I've asked this question in the newbie forum, but everyone just says it's not worth it. Anyways I need to know what all I would need to swap a turbo engine into my car. I have a 92 eclipse 1.8L SOHC. I know I'll need the engine and transmission, but what else. Which electronics and anything else would I need? Yes I do know it would be cheaper and less hassle to just go out and buy a factory turbo'd car.

Tweaker_G said:

I've asked this question in the newbie forum, but everyone just says it's not worth it. Anyways I need to know what all I would need to swap a turbo engine into my car. I have a 92 eclipse 1.8L SOHC. I know I'll need the engine and transmission, but what else. Which electronics and anything else would I need? Yes I do know it would be cheaper and less hassle to just go out and buy a factory turbo'd car.

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just go down to the dealer and tell them you want to trade your car in for a turbo model, it takes 2 minutes

you also need an ecu

You need to be a top notch mechanic, or a borderline rookie with too much expendable income and free time.

So I take it nobody is going to answer my question seriously.

i personally would just convert it to a dohc ,it's alittle easier then searching around for parts to do the turbo conversion. I'm learning the hard way , i'm converting my 1g es to a turbo with a jdm engine which makes things alittle easier but you will have to find either the OEM or aftermarket parts for the conversion , Upper intercooler piping and such. i also have alot of free time

you would need basically the whole engine bay......gst block, dohc head, turbo intake manifold, turbo exhaust manifold, turbo, ecu, intercooler w/ piping (either front or side mount will work), intake system, fuel pump & injectors, among other little things

i will be doing this over this winter soo im going to disagree with everyone and say its very worth it....u will notice the power

koenigseggCC7 said:

i will be doing this over this winter soo im going to disagree with everyone and say its very worth it....u will notice the power

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Who says you won't feel the power?

What we have been saying for much too long is there is little advantage to swapping a 1.8 equipped DSM to Turbo versus buying a turbo'd car.

but there is a big advantage to swapping instead of buying if u have lots of money into other things, such as body, interior, and suspension, like me....i have a few thousand into those categories

koenigseggCC7 said:

but there is a big advantage to swapping instead of buying if u have lots of money into other things, such as body, interior, and suspension, like me....i have a few thousand into those categories

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How hard is it to swap interior versus engines?

How hard is it to rewire the ECU versus swap suspension bits?

What body parts need to make the transfer for your car to become faster?

1) rewire the ecu?? what are you talking about if you get the ecu that matches the turbo engine u will be installing u dont need to rewire anything because from gst to gs to rs everything is the same except the engine...were not talking about an accord or something if u do an h22 swap everythings different

2) when your body is molded on like mine its a bi*** to swap over, and its not all about speed for your information.....having an all around modified car which includes, motor, body, interior, etc is the goal here to me

3) if u prep the motor and have it all pieced together off the car, then just toss it in the engine bay and hook everything up everything will match up its just a matter of getting the right parts at first...we all have to agree unless your an idiot the problems people are having is not getting the right supporting parts: if ur gonna turbo a nt engine u need to upgrade the internals in order to handle higher boost.......its the retards that think they can just slap a turbo on and turn it up to 15psi that blow their motor or get check engine lights everywhere etc, or dont hook a vacuum hose on and wonder why theres a boost leak.....

4) why would you go out and buy something already made when you can make it yourself just as good if not better for cheaper.......its basically a pride thing saying you swapped a motor into your car versus buying one already in there...and in my opinion with a little bit of luck you could swap a turbo motor into a 1.8 for wayyyyy under $2000, hell jdm motors run $1500 u dont need any other pieces besides maybe some vacuum lines.....but if u find a us-spec motor hell u can get those for $200 easily.....clean, throw in pistons, rings, rods, cams, cam gears (assuming u dont go TOP TOP name brand such as je or crower), obx or cyclone intake mani, headers, and exhaust system ur probably around the $1600 or $1700 mark.....tell me where you can find a gsx or a gst in superb condition like 99% of all dsmers cars who opt into a motor swap for under $2000

ok i just recently aquired a 97 rs spyder i was also wondering about this motor swap. ive searched the site and all i hear about is that its not worth it blah blah blah like everyone is scared to do it. now if u have the entire motor with tranny i mean complete jdm swap ecu axles n all y wont it work in the car?? n is it because it doesnt mount back up or is it just a costly thing to pay for?? i also came from a honda n ive been in like with the 2g eclipse for years n ive done my share of swaps so if its a matter of paying some1 to do it ill just do it myself. or is it engine bay different in the turbo models, do i need to cut ne thing drill anything if not then i dont see what the big deal is.

