hey guys, I havent been on really at all lately but I completed the engine swap in about 4 days total. I had two buddies help and we moved at a pretty slow pace because I wanted to make sure we did everything properly. Now that ive done this Id say this would take about two full days to complete if you had all the parts before hand. I had to make a few trips in the middle of the job to get necessary fluids and hardware.
I didnt really run into any major issues during the swap at all which was really nice, but a few things popped up that required us to stop working and go buy the necessary parts. Here are some things I ran into and mistakes that I made.
- Dealer didnt include the radiator drain plug so I had to buy a large set screw and some washers.
- All my radiator hoses had this rust layer inside and one pipe had collapsed and was literally pinched in half so I had to go out and buy new ones.
- I pulled the engine and transmission together because the upper transmission bolts looked insanely hard to get to. I drained it and re-filled with gear oil and one quart of Lucas oil while it was on the tire and when the new engine/transmission was being lowered into the engine bay about $35 worth of fresh gear oil poured out onto the floor...
lol
- I suspected my clutch slave was going bad before I did the swap but I wasnt sure. I installed the aluminum flywheel and stage 3 clutch and the pedal was firm and responsive at first, but shortly after I went on the first test drive the slave refused to hold any pressure and the pedal just stuck to the floor. When I removed the old slave the tension on the spring released and it just fell apart. Also had to go run and buy a clutch alignment tool to properly install the clutch.
- I forgot to put the intake pipe over the the compressor inlet before we dropped the new motor in and then spent an hour and probably half a can of WD40 trying to slide it on. So dont forget that s***. That driver side motor mount really makes it hard to access the turbo, I think i spent 15 minutes alone tightening the clamp a 1/4 turn at a time.
The only thing I found that
needs attention ASAP is my transmission crossmember. There are 4 bolt holes that are used to mount the crossmember to the chassis, apparently the previous owner stripped out all of the threads on the chassis. I pulled two of the large chassis bolts out with just my fingers and the other two bolts came out with the chassis threads still attached. As far as I know my only options are to drill and tap with a larger bolt or to use helicoils.
Does anyone have advice on what to do or know an easier route to fix this?
This swap went smoother than any I have ever done thats for sure, and the engine came out of the car so easy it was crazy. Ive done about 4 S chassis swaps and all 4 KA24DE's were more work to get out than the VG. Once we got the engine in and the new harness plugged in it kicked over on the very first try
, It was such a good feeling hearing it crank over im pretty sure we woke up some neighbors screaming in celebration. Well, enough talk here are the pictures.
My buddy getting started
Pressure washed the engine bay
New engine
Under the car I layed down some black and white poly left over from my hydroponics gear to keep my friends driveway from getting stained with oil. When I pressure washed the car I raised up the sides of the poly to prevent the water from escaping and channelled all the dirty water under the car and off of the driveway. For a random solution it worked like a charm.
