Hey,

I was looking at a silver 2000 GS400 with 170k and a broken timing belt. I assume the vvti 1uzfe is an interference engine and most likely the valves are also bent. Is it worth it to pull the heads and have them rebuilt? Anyone know what that would cost? It is better to just swap it with a junkyard motor or to do a 2jz swap?

Opinions please.

 

My suggestion would be to not buy it. Do not buy something where the first thing you would have to do is put more money into it. It's a car and not a house, it's not an investment. Another thing is that you're not even sure it will run even if you get the heads rebuilt or the engine replaced. There could also be more problems or issue with the car and since it's not running, you can't do a test drive.

 

That's all true and a good point. I was just contemplating if I was able to get it for under 1k I can probably do a vvti swap with motor, trans, harness and ECU for under $2500. So for around $3500 I could have a stock running gte gs400. All labor would be done by me.

 

I still think it will be a gamble unless you know that the car was a running/working car before the timing belt broke. You already know how the 2GS is, it could be running good when you first purchase it and afterwards all the problems start coming out of the woodwork. But if you're willing to gamble then roll the dice.

 

That would be a wicked bang-for-the-buck build. Essentially it's worth a bit less than that in scrap since it's got a mashed motor.

Even keeping it 1uz wouldn't be too bad, tons of these motors around for very reasonable coin...

What else can go wrong? A car is a car. It isn't an old euro car that will have 200 sensors in need of replacement after sitting for more than 2mos.

A new motor, some suspension touch ups/preventative maintenance and he'll still be ahead of the game. A shop I work occasionally had two smashed GS' [300 & 400] both sat for over 4 years. Put the booster pack to it, and everything still works in terms of electrical/seats/radio and even the fuel pumps prime.

Having a little experience with these cars in general, i wouldn't hesitate since I have seen first hand how well built these things were, IMO.

Unless of course, there is some serious catastrophical failures I've failed to notice on these boards other than Balljoint failure....

 

If your just doing the swap then yea IMO it would be worth it.. Especially if u can save $$$ by doing all the work yourself... I say do it...

 

IMO do it..
Only if u can get it for under 1k..

At 170k miles
u will still need to replace
-Ball Joints front
-Inner, outer tie rods
-Swaybar Endlinks
-Maybe shocks and springs
-Alignment
-Brakes if necessary
-Check the stupid dam AC servo motors, if they are creaking pass side, thats a 300 dolla bill
-Make sure u dont have the airbag light on.. it could be a pain in the butt
-Ur GTE swap will require u a new radiator
-Motor mounts for sure...

I guess thats all..

Even with all those small maintenance stuff the car would look sweet with a gte swap..

I guess even if the car cost is 1k u should be fine..

 

Thanks for all the replies guys. I am on the fence but if the guy takes 1k then I will take the plunge.

Initially I was looking for a cheap gs300 to do a gte swap but this gs400 popped up and looked pretty clean. I wasn't sure how much harder the swap would be in a gs400 but from the looks of it, it's a bit more wiring, different radiator, and different motor mounts. Probably can be swapped in a weekend.