ur right everyone is scared to do it.....PEOPLE: DONT BE AFRAID TO RIP INTO YOUR CAR!!! if u watch how u take shit apart its just that easy to put it back together!!

now as far as your 2g....im not that familiar with 2g's, but as long as you get the proper motor (im assuming ur gonna get a 2g turbo, which i believe is a 4g64t but if im wrong PLEASE correct me) it should bolt right up no problem because the cars are all exactly the same aside from maybe an emblem, its just the motor thats different

dont listen to the people that say its not worth it.......if u want to do it, do it......its all about what you want to do to your car.......theyre just afraid to get their hands dirty, they are the ones that have a cold air intake installed by a shop

i hope ur not being sarcastic cause im dead serious about this swap. does anyone know someone that has done this swap or have done it themselves. cause it seems to me everyone in this forum that knows anything about these cars dont give proper advise n want to like keep the knowledge to themselves which i dont understand. they all say here goes this same question again n get all frustrated n the only answer given is its not worth it. im sorry if maybe i missed out on why its not a good swap but ill keep searching the forums untill i get a legitament answer. but if it cant be done ill save up some cash n go get the turbo model i just figured it would be fun to do the swap myself n while the motor is already out of the car i can upgrade it. but i duno it doesnt seem that working on ur car n trying new things is the way to go with dsm motors

halfmazin1 said:

ok i just recently aquired a 97 rs spyder i was also wondering about this motor swap. ive searched the site and all i hear about is that its not worth it blah blah blah like everyone is scared to do it. now if u have the entire motor with tranny i mean complete jdm swap ecu axles n all y wont it work in the car?? n is it because it doesnt mount back up or is it just a costly thing to pay for?? i also came from a honda n ive been in like with the 2g eclipse for years n ive done my share of swaps so if its a matter of paying some1 to do it ill just do it myself. or is it engine bay different in the turbo models, do i need to cut ne thing drill anything if not then i dont see what the big deal is.

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you bought a 2g, your 420a won't swap easily to a 4g63, learn to like nt power or buy a hahn or star turbokit.

as for the first poster. swapping is not an easy thing to do, it takes time, money, and most of all knowledge. there are plenty of posts out there about swapping motors, i've even written a tech article on how to go from a 2.0nt to a 2.0 turbo. i've pushed my car to low 14's at around 104 on the 14b and just this weekend timg pushed his conversion to 14.04 @ 110 with a few more mods (and it was his first time drag racing ever). the swap can be worth it if your car, like mine for example, is completely rust free and you have significant suspension mods that you'd have to ditch since they won't swap to an awd. another big advantage is in the fact that your insurance won't go up like it would with a turbo car. right now i'm 22 with 1 speeding ticket left on my record and only pay $73 a month for liability on the talon, with a turbo it'd easily be over $100.

see once again no help. y is it so hard??? cant anyone get to that please? all you did is tell me its not easy whats not easy about it?? is the engine bay different?? do i need other mounts?? if its the engine bay then ok i understand but i mean if i have everything what would hold me back from doing this swap. or can some1 tell me where i can find the problem with doing this swap i dont mean to sound like a pain in the a$$ but im tired of ppl just saying no it cant be done and no1 gives an explaination on y. is it cause i need to cut the engine bay?? or something???

ok ill give it to u plain & simple.....the engine bay is exactly the same, the motor mounts are exactly the same, you just have to know what you are doing.....most people assume that no one knows what they are doing so always recommend that it not be done but with 2 people that know something about engines its not too bad.....get a service manual that will tell you where each and every engine part goes right down to the nut and bolt and you should be fine.....converting a 4g37 to a 4g63t is kind of an easy swap compared to others ive seen (ive seen an h22 in a crx....part of the frame had to be cut!) so my best advice is get a buddy to help you that knows general information about engines and get a good service manual, and if you have trouble, PM a wiseman or moderator im sure if ur in the middle of a swap and have some trouble, someone will be there to help

koenigseggCC7 said:

ok ill give it to u plain & simple.....the engine bay is exactly the same, the motor mounts are exactly the same, you just have to know what you are doing.....most people assume that no one knows what they are doing so always recommend that it not be done but with 2 people that know something about engines its not too bad.....get a service manual that will tell you where each and every engine part goes right down to the nut and bolt and you should be fine.....converting a 4g37 to a 4g63t is kind of an easy swap compared to others ive seen (ive seen an h22 in a crx....part of the frame had to be cut!) so my best advice is get a buddy to help you that knows general information about engines and get a good service manual, and if you have trouble, PM a wiseman or moderator im sure if ur in the middle of a swap and have some trouble, someone will be there to help

