Opinion of Flashoption.com

[Skillzilla]

OK, next thread, I am looking into getting an RB20 half cut, and I need info on Flashoption.com. They are the low bidders so far in my engine search, and I want to know if they are reputable or what.

If not, its cool beacuse its only a few hundred between them and the next lowest price, but Im a frugile dude, ya know.

Thanks for the help.

[CRASHDRIVE]

Re: Opinion of Flashoption.com

Originally posted by Skillzilla
OK, next thread, I am looking into getting an RB20 half cut, and I need info on Flashoption.com. They are the low bidders so far in my engine search, and I want to know if they are reputable or what.

If not, its cool beacuse its only a few hundred between them and the next lowest price, but Im a frugile dude, ya know.

Thanks for the help.

All i know they ship the Clips from Malaysia to the US. And its "what you see and what you get" I dont think they have warranty. I dont know,

[Project240]

Do NOT, I repeat, NOT NOT NOT!!!! buy from Flashoptions. I've heard nothing but horror stories about people waiting for months for their engine because it got stuck in customs, or not getting it, etc. Also realize that they *are* based in Malaysia, on the other side of the world, so if something does go wrong, you're kinda screwed.

Venus Auto is great. I got my RB20 clip from them for $1500 (plus a lot of shipping costs ) in excellent condition, included everything I needed and even a little more. Their customer service is great; if there's a problem with anything you received, let them know and they'll fix it ASAP. In fact, now would be a good time to buy from them since they're running a special on the RB20 (I think 1200 for a clip, GREAT price).

Hope this helps.

[hokiruu]

NO! BAD! DO NOT! Also do not buy from Cartune/Neishlin!

[Skillzilla]

I was thinking of going with Venus, but they said shipping was going to be like 600-700 bones, which brings the price of the clip up to almost 2 g's. I wish shipping on everything was culturally placed on the seller, you know??!! I found a motor set locally for around 800, but thats (obviously) without a crossmember, which means new mounts, and they are expensive. Plus I like the thought of having a whole clip.

Anyone have opinions on the CA18?? Thats my second choice. My goal is 300hp for 3000 dollars, engine wise. What are your thoughts?

[Chas]

www.zerolift.com

[Nismo241]

I've heard bad about zerolift and heard bad about flashoptions and have had personal bad experience with venus, I'll explain.....

Zerolift......sent a guy a motor with broken stuff on it, and a thread was started on 240sxforums about it, on there they conducted themselves in a manner of a 2 year old, they wouldn't take care of him the way they should have, they wanted him to pay for shipping charges and a restocking fee, when being their fault they should have fixed their mistake. I would not buy from them ever.

Flashoptions.....they are basically racinghard.com, which is a crap based malasian company that does bad business. In numerous threads on numerous forums they'll send pics of the same motor to different people who are buying, so one guys' motor is the same pic as the next. They sent I think it was Cameron of Night7 a video clip of their "many RB25DET clips" with a bunch of front cuts with the hoods down and actually showed only 2, which happen to be the same 2 pics that they send everyone else, he asked that they take pics of each motor with his name on it and they couldn't produce the pics. When/if they actually send you the motor, you'll get to wait anywhere from 4-9 months and have to pay about 1K extra in customs fee's which they forget to mention to you in the first place. I wouldn't buy from them EVER.

Venus Auto......my first clip was amazing, came with after market parts on it, very clean, low miles, very happy at that point, I got boost happy and blew the RB20. Called and asked if they had any good long blocks lying around, they did, for 650 I got the long block and shipped, well I put it in my car, not testing it trusting their word, got everything hooked up EXACTLY the way it was from my first swap, and it didn't run, I do a comp test, 30 psi in all 6, I was confused, thinking how could a good long block be making 30psi comp, well i do a leak down test, leaking out the intake and exhaust valves over all 6, and leaking out the rings in all 6. I call them, and they said I had to pay for shipping both ways, as it's under warranty and they would replace it, I pissed and moaned til I got to finally talk to the owner, he agreed when I said; "why should I have to pay for your mistake" and told me the best he could do was pay for shipping on the way back to me, so I sent it out, I got my new one in and almost running, but they left the new one BARE, if I didn't have 2 boxes full of RB20 parts in my garage I would have been screwed, they didnt leave any plugs to keep water out of the cylinders, and the block was filled with water, it took 16 quarts to get the oil to look like oil, I did a comp check with the water/oil in it and it made 120 in all 6, with good oil it made 130, so things are looking good for this one. Moral is, I would not buy a long block from them, but I would buy a clip/motorset but under the condition that they show me results of leakdown and comp tests. Which also reminds me, they also claimed to have done a comp check on the motor I have now, and they said it made 150 in all 6, well the very first test I did it only made 80, 120, 90, 30, and I didnt even do the last 2 cause I was so pissed, I went out to video tape it and send it to them and it made 120, I assume the valves were sticking. But I would make damn sure that you have results first.

As for who to buy from... I really don;t know, I know night7 has clips for sale, and if he does COD I would order from there, but only if due to complications had in the past. Good luck in finding a good place to buy from. If you need any tech/wiring help on the swap IM me at NISMObuttnutz or EMail me at Nismo241@comcast.net

[Chas]

Mckinney Motorsports.

[hokiruu]

300hp for $3000? It is definitely possible for a select few, but you need to be more realistic, or at least flexible. Three grand really is not much of a budget for any os the 240 swaps or turbo projects, andeven more inadequate for 300hp. Is your $3000 a constricting budget or just a "proof of dollar to horsepower" ratio you made up? It sounds like the former in this case, because if you were bent on the later, you would probably already know everything you need to to make it happen. Too many people think like:

"I'm going to get this engine for $X, giving me X horsepower, then add XXX for $XXX and bring it up to XXXXXXX horsepower!"

