Finally! took her in for the swap friday!

[phanatikz32]

looking good! but you better have your ecu ready soon cuz running lean isnt good.. and find every info about the engine..

damn thats pretty cool use the 450 towards a chipped ecu now unless he is capable of doing it for you also thats pretty sick

he's doing the ecu for me, and i'm running rich not lean because the injector size is bigger than whats on the ecu.
Modified by phanatikz32 at 1:34 PM 6/26/2009

[ztommyx]

nice find! how did he know it was upgraded?

i'd relocate the oil cooler somewhere else if you are going to put a FMIC or a dual pop charger... just a FYI though.

ps. i have that same HID kit on my S14

[tg]

ALOT of the clips i see have mods on them, hard to tell if they're internal tho, until you rip it down

[phanatikz32]

nice find! how did he know it was upgraded?

i'd relocate the oil cooler somewhere else if you are going to put a FMIC or a dual pop charger... just a FYI though.

ps. i have that same HID kit on my S14

he checked the bottom end also i had to replace the upper intake mani because it was cracked and had him throw on a new lower intake mani i got and some other goodies underneath so while he was in there he checked the injectors cuz they were a different color and they turned out to be 555's and the cam gears or whatever say tomei on them.

[Z32TT]

is it new style injectors? or the old style nismos that be plus if you got new style

[DMeN Z]

Wasn't there a Proto Motor Sports biz at that location? That address seems kinda of familiar.

[phanatikz32]

is it new style injectors? or the old style nismos that be plus if you got new style

old style, i had to take my harness back and get the 90-93 one.

Wasn't there a Proto Motor Sports biz at that location? That address seems kinda of familiar.

yeah proto used to be over there but they moved a while ago

[phanatikz32]

update: my oil pump was bad so he has to change it out, but he's trying to charge me for labor on that, my question is is that legit? it seems to me he should have checked it before he put the engine in so thats his problem if he has to take it out all over again. i can understand if there's no way to check it without it being in the car but that seems unlikely to me. so is he tryin to get over on me or is that how it works?

[SilverTwin(OH)]

It's unlikely that the oil pump is bad, it's more likely that the oil pan is crushed and pushed up against the pick-up tube. This results in little to no oil pressure.

Look at the bottom of the pan to know for sure. This is common on J-spec motors/clips and should be corrected before the motor is installed.

[phanatikz32]

there were no dings in my oil pan though atleast not that i could see.

[ztommyx]

he's trying to rip you off for additional labor cost.those should be addressed and inspected before engine goes in.

tell him you are just going to pay for the labor he quoted you.

[phanatikz32]

i'll see what happens when i go back in there. oh and by the way there's no where else for me to put that oil cooler the lines where to long to go on the passenger side and to short to go on the driver side.

more teaser pics from friday:

[Z32TT]

get shorter lines in the future and relocate so your oil is cooler, progress looks nice

[phanatikz32]

so what do i do if i tell him i'm not paying the extra money and he doesnt agree? can he keep my car or something i dont know how thats going to work out.

[billabong093]

He quoted what he quoted, if he thought there might be any chance of additional labor charges he should of factored that in right from the start. I guess he can either finish the swap and you pay him the original cost you were quoted or you take the half swapped car somewhere else and dont pay him anything. Thats what i would think.. Don't let him BS you into paying him extra

[dozug]

i say negotiate. if you argue, i dont think he will be willing to replace that oil pump.

how much is he asking??

[phanatikz32]

i already told him to do it so he's already started, so when i go in to pick it up i'm going to try talking to him.

[dozug]

hm,, and complain about the delay. its taking to long..

if shouldve been finished by friday...

[phanatikz32]

so i talked to alex and he's not willing to come down on the labor charges. he says that there's no way he could have known that the oil pump was bad without running the engine. he says the oil pump is not something that goes out often and that the oil pan is just usually dinged up so the pressure reads funny so it wasnt something that was neccessary to change for the swap. plus he says i need a new clutch master cylinder because the one i had was apparently bad... this sucks but whatever i'll leave it up to karma. if he's ripping me off he'll get whats coming to him.

[Re037]

in california we have strict laws concerning auto repair to protect both customer and repair shops that has been established by the BAR. have a look into it

http://www.bar.ca.gov/80_BARRe....html

[phanatikz32]

thanks for the info.