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oh just what he needs, mis-information if you don't know what you're talking about, don't post.

the first thing you were wrong about was 4 posts ago where you mentioned the 4g64t. the 2g turbo's had a 4g63t, like every other turbo dsm. the 4g64 (not 4g64t) was installed on all nt spyders, this kid has a 420a, which is basically a neon motor with the intake and exhaust ports switched.

the motor mounts and engine bays are completely different on a 2nd gen between a turbo and a nonturbo hardtop. the entire engine electronics system is not only different but from another manufacturer (turbos are mitsu designed, nt's are dodge designed).

one guy did this before and it cost him a rediculous amount of money. he couldn't tell us how to do it himself because he paid someone to do all the work. all i know is that he had a wrecked 1g gst from a junkyard and a 2nd gen gs. he made some mention to having problems with the custom fabricated engine mounts and that he paid someguy to do the wiring conversion for him and it took him like 2 months to get just the harness setup and ready to go. every little part on the car is different from the hood forward. your alternator, power steering pump, air conditioning condenser. its all setup to work on a different motor. hell just pop the hood between a 2g gst and a gs. the motor and tranny are flipped 180 degrees depending on which one you have. the real pisser was that he paid over $5000 for a 195hp stock motor when he could have just bought a turbo kit from hahn for $2000-3000 and had around 225 at the flywheel with their kit instead and saved himself the 5-6 months it took him to totally finish the project.

i posted a thread a while back in which i clearly stated that if i saw anymore threads in this forum covering the 2gnt-4g63 swap that i would immediately close it down, but since this thread was originally started by someone looking for info on the 1g 1.8 - 4g63t swap i will let it stay up and running. for Tweaker-G's sake, drop the 2gnt 4g63 swap talk and lets get back to the subject at hand or i'll lock this thing down tighter than a virgin's happy-hole.

hmmm ic ok well then i wont post ne more about it here but i would appreciate if u could IM me or have some one IM me on this cause i dont wanna have this post locked down on half of me but i dont see what ac n alternator or ne thing like that have to do with it when im gettin the motor complete with everything im guessin its just where the mounts r placed im guessing.

halfmazin1 said:

hmmm ic ok well then i wont post ne more about it here but i would appreciate if u could IM me or have some one IM me on this cause i dont wanna have this post locked down on half of me but i dont see what ac n alternator or ne thing like that have to do with it when im gettin the motor complete with everything im guessin its just where the mounts r placed im guessing.

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here this should help you understand the main problem

your car (notice the motor on the passenger side and the tranny on the driver's side)


the motor you think you can easily swap in (notice motor on driver's side and tranny on passenger side)




and like i mentioned absolutely the entire wiring harness is based on different electrical designs and nothing under the hood will be able to stay. hell your car has its ecu under the hood and the 2g turbo's is under the center dash. its not impossible, but the money you'll spend will make it nearly pointless as opposed to turbo'ing the motor you have.

this is a turbo'ed 420a , actually the same guy as i posted above, but now with a turbo. you can do this to your car for about half the money or less than swapping your car's motor.

ic now thanks man sorry for the attitude but i dunno my engine doesnt look like that 1 my ecu is in the same place but my intake manifold is facing the other direction i dunno y
im gettin the car at basically a steal this guy owes me baiscally n im paying 1g for a 97 rs spyder. thats why i was confused i was lookin at those pics before i n i realized my motor didnt look like the 420a there it was facing the opposite direction. n i found the forums where u guys were explaining the whole thing hehe im noob sorry bro. is there ne reason my motor would not look like the 1 above??? and is there ne chance i just have a diff year?? or something plz help i wish i had pics to show u. or when i get the car where is the engine code located maybe that would be a good place to start

so you have a spyder?? if so you have the 4g64 which is much closer to the 4g63 (just a 2.4 nt version instead of 2.0 turbo) pm me privately about anything else.