Coomer, whats goin on Options

[bojangles_8686]

I noticed your new sig, whats goin on

did somethin go wrong with the swap?

I wouldve PM'd you but im sure everybody else wants to know too.

-Chucky

[afroman]

yeah what is going on, i couldnt wait to see it completed.what went wrong.

[Coomer]

It's just a total nightmare. I'm constantly bitter and angry because of the swap, and all I ever hear are constant lies from my mechanic.

It's been nearly five months, my car still doesn't move, and now my entire paintjob is ruined. What parts haven't been actively destroyed by getting hit with chains, tools, or other cars by my mechanic are ruined anyway from sitting under snow and sap and stuff for over two months. My entire paintjob is now all bubbled, scratched, and looks bad.

In addition, my mechanic is still expecting me to pay him fully, and expects me to pay for the damage that he caused to my car. When asked about what happened to my fender, he replied "Oh, it got hit with a chain when we were moving a car...but you were gonna get the front repainted anyway so it doesn't matter."

I'll probably pay the necessary money to get my car out of there once it's finally finished if it's ever finished, and then I'll come back with a laywer and a re-paint estimate and tell him he needs to pay for my car to be repainted...if not, we can deal with it in court.

Right now I've gotta head to class, but after class I'll post up my swap journal. I'll leave you guys with a photo of my fender.

Attached image(s)

 

[ghostdog]

don't give up! you're an inspiration to all of us

[snadman]

I'm actively waiting for the journal lol.

[Drocay]

Ya man hang in there.

[Coomer]

Sigh....

Late May, 2003 - I ask a local shop named Auto Boogie about swapping a twenty-valve AE101 4A-GE into my Celica. "Yeah, no problem. I do swaps all the time. It'll take a week tops." was the response I got. Convincing the parents to let me do the swap began. Comments such as "C'mon mom, it's a smaller engine." and "It's cheaper than replacing piston rings, valves, synchros, and getting a new clutch." helped at this stage. Finally, I got the "ok" from my parents.

Early July, 2003 - AE101 4A-GE engine, tranny, ECU, harness, axles, AFM, ignitor, and power steering accessories ordered from Storm Performance.

July 23, 2003 - Engine and tranny and harness arrives one week later than I was told it would. No ECU, axles, AFM, ignitor, or power steering accessories yet. After a phone call, one week later, the ECU arrives.

July 27, 2003 - The tranny is taken off the 4A-GE engine, and the clutch has about 40% left, so we decide to replace it anyway, while everything is apart. We pull off the spark plug wire cover to look at the spark plugs, only to find that the engine has no spark plugs. We decide to pull off the valve cover, only to find dirty oil and oil sludge everywhere. A leakdown test confirms that this engine is dead. The number one cylinder holds no pressure whatsoever, due to a fried piston ring and intake valve we believe. We decide to call Storm and trade them engines for one that will actually run well.

Late July, 2003 - Replacement parts for engine ordered. OEM parts include timing belt, idler pulley, water pump, distributor cap and rotor, front and rear main seals, spark plug wires, and flywheel bolts. Other parts include a Clutch Masters stage one clutch kit, a JUN chromoly-steel lightweight flywheel, and NGK iridium spark plugs.

July 30, 2003 - A phone call is made to Storm Performance, and another engine is shipped out.

August 2, 2003 - The second 4A-GE arrives. This one looks much worse on the outside, but inside, it's far better. At this point, Storm Performance tells me that I can keep the old engine, because they have no use for a dead engine.
August, 2003 - All of the various parts arrive, except for the engine components that I ordered from Storm Performance with the engine, such as the axles, AFM, ignitor, and power steering accessories.

September 3, 2003 - Car goes into the shop.

September 17, 2003 - The 7A-FE is pulled, and part of the engine bay is painted. At this point the car is ready to have the twenty valve 4A-GE put in. I ask if they can have the car done in two weeks, and they say that they definitely can have it done.

October 4, 2003 - Two weeks later, the car isn't done. Auto Boogie says one more week.

October 10, 2003 - I go home from college to look at the car, and the engine still isn't in the car. Additionally, I still haven't recieved my axles, ignitor, and power steering accesssories from Storm Performance. Multiple voice messages on their phones, and multiple emails are sent, none of which are replied to. Fortunately, the stock axles can be used for the swap. Auto Boogie makes a promise to me. They say that if my car is not completed by the end of next weekend, the labor will be free.

