RivMan

Hey all,

I have the opportunity to purchase a 2015 NX 200T FWD with ~4k miles for a very good price. The issue is that the vehicle was used for a research project, and is missing it's Engine, Wire harness, fuel system, and exhaust system.

My idea would be to purchase this NX, as well as a low mileage wrecked NX and swap the needed parts over. I'm wondering what the market is for Misc NX parts at the moment. I would have a Trans, interior, wheels, suspension, ect. Is there any market for these at the moment, with the cars being so new?

Thanks
-Rob

Swacer

The idea is admirable, but you're certainly taking on a huge undertaking here. You're essentially piecing 2 cars together, neither of which will carry a warranty, and the engine block will have the old car's VIN on it.

Many of the parts for the NX, I would assume are under constraint while Toyota attempts to keep up with demand on the car. Furthermore, depending on what part you need, who knows when it will be available. There is sadly no aftermarket for this car beyond stupid body kits and overpriced axle back exhausts....

I'm not sure if you're just looking for a project, or a car, but in my mind, this just wouldn't be worth it. Personally, and this is just the vibe I get from you on this post, if you're going to make a Frankenstein car, do it right.

Why put the lame 2.0T back in? Measure the clearance and try to locate the 3.5L out of a wrecked IS350. The motor has been the same for 2 gens now, so it should be easy to find. Find a AWD NX200T, strip out the rear wheel drive train and diff, and put those into the car. You would need a custom exhaust made, but you can have those made cheap. You would have to see how comparable the ECU for the IS and NX are, as you are going to need the IS ECU in order to run the motor (since Toyota has to be a party pooper and ruin any tuning). Make sure the IS is AWD as you'll need an ECU made for that.

Concerns though: ECU gear ratios for the IS are different from the NX. Half shafts are probably undersized for a 300hp motor. Heck, most of the car is probably undersized for 300hp. Torque steer would be unreal since the car is predominately FWD (even when AWD).

I am always one who likes to take cars apart, but this project just seems much too big to bother IMO

Good luck

NXOwner

Why not just buy the research project NX and sell parts off of it. There are folks on this forum that seem to always be looking for parts. (an owner from Dubai comes to mind). Aren't the sum of the parts always worth more than the whole? LOL!

RivMan

Thanks for the insight Swacer!

I'm looking for a project, and a car. This would not be my first project of this caliber, and I currently have access to both a Factory Scan Tool, and Toyota factory service information. Parts availability is the reason I'm considering picking up a wrecked donor car. There are currently 10 available as salvage, and almost all of them appear to have the parts I'll need. I've absolutely considered the AWD swap, and may go that route if I find a suitable donor vehicle. My first goal would be to put together a low mile, factory appearing, running, and driving vehicle with as little expense as possible. If there was some value in the leftover NX parts, I believe I would have less then $20k in the entire vehicle.

I hadn't considered an IS350 swap however. Has that motor ever been used with the trans that exists in the NX? The IS appears to have a RWD Engine layout, where the NX is laid out Transversely. The NX200T motor is what really attracted me to this platform. There is a ton of potential wrapped up in there, and I would eventually have some custom touches in the system.

I also considered swapping in an LS3 or even an LFX and converting to RWD, but decided that there's probably better ways to handle it.

Thanks
-Rob

RivMan

I've considered that as well, however my question is still the same, is there value in the parts?

Thanks
-Rob

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

I'd say the market is near zero currently for NX parts unless you came across a special circumstance / accident owner. Model is too new for items to be failing and all the vehicles are under warranty.


Case in point: I created the classified forum months ago and no parts have been posted for sale.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/nx-...assifieds-270/

Note that you would not be able to part out that NX here on CL - you don't have the required history / connection to our community to do that.

RivMan

Thanks Dave! Rest assured that if I decide to make this project happen, I would become a regular fixture here, and would have no problem meeting the content / time requirements!

Thanks
-Rob

Swacer

I think by the time you're done, you're probably looking at 30-40k in parts, custom fabrications, and time hours invested. This is not cheap, which is why I mentioned to not bother with the stock motor at all.

The IS350 is RWD and AWD (I own an AWD IS).

In regards to swaps, you won't ever find anyone doing this. You'll never find an example, and you'll be a first to run into every speed bump. People that buy these cars simply aren't interested in the tear and create.

I don't think you will be able to fit a small block chevy into there. I also wouldn't bother with an LFX because those motors are complete junk. If they aren't drinking oil, they are blowing up. The only way you'd be able to do that is probably if you cut into the sub frame. Again, your costs are increasing substancially. Only good thing with that is that you could probably pull an ECU from an 5th gen Camaro automatic, and try to do something with the ECU. But the issue with that is all your interior sensors, lights, everything, will not work because its not the proper ECU talking to it.

To be entirely honest with you, I would recommend you go over to a Miata forum, and start looking for guys that put LSx motors into miatas. Those guys would be able to tell you the size of the engine bay needed to fit, and how they solved the ECU, drive train, and other issues.

Keep in mind also that the LS3 would also require a new transmission, and at 400hp, the entire drive train on the NX is worthless and undersized.

I am very entertained, but for the price it will cost you to fix this, just buy a used NX in 6 months for 35k and save the time.

RivMan

I would agree that I would typically be priced out of a swap like this, however I would be performing all of the work myself, and I work for beer! As far as I can tell, I wouldn't need any custom work to install a stock powertrain.

My background is automotive electronics / powertrain controls. The reason this vehicle doesn't have a motor or electronics is because they've been removed and adapted to a Dyno test cell. I'm not concerned with being able to adapt the vehicle electronics to run off of whatever ECU ends up running the engine.

I mentioned the LFX due to it's small size and ability to fit into small packages, I wasn't aware of their reliability issues. It's funny you mention the Miata folks, this is my daily driver. It has a V8Roadsters front subframe, currently running the stock motor, but will be swapped to a V8 once it's out of DD service.



-Rob

Swacer

I wish you the best of luck man.

bionictony

idea sounds good. execution might not be so good. if you've done this before, have at it. if not, you may have lots of headaches in the future. will you do this by yourself or have a shop do it?

RivMan

Hey Tony,

This would be a swap that I would do myself. I can see where the shop labor would kill any chance of this being doable.

Thanks
-Rob

bionictony

with even if you buy a wrecked chassis, chances are high that it might still have some missing parts that you'll need to puchase separately. if it were me personally i would not do it unless i had a 3 bay garage and more time on my hands. where will you store the good nx and where will you store the wrecked nx? i would price the research nx at around 10k or less. that's just me.