Go Big or Go Home; because it’s NOW or NEVER!
July 04th 2011
Hot off completion of my first Engine Swap on my S2000, i was driving and enjoying it alot, and wanted to do another. I had taken my S2000 out and about, made the rounds at the Local Drifting events I frequented; even though that wasnt my drift car. I remember one of my Closest Drift buddies, Henry Russo (of Russo Import Auto Werks ) pointed out “That’s Not an Engine Swap!! You put All the Clips Exactly back where they were!” 😅 And he was 100% right, my Attention to detail was so exact, that i had Placed each Hose Clamp exactly back onto its Original Imprint on each Rubber Hose… and i thought, maybe i should try something that’s more original; something that hasnt been done?
I had always talked about an engine Swap on my 240sx for Drifting. It drifted pretty well stock with H&R lowering Springs, KYB adjustable Dampers, an Exhaust, and Stock open Differential, but More power equals More drift Potential; and i always wanted to Tandem with my Drift Buddies Door to Door. Originally I wanted to keep it Nissan to Nissan and go for a Q45 V8, but it was a huge engine with a huge intake manifold… and swap kits just were not that simple or readily available. My Car mentor John Sabo, whom i had bought my Pristine S2000 from; always pushed for the American LS1. in those days the LS1 was starting to get really popular with drifting and it was the go-to for quick power, even had a few different swap kits. So when it became time, I spent about 3k for the Sikky Swap kit, and another 3k on a LQ4 6Liter Vortec Truck engine and a 6 speed T56 to go with it. the engine only cost about 1k with wiring and everything, while the T56 from a camaro was already more expensive at 2k… but nothing compared to high prices of a genuine corvette LS1 from a wrecked camaro or vette… And the LQ4 was the same family as the LS1 but iron block.
After about 4 months of work, I had it in the car and running! it was wild! what was even more wild was i couldnt even weld back then, so my Exhaust was all Butt-Clamps and Exhaust Clamps; and everytime it would hit something, it would come apart and get a leak… i was constantly getting up under that car to fix it… constantly… it sucked… and gettting the pullies set up was a huge chore on the LS1… soo many different ways… Corvette pullies were the tightest, but they were $500 just for the pullies, so i went with Truck Y-style brackets and it looked crazy but worked. Used a LS1 intake manifold to replace the humongous Vortec intake manifold, and had to figure out how to cap off the block heater, but it all worked and had a crazy sound. 6 Liters of discplacement in a sport compact coupe made for some wonderful adventures. The car could drift up on-ramp loops in 3rd gear just like Tokyo Drift! it was super easy to drive, i taught my friends how to drive manual with it, one of them even figured out that the car could start from a dead stop, in 5th gear lol. and at drift practice, i was sliding the sweeper in 4th gear… so wild and so easy with so much power.
