What direction to go

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DartVadar

DartVadar

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Not a mopar but I thought you guys would be good to ask. I have a little nissan 180sx as a project car (have a 73 dart too so Im still a mopar guy :D) But wasnt too sure where to ask it.

Right now its just a shell without a motor or transmission. The car is small, and only weighs about 2600 pounds with an engine, and I want to know what kind of power plant would be feasible/interesting to use. The engine bay is massive, so a v8 can fit in easily.

The goal of the car is to make at least 500 HP so whatever goes in will have a turbocharger and a manual trans. The rear end is good as it has 4.10 limited slip rear diff, and can handle the power.

The options ive come up with are:
LS with twins
Toyota 2JZ with big single (Capable of making over 1000hp) and suuuuper easy to swap

But I was wondering if it would be worth it to swap a 5.7 hemi or something in there, would definitely be cool to see that under the hood. I already have to buy a standalone ECU anyways.

The goal is to have a track car and a street car thats a bit different. Ive dabbled with muscle cars and want to learn more about other types lol
 
wow pop wiz bang - and yikes! of course a Hemi would be cool in there - it would be cool in damn near anything but jeeezus man... if you're lookin' for someone who has done it to guide you - -GOOD luck! A thought - if you put a performance Mopar drive train in it - wouldn't it essentially be a muscle car --just with a "weird" skin???
 
2jz or RB26. Both produce easy proven reliable power with stock Internals and the swaps have been done hundreds of times. I own an E36 M3 and plan on yanking the lame U.S. spec S52 engine to install a 2jz with a big single turbo.
 
ScampMike said:
wow pop wiz bang - and yikes! of course a Hemi would be cool in there - it would be cool in damn near anything but jeeezus man... if you're lookin' for someone who has done it to guide you - -GOOD luck! A thought - if you put a performance Mopar drive train in it - wouldn't it essentially be a muscle car --just with a "weird" skin???
Click to expand...

I know lots of people that have gone the 2j and ls route, and ive ridden in an ls with a single and 250 shot. The platform fits so many different combos. Thats what made my end up buying the car. Because they just feel so nimble to drive.
 
1994redram said:
2jz or RB26. Both produce easy proven reliable power with stock Internals and the swaps have been done hundreds of times. I own an E36 M3 and plan on yanking the lame U.S. spec S52 engine to install a 2jz with a big single turbo.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was thinking about an RB, but I can get a 2J and transmission up here for cheap. The problem if it makes sense its it almost seems "Too easy" to do that swap because its been done so many times.

But Ive seen a few rbs being built, its amazing how beefy they are in stock form let alone built. One innocent looking one was sitting on as stand, yet it dynoed at 1200 HP on moderate boost...

Many guys around me run 2Js, with a single and a good tune make around 450-500 wheel.
 
I had no idea.. just Googled the car - - huh.. yea, a Hemi would be nuts!!!! Bigs-n-littles or same same all around or ....?
DartVadar said:
I know lots of people that have gone the 2j and ls route, and ive ridden in an ls with a single and 250 shot. The platform fits so many different combos. Thats what made my end up buying the car. Because they just feel so nimble to drive.
Click to expand...
 
ScampMike said:
I had no idea.. just Googled the car - - huh.. yea, a Hemi would be nuts!!!! Bigs-n-littles or same same all around or ....?
Click to expand...

Thats what I was thinking, just be different! I havent found anybody thats done it unfortunately.

Itll be converted to 5x4.5 bolt pattern, so Ill have two sets of rims, street and track tires. It can share the slicks on the dart for a trip to the drag. My friend has one with the stock I4. He ran a 13 second quarter mile on skinny tires and spinning the entire way.
 
5.7 hemi
5.2 or 5.9 magnum
Mitsubishi 4g63
Srt4 2.4 or stratus 2.4 with srt4 rods and pistons if youre on a budget
Those would be my choices..just because the ls, rb, and 2jz are already too common in those cars
 
you could do a small block MOPAR
tCPPqxq.jpg

but when you look at cost and HP you really can't beat a 2jz with a big single, ported head, big injectors and a stand alone 6~700 hp
a lot of the nissan doods love the starion wheels ( 5x4.5 )

i have a few sets if you are interested
 
Is that the nissan 180sx pictured above?
 
I've been hankerin' to put a 4bt into something unusual. I was thinking Mini Cooper but hey, why not a Nissan 180 SX.
 
Srt4 would be pretty cool, never thought about one of those. 5.2 and 5.9 would be cool, with would have to turbocharge to reach my goal. How do 5.9s take boost? I don't really want to rebuild a motor again out of cost lol.

I don't think I've ever seen one with station wheels around me, they look pretty good! I might get back to you about them. But yeah that a 2j can make a lot of power easily and reliably, I wouldn't have to rebuild one either as I can get one with around 50k on it, and I can get turbos for really cheap because of sponsorships lol.

And above is an s14, mine is an s13 180 hatch. I don't have a good pic because currently it's tore apart in my garage to fix a few things. It's completely stock looking though plane Jane, nobody has added some ugly body kit to it, and I want to keep it stock looking, make a sleeper in a sense.
 

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The rb26dett is a beast! Now I'd a straight 6 won't fix use the vr38dett (motor out of the R35 gtr and it's a v6 saving you some room there).
 
Just find something cool and make it fit. I'd probably go gm or ford for cost and aftermarket support.
 
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