I Luuurve the idea of the 1uzfe in there. Love it. They can be had for so cheap it's criminal. OTOH, if you put an l24 head on an l28 block, and do the appropriate antiscocial things to valves and cam and intake and exhaust, you will blow up the stock diff in rapid fashion and be forced into the R200 lsd just like that, and still have purist Lseries straight6. Sounds to me like you have a fun conundrum on yer hands!
Given that the hot setup for Miatas sounds like the 300 hp J motor I'd say that would be a fun choice.
For noise purposes though.... something German.
The german choices do make great sounds, which I admittedly a big reason to go with one. I like the idea of the 1uzfe but I dont know much about the motors.
I've seen them at junkyards for way under 5 bills. They are all alloy, based on Toyota's IRL/CART engine. 6 bolt cross mains. The offshore powerboat guys love em cuz 1000 hp on stock bottom end or some ridiculous figure like that. Kinda low output stock but this can be remedied, and they are prettymuch atomic bomb proof. Downsides are things like where they put the starter motor and how much cash it might take to make stupid power. There are adapter plates that let you hook it up to a w75 Supra trans. Nothing good can come from this. I've wanted to install one of these in an AE86 and go rally in Gp5 but the drift tax has made this prohibitive.
I vote 1uz. Then I vote 3 liter L series. All the others are boring 
RB30DE (probably DET) build or barring that RB25DET. RB parts are cheap and easy to require just like any of the other engines mentioned, don't let "not being domestically sold" fool you. The RBs are also all very reliable for track.
If i'm swapping an engine into my car i'm not going RB25. You can get a RB30 block for almost nothing. The only reason you wouldn't do that is if you just want to buy a RB25 front clip and not mess with what you receive at all and just "swap" it in. However it won't be easy. I'm guessing if you are thinking of engine swapping though you probably have an idea and you could probably build a RB30.
You can easily make 300whp with that on low boost and it would be very reliable. You could probably make 300WHP NA if you wanted but you may want to get RB26 head, cams, and fresh internals.
RB30DE with RB26 neo head would be better than S54 if you wanted NA, or a cheaper RB25/30DET with a GT35 turbo would obviously blow it away. RB26 head obviously implies ITBs.
RB engines sound as good as S54 or other BMW I6 if not better.
I'm guessing a S54 is not cheap. If i'm looking at that i'm looking at RB26 not RB25 if i don't want to build the RB30
In reply to kanaric:
Where do you find rb30 blocks? That would really be my first choice but I always thought getting a block here was either very expensive, almost impossible or some combination of the two.
Fitzauto wrote: In reply to kanaric: Where do you find rb30 blocks? That would really be my first choice but I always thought getting a block here was either very expensive, almost impossible or some combination of the two.
It's not almost impossible. You can find them on ebay even. Expensive? Possibly.
The hard part is the shipping from Australia however some also exist in Canada. You can probably find someone's aborted build even.
The block its self is like $150 AUD.
The thing is with the RB25 if you are importing the front clip it's going to be very expensive as well.
There is a guy here in Vegas who built a RB30DE with a R32 RB25DE head and is using carbs. IDK how much power he's making however, I only saw the car at a show and the owner was wandering around.
There was a guy on Zilvia selling a complete RB30 build with RB25 neo head for $1200 CAD not that long ago.
When I was looking for shipping on a RB30 block myself I was told shipping was $400 from Gold Coast which is where the person was I was considering buying from.
http://zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=478811
Actually found a thread on Zilvia about it. The person there claimed shipping from New Zeeland to LA was $300.
Also if you wanted I would go to Skylines Australia (a forum) and talk to some people there, they might be able to find you a good block on the cheap.
Another guy talking about selling his build in that thread too, too bad that was 2012.
Jay_W wrote: I've seen them at junkyards for way under 5 bills. They are all alloy, based on Toyota's IRL/CART engine. 6 bolt cross mains. The offshore powerboat guys love em cuz 1000 hp on stock bottom end or some ridiculous figure like that. Kinda low output stock but this can be remedied, and they are prettymuch atomic bomb proof. Downsides are things like where they put the starter motor and how much cash it might take to make stupid power. There are adapter plates that let you hook it up to a w75 Supra trans. Nothing good can come from this. I've wanted to install one of these in an AE86 and go rally in Gp5 but the drift tax has made this prohibitive.
So many things wrong with this post. Where to begin? Low output? 250hp (stock) in a 2400lb car is not low. Keep in mind Toyota dialed these motors back. They actually make about 300hp to the FW once proper exhaust and intake are on. The factory exhaust manifolds are soooo baaad. Cams are expensive and time consuming but that's the trade off with a DOHC V8.
W75? No. W58 sir. And only w58. They put that trans in the mk3 celicas (you leave them alone!) mk2, mk3, mk4 supras, and is300's. The w57 came in the late Tacoma. The w55 and w56 came in yota trucks. Shifter locations can easily be swapped out to accommodate any location you need the shifter in.
The starter motor rarely goes out, but for safe insurance just change it before you install the motor. Easy.
Furthermore, 300hp and 350tq in a s30 chassis is what I would call "stupid power". no one needs/uses 700hp...
Fitzauto wrote: or sending rebello a bunch of money and building a 3 liter L series.
there is something about a professionally built engine that captures both purity, as well as performance
So many things wrong with this post. Where to begin? Low output? 250hp (stock) in a 2400lb car is not low.
I agree. One of the reasons why I like a RB30DE for this is that it would be very torquey for a small car like this.