October 13, 2003 - I finally get a reply from Storm Performance. They tell me that they'll send me my axles immediately, and tell me they'll send me more information by email about the other parts, but they never do.

October 18, 2003 - The engine is in, but the car still isn't done. In fact, despite the lies from Auto Boogie saying that the wiring was going well, it hasn't even been touched yet. Also, the A/C isn't hooked up, and power steering isn't hooked up. After talking to Storm Performance, they tell me that I need to pay extra money for my AFM and axles, yet it was originally included in what I paid for earlier.

November 2, 2003 - The car's labor should now be free, but the car still isn't done. More excuses are given by Auto Boogie as to why my car isn't done.

November 7, 2003 - I call Auto Boogie, and they tell me that my car can't be completed, due to various issues with the throttle cable, A/C, power steering, and wiring. My car is now completely undrivable, and there is no-where else to take my car in the town that I live in. I figure that it will need to be towed to a town two hours away to get the remainder of the work done.

November 8, 2003 - My parents pick me up from college and take me to Auto Boogie. I talk to Auto Boogie, and they say that they in fact can do the swap. They were lying about not being able to finish the car so that they would not have to do free labor! Also, they damaged the paint on my rear bumper by apparently running my car into a red car or running a red car into my car when moving it around! After talking with Auto Boogie for a while, I agree to pay them $500.00 to have the car completed by January 1, 2004. At this point I drop off my old wheels and tires so that Auto Boogie can put them on to ensure that my nice wheels don't get damaged.

November 26, 2003 - I come into town for Thanksgiving break, and I stop by Auto Boogie only to find that they haven't even touched the car since November 8, when I was last there.

December 10, 2003 - My dad goes in to talk to Auto Boogie. At this point the car hasn't been touched in over a month, and is sitting outside. Auto Boogie's reply to my dad when he asks if it will be done by January is "Hey, I've had some cars in the back for a year and half." My dad goes on to say that I can't and won't have my car down for a year and a half. Auto Boogie eventually says that it will be done by January 1st.

December 17, 2003 - My car still sits outside, and is now covered in snow and ice. After finally getting a hold of Auto Boogie, they assure me that my car will be in the shop by the end of the week.

December 22, 2003 - It's the beginning of the next week, and the Celica still is sitting outside covered in snow and ice, still sitting on my nice wheels and tires as well. I call Auto Boogie and ask them to stop lying and tell me when it will actually go into the shop, and they say that tonight it will go into the shop.

December 29, 2003 - The night of the twenty-ninth, the car finally goes into the shop, after many lies and sitting under snow and ice for a long time.

December 30, 2003 - As the deadline of the first of January approaches, I go into the shop to look at my car. At this point, the entire car's paintjob, which is less than 14 months old, seems damaged, though I can't be certain until the car is cleaned. The car looks exactly like it did on November 8, 2003, and at this point, no work has been done to the car since then. The nice wheels and tires are still on the car, and when asked why, Auto Boogies says they never had time to put on the old ones that I dropped off.

January 2, 2004 - This was the day I planned to tow the car to a different shop. When I go into Auto Boogie to tell them that I'm taking the car elsewhere, I am shocked by the fact that a lot of progress has been made on the car. A lot of the wiring had been done, the exhaust was done, and a lot of the new parts were on the car. I decided to let Auto Boogie finish up the car in a week, like they said they could.

January 16, 2004 - The morning of the sixteenth, I called Auto Boogie and they said it'd be done for sure that weekend, so I made the long drive home and came and looked at the car. It had progressed further, but was still far from finished. Lots of wiring still had to be done, the power steering and A/C and throttle accelerator cables still had to be dealt with, and the belts and pulleys had to be mounted onto the engine. Speaking of pulleys, Auto Boogie had lost my pulley for my water pump, and I had to go get the old pulley off of the dead AE101 4A-GE engine because of Auto Boogie's incompetance. Also, Auto Boogie managed to damage my paint again, this time by hitting my front-left fender with a chain and putting two 1cm-diameter paint chips in the paint.

January 19, 2004 - Auto Boogie called me and said that they need more detailed wiring information in order to complete the swap. They also realized that my engine harness didn't come with the igniter, which is necessary for the swap. So I called Storm Performance, and finally got a hold of them. They told me that they'd send my axles and igniter the next day.

