I am the proud owner of my favorite car from my childhood ! A 2005 S2000 , unfortunately it has close to 135k miles on it but the price was too good to pass up.

My goal is to obtain around 400-500 hp daily drive it and track/ autox once a month or once every other month

I have done some research and came up with 2 options , either SC and make close to 400 or LSx swap it with some heads and cams and be close to 400 as well.

According to the 20+ hours of research both would cost around 10-14k. I am leaning towards the LSx build since it will not be forced induction and the engine would not have 135k miles on it.

I am interested in hearing your thoughts and any advice on builders in the Philly area (I know of Evans tuning in northern PA) he apparently is great at the SC build but hasn't done many LSx swaps do any of you have any builders in the north east area you would recommend ?

 

SC + ecu + sensors + tune + labour + oil cooler + thicker rad +after cooler + lines + gauges +clutch + injectors + fuel pump= 8k ish. You can save a lot if you peice it together and get used

 

I do not think you need 400-500 if you plan to autox or track or even remotely learn how to drive it. If you want to do just do highway pulls go for it.

 

You say 135k like its a bad thing lol

 

I agree if the engine is running no need to replace. just enjoy yet

 

Cheapest reliable way to make power is stroking. Even including a computer and gauges, the kit, plus labor you're looking at like $5,500 on the high end, plus you get the added benefit of any mod you do after that will yield more power due to higher displacement. It has a knock on effect to everything else.

Checking bearing clearances is critical, so someone with experience is a must when building these engines, as are other details. There are people on the forums that can do this, check your local area. Depending on where you live, you can get one of the experienced trusted members to help you.

 

You should probably post in the local area about engine builds as you will have people that know the area better.

As for the rest have you taken the car to an Autox or track day yet? It may surprise you. I know my NA s2000 with just bolt ons felt plenty fast at the track and the last thing I needed was more power (more driving skill would have helped ). If you really are talking about a fully built engine or full lsx swap and having someone do it you are going to be looking at a great deal more than $10k. Generally the boost build I have seen are around $10-15k depending on how much work the owner of the car does. I imagine paying someone to do the lsx swap would be a pretty high bill as well as all of those I have seen have been done in someones garage.

 

Thank you for the advice so far , I have been driving the NA for a little while and I do enjoy it , the big thing is that I was debating between the power of a corvette and the unique ness of an s2000 I see vetts all over the place , but I very rarely see any s2000's hence me wanting that instead .

I had the money to buy a corvette but since I got the s2000 for 13k I have about 13 k to spend on making it my own / unique

I figured since the car has 130k if I wanted to invest the other 13 k into it replacing the engine would be the best option to increase the time I can enjoy the car rather than spending it all on suspension and brakes . Also 2nd gear slips Farley often , even in normal 3-4 rpm shifts. So I figured the LSx swap and new trans would prolong the time I could enjoy the car .

Basically I have 13 k to spend on the car and I want to invest it in the car so I can drive it longer , if I SC the engine it will just break sooner and it's already at a decently high milage.

 

My car currently makes 281hp with bolt ons, the rest is suspension and a 4.44 final drive. If you can become good behind the wheel you can make this car lap a lot of 400-500hp cars. Those guys put about 15-20mph on me down the straightaway but I catch them on the back half, just look at the ASM car, 320hp and better lap times than a 550hp S2000 on Tsukuba. Obviously if you're going to pick a home track that has a 2 mile straightaway then you need more power, but with gears and some mods the car will accelerate to 100mph the same as other cars with 50-100hp more because they're usually a heavier platform. I'm in no way a good driver either, I only do 1-2 track days per year and locally theres a guy that can run 2-4 seconds faster than me in his S2000 because of Aero and he has way more track time, and he's just plain better . Just my $.02

Disclaimer: I do HPDE's, I do not have a competetive license, nor do I compete in any time attacks, so take what I say with a grain of salt if you so desire. GL

 

As long as you maintain your current motor you should be fine. Search for 300,000 mile threads on stock motor.