20b Installs

[gmonsen]

Rotary Prophet... My obligations are to the users and not to the sellers on forums and so I apologize up front if you take umbrage at what I am going to say.

Anyone who has a 20b conversion done by a "back yard tuner" who does work to support his or her habit rather than by a full time reputable business have absolutely no right to complain whatsoever for anything that goes wrong. If the car isn't ever completed, costs way more than promised or blows up, that person has no right to complain here on this forum or anywhere else. The forums are littered with people who have gone to some unknown or less-well-known tuner and have had a bad experience.

When I started modding FD's back in the mid-90's I took the approach of identifying parts and their cost and then figuring out how long it would take to do the work at a specified or assumed labor cost. In general I found I was off by at least 100% on the best-guessed builds.

I think you could do an Australian or New Zealand backyard 20b swap for as little as $20-25,000. I have no idea how long it would take you to get it done or what the ultimate quality would be. It would be an interesting FB and would be very fast until something broke. It would be special in the sense that you would have a 20b in an FB. It would not be some beautiful, 600 whp monster that looked great and was "awesome". You get what you pay for.

Your biggest risks in hoping to get a 20b into an FB would be that you were still waiting for it in a year or more. These conversions usually take about 6 months to a year at somebody's shop. If you have it done by a backyard tuner, he may change his life and no longer have time to do your work or he may move to take a new job or his own car may take priority.

Most people who know what's what will tell you that you should either have it done by a reputable shop that has done it many times and you pay through the nose or you know enough to do it yourself.

Gordon