to those of you who did your own 3sgte swaps Options

[brianforster]

what were your car experiences when taking on the project..

lets say 1 is you didnt even change your own oil, 5 is being able to change your timing belt and 10 is doctor tweak (<3)

what would you rate yourself? how long did it take? what was the most frustrating part? (besides wiring, because my harness is already complete)

PS. doc if you read this, i still wann have the swap done by you, because of your crudentials, i trust you, and i know everything would be done right.. but my friends have some good points and are really trying to make me do this myself!

thanks all

-brian

[Defgeph]

I would say I was about a 3 or 4. I did tune ups, exhaust work, suspension work. Never did a timing belt though, its a PITA with the engine in the car. Well, to me anyway.

So I was a 3 or 4, now I think I'm a 9. The only thing I don't do is wiring harnesses, I'll extend them, but I wont convert them.


Good luck in your decision
DEF

[brianforster]

basically what im hearing from my friends is that the hard part is the wiring (but that is done for me!)

and they want me to do the swap that way i know the ins and outs of my car, i learn a lot, and i know how to fix things when they go wrong (plus the saving of money)

[brianforster]

oh yeah, i forgot to add, i think im like a 3 to 4 as well, and my friends are 5's and 6's. i can had a taurus SHO that i did all my maintenence on, but nothing major. my friends can do timing belts and headgaskets in a day. it seems like it might be a fun thing for us to do over spring break.

[lagos]

basically what im hearing from my friends is that the hard part is the wiring (but that is done for me!)

and they want me to do the swap that way i know the ins and outs of my car, i learn a lot, and i know how to fix things when they go wrong (plus the saving of money)

i would have to agree 110% with your friends. i didnt know anything when i did my swap. had a basic understanding of things, but never did more then remove my sparkplugs, install an intake and basic minor tune up stuff.
the greatest thing youll gain from a swap, is the amazing understanding and pride you will have from driving a car that you basically built on your own. its such a great feeling when you get to learn how to pull out a motor for the first time, or get to drive it the car you put so much hard work into.

if you have your own garage to work on, and a few buddies that are willing to hang out, then do your own swap. youll really be glad you did. as long as youre hard working, and do a lot of research about it you should have no problems doing the swap. the hardest part that i got stuck on, was when i tired to do all the wiring myself (with manny), without ever reading a wiring diagram before in my life. luckly now we have DG performace (who helped me out), drtweak, chrisD ,etc... that you can just mail your harness out and not have to worry about it.

[brianforster]

basically what im hearing from my friends is that the hard part is the wiring (but that is done for me!)

and they want me to do the swap that way i know the ins and outs of my car, i learn a lot, and i know how to fix things when they go wrong (plus the saving of money)

i would have to agree 110% with your friends. i didnt know anything when i did my swap. had a basic understanding of things, but never did more then remove my sparkplugs, install an intake and basic minor tune up stuff.
the greatest thing youll gain from a swap, is the amazing understanding and pride you will have from driving a car that you basically built on your own. its such a great feeling when you get to learn how to pull out a motor for the first time, or get to drive it the car you put so much hard work into.

if you have your own garage to work on, and a few buddies that are willing to hang out, then do your own swap. youll really be glad you did. as long as youre hard working, and do a lot of research about it you should have no problems doing the swap. the hardest part that i got stuck on, was when i tired to do all the wiring myself (with manny), without ever reading a wiring diagram before in my life. luckly now we have DG performace (who helped me out), drtweak, chrisD ,etc... that you can just mail your harness out and not have to worry about it.

so far thats what everyones talking about, the wiring, but mark gave me the wiring and ecu straight out of his car, so all i gotta do is run it through the firewall and plug and play.

seems like a no brainer to anyone i ask now.. provided i can get my hands on a garage i think i might undergo this one myself

[x_itchy_b_x]

well, id say i was like a 6 when i started. having done headgaskets,exhaust work, turboing, and tuning.
so far the hardest thing was remember where you pulled each bolt from.
but after looking in the BGB it all comes back.
my swap would have been done if i had the funds to have everything here at once.
so to reduce downtime make sure you have everything.
(ps spec makes a great 3sgte/5sfe tranny clutch. made perfect to fit)
make sure when pulling axels u dont pull the cv apart lol.

this is how i see it lol. if you were good with legos as a kid then u can do this.
all of the parts are ment to go together you just need to find the correct way to do it.

[brianforster]

the transmisssion is already attatched to the motor with all necessary swap components in there, thats the benefit of having it pulled from a running 3sgte swapped celica

[Defgeph]

I think I could get your engine in and running using only a spoon LMAO

[brianforster]

put your spoon where your mouth is and come do it! ill pay gas money.. hahaha

[Supersprynt]

As long as you have a place to do it I think your already 75% done with your swap. Shouldnt take you more than a weekend to finish it.

[brianforster]

hey super remember me? hehe, looks like ill be back in the 6gc action soon, and as a 3sgter

whered you get ahld of your stock WTA intercooler and parts? Id really love to go with that over FMIC.

[Supersprynt]

Yeah I remember how can someone forget driving 6 hrs to take out an interior while sweatin' bullets. LOL.

I got mine from Chico Race Works, its a lil banged up but works perfect. Clayton just sold his and Chris Dittrick was also selling one, I dont know if that was bought, probably tho they are a hot item. Look to spend about ~600 for the entire setup.

[brianforster]

ah, maybe ill be going with fmic then hahaha.. but i still have no idea what bends to get and who makes good intercoolers and such.. i have searched a million times and find hardly any threads dealing with intercoolers that have specific information on them

[Supersprynt]

Spearco is probably best bang for your buck.

[presure2]

brian, to build a effective FMIC, if you buy high quality stuff will cost you very close to as much as a used 205 setup if you look around long enough.
a GOOD FMIC will run around 250+
cheap side aluminized piping 100+ aluminum/stainless 250+
couplers and clamps ~200
BOV and flange..
205 setup will run you in the 600$ range depending on who you get the parts from.

[brianforster]

i have a BOV already, what about the intercoolers from johnnyracecar.com are they quality?

does anyone know what bends to get? what about those kits on ebay, are they worth it?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-5-Interco...039942720QQrdZ1

what about buying pipe straight from like summit?

[playr158]

i heard the ebay kits are crap

jcwhitney has really good prices on aluminized along wiht
http://www.roadraceengineering.com/mandrelbends.htm

[brianforster]

i did figure the ebay kits were crap.. which bends do you all think i will need?

[Dr_Tweak]

Brian, I noticed that you had an SHO, did you ever check out www.shophoenixproject.com? I built that site and did all the how-to guides (mostly), that's one of the cars that I learned on.



-Doc