>Naomi Lamb:
> I plan to do major surgery this winter. Removal of an offending 86 Chevy 4
> cyl motor & trans from my 68 1600. Now, since I can't locate an original
> motor & transmission without major dollars being exchanged, I plan to locate
> a more modern Nissan motor & transmission.
>
> There must have been somebody on the List that has done this. What I would
> like to know is what size motor should I attempt to locate this summer. The
> plan is to stay with a 4 or 5 speed.
I waited to see if someone else would jump in on this, but since no one's do
so 'til now here's my take. First let me state that even though I've not
swapped a later model Engine/tranny combo into a roadster myself, I'll bet
that the cost of doing so will far exceed putting a stock, or modified R-16
back in the 1600, especially if you rebuild or even just freshen up the
"new" motor. Talk to Michael Spreadbury (sr20) or Bill Kenyon (KA24) and
others about what goes into adapting a non-original engine and transmission
into these cars. The engineering, hassles and costs can be extensive.
Frankly I haven't paid much attention to posts recently about the
availability and price of an R-16 and 4-speed, but I'd be very surprised if
reinstalling that combo wasn't cheaper and certainly much simpler that
engineering virtually any swap. Even if someone offers a "bolt-in" kit there
are bound to be other hurdles and expenses to be dealt with. Let's say you
get a kit to install an sr20 and the kit runs $1000. I've seen RWD JDM
sr20's for a minimum of $950 up and about half that for the matching trans.
Add around $350 for a new radiator with electric fans and probably another
$500 for miscellaneous expenses. I'd expect installing a KA24 might run a
little less as I'd expect the KA24 to be cheaper, but probably just a few
hundred. And that's not even allowing for going through the "new" motor.
I hate to shower you with negatives, but better you consider the real cost
of what you're considering now than after you've spent a couple of thousand
and find out you're nowhere near done. I'd do my best to realistically total
the costs of both a swap and an OEM reinstall and estimate how long each
will take. Then add 50% to the cost estimates and double your time estimates
before you decide which way you want to go. Seriously.
HTH,
Ron
Ronnie Day
rday@hot.rr.com
Ronnie_day@acd.org
Temple, TX
***********************
'71 510 2-dr (Prepared Class Autocrosser)
'73 510 2-dr (Street Toy)
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