By this time next year my goal is to swap out my 100,000 mile beta 1 engine with something a little heftier. I'm not sure if I want to shoot for another beta 1 with lower mileage or go for the beta 2 swap. Also, a member here turned me on to the idea of the Santa fe's 3.5L V6 DOHC engine they introduced in 2004. I'm aware this would require a transmission swap, ECU swap along with the wiring harness, and probably a few other pieces, but that's something I'm willing to work through. Any input on either of these three suggestions would be well appreciated and I'm going to start looking into new engines by next weekend.

A FEW other pieces?

The amount of custom work that would need done to get it to work, I hope you are rich.

IF the 3.5 even fits in there (my Sorento has the 3.5L, and it is pretty big).

Best piece of advice for you is to search "Engine Swap" here.

Then rebuild your engine and

haha thats what the other two options are for, and I did do some searching, as stated above. the 3.5 was just an idea pulled out of the air with no serious thought behind it. so apparently its a no go

if I had the budget I would have swapped a Delta on my RD1 long time ago. who says its a lot of money and almost impossible to put in? they do KLZE swaps on mazda 323 and protege and the engine bay is smaller than ours.

Im sure that the tranny bolts and/or fabricating the engine mounts is not rocket science. as a matter of fact I was looking to buy an elantra wagon to do the swap. BUT, right now i cant do that.

quick list of SOME the needed parts:

Engine

delta engine is foun on several hyundai and kia vehicles and i noticed that its a lot cheaper to buy an sonata or kia optima engine than getting a GK engine.

tranny

the transmission prices are similar to the beta and beta2. it would be nice to do the 6spd but i dont know if the shifter cables are similar to the rd like the 5spd.

wiring harness

this is not so hard to do but it is very time consuming.

engine mounts

measure 10 times, cut and weld once LOL

axle shafts

if one is too short or too long, it can custom made.



i have seen this kinds of stuff before( not in a RD) and is not as hard as some of you might think.

for example when i lived in PR i saw: SEVERAL toyota tercels (95-99) with a 12A rotary engine, some of them where still FWD and some of them converted to RWD.

350CI V8 yugo LOL

we puerto ricans LOVE rotary engines and put it in what ever have wheels LMAO from Isuzu troopers SUV's ,MG spitfires and midgets, E36 BMWs to old Datsuns, AE71 and AE86 toyotas corollas and starlets and so on......

i have been in the PR import scene since the 90's and to be honest you can do what ever you want to your car. some may be dumb ideas and others might be pure win.

if the budget its limited, take your time and buy the stuff one at a time. do your research on what you want to do and be sure on what are your goals.

If I can fit a stright 6 in a little 1971 bmw 2002 anything is possible.

Guys, anything IS possible when it comes to engine choices. If it weren't a rolling death trap, I would abolooby LOVE to have one of these here:

V8 CRX built by an 18 year-old
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2503853
http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_i...068_medium.jpg

V8 CRX from a slightly more professional-looking shop
http://www.dilysimotorsports.com/V8CRX.htm

If you can have a 355 in a CRX with only a lil' bump in the hood . . .

You guys are definitely right. I did buy this car to build it over again, and I think the point of an engine swap is to really swap the engine. So I think I'll go for the delta. I'm just gonna need a lot of help from you guys here though

A friggin DELTA? Why not just go for a Caddy 502?! I bet you could barely get a BETA in that tiny engine bay!

er,

I mean, the help you will need is from people who have made entire new custom front subframes to hold foreign engines before. You could probably count the RDT members who have gone so far on the fingers of one foot.

Man, if you are going to swap, SWAP. Why would you put all that work to put a delta in? A heavier engine, with just 30 more HP?

Agreed. Go for the 4G63 or something. Something that is easier AND more beneficial.