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What your engine will cost?

Jussi Alanko

Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2020
Location
Finland
Ok, occasionally: fun thread, what your project engine will cost at, i will start.

Block 100€
Bored & honed 300€
NEw pistons 450€
Conrods 400€
Bearings 120€
Gasgets 80€
Head gasget 120€
Head studs 110€
Cylinder head porting & 46/38mm valves & double springs and camshaft, 1300€
Exhaust manifold 300€
Turbo 400€
Wastegate 330€
Intake manifold 465€
Fuel rail 100€
Injectors 150€
Fuel pressure regulator 60€
Flywheel 100€
Microsquirt and ignition 650€
Wiring harness+sensors 700€
Only 6235€ (7000$) gone and i have a new engine...:omg:

Ok, i have two cool 'LVR-Racing engines' stickers too!

ANd i dont have clutch yet and no transmission.
Clutch package is 450 + 24% at classic-swede
Transmission is 400€ at bakaxel.se (reinforced M90)
1550€ for rear end at bakaxel.se
2500€ for suspension.
600€ at brakes.

at least 5500€ is going for those.

Then painting, 600€
Welding 300€

Yes, this is an expensive, very expensive hobby...
 
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B23 block-$300
530 head $65
Machine work $950
Bigger valves $368
Lightweight steel flywheel $300
B23ET pistons and H beam rods $550
Oil pump $120
Head gasket set $45
Lower gasket set $60
Bearings $120
Crank scraper $120
Upgrade fuel system $400
Arp head studs $260
Stage 3 South Bend clutch $330
Starter $65
Other stiff $300

$3933
 
B23 block-$300
530 head $65
Machine work $950
Bigger valves $368
Lightweight steel flywheel $300
B23ET pistons and H beam rods $550
Oil pump $120
Head gasket set $45
Lower gasket set $60
Bearings $120
Crank scraper $120
Upgrade fuel system $400
Arp head studs $260
Stage 3 South Bend clutch $330
Starter $65
Other stiff $300

$3933

where did you buy crank scraper?
 
2008 Hummer H3 Alpha 5.3L LH8 - $1575
LS9 Camshaft - $150
LS7 lifters and guides (probably not needed) - $115
PAC 1218 valve springs - $136
Holley 302-1 oil pan - $350
Gen 4 hi-flow oil pump (probably not needed) - $85
LS6 head studs kit (probably not needed) - $129
MLS 5.3L headgasket set - $53
Corvette LS7 accessory kit - $564
Short-nose Corvette water pump - $105
Cheap truck starter from eBay: $54
Genuine A/C Delco truck starter when the eBay thing literally died after about 4 starts: $135
LS6 intake manifold - $350
eBay LS6 fuel rails - $94
CXRacing Fox body Mustang LS1 turbo kit (manifolds, turbo, oil supply and drain bits, turbo, wastegates): $1585 (certain regrets are in existence for this - it works and works well, but those headers are a PITA for spark plug access, plug wire access, etc)
About 4 sets of different kinds of super duper high temp plug wires that last for a drive or two: $250
EFI Source 'Gold Box' with complete wiring harness and 80 lb Deka injectors: $1531 (I was feeling lazy and just wanted to plug it in, fire it up - FWIW that's how it worked out w0000t)
'Mopar style' (hi/lo hose sides swapped) C4 aluminum radiator: $185
Dual fan and shroud kit: $230 (in retrospect, meh)
Universal 3" intercooler piping kit: $86 (pipes, bends, couplers, t-clamps - this was, by the way, totally awesome, even if I didn't use half of it I save money, effort, and have a bunch of stuff left over for the next time I do something turbo-ey )
3" BOV fitting/Silicone coupler, HKS BOV: $110
1L oil sump for turbo drain: $75
Cheap eBay oil scavenge pump: $43
Turbowerx oil pump when the eBay crap pump made *HORRIBLE* noises and leaked and I didn't trust it to last to the end of the driveway: $265
Random hoses, tubes, fittings, etc: $200 (???)
STS Machining LS motor mounts: $350


Total: $8805
OOF! I knew I shouldn't have added that up. My rough mental math always estimated it as a bit less than that...

Drivetrain:
Nissan G35 JK40C transmission: $650
Camaro T56 bellhousing: $256 (in retrospect, probably should have gotten a steel scatter shield bellhousing for a bit more)
Camaro LS1 flywheel: $159
Collins complete adapter kit: $1287 (adapter, 780 lb/ft clutch kit, slave cylinder)
(I like the above kit because everything is either stock Nissan or stock Camaro T56 - other than the clutch disc itself (Nissan center on a Camaro disc).
CBF Performance top mount shifter kit: $525 (and, it must be noted, about 4 months of wait time, April to August)
Custom driveshaft 1-pc CD009 to Volvo rear axle: $320
240 Hydraulic clutch pedal set and new master cylinder: $200

Total: $3397
Again, a bit of OOF. At least if I mangle the transmission, another CD009 style is cheaper than if I'd gone with a T56, where the trans costs $2500-ish (and up). $1500 - 2000 seems to get you a 'known bad' rebuildable core on those.


