When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Looking to get either a GSR swap or a k swap for my 1999 Civic CX. Here is a ballpark of what I was quoted by a reputable shop in my area (not including 2000 in labor). These are not hard numbers and they could be less or could be more depending on the price of the parts (for example the engine can be gotten for much less usually). This would be for a daily driver and not a track car. The only reason I am considering the B swap is because ideally a BAR'd swap would be nice, and a B swap would be much easier to BAR.
K20z1 swap (8950 + 2000 labor = 10950)
Here's the GSR swap quote. Is this right?? He mentioned that they would need to rebuild the engine since the b series are always older and beat. I'm not so sure I'm convinced the rebuild is necessary,
B18C1 Swap (7515 + 2000 in labor = 9515)
Without rebuild - 7365
There is a lot more to making a K series swap legal in California than most people think. The easy way to do a legal swap is to buy a complete RSX as you will need a lot of parts from the car
Learn how to rebuild an engine in your garage/kitchen/basement.
Have the engine fully assembled, minus the transmission mounted, have the trans ready to go, once you're sure you have everything needed (there are plenty of swap parts write-ups to go by) plan a weekend and tear into your car.
Should take about a day (8hrs) to pull your first engine.
Once it's out, clean/pressure wash the bay as best you can, then proceed to put in the new one. You should have it in and running the next day.
Heck, nowadays there are YouTube step by step videos on how to swap!
And to pass ref, just make sure the engine is 100% stock, or have the appropriate CARB EO parts on your vehicle.
I swapped my bro's car, pulled into the ref station, passed on the first try. It's as simple as smogging a car. There are no tricks they try to pull..they WANT you to pass, because you're not cutting corners and doing it right when you pass.
Yeah I'm not looking to particularly cheap out, so I don't mind spending a little more to get it done right. But the insistence on the rebuild kinda threw me off, so i wanted to make sure I wasn't getting scammed or anything.
If you have any common sense you could do it your self. Biggest problem for most people is the place to do it and the proper tools. But for the price you got, you could buy every tool you need including engine hoist / air compressor/ impacts/ etc and still come out way cheaper and have the full knowledge of everything done to your car which gives you the ability to trouble shoot and fix things yourself instead of paying someone every time
I agree with the previous statements... I am in the process of doing a K Swap myself but did not want to spend the time on doing the swap. However, after looking at labor cost I realized its better to save the money for parts and maintenance items like seal, gaskets etc.... Its also good to have those tools in case anything happens in the future.
Are these quotes for engine swaps reasonable?
