JDM drivetrain / parts importers

My nephew has a high-miles 2002 IS300 that may need an engine in the moderate future. He’s looking at doing swap, possibly to a 2JZ?  At any rate, what does the hive suggest for parts importers?

Thanks, and happy Thanksgiving!

....doesn't it already have a 2JZ in it? 

One interesting thing I have seen is that there are two different oil pans for the JZ engines, and the one that isn't very swap-friendly makes the whole engine much cheaper.  If you already have an oil pan that fits, then who cares?

Well, yeah, it does. I should have specified the turbo version. 

I used a company in New York, bought on ebay.  First one came with a blown turbo.  Bad blown turbo, not rebuildable and the only turbo that fit is only available on that one 4th gen 3SGTE JDM only.  "We no gualantee accessolies."  Had to buy a second motor from them to get the exhaust manifold/turbo housing.  Still, all in, the price wasn't bad and I have a spare entire motor less turbo.

I've used two importers in the last 6 months for the Civic rally car. 

Tennessee JDM Motors sent an H22A that allegedly has 45-55K miles (which is what they all say), but if that's the case, those were hard miles.  Oil pan came crunched, almost every sensor broken, timing belt one sneeze away from snapping, etc.  They were one of the lower priced options and on the East Coast to minimize freight, and I feel like I got exactly what I paid for.    I sent them an email with my concerns after receiving the engine and...crickets.  It's on a stand now getting a new water pump, timing belt, etc before dropping it in the car to (hopefully) make vroom-vroom noises.  Worst case - it's a rebuildable core when combined with parts from the previous motor.

I picked up a T2W4 factory LSD trans from JDM Engine Virginia after finding these guys on eBay.  Called directly, got it all sorted, and had it shipped to my shop quickly.  In contrast to the engine, this one came in spotless.  Either they are better at finding low mileage parts, or just better with the power washer.  From what I can see of the internals, this one looks like it should be a good one.  They even threw in the intermediate shaft, clutch pack, etc.

The higher dollar/higher quality option is supposed to be HMotorsOnline.com, but I think they only do Honda.  There may be someone equivalent in the Toyota/Lexus world.

Best of luck...

Rotaryracer said:

I've used two importers in the last 6 months for the Civic rally car. 

Tennessee JDM Motors sent an H22A that allegedly has 45-55K miles (which is what they all say), but if that's the case, those were hard miles.  Oil pan came crunched, almost every sensor broken, timing belt one sneeze away from snapping, etc.  They were one of the lower priced options and on the East Coast to minimize freight, and I feel like I got exactly what I paid for.    I sent them an email with my concerns after receiving the engine and...crickets.  It's on a stand now getting a new water pump, timing belt, etc before dropping it in the car to (hopefully) make vroom-vroom noises.  Worst case - it's a rebuildable core when combined with parts from the previous motor.

I picked up a T2W4 factory LSD trans from JDM Engine Virginia after finding these guys on eBay.  Called directly, got it all sorted, and had it shipped to my shop quickly.  In contrast to the engine, this one came in spotless.  Either they are better at finding low mileage parts, or just better with the power washer.  From what I can see of the internals, this one looks like it should be a good one.  They even threw in the intermediate shaft, clutch pack, etc.

The higher dollar/higher quality option is supposed to be HMotorsOnline.com, but I think they only do Honda.  There may be someone equivalent in the Toyota/Lexus world.

Best of luck...

 

 

Hmotors is honda only, I bought my ZC motor for my CRZ from them, worked great and had zero issues bolted right in. 

Cool, thanks, guys.