TW: How much would you pay for a swap kit for a 240sx
 

I'm thinking about putting together a swap kit for an s14. Due to the fact that a good portion of the installation time and money is taken up to develop the transmission and engine mounts I would provide both of these to basically allow the drop the motor right in. The components would be designed with extremely durabilty and quality - to withstand the abuse for every day driving and also in competition. This kit will not require any modifications to the firewall. The only exception is that the transmission shifter opening for will need to be trimmed a bit (slight trim will not adversely effect car rigidity).

I understand a lot of 240 owners are on a tight budget and the thought of an LS1 swap into a 240 is a bit intimidating. So, within reason, what would you guys pay to have something like this made? Again, this is for the subframe and transmission mount ONLY. Other things like driveshaft, headers, and other misc things would need to be tackled by yourself or a local fabricator/installer (although i could develop these as well).

Admins: If I've broken any rules of advertisement I will gladly reword or in worse case delete the thread.

Would this need to cut the subframe still? Would it lower the subframe? I would pay as much as the hinson kit, more if the kit is better.

Sound slike hes going to mount the motor more forward and down. Also what are you going to provide in your kit?

If I was to make a kit it would consist of

Crossmember
Mounts (motor and Trans)
Custom lines
Clutch master with adapter plate
Slave fittings
Drive Shaft
P/S line
Headers (not sure which ones)

In the end it wouldnt be very cheap.

I say do it up! See what you can do with it. The LS1 swap in a S chassis, is becoming very big. I know like 4-6 people doing them now..Offer it at a good price and people will buy it. Have them send you there crossmembers and you mod them etc.. Or add a core charge..

$1500 for a full kit would be nice.. ha

As somebody who is looking into LS2 into S14 swap, I see this going in couple of stages of progress.
Start off figuring out what exactly you need to order and getting it all from Summit. This would include headers, ps line, cmc and line and fittings and corvette fpr/filter deal.

Second part would be going to someone who can do the crossmember/mounts and headers all in one place. I don't think seperating this will work as motor mounts need to be fabed up first, than modfying the xmember as needed and finally messing around with headers.

Last thing would be tackling the wiring, while waiting for the mail tune to get back.


Since the misc lines can be handled by the end user, I would suggest maybe providing a list of PNs and/or simple how to. That would eliminate some of the details for the swap.
Getting a template for xmember modifications would be nice to include with the mounts. This will avoid BS with core charge, shipping delays etc. Keeping it simple would work the best and allow to keep the cost down.

HTH

I can do the wiring for a decent price if anyone is interested. I just need a KA harness and LS1 harness and Ill thin it and remove the CEL light stuff like VATS/O2s/Emissions if the ECU is sent.

As someone noted before I would provided a modified x-member and transmission mount. The kit will definitely be quality. Basically, it will be a copy of what I'm running right now as my daily driver / track event car. It's VERY strong, if it wasn't I wouldn't even think about selling it to the public.

You're spot on about the items needed. I could include those, but for the first couple batches I want to leave those out, but put together a list of what's needed. Reason being lines, headers, etc could be sourced at better prices. I could provide a list of recommended products that I've used throughout the year as suggestions or to point someone in the right direction.

Thanks for the encouragement. I've seen the swap progress into all different kind of cars and now nissans. Running an NA motor stock will save a lot of time and money tuning and tweaking a forced induction motor to run smoothly. The x-member is kind of a one off piece that I'm using. I will not use the 240sx x-member which is a possible hinderance providing a cost effective kit, although, my approach (using the skyline x-member) is proven to be reliable and strong. I could eventually start using the 240sx one. But I that's up in the air. As for the price of the kit, I would like to do something cost effective and reliable. Reliable being my #1 goal. I think 1500 would be difficult, and it would undercut quality. But in the end a lower cost, high quality kit is my ultimate goal.

This is a well thought out approach and this is the step an installer should take. As noted before I'll try my best to help the end user find the things he/she needs to tackle the project. It's great to know parts can be sourced via summit and received with the same week. It personally saved me days during my swap.

That's one route. There's also other options such as a prewired plug 'n play harness. I'm currently using the factory oem harness which is also fine. The most trouble free way to get the swap done is to find a motorset with harness, motor, and transmission intact as a single unit.

I will be in, to bought a complete bolt-on kit(mount, harness, header, driveshaft, etc) for sure in the mid-end of summer 2008 :)

GO GO GO

Kevin..

That'd be feasible. But what's a reasonable price you'd pay for something like this?

its hard to put a number on it. is it soft mount? hard mount? etc

my mounts cost me a grand total of 50$ with welding wire and cutoff wheels. its hard to say "sure $1000 is a fair price for a mount kit" when so many of us know it really isnt THAT hard to make the mounts, just time consuming.

The price will go, with what is included in your kits. I will pay what you will charge:nod:

Kevin..

Time though is worth money. An average mechanic would run you 70+ an hour so how many hours do you think you put into your mounts and modding the crossmember.

What I would like to see is someone put in a tubular crossmember like the F Bodies can buy. That would almost fix clearance issues.

I wouldn't pay any money for a kit because I can do all the work myself and don't like wasting money.

This might be the best, ideal way to go. Hmm... ideas...

I assumed this a bit. I think one of the biggest reasons people tackle this is that installation is fun. Although, from showing my swap to various people they often ask if it was a kit and where they could find it.

I was first thinking about having x-members made from my existing car, but iI'll definitely look into having a tubular x-member developed. It'll cost a bit to have it R&D'd but I think it could save everyone money in the long run. I'll keep everyone posted.