Grand total: $12,202. Now I'm depressed. Thanks. Ah well, 550-ish whp is pretty damn fun in a 240. It never felt like that much money when I was doing it. Because it was spread out over like 3 years. A year (more or less) buying various parts before getting it really going and pulling the old motor out, then 2 years of slow work getting it done. So it was just chunks here and there. It all adds up though. Obviously. I don't think I ever bothered to total it up before, and I'm probably forgetting things. Like (oh yeah) the STS machining LS/240 motor mounts - $350 GB a long time ago)

In the works:
Since the Deatschwerks 300 fuel pump left over from the 350 hp 16V redblock is out of capacity at the current 6 psi boost levels, I need more fuel.
new gas tank: $120
big Aeromotive FPR: $187
Aeromotive 183099 dual fuel pump setup: $550
AN10 fuel filter: $100
Electronic boost control: free with some wiring and laptop setup

This should allow me to run the boost up to around 15 psi, for maybe 700 - 750 hp?

And of course, the rear axle probably won't survive that so:
Narrowed Ford 8.8 axle with Volvo suspension mounts: $800
New custom driveshaft CD009 - Ford 8.8: $320 (might go 2-pc)
Rebuild rear axle with low 3.0-ish:1 gearing to suit the CD009 gear ratios: $700??? (haven't even looked into it)
Dakota digital convertor box - to keep ABS and Speedo/Odo happy with Ford speed sensor: $150
New 5X4.5 wheels all around, rolling fenders to stuff as much tire in back there as I can: $$$$ (no clue what I'm going to do, but so far I'm leaning toward something like this https://www.imagewheels.co.uk/billet-11-alloy-wheel/ )
STS machining front Wilwood brake kit: $950
Wilwood Ford 8.8 rear brake kit (w/parking brake): $850

All that and it doesn't have A/C. Lol...

Yes, some people put turbo LS cars together in 2 weekends with about $500 invested. I am apparently not that guy.

a5omU4gh.jpg
 
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I think I was around 10 or 11k into my ls swap, but I spent big money on a couple things I didn't have to, and I specifically sought out an L33 vs a $300 jy 5.3

the gold car... I don't know anymore. to duplicate where it sits right this second, probably 6 or 7k depending on how things get shopped out. the engine itself is probably around a grand to 1500, again depends on how you shop things out. stock 150k pistons and crank, $200 ebay rods, but springs/retainers/cams in a 16v head...
 
350whp:

used complete b21et: $100
used v-cam: $20
usde valve springs: $30
used injectors: $100
used hy35: $250
vems: $600
dw300 intank: $220

car already had 90+manifold and 3" exhaust, plus a large 3" thick genereic ebay-ic and other bits and pieces
 
I wouldn’t consider engine management or wiring as part of the cost of “building an engine”, that’s a separate column, but if those are the rules...

~applies filters to spreadsheet~

$19,115.44
 
Opposite end of the spectrum!

-AQ140A pulled (cut) from a boat in a buddy's scrapyard: $free
-Zenith Stromberg 175CD-S2 carburetors (x3): $50
-Carburetor rebuild kits (x2): $50
-Gasket kit/timing belt/blah blah: $100
-Modification to AQ intake manifold: $100

Total: $300 CAD :).
 
Poi b6284t/b6304s combo - $1000
Header - $750
Mounts - $300
EFR 8374 - $1800
Injectors - $600
Maxxecu race - $1600
Wiring harness supplies - $1500


Yeah, I'm just gonna stop there...its more than likely north of $15k with transmission stuff and all of the other odds and ends. Still doesn't run.
 
V8 drift car is up to $13,800, but that's for all parts and consumables since ~2015(?)
Fully rebuilt 5.slow with new aluminum heads was ~$2600 for 350+hp and lots of revs.
 
I'm scared to even think about how much money I'm blowing on a 150-hp rally motor that I'm going to stuff into an absolute rust bucket.

I am scared about how much I am putting into a motor that I hope makes 130 hp but a stock B20E made that and it shouldn't be too hard to pull off. I can only imagine what an additional 20hp would cost.
 
I am scared about how much I am putting into a motor that I hope makes 130 hp but a stock B20E made that and it shouldn't be too hard to pull off. I can only imagine what an additional 20hp would cost.

It's mostly in machine-work and non-stock top-end parts.

Doesn't help that I'm starting with a questionable cylinder wall in #1, so I already have to get it bored out.
 
I am scared about how much I am putting into a motor that I hope makes 130 hp but a stock B20E made that and it shouldn't be too hard to pull off. I can only imagine what an additional 20hp would cost.

Extra NA horses do cost more than extra turbo horses. Especially extra pushrod horses.
 
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