Well that equation just isn't how it works. Reliability, parts replacement, "over-precautionary parts for the future of this engine" (my personal adage) and good, well executed labor, all cost money.

Cartune/Neishlin:
Paid for my engine, transmission, and harness conversion upfront, for a specific clip they had in stock. Told them not to ship it until I had finished moving. I provided no shipping address.
Two weeks later I got a tracking # for the engine, shipping address somewhere in Massachussetts. I immediately called them and told them about their mistake. Due to the fact that the engine was with a freight company somewhere, I didn't want anything to happen to it and had them send it to my friend's shop where I rent lift space.
The engine arrived on a completely demolished palette with a dented oil pan, misssing MAFS, and no ECU. But the worst part is that they sent it "COD" for "computer parts" to the tune of $610 from LA to Santa Fe. It was pay that or lose the engine I already paid for. I wasn't present, so my friend decided to pay for the shipping for the time being.
I called the company again, and they of course gave me the run around, as did the freight company, so there wasn't much I could do. Later i found out from a former employee that I was ripped off by their shady co-owner/shipping guy. The owner himself took absolutely no action to help me, probably quite aware of this. I gave up, but demanded the missing parts. After requesting them four times, I finally got them, once again COD. They make you pay for their mistakes every time. The ECU has no diagnostic port, just an empty slot and hole where they should be.
Then came time for me to send out my harness. I found out that Ken from Motorex is the one who actually does most of their harness and wiring work. This is great because he has a rep as one of the best wiring gurus in So Cal. the bad part is that they took a month to do it. I am sure this has nothing to do with Ken, but rather slacking on Cartune/Neishlin's part.
I got the harness back (COD), hooked it up, it didn't seem to be laid out correctly for the engine bay, but everything reaches. But no spark. Checked everything, but no avail. After alot of testing and trouble shooting, something appears to be fishy with the ignitor chip. i send it and the ECU back to be tested. After two and a half weeks of calling and nagging them (every transaction you have to call them long distance at least three times to get anything to happen, and the people you need to talk to are NEVER there) I finally demand that they test the ignitor right then and there. it's a bad ignitor. The same typically slow and annoying cycle continues until i get a good ignitor. The SR finally roars to life six months after I purchased it. If everything had been better, say from a different supplier, I would have completed it in no more than five days including all the upgrades i did.

[Skillzilla]

I understand what your saying about the $XX=XXhp thing, and that does bug me too. I think 300 for 3000 IS obtainable if done correctly. By "correct" i mean tuning, tuning, tuning. My planned first mods are exhaust and intercooler. Then its all AFC, BC, and Cams. Oh, and BTW, that 3000 is not including dyno runs, which I plan on doing a lot of.

I decided to get a local engine that is selling for ~900. That should help with my goal, i think, and allow for more upgrades.

[Nismo241]

Originally posted by Skillzilla
I understand what your saying about the $XX=XXhp thing, and that does bug me too. I think 300 for 3000 IS obtainable if done correctly. By "correct" i mean tuning, tuning, tuning. My planned first mods are exhaust and intercooler. Then its all AFC, BC, and Cams. Oh, and BTW, that 3000 is not including dyno runs, which I plan on doing a lot of.

I decided to get a local engine that is selling for ~900. That should help with my goal, i think, and allow for more upgrades.

It won;t exactly help you with your goal, because I can almost gaurentee that that 900$ motor is incomplete as they come. You'll be searching for little parts that are hard to find.

300whp is not attainable unless you happen to have a bigger turbo, injectors, some sort of tunable engine management lying around your house. The most I've seen made with even an S15 turbo is 280whp, so you'd need at least a T3/T4 or soemthing damn close to it, bigger injectors, front mount, exhaust, and tuning. All that plus a swap for under 3K, it's pretty unattainble unless you have the parts lying around from a previous projecto

[Skillzilla]

I went to check out the motor, and it is complete. The only thing I wish it came with was a r32 crossmember, but alas, I will have to figure somethin out. Im thinking of maybe having mounts machined from a local shop. They gave reasonable quotes, unlike the peeps that want 500 bones for em.

I understand your point about the turbo issue. All I can say is We will see what happens. Injectors are a must though, forgot about those, and also a fuel pump, and Z32 MAF. Im hoping dyno tuning will pick up where the stock turbo leaves off, and if I blow the snail in the process of finishing my little science experiment, oh well. The new one will definately make 300, and then Ill try 400 for 4000. Its just a goal, guys, and IMHO I think its feasible.

[CRASHDRIVE]

2 Words

AERODYNE INDUSTRIES (of Garden Grove.)

If your in California. Go to Garden Grove they are in Trask Ave. They have alot of SR20 motors and RB motors. How do I know this? Because I do my business with them and i've been in the Garage. I was just they over the weekend. They have an 1 RB motor/3 SR20 and 1 TII (rotary) and 1 86 (16v). They do a great job and they're cool. Also they have a long history in Racing. Oh yeah. If you dont believe me. Check the cover of SuperStreet (Month of May 2003). The FC is theirs. Also they have a project Hachi that made the cover of a Japanese magazine only (because SuperStreet only like new cars, stupid ppl) he he.

[Skillzilla]

I am on the east Caost, which is both good (Unstable Hybrids, Enjuku) and bad (everyone else).

[Nismo241]

Originally posted by Skillzilla
I am on the east Caost, which is both good (Unstable Hybrids, Enjuku) and bad (everyone else).

U-H is going out of business from what I understand, so it's just enjuku for you.