crazy swaps - general question

[JoeyBones]

first, not talking about a daily driven car...

if you just picked a motor assuming rear drive and physical dimensions work... and you source the complete engine assembly w/ harness, the ecu, and instrument cluster, and possibly the ignition switch if it has a transponder... Once mounted and aligned, shouldn't you be able to basically run engine harness to ECU, and cluster harness to ECU and be off and running?

seems too easy... what am i missing?

edit: even say you didnt swap the cluster in and went all aftermarket gauges..

[xwill112x]

well the nickle and dimes add up. when you actuallydo a swap youll end up needing alot of shit you never knew about. so it isn't as easy as it sounds ever.

[JoeyBones]

i'm not counting mounts, drive shaft, and things like different brake boosters/steering racks to clear...

basic nuts and bolts get the engine to run...

actually i suppose throttle cables or conversions should the engine be newer could be a pita

[JoeyBones]

is the s54 drive by wire? I know a couple guys on here are doing this swap now, but i cant find a good build thread...perhaps i'm a search tard?

i've got no clue what route i want to go with mine...the m42 runs for now so no hurry, but i want something REALLY fun in the future, and since it's not a DD something out there that would require different guages or whatever isn't really an issue.

[Mossman]

sticking with something roughly the same size and shape will make your life MUCH easier. You sound ambitious but clearly have never done anything like this before so I would stick with something that's been done before and is well documented to cut your teeth on the 1st time. Obd1 S52 is 10 times simpler than S54 and has 90% the performance and no nasty cringeworthy rasp out the exhaust. Go to 24v swap subforum you're in m30 and other swaps, I would investigate S52's, which cammed and bolt on'ed can see 250 whp, or a supercharged m50 or m52.

[weaksauce]

keep it simple and just put a turbo on the m42 and call it a day.

[kylekrueger]

^^^ what he said, turbo will be much better

[Danny]

<3 M42 turbos.

[Be30mer]

I vote ls1
More work, but it will be more fun.
theres a guy on here that sells instructional dvds for how to do the ls1-e30 swap.
also, with an ls1 you have the possibility of getting 600+hp with a supercharger.

[Ryann]

Hell yeah! Throw an American boat anchor at it! Or you could sell your e30 and pick up a Camaro.

[george graves]

supercharger

[ethree]

Hell yeah! Throw an American boat anchor at it! Or you could sell your e30 and pick up a Camaro.

The ls1 weighs the same amount as the m20 and has three times the horsepower potential. If you want a fast car a camaro isn't a bad way to go. This coming from a guy that thinks %99.9999 of american cars built in the last 45 years are garbage.

[87e30]

I still REALLY want an f22c e30. Or f22c anything.

[StereoInstaller1]

Turbo the 4 banger with MS or VEMS: learn.

Swap basic 24V motor in, then boost that.

[JoeyBones]

well it's not my first engine swap...i've swapped a JDM b-series into my civic when I had it. (it was an OBD2 SOHC went to OBD1 DOHC)...but those swaps are even more well documented and straight forward seeming than even a 24v swap for these cars.

Don't get me wrong, i'm extremely likely to just go S52/M52, but just couldn't get over what is seemingly an incredible wiring nightmare to keep every last little thing working if the car won't be an absolute daily driver...

Turbo the m42 is very tempting, but i'd likely be in over the cost of a swap by the time i was all said and done/tuned on the road. Not to mention if i didnt do any rebuild it may just blow up! haha