Good 2JZ and RB26 cores are not getting younger. GReddy Performance Products, the California arm of the Japanese tuning brand, has an unusually direct answer: brand-new, fully assembled long blocks, with a published price of $52,000 apiece.
There are two programs — one built on a 2JZ, one on an RB26-derived RB28 — and between them they cover the two engines that defined Japan's 1990s performance era. What makes them worth examining is not the horsepower. It is that a price list exists at all.
What $52,000 buys
Both are long blocks: assembled bottom end and head, not a drop-in powertrain. Both start from a new block rather than a used core, which is the entire point.
The 2JZ program is offered in VVTi and non-VVTi form. GReddy's page describes a "Brand New Engine Block" — it does not name the manufacturer — and specifies "NO BORE (to maintain maximum cylinder wall strength)," with only a CNC hone on the cylinder walls. That does not mean the block is left alone: the listed work includes deck resurfacing, coolant passage machining and head bolt hole chamfering. Displacement comes out at 3,175.5cc against a stock 2,998cc, using an 86.15 mm bore (stock 86 mm) and a 91.0 mm stroke (stock 86 mm). Compression rises to 9.25:1 from 8.5:1, and the listed rev ceiling goes from 7,200 rpm to 9,500 rpm.
The RB28 program applies a similar formula to a Nissan block — specifically a brand-new RB26 block from the Nismo Heritage Program. Displacement increases from 2,568cc to 2,717.5cc, with the same 9.25:1 compression and a 9,500 rpm ceiling against a stock 7,600 rpm. It runs a Nismo N1 oil pump housing with billet gears and coated ACL bearings.
| 2JZ program | RB28 program | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $52,000 | $52,000 |
| Displacement | 3,175.5cc (stock 2,998cc) | 2,717.5cc (stock 2,568cc) |
| Bore × stroke | 86.15 × 91.0 mm (stock 86 × 86) | Not listed |
| Compression | 9.25:1 (stock 8.5:1) | 9.25:1 (stock 8.5:1) |
| Max rpm listed | 9,500 (stock 7,200) | 9,500 (stock 7,600) |
| Base block | New block, no overbore | New Nismo Heritage RB26 block |
GReddy supplies the major proprietary internals — billet full-counterweight crankshafts, billet X-beam connecting rods made from 300M steel, HD forged pistons and billet camshafts, all listed as made in the USA. The complete assemblies also draw on outside suppliers, including ACL bearings, ARP studs and bolts, a Fluidampr crank pulley and Nismo hardware, alongside original-manufacturer parts.
Each ships on an engine stand with casters, with timing belt, water pump, valve covers, plugs, oil filter and break-in oil. Neither includes an oil pan, ignition coils or a fuel system. GReddy labels both programs for sanctioned off-road and competition use in non-emissions-controlled vehicles.
One caveat worth flagging, because it affects how much of this you should trust: GReddy's 2JZ page carries an obvious copy-and-paste error. Its header reads "GREDDY COMPLETE, BALANCED, BLUEPRINTED AND ASSEMBLED RB28 ENGINE," and the component list includes a Nismo N1 oil pump housing — a part with no application on a 2JZ. The headline specifications for each engine are internally consistent, but the accessory listings on the 2JZ page should be confirmed with GReddy directly rather than read as final.
When Motor Fan's web option covered the 2JZ program in November 2024, it reported that 1,200 PS was within the target range with the right supporting setup. GReddy publishes no power rating or guarantee of its own, which is the honest position for a long block whose final number depends on everything bolted to it.
How Nismo Heritage Parts made the RB28 possible
The RB28's base block is the detail worth pausing on, because that product only exists because Nissan made a decision first.
Nismo began re-supplying Heritage replacement parts in December 2017 — harnesses, hoses, emblems and body parts initially — and the program has continued expanding its reissued items for the R32, R33 and R34 Skyline GT-R. In 2019 it grew to include core RB26 engine components sold individually, new cylinder blocks among them.
Without that, a new-block RB28 has nowhere to start. Nissan created a supply of newly manufactured castings; GReddy occupies the far end of the same shelf, selling the finished assembly with US-made billet internals inside. Retail availability of individual heritage blocks has fluctuated over the years, so anyone planning a build from the bare casting should check current status rather than assume.
Is a $52,000 crate engine worth it?
That is a lot of money for an engine, and GReddy does not publish the things you would want in order to answer properly: no warranty terms, no lead time, no itemized breakdown of what the machining and assembly cost within that figure.
What can be said is that the alternative has been getting harder. A cracked block — or a 2JZ or RB26 core too far gone to rebuild economically — is no longer easily replaced with another known-good used engine, and every year more usable cores disappear into other people's projects. For an owner who intends to keep a JZA80 or a BNR32 for another twenty years rather than flip it, a new block with documented internals may be easier to justify than the sticker suggests.
Two things stand out for readers outside Japan. The first is that an American company is solving this, using Japanese blocks, for an international market where many of these cars are now maintained far from where they were built. The second is subtler: keeping these engines alive has moved from a favor you ask a specialist to a cataloged product with a public price — even if GReddy still wants you to call before you order.