I think the most elusive factor about JDM motors is the price. You can get them at a low price, but you are taking a risk because you don't know the history of the engine and more than likely it has been sitting around at some unkown location. My experience has been a costly one. I bought my engine for 2000 complete with turbos, but i have run into other problems like a bad oil pump, faulty injectors and now a possible valve issue. If you have the time to take the engine apart and rebuild than possibly it might be advantagous to buy a used engine vs a new. For instance it would cost me well over 3000 dollars to have my issues fixed by a mechanic. This added 3000 dollars for labor and parts to fix problems added to 2000 for engine would be a total of aprox 5000 - 6000 bucks. I could of purchased a new engine and had no problem with internals, but I'm already in to deep from buying other mods and parts for my conversion. the only solution to keep the price down now is to continue to do the work myself, but i wouldn't advise it because your car will possible be down longer depending on your knowledge and time. I completed my na to tt conversion in march, but the car has been down again due to the injector and valve problem. It is Now June, and i have spent more time looking at my car than driving it. :( Anyway the moral of the story is if you try to cut corners by being cheap or not taking time to plan or investigate properly you may still end up spending just as much as having a new engine installed in the end. If you are going to take a hands on aproach you can save money but the downside is your car will be down and you are going to make mistakes on the way which will cost you money. take it for someone who is living the reality of na to tt conversion.
