Just go 4th gen 3sgte and call it a day. You can find them cheap since they are over stocked most of the times lol.

 

Swap in a 2jz brah. I hurd dey be mad tyt3 l33t Jay dee em yo.

 

I'm with stroked on this and others have said its best to stick to a toyota engine for the ease of install I personally went the beams route because I track my car and didnt want the hassle of a turbo set-up as "most" cant handle the constant abuse I see out at sebring! I also own a turbo car as well so dont get me wrong it's addicting! Andd my total cost to ddo the BEAMS swap was just under 3grand there were no nightmares that you speak of it was very straight forward and simple ans done in 2 weekends time! If you're looking to make in the range of 200-300hp I would suggest the turbo 3s route as theres more room for improvement as you mentioned you may want more in the future! Theres plenty of simple setups that can be put together some what cheaply such as the ATS 20g turbo setup and their rom tune which is pretty straight forward if you have any other questions just let me know! Be glad to help!

 

ats 20g kit makes for a hella quick duece. i think the problem most people have in there builds is that there not really knowlegeable of what there intended hp goal is actually like... i can tell you that the difference in a ct26 on 16 lbs and a aftermarket turbo like a 20g, at 18-20 lbs is night and day.

beams are just to pricey for me... i love the v6 carsman , there hella fun

 

yea I sometimes wish iwent turbo but Im getting 30+ mpg and it can take a beating an keep on going! I got the motor trans(lsd) ecu wiring harness and axles all shipped for 1900 the rest was spent on goodies ie exhaust intake braided lines poly mounts wire harness conversion and more! I know If i would have went turbo i would have spent triple that amount jsut because of what you said i wouldnt know when to stop lol its very addicting!

 

if you include cost of the engine, sure..

Gen3 offers more than just bolt ons, after you do all the bolt on mods to the gen2 you're STILL on a MAF based ECU which sucks and the only way around it while retaining worthy drivability is 1300$ worth of EMS parts vs the already map based gen3 which can be ran from the very affordable PowerFC

if you plan on replacing every part in the motor, I'd run gen2 also.. Only because parts are readily available at any dealer and since it was a usdm engine many American parts suppliers have it on their engine parts list.. But if I wanted a 350whp 3S I'd go gen3 all day and for more reasons than I've put

 

my entire megasquirt 2 setup including wideband, materials for the harness, 4bar map sensor, etc.. ran me about $800. with 245/50/16 nitto drag radials and a 3.73 rear end i can smoke them from a roll in 3rd gear. based on that and some cars ive run i should be ~400rwhp on my 57 trim ct26 at 18psi(highest it goes cause the actuator spring is worn out). i cant wait to see what my gt4082 does at 20-25psi. and this is all on stock internals.

if it were me id go get a 2nd gen 3sgte clip for the swap. then get the standalone and install it and learn to tune. after that is when id start installing larger injectors, ported head, larger turbo, etc... i can speak from experience a standalone makes ALL the difference. i prolly gained ~100hp when i installed my standalone over the stock ecu with maft etc.. on my 7m

 

5VZ Turbo swap gets my vote. Can't go wrong with 3.4L and a turbo. I'm biased though.

 

i'll sell you a fresh 93 jdm swap w/lsd put in your car and get it running for $3200

 

^Is that with ECU, trans, harness, turbo, I/C, etc?