I'm not seeing what Toyota engine you are talking about. 7M?I'm guessing that because powerboats are being mentioned.
there's a full rb25det setup with engine, trans, harness, computer for $1299 buy it now. i'd do that. if my z was not a challenge budget car i'd have gone that route for sure, but for that reason i have a 350 in it.
In reply to kanaric:
Toyota's sleeping giant. The 1uzfe.
I've owned 4 z cars now each with an L series. They are bulletproof engines. Sound amazing with triple mikuni carbs and flat top pistons and an N42 head. But, they are getting old. And hard to find parts for.
The RB series is neat. Owned an rb20det in my s13. But it's been done so many times and will honestly cost more than a 1uz swap. Seriously, go crunch the numbers.
Keeping in the Nissan family, rb25 all day long. Cheap, easy to find, and can make 300whp with some basic bolt ons.
Not caring about keeping it Nissan? 1uzfe, Honda J-series v6, and what the heck.......F2T!!!!!!!
In reply to Trackmouse:
Also like to add:
It's hard to get 300hp NA out of a non-VVTi 1UZFE. The early motors are the seemingly bulletproof engines and they dyno about 200hp to the wheels stock. And you're not going to get 300-350hp NA out of an early motor unless you do lots of work. ITB's, cams (Kelford makes some for $$$), valvetrain modifications, head porting, and a standalone. They will take boost though. Starting in 95 or 96 they started using thinner rods. The VVti engines make more power NA but cant take boost as well as the 89-94 motors.
There are 3 or 4 different header designs, I believe the LS400 has the tightest headers. A few different sump designs, LS400 being front sump, SC400 being rear, and the Celsor being mid I believe. The motor is sort of compact as far as the accessories but the Quad-cam design does make the heads pretty wide. The heads and intake manifolds are pretty restrictive from the factory.
There are adapters for Toyota R15x/W5x/V160 transmissions, Z33 transmission, sr20/ka24 transmission, 300zx na and tt transmission.
Really anyone interested in these motors should visit Lextreme and the 1uzfe thread on zilvia.
I know a guy who has a BMW M106 that he'd sell for cheap.... it's the later 745i turbo engine from the e23 7 series. I think they were rated at 252 hp stock, and are based off of the quite bulletproof M30 engine. If you're near Indiana....it could happen.
In reply to yupididit:
Correct you are. Especially about boost! The easiest and cheapest way to 300 is an M blower. Easily had. A company makes an adapter too. They turbo well and it's actually super easy for the turbo manifold. You just swap and flip the headers. Seriously.
Btw- 200hp to the wheels is the dyno runs in the Lexus cars with the auto trans. My associates with a 1uz in front of a w58 and putting down 218hp at the wheels. Stock. No other mods.
In reply to Trackmouse:
Yeah there are a few supercharger choices and the manifolds do flip easily. I did have a late version Fish bracket laying around which was made to fit centrifugal superchargers. Yeah a manual trans will add some hp naturally.
Honestly flip the headers and run a medium size turbo on an early motor with megasquirt and keep the rest of the engine stock and you'll have good reliable 300-350hp. The stock bottom ends rarely handle 700hp, my buddy is breaking them around 450 on stock early motors on a really nice AEM tune.
Also, I think the SC400 engines had bigger injectors. With the early motors having billet fuel rails.
Trackmouse wrote: In reply to kanaric: Toyota's sleeping giant. The 1uzfe. I've owned 4 z cars now each with an L series. They are bulletproof engines. Sound amazing with triple mikuni carbs and flat top pistons and an N42 head. But, they are getting old. And hard to find parts for. The RB series is neat. Owned an rb20det in my s13. But it's been done so many times and will honestly cost more than a 1uz swap. Seriously, go crunch the numbers.
The only reason I would want to swap in a RB to a Z is that it's a Nissan I6, they sound great and keep that I6 quality on the car and can make good power.
With a V8 you can do like you said 1UZ or probably tha various LS engines people here love like an aluminum 5.3. If I were V8 swapping this that is what I would use.
For me it would be a preference. I think like a LS would be better than a RB as well I would just feel weird but that's just me.
I still think that bit about the sc400 having larger injectors is a typo. Few reasons- it's the same darn motor rated at the same output. So why bigger injection? Second- the other engines have 215cc injectors. Except the "typo" which says 251cc. I call Bologna.
In reply to Trackmouse:
That's why I said "I think".
In reply to Trackmouse: Settle down, Beavis. So I misremembered the designation of the Supra gearbox. w58, not 75. At least I got the "supra" part right. Yeah, low output. 250 hp outta 4 liters is lazy, but fixable. 300 with the minor mods we both mentioned, should oughtta do, especially in a 240Z. I was going to leave my pipe dream 1uz in my pipe dream AE86 bone friggin stock, serene in the knowledge that in a rallycar, 250 ponies is indeed Enough, and knowing that after I roll it and wrap it round a tree the engine with more than likely still run. in a street car? Why not turn it up? my mazdog was 320 at the wheels and merely adequate. My current DD is more like 500 and is um more than sufficient even with all the mass. So it sounds like we agree and the only thing wrong with my post was the number after the W... carry on!
Hey man, We Toyota guys are pricks when it comes to designations! Lol. Didn't mean to step on toes though..
Glad someone cleared the air on the 1uz, they arent as awesome as people think...200whp is norm for a bolt on auto Lexus 170ish stock.
There is a guy that visited our regional autox group with a clean vq35de in an s30 and it sounds amazing! Not exactly power monsters but light..ive got a buddy with 10k in stillen parts on his 350z and even with the roots supercharger it makes 280 on the dyno every time.
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