[BlackCelicaGT94]

Coomer my dad says bring it to seattle and he will help you with everything!

[Lar-]

Sorry to hear about this frustrating swap, Coomer.

If possible, maybe you should find a more responsible mechanic to finish the job.

Does your current mechanic really know what he is doing ??
I think five months is an age for an engine swap.

[Coomer]

Thanks for the sympathy and help guys. I just got off of the phone with Mark from Storm Performance, and he says that he'll send out my ignitor today via Fedex Ground. Once that arrives, my mechanic said it'll take a day or so to finish the swap up. If it takes any longer than a week after that arrives, I'll probably bring a laywer and a tow truck down to the shop to pick up my car and take it to Seattle.

[Jussimple]

Coomer I feel for you . I finally decided on my engine and it got sold before I could buy it. I'm starting to think that it was a blessing in disguise. I hope that when I track down the BVC I want it'll go smoother than most of the swap stories that I've heard/read. Hope the future holds some good days for you and your ride.
Keep us posted man.

J

[BlackCelicaGT94]

Yeah my dad said we can take it up to Mulkiteo at Nicks 99 have them get the parts and get someone to do it and you wont have to worry about if its done right cuz the people have done these swaps before

[Supersprynt]

This is what I think you should do, or this is more like I would do. Get the car the hell outta there. Pay the mechanic for the work he DID do, but subtract what you can calculate as the damage. Dont pay this guy, but pay the mechanic that did the physical swapping of the engine. If he threatens court, or a law suit, I dont think you really need to worry because he screwed things up and you paid him for what he did do.

Take the car home, and finish it yourself. It may take awhile, it maybe a pain in the ass, but u'll feel better about having the car near you, where it'll be more protected. You probably already have, but talk to people who've already done this swap, im sure they'll help. This maybe no help but I think that is what would be best. Unfortunately I cant really help its not an engine im familiar with and im on the east coast so physically coming to help isnt feasible or else I would. I'll try to gather any information i can on this but im sure u've already done that, but still. It was more than 5 months that my car was out but I was working on it and I knew it was ok.

[Uppitycracker]

I think you should write him a bad cheque

[saleeka]

ohh god! im sorry to hear about all that. PLEASE PLEASE tell me you dont pay this guy for anything! I hate to say this but take his A$$ to court and have him fix all the paint damage, and after the massive delays from what was planned i dont think he is entitled to any form of payment. obviously he told you he was qualified for a job he clearly wasnt, and in light of this, im sure it would be much more rewarding to pay a lawer a good fee to insure that your mechanic dosent see a single penny. Just my two cents...

[Coomer]

I'll try not to pay him, but I guarantee he'll want full payment before I can take my car away, so I'll probably just pay him, and then end up in court later.

[Uriel]

[Hym3n]

Definitely dude, a lawyer threat is so simple and does so much. My mom had an engine blowout with her old MX-3 V6, the Mazda dealer swapped a "brand new" one in, yeah, right. The engine light came on after 1,000 miles, and they had given her an almost $5k bill. She called her lawyer (a client of her's), the lawyer wrote a letter, the fine was waived, and the car repaired within about a week.

A threat is all you need at this point, because if it's taking them this long to do something he said on multiple accounts would "only be a week", then that's unfair practices (or something like that).

-Brian

[Uppitycracker]

[snadman]

LOL. Yehp, had this same problem with a shop. I was going to do the ST185 3SGTE swap over the summer. They say they can get it done in two weeks. Two weeks go by after every part needed is there, and they still don't have my car in the garage. Another two weeks go by and it's sitting in the parking lot, but when I went in to ask...immediately they took my keys and pulled it inot the garage saying sorry and that they were starting work that day. I told them no they weren't...I went to my lawyer's office and informed him further of the situation and he went with me. We got my car out, and my refund for the $400 downpayment of labor. So I got my $400 back and I sold the clip to the shop i now go to (the one that did my ECU and Torque Converter) and they said they'd find a use for it and bought it for me for $300 less than I bought it for. So yeah I was out $300, but in the end I used the money I was going to use for swap and used that to make a downpayment on my RX7...sucks it got stolen but with the money I got from that I bought an older RX7, an older Supra...and upgraded both of those as well as paying off the grand I owed on my Celi. All in all, a lawyer helps!!!