I bought my swap in April of 2003, but I just now got it finished due to other things in my life.
It has been nothing but problems and money down the drain. I bought the motor from Charlie Marcone in Orlando and when I showed up to get the motor, it looked a bit rough. It had a hole in the manifold for an external wastegate, the oilpan had been modified, and the trans was seperated from the engine. I paid partial with paypal and the rest in cash and got a little receipt showing that the motor was guarantted to start, run, and not smoke.
This is where the problems start. #1, the MAFS was for a SOHC, but I had no plug for it, so I had to buy one. #2, no Bellhousing bolts so I had to make my own. #3 oil pan had been modifed to keep oil at the pickup, but it also was about 1/2 qt less capacity so I had to get another oilpan. #4 Turbo extension was shot, someone snapped the studs off and had tack welded it to the turbo so I had to get a new one. #5, the oilfilter mounting (tube/shaft?) was partially snapped off when I removed the old filter, still functional though so I don't know if it counts. #6, no thermostat. #7, no intercooler piping of any kind.
So now I've got all sorts of upgrade parts, put them all together get the engine and trans together and in the car, get the wiring done, and discover that the ECU has no LED for diagnostics but seems to run the car fine, at least at idle. I go to take it for a test drive up the shops driveway, and find that the 2nd gear syncro is gone, can't force it into 2nd 70% of the time. Pull the trans, switch bellhousings with my KA trans, and put the new trans in. I finished all or this last night at around 1am. I take it for a drive to my house, about 15 minutes and it seemed to run pretty good but the turbo seems to not hold boost too wel, although I was taking it easy. I get up today and decide to take it for a longer drive. I drive for about an hour, oil pressure is good, temp is good, but I hear a light klacking noise. I stop at my shop to put my backseat in, and when I go out to leave, the klacking is a bit worse, more noticible. It sounded like it was coming from the head, so I figured it was a lifter.
I check the oil and its fine, pressure is fine, so I limp it back home, with the klacking not getting any worse. I decided later to drive the car back to the shop, but 5 miles from the shop, the klacking turns into a horrible sound, a spun rod bearing, the same thing that killed my KA. So now I've got a 240 with a freshly completed swap, with a spun rod bearing. I haven't yet tried to contact Charlie, whom last I hear was working at Racingworks.com in the Orlando/Winter Park area but I've found some complaints about him here on Nico so I'm pretty sure that I'm gonna have a hard time getting him to replace the motor.I have 2 e-mails for him and he replied to an email I sent him in August, and I bought stuff from his store on Aug. 29th, so hopefully he'll be willing to do something. If not, what are my options?
Swap horror story
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SpeedRacer1
- Posts: 3144
- Joined: Fri Jul 26, 2002 7:44 pm
- Car: 1990 240SX, G35
I would try to go through the more reputable sources. Usually shops that sell SR's have about the same or less of an idea where to buy them as you do. Some of the shops around here have asked me where they should buy their engines and they usually go for the cheapest engines not the quality ones.
As for your engine. If you can simply get new bearings then you can always do that, if not I would suggest searching for a used SR short block from one of a few places, maybe sr20store.com, srswap.com, phase2, sr20development.com, etc.
If you you can actually afford it, get another engine from another source, but this is the expensive near guarenteed option.
Sorry to hear about your misfortune, my friends have also gone through plenty of horror stories like yours. I guess i've just been lucky?
As for your engine. If you can simply get new bearings then you can always do that, if not I would suggest searching for a used SR short block from one of a few places, maybe sr20store.com, srswap.com, phase2, sr20development.com, etc.
If you you can actually afford it, get another engine from another source, but this is the expensive near guarenteed option.
Sorry to hear about your misfortune, my friends have also gone through plenty of horror stories like yours. I guess i've just been lucky?
I managed to get ahold of him, but he said that he closed the shop and no longer has access to engines, but he's willing to replace the bearings and polish the crank if I bring him the longblock.
He said he can do it without touching the head, and that it should have front and rear seals replaced at the same time. He also told me that if I could find a 91 SER crank, and GTIR pistons, it would stroke it out to 2.2 liters.
ANyone care to comment?
He said he can do it without touching the head, and that it should have front and rear seals replaced at the same time. He also told me that if I could find a 91 SER crank, and GTIR pistons, it would stroke it out to 2.2 liters.
ANyone care to comment?
VitaminT wrote:I think I would be leary of giving my stuff (i.e. longblock) to a guy that sold me crap and now has gone out of business.
:Werd
Your scenario could quickly go from better to worse. Of course, the guy might end up being reputiable and take care of your bottom end. The odds are that if he has gone out of business, he's probably not all that great of a mechanic.
With regards to making a 2.2L stroker motor, using the stock crank and GTi-R pistons, that sounds too good to be true. It might work, but consider this. All of the stroker kits out there include AT LEAST a new crank, connecting rods, and pistons. From the research I've done, I'm fairly certain that in order to get 2.2 liters out of an SR20DET, you need to change the rod length. So to have this guy telling you that all you need are pistons, seems a bit fishy.
