Forces Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 This has been covered I know, but I read through Post "How much did everyone spend on their V8 Conversion? " and got a few ideas. Now I did some of my own ESTIMATED pricing on doing a swap. In the post mentioned, people were adding in price of paint, suspension, wheels, intereior, machine work, etc. etc. The price list I put together is just for the swap (parts) not including price of engine, machine work heads, and so on. My list came out to about $4,000. This includes radiator, fan, JTR conversion kit, radiator hoses, ignition, distributor, fuel pump, headers, gear reduction starter, Transmission (the real killer) and some misc parts. So in less words, I'm talking 4K just to start the motor in the car. The transmission....planning on using a 700R4, but all I am finding are trannies for, give or take, 1,200, but on some of the other price lists I saw in the post above, the price was a fraction of that...any suggestions? I planned on spending about $15,000 on the whole thing including the car (Keeping in mind I spent about 4 grand on the engine 2 years ago.) Maybe I'm just cheap, but that seems like a lot of $$$ for the swap, not including suspension, paint, interior, wheels, or the complete ENGINE. I guess what I am looking for is a good way to go about some of the small stuff that adds up. I read through the JTR whcih has some good info, and some that is not applicable. Example...as mentioned above the, trans price. Maybe I shouldn't look at prices. Just spend what I can and continue until its done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ZFury Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 I did a cost count also. Mine came out to similar of you buy used parts. Like motor and tranny. You can really cut some costs if you can find a non-running Z with a good drive train and an old truck or van to get your motor and tranny from. Main reason why I am hesitant to do it is because finding a manual tranny is difficult. And shipping prices really rack up if you cant find what you need locally. I was wanting to do this. But my budget is around 4 or 5k at first. And I dont think I would be pleased with a stock 350. You could supercharge a Z for cheaper, get more HP, and it would weight less. And body would need air damn, finders, & paint. Which I would do myself. Things start to add up. I would like to see you list. Maby we could bounce some ideas off of each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 You could supercharge a Z for cheaper, get more HP, and it would weight less. Might be cheaper, depending upon what kind of deals you get. Might even be more HP than a mild V8. But definitely will NOT weight less. To attempt to answer the question, I don't know that there is any way to accurately estimate the cost of the incidentals with any accuracy. Every swap is different. The fact you have an engine and are not including that in the cost of the build makes your list pretty unique. About the only way I know of is to build an exhaustive list and talley up the cost of each item. Then go back and adjust the values as you actually buy stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 Well, I've got about 12-14K in the boys z, which includes the car, and everything else. Depending on how crazy you get with the engine and what trans you use will have a decidedly big impact on total price. If it's an RB it'll be higher, alot higher. If it's a JYD engine with low miles it'll be cheaper. I think LSX engines would be somewhere in the middle along with high HP engines with lots of goodies, which includes 6cyl engines. Your probably correct, but ponder the fact that what your going to end up with is a rebuilt car that for all intensive purposes is "new" and it's a performance car for $15K or so. So where can you buy that off the showroom floor?!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 I have 21k in my car, 3.5k in parts still on the shelf, and a long way to go. I have a spreadsheet of all the little things, and yes, they definitely add up. It's always ming boggling to look at it, because only a few major expenses stand out. I didn't post in your thread because I don't have a v8 swap. However, most of my money was not spent on the engine. I'm pretty happy with most of the purchases too, many of them were pretty good deals. Anyway, obviously what you spends depends on what you want. But I would budget at least twice what you think you will spend, if you can afford to. This stuff sneaks up on you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 If you have actual quotes on the components then you have a real "cost'. If they are guesstimates then get real pricing. Pop N Wood hit it right on the nose - the cost of any conversion is totally subject to the specific conversion and abilities of the individual. If you want an inexpensive conversion do it yourself with salvage yard components. Just be prepared to do it over again since you'll have equipment with unknown history. Look at what Norm the SU Dude has done with JY parts. Do your homework carefully. Decide exactly what you want to do with the car, determine the most reasonalble order to do it in, and then get exact costs for each component/activity. Then double it and you'll be close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFurious Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 $1200 seems a little high for a 700R4. Last I checked Ebay you could pick up used ones pretty cheap (couple hundred bucks). A quality rebuild kit will run you around $200 or so. Now the fun part....start hanging around with the local gear heads or the track and find someone who does tranny rebuilds on the side and has a good reputation. I have a guy here in town who's a mechanic at the local Ford dealership who will rebuild any transmission I bring him for $150 in labor. If I were faced with having to spend $1200 on a 700R4, I'd hold off and spend an extra couple hundred and buy a T-56. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ZFury Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 MrFurious??? where did you get your name from? You can always email me at MrFurious@furymonster.com to tell me:lol:. No problem though. Everyone uses one of my names. I need tranny work done on my ZX. I got quoted $800 for a synchro job. ... I could replace it for a couple of hundred and have an extra decent tranny. But I am not going to bother. The ZX is no longer enjoyable, so I am trying to sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forces Posted August 22, 2006 Author Share Posted August 22, 2006 $1200 seems a little high for a 700R4. Last I checked Ebay you could pick up used ones pretty cheap (couple hundred bucks). A quality rebuild kit will run you around $200 or so. Now the fun part....start hanging around with the local gear heads or the track and find someone who does tranny rebuilds on the side and has a good reputation. I have a guy here in town who's a mechanic at the local Ford dealership who will rebuild any transmission I bring him for $150 in labor. If I were faced with having to spend $1200 on a 700R4' date=' I'd hold off and spend an extra couple hundred and buy a T-56.[/quote'] Well, all these transmissions that I am looking at are "built" transmissions. Some rated for 500 HP, some for 275HP, and on and on. These are all going for $1000+. How much will a standard rebuild handle? 250? 300? 