Considering a Rebuild.....

After much thinking and discussing with my pops I have decided to looking into buying a car with a blown engine, purchasing and swapping in a new stronger motor, and putting in a new tranny. I was wondering if this would be a good idea, because as far as I can figure I could in all reality have basically a brand new car with a brand spankin new engine.

I'm not familiar at all which swaps are popular for cars. I know that I like hatch back type cars, Audi Quattro TT, Nissan 350z, Scion tC, styling like that. But as I said befor I'm not familiar with the pros/cons of doing this and if in reality it would be better then just buying a new car.


So I have a couple of questions first off

Generally If I'm not doing the work myself would this be cheaper then a 15k car?

What are the Pros/Cons of doing this (buying car with blown engine and swapping in new engine)

How realistic is it

Lastly, If at all possible, getting a fairly light car and swapping in a more beasty motor is always a plus with me since I like speed, so based off my styling guide which swaps would you suggest?

Thanks in advance.

Update: Few Cars I was thinking of in particular for swaps.

Nissan 240SX
Honda Civic
Mitsubishi Eclipse
Acura Integra

Not sure what swaps are availiable for these cars, nor which one would be best for me, I only really want some solid performance and good stop n go power.


Suggestions?

It depends a great deal on the car. I think many American cars would save you tons of money. You can buy a car for cheap, rebuild an engine cheap, and the labor to put it in is much less intensive than a late model EFI swap.

Most of the FWD four-cylinder cars require much more labor to rebuild the engine and to swap it out. Parts purchases are more expensive too if you're changing to a different engine. And, when you're done (no offense) you're left with the resale value of a FWD four cylinder. Although they tend to hold their value well, they don't appreciate in value with these mods except to those who mod them... and even then, it might be tough to sell it since the purchaser doesn't trust your work.

If you do all the work yourself (including engine assembly and installation) on an American RWD car you can almost guarantee a value at least as much as your investment. (provided you made a careful purchase of a wise investment vehicle). If you want to get a return on your investment with an American vehicle that someone else does the work, it pretty much better be a restoration attempt on something of value like a Vette, Camaro, Mustang, 59 Caddy, Barracuda, etc. Exceptions abound and it depends on your ability to spot a great deal when you see it.

In general, you're not going to see quite as much return on an investment in a small import car, but again, exceptions abound.

I love cruising the classifieds for no-engine cars. The general population sees them as worthless so you can get them for a song. I had a friend who cracked a block in a Saturn with 120k so she put it on Ebay with no reserve. It went for $295. Bad for her, but great for the guy with a wrench who bought it.

I would say if you're going to do it with an import, make sure the purchase price is rock bottom for an otherwise good car, then invest some money in the engine and you should be at least able to break even.

Also don't fall into the habit of thinking new engine and new tranny = new car. There are alot of things that can go wrong, (probably more on newer more efficient import cars) that you may need to replace shortly after. So if you go this route, make sure you fully inspect the rest of the car for rust and such.