swap a used engine and I don't have the money for a rebuilt/new one.

http://venus-auto.com/monthly/special/special_m.htm

ive heard nothing but good things about venus my buddy has bought DETs, VEs, DEs from them and they all ran really good!! shipping isnt that bad!! $505 for a BB DE shipping to my door!

I think you should swap it in yourself its not that bad you already have know how on get your fingers dirty and there is TONS of info on here just incase you run into a problem!!GL man

I know. I have the money to buy it and get the parts. But there is one import shop here in town and he won't swap a used engine and I don't have the money for a rebuilt/new one.

What? Is he nuts? These motors have so few miles on them, and usually you will find they were hooked up to an AT car in Japan, hardly driven and the car junked for age and tax reasons. Clearly you have to look at another source. Any import mech worth his sh*t would not balk at all using an SR20 "used" - that is pure BS.

Next to NO SR20's are "new" - I have seen maybe one or two and they were VVL motors with a huge price tag and complex engine management requirements from a very late model P11. And "rebuilt" motors have a failure rate higher than swapping a used one, usually because during the build people upgrade things and skimp on the engine management.

Most used engine vendors offer some sort of warranty if the work is done by a mechanic - basically that the motor will turn over, and some offer 90 day warranty.

There's a reason we drop in new/used motors when you get "rod knock" - usually the USDM motor has in excess of 100k miles, it's in worse shape than a "fresh" JDM motor, and rebuild on it is just not worth the money or time unless it's going FI or some other higher hp build. For the average guy rebuilding the bottom end with new rods, bearings, etc is prohibitively expensive.

Seriously, if you're that screwed, sell the car "as-is" or part it out, and find another one used with a solid motor. You'll save money in the end, and if the chassis is in good condition, plenty of people have no problem buying a near-roller and putting a used motor into it.

yup....should pop right in. too bad your not local. id have no prob swapping it for you. there has to be sr20 guys local that can lend a hand.
superblackz: that is one clean engine. i thought my ve was clean.

yes it was, you can tell the former owner never even put down the go pedal - usually if you have any wot the intake will look shiny clean because of detergents in the gas and volume of gas keep things clean.

this may look "dirty" but really it means he/she never drove it the least bit hard, also notice w/o cleaning how buff the outside is, on the right, the SCC project motor that came out saw plenty of wot:

http://homepage.mac.com/stracy01/.Pictures/B13_Intake/IMG_5091.JPG http://homepage.mac.com/stracy01/.Pictures/B13_Intake/IMG_5090.JPG

Then look at the top end and cover, whoa:
http://homepage.mac.com/stracy01/.Pictures/B13_Intake/IMG_5082.JPG http://homepage.mac.com/stracy01/.Pictures/B13_Intake/IMG_5080.JPG

The car is stink-fast for a non-DET or non-VE just with bolt-ons and JWT ECU tune, I ran it for almost an hour at a time down at NJMP 99% of the time 6000-8000 rpm range and it just ate it up. The motor has great throttle response and "jumps" right-now, which makes it really handy for passing other cars. ;)