[ztommyx]

looks like he's trying to rip you off alright.i wonder what's next..

the clutch master cylinder isn't expensive... more or less ~ $100 (OEM) i've been quoted $117 total w/ parts & labor for aftermarket NOT OEM

[tg]

Doesn't seem like a ripoff tactic. You can't tell if there's adequate oil pressure without running the engine and that's hard to do while its out of the car.

At least they noticed it and didn't let you drive off with a shot oil pump and ruin your engine and turbo's!

Looks like the work quality is good and the shop is reputable. I wouldn't go around slandering them for charging you extra to replace an oil pump -- everybody has a bad experience with a mechanic but that doesn't mean that everyone is a crook. If you wanted all the maintenance items changed you should have specified it before they got started.

Also about the clutch, the NA has a simple master/slave setup but the TT has a clutch booster (which is not in your TT because it started as an NA) to assist with the stronger TT pressure plate. The master might have been good enough to push the NA pressure plate up but a TT is much stronger and it might have slipped. Its a cheap part anyways and the labor on changing a clutch that got ruined by unintentional slippage is alot more than a master cylinder.
Modified by tg at 7:33 PM 6/29/2009

[tmeyer29]

i agree....you payed him to do a swap....the fact that you gave him a motor with 2 problems is not his fault. lets say you gave him a motor with a smoked valve or something, its not his fault. I think he is being fair. Looking good by the way...should be a whole diff car soon enough

[phanatikz32]

Looks like the work quality is good and the shop is reputable. I wouldn't go around slandering them for charging you extra to replace an oil pump -- everybody has a bad experience with a mechanic but that doesn't mean that everyone is a crook. If you wanted all the maintenance items changed you should have specified it before they got started.

Modified by tg at 7:33 PM 6/29/2009

i never slandered his name or called him a crook i just said if he is trying to rip me off thats on his conscience and his karma. i just assumed with all of this modern technology that some one would have invented a way to test an oil pump before completely assembling the motor and putting it in the car. whoever invents that device is going to be a trillionare. i just feel like it its a common problem because i looked back at my warranty for my motor and its required to be changed so why else would they require it if its not an issue? but its whatever there's nothing i can do about it now.

i agree....you payed him to do a swap....the fact that you gave him a motor with 2 problems is not his fault. lets say you gave him a motor with a smoked valve or something, its not his fault. I think he is being fair. Looking good by the way...should be a whole diff car soon enough

i see what you're saying but try to understand it from my point of view. i look at my reciept and it says 1200 in labor for inspecting motor and bottom end compression testing and installation and whatever else and then he turns around and tells me i have to pay him an additional 650 because something on the bottom end turned out to be broken after he was supposed to have checked it? i mean now i know that there is no such thing as inspecting an oil pump (which is still hard for me to believe there is absolutely NO WAY to know if your oil pump is bad without starting the engine). but it still seems kinda sketchy to me. but whatever i'm not a mechanic so i dont know how these things work. and he did do me justice by not charging me labor for the install of the clutch master cyl and a few other little knick knacks.

[tmeyer29]

i can def. see where you are coming from. If I were personally in the situation I would be bummed out but I would put blame on mechanic. No use complaining or getting angry over it....let it be and enjoy your TT!!!!!!!

[phanatikz32]

UPDATE:so i'll definately be getting my tt tommorrow! but i need a tt fan shroud still if anyone has one or knows where i can get one cheap let me know.

[Z32TT]

you will be fine driving with out the shroud its just better to have one, all in all for that price you paid to get installed and everything seems about right for this kind of engine swap

[ztommyx]

damn, where did i put my fan shroud...?i have no use for it but i can't remember where i put it among my 1000000000000 Z parts :\

[phanatikz32]

you will be fine driving with out the shroud its just better to have one, all in all for that price you paid to get installed and everything seems about right for this kind of engine swap

yeah man it just sux that i wen through all that work trying to save money and spent damn near the cost it would take for a clip anyway but that was just bad luck on my part i guess.

damn, where did i put my fan shroud...?i have no use for it but i can't remember where i put it among my 1000000000000 Z parts :\

i could sure use that shroud if you got it man!! but are you running E fans? why dont u use it?