pminnow

I recently joined this site because I've been ready to start pulling the trigger on some parts. I am admittedly overwhelmed with some of the options this site has presented me with, and I really just want to hear some good (personal experience) opinions on how I should reach my goals.

Long story short.

Goal #1. 400rwhp - pretty straightforward. I dont want/need anything higher just yet.

Goal#2. AROUND* 30 mpg on the highway - meaning I am building this as a car that I will drive on the street most of my days. I'd like to take it track drifting once in a while, but mostly spirited driving. (I don't have absurd expectations of a fully blown race car getting 40mpg, but i know 28-31 mpg isn't a crazy expectation with a car this light)

I don't have a huge budget to just up and buy an LS2/T56 drop out, Although I did just buy a T56 from a C5. I know that isn't the easiest to put in an S14, but I really just wanted it for its gearing/power handling.

Now for the engine questions...


LR4 - I originally planned on taking the LR4 out of my silverado (and building something else for that) so i know I can get an LR4 for real cheap and start building. I've seen Nelson's posts where cam, intake, and tune turned 221whp to 300whp in one of these. But how much more expensive is it to get an extra 100whp from this thing? and is it worth it when compared to say...

LQ4/9 - A quick search on LKQ.com shows an LQ4 being $1300 vs the LR4's $470. So herein is where I usually get stuck. Is it worth the extra $830 to go LQ4 to reach my goals?

FWIW this is what the car looked like when i bought it.



Now I just want to know what it takes to build it into a fun/more reliable street car.

superbean

Clean 240sx. My question is this, if you're after fuel economy, why not just build a Big turbo SR20 or KA-T? It will be much more bolt in than an LSx swap.

As for the pricing dellema, its not just the cost of the engine you need to worry about. In a 240, youll have to run F body accessories, and I'm sure youll want the car style intake. With truck engines, you have the bulky accessory drive and truck intake - neither of which you will use. Buying accessory drives, intake, rails, injectors gets pretty expensive. IMO, if you were going to purchase, I would buy an F body LS1 dropout to cut down on all the othe expenses.

cgEvan

iTrader: (1)

LSX + T56 will yield better mpg that any SR20 or KA24 could. I know from experience.

If I were you, I'd do a budget turbo 4.8 or 5.3 mated to the T56. You'll have power when you need it, fuel efficiency when you don't need the power. A small V8 won't have to work to carry the car like a 4 cylinder would, hence the better fuel efficiency. If I can get 30mpg in my LS1-T56 3600# T/A, then you can get at least 30mpg in a 4.8/5.3/5.7/6.0-T56 2800# S14

pminnow

Honestly man, my car came with a redtop SR, Garrett T3/TO4E etc. I've replaced/fixed so much janky crap in this car it's sad. Now it's got a Precision GT30r and in it's current form does 293rwhp @ 14lbs on DynoDynamics. After getting it tuned my usual tank is around 20 mpg. BUT, every single time I've put my foot down, I've felt like something is about to break. It's not my first boosted 4cyl car, but I've never been so afraid of this thing and mainly because since i've owned it i've been right. I get on it. something else breaks. I spend more money to fix it.

Everything you've said in the bottom paragraph I agree with. it seems that it ends up being less expensive to NOT piece together a truck motor.

so then which of the LS motors makes the most sense?

cgEvan

iTrader: (1)

What I'm about to say may deter you, but take the good from it... get a cheap, smaller LS based motor. Spend $300-700 on a decent mileage 4.8 or 5.3, and you'll have a great motor. HOWEVER, lets say something happens and it has catastrophic failure- you're only out a little bit to replace it. The only time I've heard of a truck motor failing is severe lack of maintenance or a considerable amount of hp being cranked out. MustangLS on here has a cammed 5.3 with a good intake setup and headers. His Mustang is running 11.40s @ 115-117mph. I think you'd be more than happy with that kind of power in a S14. Lets say you leave the motor bone stock but build a very modest turbo setup, you can easily put down 400whp and do it reliably. If you're hunting 400whp, you'd have to do modifications to a 6.0... take the diffence and turbo a smaller motor

You could go spend $1500 on a LS1, or $300-700 on a truck motor. Either way works great, but you're not going to "suffer" much from less cubic inches and the iron block in something as light as your car.

