Part of the car modification game in California, and any Nissan 240SX engine swap is unfortunately smog. Whether or not you build a turbo KA or swap a SR, RB, 2JZGTE or otherwise, fact is you are paying someone illegally, or converting back to factory state for smog. Neither concept is appealing. Nobody likes doing it but if this is what you love and your passion, some things are part of the natural compromise.

This is the beginning of our project 240SX and we’ll be documenting the cost for you to review. You can use some of the very same methods as well as duplicate the build for a relatively low amount of money. This of course isn’t the best build for the beloved 240, but when you do the math the bang for the buck is impressive.

Goals of Budget Beast

Complete the recipe for a 500 wheel horsepower 50 state legal Nissan 240SX under 5,000 dollars.

Chassis – 1995 Nissan 240SX

Engine – 1999 Lexus GS300 2JZGE

Transmission – 2006 Nissan 350Z CD009 six speed transmission

Updates for Budget Beast

Prepare your 2JZ Engine

Prepare your CD009 Transmission

As you can imagine, there’s quite a bit of give and take with a project like this. Mainly because you are possibly exceeding manufacturer horsepower levels by several factors. People producing over 500 horsepower in a 2.0L SR20DET are putting substantially more load and engine wear on their motor, as opposed to a LS1 or 2JZGTE.

But the fact is you are forced to revert back to smog when it’s time to renew your California license plate tags.

To show you how to build the ultimate budget 2JZ 240SX, our Budget Beast series of articles will walk you through the build each step at a time. So when locating our donor Nissan, we of course turned to our local auction house for a cheap S14. After some digging we managed to find our 240SX, which had some interesting work and color combinations done to it, to say the least.

Our car is a 1995 Nissan 240SX with a crashed front end, but without frame damage. There’s also some things we’ve managed to rip off the car that will prove useful when we begin calculating the cost of our Ultimate Budget Beast.

We are starting out 1450 out of pocket for this automatic transmission equipped 2.4 liter KA24DE. The reason why we are building a 50 state Budget Beast is to show you how to properly work the smog game to your advantage, and build a 240SX swap you can smog.

Two of the things that will be going first are the wing as well as the hideous Chinese exhaust catback from the 240. Because this project is meant as the ultimate budget build, we’ll be selling off components from the car and making the best possible 240SX swap for the money.

Once you’ve completed our guide on building the ultimate 240SX engine swap guide, you should be able to pass smog in California. This is pretty important because if you can’t get your smog taken care of, your investment is suddenly a pretty lawn ornament. This is what our budget budget 2JZ 240SX build is for, a base for building a 240 without breaking the bank.

Some users have asked us what our favorite swap is, and honestly it’s this one. We are building an engine from a 1999 Lexus GS300, which is a 2JZGE a non turbo version of the Toyota Supra.

The 2JZGE shown here cost us $650 dollars for the complete engine, intake manifold and wiring harness, which is not bad. This engine is plentiful and can be found in a variety of Lexus or Toyota vehicles. We are choosing this engine because it’s easy to get running, and picking the 1999 model year means we have a newer engine which is what you need for CARB certification.

If you are following along with our build, make sure to stick to a 1999 model year, as that avoids the headache of the Lexus theft deterrent system. Below is the breakdown of 2JZ 240SX swap cost, and it’s an easy way for you to follow the build and how much is being spent.

Our budget 2JZ 240sx build will show you how to build your own engine mounts, modify your own wiring harness, and show you how to swap and plan a budget 2JZ 240SX build.

Current Budget Beast Tally

1995 Nissan 240SX – Very purple – $1450

Used 1999 Lexus GS300 2JZGE engine – $650

Up next for Budget Beast – Removing your KA24DE Engine