I was looking at cars today with a friend. He found a pretty nice '87 200SX SE V6 for 1200 bucks. While I was wandering around one of the car lots I saw this inexplicably beautiful max in the back corner. I asked if it was for sale and they told me no. I pestered him abou t it until he gave me one of the managers who told me that 'it's got a blown engine' and they weren't sure what they were going to do with it. He told me to come back tomorrow to talk to the owner, who I'm told will most likely sell me the car for the worth of the body and just throw in the blown engine for me to rebuild. I was pretty stocked, so I went to inspect it closer: Red 94 SE with not a scratch on it, Black leather interior, nice 17" wheels and it's a 5 speed. It also appeared to have a magnaflow exhaust on it. Had 198K on the odometer, but if I'm going to rebuild the engine/trans I'm not worried. Basically, this is the car of my dreams, and I will stop at nothing . Unfortunately I don't know what "blown" means in this case; whether the timing chain broke, the head gasket's blown, the rings are gone, or what.

Now: what kinds of costs am I likely to incur during the rebuild? Is it too early to tell without knowing exactly what the problem is? Also; if the chain breaks in a VE do all the internals collide with each other?

If the car itself is cheap enough, I'd like to just pull the engine out, put it on a stand, and fix the hell out of it so it runs like a top.

 

Glad to hear your that interested I own that shop!

Bend over my boy

 

87' 200sx? u mean 97?

 

I do indeed mean '87. It's a VG30 5 Speed rear wheel drive car with 175K. Just like this:
http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/ahodar/new200.html

It's kinda an ugly little **** but it's quite fast and fun to drive and it has a very positive transmission.

 

Are you sure about that? Oregon's a long ways from Long Island...

 

i wouldn't mind having one of those with the vg. i'm sure you could make that thing fast being so small.

 

It's kinda scary-fast. The guy let us borrow it for like 30 minutes and of course it's always raining here, so we took it down to an empty parking lot and my friend discovered how easily the back end can get away in the wet.

 

I wonder if a VG30ET would fit in that puppy...

If that 94 SE is cheap enough, that would be a heck of a find. If you are a DIY guy, you should be able to get her running for not much at all.

Buy a FSM if you get it.

 

I never knew they came with a V6, especially back then. That would be a fun project car.

 

Assuming you do all the work rebuilding an engine would run $600-2000 depending on what is replaced. What type of rebuild are you doing, are you wanting more all motor power or do you want to strength the engine incase it is turbocharged or use nitrous? If anything do a compression test if possible on the car, this will tell you how bad the engine is. If the chain did break, you'd need new valves and probably have a warpped cylinder head. I'd suggest just buying JDM VE30DE or get one from a salveyard. What are your goals/intentions with the rebuild?

 

Exactly.
This will determine your cost factor and if you're doing your own work. Of course if the motor un-rebuilable and it would be alot cheaper to replace so be it

 

hey your in LI? you should come to one of our meets sometime.


btw you can get a JDM VE for around $1300 from www.enginerplacement.com so depending on whats involved with fixing that engine. btw if you do part out the car Ill take the door panels

 

The 200SX VG30 5 spd is a nice little car. Light weight and VG30 torque. And yes, of cousre you can get a turbo in there. As for the Max, I suggest you do a compression test. See if it will start first. I doubt the timing chain is the culprit, they practically never break, they just wear out and get slack. Probably a head gasket. Try to get it to start, then you can tel if there is oil or coolant in the exhaust. Look for leaks under the engine too. It might be more economical to just get a good used motor and swap them. The way I see it, if I'm rebuilding, do it right and build it for strength and better performance. Throw in forged pistons for NOS use, go nuts on the heads..you now what I mean?

 

OK here's the deal: I went and inspected it again today. I made some mistakes in the dark last night. The car is a 92 not a 94. It has 98K not 198K. While inspecting it, I got it to fire a few times, but the timing or ignition is hosed. When I went to talk deal with the guy we just chatted anbout it's history and why it was there. Turns out a former sales guy embezzeled money and did some double dealing and this car was part of it. He told me that he bought the thing back for 5 grand, wrote off 2500 of it for taxes and it's been there for a month sitting. I said 2500 was reasonable, and he suddenly said "you know, I can tell you really want the car, and I really want it gone because it reminds me of bad things, so I'll tell you what: Bring me 1800 by monday and it's yours."

So: I've got me a project car. First thing is a new set of plugs and a compression test. I unplugged the MAF already to check that and it didn't help. Starting on monday, it's VE country for me!

 

congrats! sounds like it's going to be fun

 

I'll try to post some pics when I get it.

Anyone want a 90GXE in oregon?

 

If you want NA power go with 11.1cr pistons, get headwork 3 angle valve job, have the cams reground, do the bolt ons. If you want to turbocharge the engine buy some VG30DETT pistons and eagle rods. Happy tuning, btw run a compression test.

 

Congrats on the find man. 198K is alot of miles. I'd try and get him down a little more if at all possible. BUt otherwise, sounds pretty good. You got it to fire a bit..that's a good thing. Do the comp test and leakdown test. If that checks out (even if it shows some weak cyls within limits) tune that bad boy and see how good you can get it to run before you tear it down. IF you get into the engine, I would work towards turbo charging it. Go with like a 9:1 compression (only go lower if you intend on going for high high boost), treat the rods by lightening, balance the whole rotating assembly, and give the heads a good rebuild (valve job and such). It will run good at 9:1 NA until you get the turbo in there. NA will be cool, but would cost alot to get even close to what the turbo could do. Plus, high comp engines typically are tougher on bearings and other internals, so the longevity of the engine is compromised. In high power NA engines, they are always working hard. That gives them the nice responsive power, but takes it's toll on fuel economy and engine life. On a turbo, you are running lower compression, and have the option to stay out of boost, thereby retaining fuel economy and imposing less stress on the engine. My buddy's turbo GSR civic was running 10 psi and could still get over 30 mpg out of it. Whatever you do, keep us posted and good luck. I can't wait to see what you do with it.

 

It's actually 98K, and I have no plans to turbo it....yet.

 

I got a valve cover with a big ol' hole in it to prove ya wrong!

 

I said 2500 was reasonable, and he suddenly said "you know, I can tell you really want the car, and I really want it gone because it reminds me of bad things, so I'll tell you what: Bring me 1800 by monday and it's yours."


Hahahaha, it's not everyday that a salesman bargains himself down

 

I know. I paid for it today; $1880 Cash and I'm having it towed tomorrow. sigh, it's more beautiful than I could hope for.
I would be laughing all the way to the bank if all the plugs are fouled and that's the only problem. The former Nissan tech at my work even said that's likely what it is. I noticed that when cranking I can hear it compressing all 6 but only firing sporadically, so the cam timings probably close if not correct. I'm now thinking it may be a coil or 2. I almost said distributor, but I know better now.

 

Lucky you.

 

I have a VE for sale that only has 100k miles on it and is in great shape. I want 600$ for it but i will mostlikly take the best offer i get. i have that and almost everything else in the engine bay of a 92 se.