ok peepz.

i reeeeaaaaaaaly want to upgrade my car to a 3.5lt.
i have a 96Te exec i like the shape of the te as apposed to the Tj imo anywayz. Realisticly am i better of buying a newer car eg Vrx or Ralliart?. The current engine has just over 250thouklms and is manual and im guesing will probably need replacing in a year or so anywayz. Is it worth my money to Upgrade or buy a newer car? what would i get for her now if i sold?

If any1 has info on costs of engine change overs and pro's and con's would be welcomed thank you.

I just traded my 1996 (TS with new body, could have been a TE also) car in with 150K on the dial and got $3K for it, and picked up a 2004 ES for $14K, but looking around you can get 2003's for around $10-11K with trade-in that takes it down to $7K and you can start doing it up from there...

why dont you upgrade to the th dont they have a 3.5l ???

if i was going to buy a new car i would get a vrx or ralliart. For the power basicly and also the reliability of a newer car.

Wouldn't it really come down to what will be cheaper? whats the cost in replacing your old engine with a 3.5L?

You've already done abit to your car so it would also depends if you want to give that all up and start afresh with another beast or keep what you've done already and just get the bigger engine

If u could remove the mods uve done and sell ur car stock

then buy a newer car and put all the mods back on

ud be better off

theres just always alot of mucking around and problems when you try and keep an older car..

U'll feel alot better in a new, reliable car.

im just worried because the car is getting older and fear of what else other than the engine will need replacing?
I would love a ralliart engine if possible. :badgrin: pushing smelly stuff up hill getting one of those though.
i realy want to keep the old girl but is it worth it?

I personally dont think its worth keeping an old car... all the money pumped into it is going to go to waste especially when its a magna and depreciates like crazy every year... my mate got a TE bought the car at $3.5K but he just did a timing belt and acc belts change which cost him $1.3K and next he needs to do the shockies with will throw him back by another $500 just for second hand ones... after the nearly $2K worth of job he is only driving a TE... and the car is still valued at $3K++ if u get a TJ or something like that u would be driving it with almost no worries till u sell it and lets say u loose $2K out of the car... its worth it cause it gave u trouble free days and comfort plus its a newer car i suppose... its the feeling of driving a newer car...

hmmmm i see

ok all let me put it this way. If i had 6k to spend on upgrading to 3.5 with new ecu would it be worth my 6k?

I was previously driving a TJII the ones with triptronic... with 6K and if u sold your car for 3K and took out all the mods that were inside.. i believe its easy for u to get a TJII...
i sold mine for only 9K with xr6 mags, VRX spoiler and a 6.5" dvd double din inside... so i guess if u shop around u could easily get one for about 7.5K and put back your mags and stuff... anyway i believe the TJII has a slightly more powerful engine when compared to the normal TH 3.5... if i were u i would get a TJII... newer car lesser problems... no offence but the TE is not going to get anything higher than $5K even if it has a 3.5 engine... or what ever mods u have on it cause its still a TE... unless u plan to keep the car tills it dies out then it would be a different story...
i just got a TL and somehow i feel silly selling my TJII as the long and painful process of searching and fitting is gonna start... but the comforting part is that it has half of the mileage of the TJII and its a newer car...

If you've got the money then I say go for the Ralliart. You'll be heaps happier with it.

sell your car and buy the newer model you want

I did a 3.5L conversion on my TF, but only cause I picked up a TJ sports/VRX motor for dirt cheap, so my total cost of conversion was around $2,500. If it's going to cost much more then that, I'd upgrade to a newer model for sure.

Well buy a tj ralliart/vrx and swap over the boot and bonnet to the TH look to retain your older look car.

i was going to say the same at Brett take all the mods off get a TH do the swap then sell the TE with the TH bonnet and boot ( thats if you can keep both cars at the same time if $$ allows)

Cheers

Heath

Cause onec i get the full ralliart kit im getting a TH bonnet and grille for a reason...:shock:

Sell your car, get a ralliart, one for 15k on car sales...
and you're all set!

Would be a serious waste of money buying a new 3.5ltr for you car...

Selling your car + what the engine would have cost you = much newer nicer car with 3.5ltr anyway.
And you wont have suspension, gearbox, aircon etcetcetc all dying on you in the next couple years.

replace i say....time to move on

SO MY PLAN IS
ralliart motor + new gearbox + shokz + aftamrktECU + what everelse the change$$$$ will get me :badgrin:

if i were to spend 7k. Replace engine gearbox and shoks if needed. I would have change$$ for other things like extractors ecu etc. I only want the ralliart for the power, Not concerned about resale value as i will keep the car untill it dies anywayz. My gues is after all these upgrades the car is going to last ages anywayz and still be evrything i want but cheaper than an actual ralliart. The only main difference is the shell realy??????????

What else would i have to worry about replacing. other than brakes and stuff. Things that might give me a headache.????


CHEERS!!

a ralliart motor may be hard to source, you may be better off finding a TJ series 2 motor and put cams in it and tune to 98RON or something.

i will be looking down all paths to acheive my goal. What ever is available at a reasonable price at the time will do.

Genuine suggestions will be greatly appreciated.