And I feel you on the SR. I had an SR with BC stage 2 cams, eagle rods, head studs, and a 20g... great power while it lasted, lol.

E.rodz

iTrader: (4)

look at the big picture although oyu can buy a 5.3 or a 4.8 cheap it is not the whole picture. car intake,different drive acc.wire harness.ecu, oil pan,motor mounts,headers.the tranny you picked up is for a c5 this is going to be more work than its worth set up for a transaxle i think a camaro or gto would work better.myself would opt for the 4.8 if milage is important . the more cubes you have the more you have to feed all the time.in the future a small turbo would make this thing a rocket.good luck with what ever you decide.

pminnow

so from what I'm getting here, I should just get a 4.8. And I'm ok with that. I may reconsider the turbo option, but i'd prefer to stay NA at this point (easier/cheaper to tune) Aside from tearing down the motor for cleaning, what should be my next steps for getting to that 400 goal? I'm keeping in mind that mileage goal otherwise i'd go straight for a big cam.

Either way, while i'm biding some time and trying to continue engine research, I've been fixing some damaged suspension. I admit, it's been well over a year since i've actively worked on my car so to warm up i replaced rear arms with an ISIS susp. arm kit to get it ready for me to learn how to align it and set its stance the way i want.









Next is gonna be the front control arms, tie rods, and tension rods. Then figure out my coilovers in between all this engine business.

cgEvan

iTrader: (1)

I know of an LS1 that needs to be put together for $650.

If you're leaning towards NA, I'd at least snag up a 5.3. My 5.3 with an Magic Stick 3 cam pulls like a raped ape up top. I'd love to have a 6 speed behind it in a lighter car.

bigmandengo

iTrader: (21)

Achieving 400 rwhp in a 5.3 or 4.8 is going to cost a lot more than getting there with an LS1. 400rwhp in an LS1 can be had with a cam swap.

Nissan LS240

iTrader: (1)

If you want a good deal on a great motor, check out the classifieds in the north east area, having a hurricane pass by sucks and itstragic, but it does bring the oppurtunity for great deals on engines, bought mine out of new orleans after katrina, 3k for LS1/t56/ecu/harness/all accessories with only 17k miles, very little surface corrosion, super clean inside,

pminnow

seeing how quick we've gone back and forth from truck motor to LS, you can see why i've been stuck. I'd really wish for someone who is making around the same power I want with each motor to give an idea of how much it's costed All In plus whatever it gets highway mpg wise?

ls1_chevelle

iTrader: (9)

Id go 5.3. Easier to get your hp goal, and just have it tuned so it leans out at your desired crusing speed to achieve 30mpg...

Just a note. On your control arms you replaced, the factory control arm goes on one side of the shot, and the aftermarket is now going on the other side of the shock, is that how they are supposed to be?

pminnow

nope you're 100% right. I had fixed it after the pic. I put it on that way to see if i had it backwards before. I had a REALLY hard time getting the one to the left off since it was really close to the camber arm (traction link)

cgEvan

iTrader: (1)

Why are you so worried about a truck motor vs an ls motor when they're all ls based?

bestlude

iTrader: (4)

Because he wants to achieve 400hp and have good gas mileage.. which I think is absurd to want that much hp and have great gas mileage for a budget build

pminnow

Because I want to know what the smartest way to go about it is. They're NOT all the same and different motors have different advantages for each person's build/goals. That being said, I really wanted to know what ppl thought was the smartest way to spend money based on what I'm looking to achieve.

As to the other guy, "Thanks. I think you're absurd too" =)