To Rebuild or not, but with no Experience with Engine Rebuilds

[jrhudson]

Originally Posted by vfrqqq

Fair point if you're comparing to a built FA20 long block. I've decided to get a spare DD to relieve any time pressure, so now that my BRZ is a project car, I need to decide what my ultimate goals are relative to how much I'm willing to spend.

As far as a K-swap is concerned, I guess the other major investment I'm personally concerned about in going to a different platform is the time will take for me to educate myself to the point where I would feel relatively comfortable with potential issues, design, engineering of a different platform. Aside from familiarizing myself with the K24 platform, I would need to ensure I'm comfortable with all the steps in the 86 K-swap instruction manual or that I'm willing to take the time to learn some stuff so that I'm hopefully doing it right. $10k for the KPower 86 swap kit, plus another $2k to $3k (that seems to be reasonable for what I've found online) for a decent K24A2 is a lot of money and, while I am mechanically inclined and I'm willing to go in with an optimistic attitude, the reality is I've never torn down/built an automobile engine and it's not clear whether the the K24 a good platform to learn on? So it's a bit of leap and, while I appreciate how much of a help a sizeable community with lots of helpful knowledge and support can get you in a project like this, it's daunting to think I could be, say, $13k+ into the project and run into a problem that I have take to a professional to be sure I'm not going to screw it up. Then the question becomes how much more money am I willing to spend since I'm already committed.

Anyway, just thinking out loud to help process the decision.

you seem to be dead set on doing a built fa20 but k series motor is better period. stock k motors can hold 400whp+. stock fa20 shoot out rods starting around 300whp. the cost of a kswap and building fa20 + FI will be the same. i understand if you dont want to swap over thats totally fine but the K series motor is better than the Fa20. i have a built FA20 and wished kpowered announced their kit like 1-2 month before i bought my FA20 stuff.

just make sure whatever you do, research a ton. google it or youtube it.

[vfrqqq]

Originally Posted by jrhudson

you seem to be dead set on doing a built fa20 but k series motor is better period. stock k motors can hold 400whp+. stock fa20 shoot out rods starting around 300whp. the cost of a kswap and building fa20 + FI will be the same. i understand if you dont want to swap over thats totally fine but the K series motor is better than the Fa20. i have a built FA20 and wished kpowered announced their kit like 1-2 month before i bought my FA20 stuff.

just make sure whatever you do, research a ton. google it or youtube it.

Actually, if anything, I'm leaning more toward a k-swap understanding that it's a better motor. I think I'm more just going through the exercise of saying some of these things out loud to kind of hold myself accountable in front of people who know better and prepare myself emotionally. So if anything, thanks for indulging me. Ultimately, now that I've decided to get a regular DD and have the freedom to take as long as I need, going with a k-series seems to make the most sense. I don't know how interesting it would be to document yet one more k-swap for an 86, but I'll likely post up about it if I finally decide to pull the trigger.

[NoHaveMSG]

Something to consider with the K swap is that running the type S oil pump forces you to ditch the balancer shaft. This causes quite a bit more NVH. It may not bother you, but something to consider on a street car.

The FA will take boost stock, just be reasonable with expectations and it will be fine. I wouldn't be afraid to throw another stock block at it.

[vfrqqq]

Unfortunately, it looks like the BRZ chapter of my life has closed and I'll be getting rid of my 2014. However, aside from the blown motor, the car only has ~78K miles on it and has mostly been garage kept. I generally assume it is more lucrative to part it out versus just selling it as is to a salvage yard, but I'm not excited about how much work and time it might take. I recognize I just need to call around and find this out for myself, but am I right to expect a salvage yard to offer me almost nothing for the car, even if it is otherwise in quite good condition?