I did a search and didnt find anything that answered my questions.... so here goes
I was looking at buying a JDM R motor today, and i saw a few different things on the motors that left me a bit uneasy. The guy who is selling them has 6 jdm front clips, so basiclly, for my undisclosed price, i get motor, lsd tranny, obd-1 ecu, complete harness, drive shafts, front swaybar, exhaust with downpipe, mounts, linkages, blah blah blah. The only thing is that the clips have a 4 bolt (4x114). I know that this means that they are the older type-r motors (96&97), also, they dont have the "JDM 4-1 header. they have a cast manifold. I know the motors are r motors,but im just wondering if these ones are worth buying.. Is there anything else different that is not visable... i.e cams or pistons, gear ratios, not the 4.78 FD.. etc.. that i should know about? I dont want to buy it if its not going to perform like it should. Its a lot of money to waste if it crap.

 

tranny on 96spec is 4.4fd
mileage on these motors would be a concern to me

anyway, you seem to know your stuff

 

As long as the price is good there is nothing wrong with a 96 spec itr motor.

 

my general feeling is that if its a 96 motor, its already 7ish yrs old. For the same money, i can get a newer one. Im just trying to figure out good reasons to choose one thing over another

 

The 96 spec JDM motor is basically identical to the USDM motor (except that USDM = OBDII). So it wouldn't be a bad choice, especially if you can get a good deal. Just try to get an accurate mileage number - don't want to buy a worn out or beat motor - remember most of these cars live short, hard lives in JDM land

You can always get a better header and FD down the road - 96 spec might be a good choice...

 

but in all honesty, there is no real way to know how many miles are on those engines. It sucks, but its true. ITs always a shot in the dark with these things.

This is a bit off topic, but my buddy got lucky and got aftermarket cams, header, and chipped ecu when he bought a motor... the only visable thing was the header. Put it all in and dyno'd it, and it put out a lot more power then it should have. really cool thought though. I guess every once in a while you get lucky.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Philly_NBP_R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The 96 spec JDM motor is basically identical to the USDM motor (except that USDM = OBDII).</TD></TR></TABLE>

I believe that the 96specs have 11:1 compression.

 

I would go for a 98 and newer ITR engine there a lot of +'s with them. You named a few already. IMO

 

its a obd1 itr

98+ is your best bet, 4.7 FD, 4-1 header, Less milage.. etc.

 

better cams too

 

nicely done...

 

hmm hmm

Reguardless what engine you get you still will be hard pressed to know the exact Milage. Generally you can ASSUME that the milage is lower but that is not always the case. There are USDM 2001 Rs with well over 100k miles already. So that is one thing to think about. The 4.785 FD is nice plus but the 4th and 5th gears are also different and that bascially evens out the cars after 3rd gear. The Specs of the engine are SLIGHTLY changed where the 98 Spec makes a bit more torque and it peaks at 6200 (19.0kg/m) vs the 96`s 18.5kg/m at 7500 the 96 spec gets a little better fuel economy than the 98 spec. Starting with 98 Spec the valve train was spruced up a bit but the bottom end remained unchanged. There were NO changes internally in 2000 Spec Just the emmission standard changed.
The 98 spec DC2 was also the same emmision standard as the 96 spec. this standard didn`t change till 2000. So that shouldn`t be a factor. I think either one will be just fine. If you plan on modding the engine then why does it matter? If you want to keep it stock (yeah right) then go with the 98 spec.

 

thanks for the info guys,

also, its not obd-1, i just didnt want the obd-2 computer so i worked out a deal to get a obd-1 p30 (big one)... it works out easier because i dont want to chnage to obd-2

 

the +'s for the newer motor.... (98+):

better header
different final drive
different gears 4&5
different intake cam?
different ECU program
better valve train
diferent compression.

anything i have missed?

 

Isnt the point of buying a front clip the fact that its supposed to come with a gauge cluster to prove milage?

But I guess with all the *honest* people out there now-a-days, one will never really know.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B16B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the +'s for the newer motor.... (98+):

better header
different final drive
different gears 4&5
different intake cam?
different ECU program
better valve train
diferent compression.

anything i have missed?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

sounds about right. good luck

 

There is no difference in compression between the JDM 96 spec and JDM 98 Spec

There is a Difference between JDM and USDM
The Program is not OBD2 untill 2000 the JDM cars have a different program than ours. The Connectors are equivelent to our OBD1 and 2 but the Program is not the same it is more like OBD1. ie E-DC2 96 spec and E-DC2 98 spec and then the GF-DC2 2000 spec. All three Have same Bottom End and 11.1:1 compression. All Have 200 ps at 8000 rpm the 98 and 2000 spec have 19.0kg/m @6200 RPM instead of the 18.5kg/m @7500 rpm. REMEMBER these specs are based on running JDM Fuel which is 100 grade so there maybe a difference in actual results.

 

If the person you are getting the motor from will allow it, then why don't you pull off the valve cover and check the wear on the cams, timing belt, plugs, etc. Then take the head off and check the condition of the cylinder walls pistons, etc.

At least this way you will know approximately what kind of life the motor has had.

 

I bought my J-spec engine from http://www.rcrewracing.com. I am extremely happy with it! I got a '99 R with about 10k miles on it. (I already had a US ITR tranny.) My mechanic opened it up to check it out and said it was immaculate in there and that it looked brand new!

So check out rcrewracing.com and call them to see if they can do anything for you. Ask for Dan Phan and tell him Gary Lee sent you. I've known Dan for about 4 years and he really knows his stuff. He is highly respected in the hybrid community. I know several people that have bought from him, even before he opened his shop. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns about him.
Good luck!

 

I have bought parts off Dan Phan before.. he had some obscure parts that i needed for a swap 2 yrs ago and alos some other crap i needed last year. In terms of buying a motor off him, it wouldn't be worth it. It would cost too much to buy it (becuase lame Canadain currency after conversion) plus shippping and duty. I would buy from him if money was no object, but that is unfortunately not the case.

Now for the guy here who is selling the motors, i could probabily check the plugs and maybe even under the valve cover.I will not be able to take the whole head off however. So i think its kinda a shot in the dark.. im gonna go back tomorrow and take another look at the motors.

Also... it would actually come with a type R ecu, which i dont want.. would be be a beter idea to get a P28/30 and sell the R ecu? I really dont know if there is any market forJDM ITR ECU's here.