bjs2000

I'm in need of a new engine and have the option to buy a freshly built motor for my turbo setup. The engine is built for 1000HP which is well beyond what I would want. My question is are there many sleeved F20C's out there with high miles? I have yet to find any examples and my HP goals are only 3-400HP. I would want reliability over anything else. So if you have a high mileage sleeved engine please post your setup and miles.
Thanks!

MorngWoodStewie

Why buy a built one then?

bjs2000

Well in this instance it's either get the built block with 0 miles or the same money will buy me a sub standard compression f20c with 85k miles or higher. The prices of used engines has become crazy.

nadeem

I was in same boat. I ended up taking the motor out and in the process of upgrading pistons rods valve train and getting it sleeved. Keeping stock compression etc with full
blown head studs. It's costing a ton tho. So buying it done will save you a lot. Once I'm done I'll post up all the details. I should be at 430 whp. Car made 400 is low compression on cylinder 3 due to spark plug breaking and scoring the cylinder walls

s2000Junky

I dont like sleeved engines in this car for longevity. Ring/piston gaps are looser due to higher expansion of forged pistons and iron bores, which means they run loose when cold/piston slap is common and that increases wear over time, they only really serve a purpose for sustaining high hp builds where the stock components cant withstand the stresses and added heat. Which means unless your build surpasses the threshold of what stock block can handle 600whp+, your essentially shooting yourself in the foot in my experience. Then there is always the curve ball/trust that who ever built the engine did a good job. In my case I spent about 6 grand on a built and sleeved lower comp bottom end to run my supercharger at 425-450whp at 18 psi and the motor drank oil right from break in and progressively got worse. At 20k miles/2 years of DD I was sucking down a quart of oil every 300 miles, and was starting to foul out 02 sensors and plugs and finally had to just yank it (still sitting on my engine stand looking for a new home/part out) biggest wast of money ever and wish i wouldn't have listened to my dumb ass friend and just picked up a lower mileage F22. Live and learn.

MorngWoodStewie

Ouch! Lol, that hurts. I got 82k on the clock. ...
its not about miles, it's about current health, and maintenance.

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Mijae007

Just buy a healthy stock long block if you need a new motor. At 3-400whp your motor should last just as long as n/a if properly taken care of.

bjs2000

At this point it would cost me at least another $1000-1500 to get a low mileage f22 or f20c. All the low mileage s2k engines I've found are around $3500 if I sell the trans your forced to buy. I just assumed a overbuilt turbo build would last me just as long if taken care of properly. The compression is lower at 10.5:1 though.

s2000Junky

$3500 has always been about the going rate for a healthy F22 with around 50k miles. Its been a couple years since i've been in the market for one thank god, so i realize its probably only getting harder to find that kind of mileage, but if you can find a F22 for around 3 grand somewhere south of 100k miles, I would likely jump on that before going down the sleeved motor road. Just make sure its got good comp and leak down numbers. In theory if the motor has been properly maintained, and has a clean history without bent valve issues and been cracked open for repairs, it should easily go another 100k miles without issues. How many miles a year do you put on your S?

Your current situation is where I found myself back when I dropped 6 grand on a sleeved motor. I ended up finding one that had 0 miles on it with a stock head. But I had the head pulled off after I bought just to double check all was sound before investing in install, and turns out a few of the compression rings were put in backwards, and the engine looked like it was build in a dirt bath(someone's home garage no doubt) The tolerances were also huge (built for 1000hp) which means it would have been a lousy DD motor that would have been short lived for what I wanted it for, so the $3200 I spent on it initially with the impression of it being 100% drop in, turned into a re do that cost me $6000 all said and done, and like I said still didn't last me but 20k miles and really most of those miles were really annoying and stressful from all the oil consumption. This was my experience, some have better luck and can get more trouble free miles, but I think there is still the underlying rule here that unless your building for the moon with the expectation of not putting many miles on the car, you cant beat stock for reliability and longevity.

bjs2000

I've confirmed the build with the shop who built the engine the specs are below. I am getting the engine for $2400 which seems like a good deal and better than any other engine I've found.

Right around $6000 in this build never been installed. The build was orchestrated by Greg at Go-autoworks which he uses on his s2000 since 2010.

Sleeved built longblock by kings performance with AEBS sleeves, Supertech built head. Assembly work performed by Top Dead Center performance in Mobile, AL.
Block contains, Skunk2 Alpha Series rods, (306-05-1180)
CP Pistons with 10.5:1 compression
Head was overhauled with a Supertech valve spring kit so, springs/seats/retainers as well as Supertech valves.
InlinePro TCT
ARP Head studs
For my turbo setup and for the cost I dont see why this would not be a better option than a f22.

Does anyone have a high mileage sleeved s2k? Seems like everyone is just telling me to stay away from it so I hope I'm not in for a lousy unreliable motor.