Junk Yard Engine or Japenese used market?

2002CG3coupe

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Junk yards do not keep record where (or what car) the engine comes from. If you have a car, then you can do it. Usually the engine is on the shelf and the rest of the car is loooooong gone. Now you are stuck and have to take there word for it.

Smh the vin on a usdm engine is usually on the back so you can carfax its history
 

BlkCurrantKord

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Engines, tranmissions and the cars they come out of always have matching VIN #'s from the factory. If any junkyard is removing them and still selling the parts, obviously don't buy from them. Most junkyards have a rough estimate (just like the jdm importers) of how many miles were on the car (parts) when they were brought to the yard. Just b/c its "JDM" doesnt necessarily make it better.
 

FunnyVictor86

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Engines, tranmissions and the cars they come out of always have matching VIN #'s from the factory. If any junkyard is removing them and still selling the parts, obviously don't buy from them. Most junkyards have a rough estimate (just like the jdm importers) of how many miles were on the car (parts) when they were brought to the yard. Just b/c its "JDM" doesnt necessarily make it better.

i'm pretty sure it's standard practice to remove vin numbers at junk yards. they made me remove the one from a dash that i purchased for my s13.
 

SykVSyx

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Just a heads up about "twofast4u's" deal....he is in Canada, so the price may be different for the engine/shipping than it is in the US.

Not sure if his engine came from a Canadian importer or not, either.
 

BlkCurrantKord

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i'm pretty sure it's standard practice to remove vin numbers at junk yards. they made me remove the one from a dash that i purchased for my s13.

Hrrm...don't know where you're buying from but no, it's not common practice. In fact it's quite illegal.
 

twofast4u

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just because it was auto doesn't mean it wasn't beaten on. for all you know they didn't service the engine regularly and such. i see plenty of people who beat on their autotragics lol.

Well I fully inspected the motor at the JDM shop, and it was clean! Took off the valve cover and it was so clean, i could eat off of it :p

Just a heads up about "twofast4u's" deal....he is in Canada, so the price may be different for the engine/shipping than it is in the US.

Not sure if his engine came from a Canadian importer or not, either.

Yea I got it through these guys: http://www.japandirectjapanese.com/home.php

They are local here, so i could inspect it before i bought it. But they have never given me any trouble with any motors or tranny's.
 

FunnyVictor86

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Hrrm...don't know where you're buying from but no, it's not common practice. In fact it's quite illegal.

It was on there when I purchased it but they had me take it off myself. It sounds logical to me that you can't buy parts with vin numbers because it will cause confusion and can be used in illegal vin transfers. Basically leaving the vin on the parts is a liability issue for them.
 

2002CG3coupe

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Well providing it came from a junkyard, most of the time, well should be every time, but you know things aren't what it seems. They are require to have paperwork or title of the car, in other words, its as if they purchased the car (which they did when people call a scrap company to pick up a crash/unusable car; the reason why ask for the title or vin number to retrieve a copy from the motor vehicle) to provide proof it wasn't stolen so if ever questioned they can provide documentation as proof and when you buy a used usdm motor on the receipt it suppose to have the vin to trace back to the junkyard or it maybe consider stolen.....NYPD auto-crime officer explained that to me when my buddy was pull over but he haz teh jmd no need for paperz
 

jreniak

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Update

I decided to get an JDM engine ($540). The engine was swapped last week ($750) the original estimate for swap was $500. I requested new timing belt, water pump, rear main oil seal to be replaced while the engine is out. The clutch was replaced a month before it blew a cylinder, so it was just transferred over.
So far, I put over 200 miles on the car and runs beautifully. It is like replacing old, tired horse for the young stallion.

Thank you all for the feedback.

JR
 

Russianred

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I'm really glad it all worked out well for you man. That's how smooth things always need to work out! Take care of it - it will run forever :).


Victor and Greg - taking the VIN off a dash NOT to cause confusion, is MUCH different than taking the VIN of the back of a block or transmission (illegal).
 
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