Engine blown, rebuild or buy used engine?

RedSpeed3

RedSpeed3

Greenie N00B Member
Greenie Member
Hey guys well sadly my speed3 recently blew about two weeks ago. It seems like a piston made a whole on the block and oil pan. I’ve been working my ass off to save up to either rebuild the engine or just buy another used engine and swap all the bolt ons over. What would you guys recommend? I asked at a performance shop here Denver,Co how much would it cost rebuild wise and for a stage 1 build he quoted me around $7-7.5k because he would need to get me a new or used block. Yesterday I found a speed6 in Texas asking around 6k for the whole car so I’m questioning can I just buy that speed 6 and swap it over to my speed 3 or go with the build?
 
Wasting a whole car for a motor is kind of odd. You can purchase a new longblock from Mazda cheaper.

If used, look for a CX-7 turbo motor. Common in wrecking yards.
 
Look for a JDM engine dealer. If I needed one, I can pickup a low mileage JDM engine locally for about $2500 USD. If you found one, you can swap that, or even use it as a base for a rebuild. Shipping might be a killer, but if close enough you can pick it up yourself (It would be about an 8hr day if I had to go grab one...still worth it)
JDM Source in Canada
JDM Engine Direct in Canada
Ive had a few friends buy Mazda KL-ZE V6 and Nissan SR20DET engines. All still being beat on.
 
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Raider said:
Wasting a whole car for a motor is kind of odd. You can purchase a new longblock from Mazda cheaper.

If used, look for a CX-7 turbo motor. Common in wrecking yards.
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So Raider it’s not true about the CX-7 engines having lower compression compared to the speed engines?
 
SyntheticAtmosphere said:
Look for a JDM engine dealer. If I needed one, I can pickup a low mileage JDM engine locally for about $2500 USD. If you found one, you can swap that, or even use it as a base for a rebuild. Shipping might be a killer, but if close enough you can pick it up yourself (It would be about an 8hr day if I had to go grab one...still worth it)
JDM Source in Canada
JDM Engine Direct in Canada
Ive had a few friends buy Mazda KL-ZE V6 and Nissan SR20DET engines. All still being beat on.
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Let me look and ask around if there is JDM engine dealer near but if not I’ll have to take up your offer!
 
RedSpeed3 said:
Let me look and ask around if there is JDM engine dealer near but if not I’ll have to take up your offer!
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I wasnt offering to sell you a motor haha, it was just an option for you to think about. Hopefully there is an importer near you.
...Maybe I should fill C-can with JDM parts and ship it over!!?!
L337TurboZ said:
Now's a good time to consider the 2.5 swap. Those can be had for less than 1k dollars and you'd probably spend less overall trying to make it work.
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Now theres a plan, Ive seen a couple threads about it!
 
I saw an engine on Facebook Marketplace in Aurora (near Denver) for $700. My feeling is that they’d likely come down from that. It says it has low compression. If you’re interested in rebuilding that might be a good candidate.
 
Hey guys I’ve asked places here in Denver,Co and they’ve quoted me between $7500-$8000k even if I take them a used engine or my blown up one. I wish I could build it my self but I’m not that high mechanically inclined. I’ve really been looking into a brand new stage 1 long block from speed performance since it runs about $9000. How well would that hold up for me if it’s my daily driver? I mean it’s a lot of money $9k and I would definitely want it to last as long as possible for me.
 
Will be fine, speed performance is notorious for delayed delivery so I would expect the engine 3-6 months after the estimate they give you unless they happen to have one ready to ship. Have you contacted overspeed? Sometimes they have some stuff kicking around
 
Yeah I’ve been talking to them back and forth and have estimated me early February but I really hope it’s not longer. And I have not contacted overspeed, I’ll have to reach out to them as well, thanks
 
Awafrican said:
Will be fine, speed performance is notorious for delayed delivery so I would expect the engine 3-6 months after the estimate they give you unless they happen to have one ready to ship. Have you contacted overspeed? Sometimes they have some stuff kicking around
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@Awafrican Does over speed have their own website or just through Facebook?
 
Oh another shop that may be worth checking is graveyard performance, I know they're gaining some reputation but I don't know how good they really are
https://www.graveyardperformance.com/

edit: @RedSpeed3 I know some people view them as scummy, since their engine builder who was scamming people (running shit out of his house using their name) was fired I personally haven't heard anything bad about their engine builds, but they mainly sell on Facebook and I don't track that stuff. @JohnnyTightlips may have some input.
 
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I wouldn't give Speedformance a dime. They fucked my friends engine up so bad after 3 bad motors he parked it. Passed away from cancer before it ever returned to the street.
 
Raider said:
I wouldn't give Speedformance a dime. They fucked my friends engine up so bad after 3 bad motors he parked it. Passed away from cancer before it ever returned to the street.
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Fuck man that sucks sorry to hear that. So would you really recommend maybe overspeed or graveyard instead?
 
Did you inquire with JDM? They say they do nationwide delivery. I just saw JDM’s typical Craigslist post in my area—$1999 for a Speed 3 engine with less than 55k (on their website it says $2500).
 
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