'cause if that's the threshold, I'll rip right through it. I would rather use a 700R4, but my god, the TH400 is tons cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFurious Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 http://www.transmissioncenter.net/ Your one-stop shop for the best 700R4 rebuild kits and upgrades available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFurious Posted August 22, 2006 Share Posted August 22, 2006 MrFurious??? where did you get your name from? You can always email me at MrFurious@furymonster.com[/email'] to tell me:lol:. No problem though. Everyone uses one of my names. Got the name years ago from a friend who spent a little too much time in the car with me while I was driving. I tend to get a little vocal regarding the other cars around me which are usually being operated by imcompetent drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 Hybrid swaps just aren’t cheap, period. Anything requiring custom engineering will be expensive, even if you find attractive deals on individual components. As mentioned before, what causes costs to escalate isn’t the parts installed in your car, but the wrong parts, the broken parts, the worn parts, the parts that don’t work together and the parts that never should have been installed in the first place - in other words, it’s the mistakes that are costly. I’m becoming convinced that the “right” way to build a hybrid is to first own a nearly stock muscle car AND an improved-touring-type Z (or Mazda, or BMW, or whatever). Work on those for years - I mean, years and years. Learn the quirks of each. And only then attempt a hybrid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forces Posted August 24, 2006 Author Share Posted August 24, 2006 Hybrid swaps just aren’t cheap, period. Anything requiring custom engineering will be expensive, even if you find attractive deals on individual components. As mentioned before, what causes costs to escalate isn’t the parts installed in your car, but the wrong parts, the broken parts, the worn parts, the parts that don’t work together and the parts that never should have been installed in the first place - in other words, it’s the mistakes that are costly. I completely agree. I have made the mistake of buying parts very quickly without doing the propper research before, and it adds up fast. I've been crusing thru the posts, just seeing what people have done that has worked, and things that have not. My big dilema now, as metioned, is the trans. Are any of you running a TH400? how happy are you with it, without the OD. I know what JTR has to say about it, but I thoght I'd ask some of the people who are using these transmissions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetride2go Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 geesh, u should be able to pick up a rebuilt 700R4 for 700$, give or take a bit... i had one built for high horsepower on my first v-8 install, and it cost me 1200$... so over here i see em all day for less... and as far as the turbo 400 goes, ive never had one in a Z, but i sure was happy to have the overdrive on the R4 when it came to driving on the freeway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strotter Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Part of the problem with this thread, and the "cost of hybrids" conversation in general, is that we're talking about a few related but differentiable things simultaneously, but not delineating where each topic begins or ends. In particular, we're talking about four things: 1) putting a different-than-stock motor in a car that was not designed to accept it; 2) building a performance-oriented powertrain; 3) restoring a classic car to near-or-better-than factory levels, and 4) creating a custom-looking car. When someone says "hybrid swap", those who have been around the block have all four things pop into their heads simultaneously. The topics are related and intertwined, certainly, and require careful language to keep clear, but are in fact entirely different subjects. When I was doing my V8 swap, I at one point tried to reorganize my costs spreadsheet to differentiate "swap" items, "restoration" items, "customizing" items, and "operating costs" items: the idea was that I could prioritize purchases so as to spread the costs out evenly over the time of the swap. Later I broke "customizing" into "performance" and "pimpin". Interestingly, after I was "done", the "swap" items were the cheapest, consisting only of the JTR kit, the radiator, the driveshaft mod, fuel delivery components, exhaust, and a couple of other things. The donor car was about free. Most expensive? Restoration. I spent $320 on Nissan rubber weatherstrip, for God's sakes! Paint (did it myself, still $1k+); tires, upholstery, carpet, interior parts and pieces, glass, wiring, relays, the list goes on forever. Easily the most expensive part. Both were part of the "swap", for me, but not necessarily for everyone. My point is that, when we have this conversation, we need to be clear that the posts stating "it cost me 800 dollars to do the swap", and "I sold my house and two children, and it still isn't done", aren't talking about the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetride2go Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 good point strotter. i think JTR states in their manual that u can do the 'swap' for $3ooo sumtin, and originally at first i was thinking "heck, i can do it for way less!". but by the time i got things together, engine, tranny, misc hardware, radiator, engine parasites, etc etc., it added up to more than i thought, and actually spent $4000ish give/take (more give than take most likly, lol) to get it into driving condition... it was amazing how much nuts, bolts, steel, cables, and other stupid nick nak stuff added up... course, if i had put a stock rebuilt 700r4 in i could hav saved $500... good luck on ur swap though!!! =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 stotter makes good point of being explicit about what you mean. HALF of the money in my car was paid out to body and paint shops - I'd never do that again! I doubt that I had more than $6k in the engine, trans, and other parts to just do the engine swap. But that's me being REALLY anal about each part, the blueprinting of the engine, etc. It can be done cheaper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Extremely well said, Strotter. You've broken the "swap" down into the things that really do drain the pocket book. And you are correct: the OEM stuff for the restoration portion can get expensive, and so can body and paint like Pete just brought up. I'm doing my best to squeak by with less than what some of you have done, but still have a great car. It can be done, it just takes time, some money, and skill. I may be 60 when I finish Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LS1 240Z Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 why in the world would you want a 700R4? unless you really need the over drive transmission for daily driving use a TH350, tons cheaper, and also much stronger. im going to have about 5k total in my car... thats a high estimate also. i wish i could drop 8k on my car, but i cant right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo Meister Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 Are any of you running a TH400? how happy are you with it, without the OD. I like the strength of the trans but wish I had overdrive on the freeway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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