My 3sgte swap thread, The diary begins TODAY! Options

[DG_Performance]

art don't forget you also had to do wiring ect. and a few misc. things
this one has a lot of pre-prepared stuff already not to mention lots of documentation which also wasn't around back then....

but unless youve done lots of swaps before, there is no way youll be done in just 9 days.

and just cause he hasn't done one doens't mean that its impossible...

but the only way to find out is to try

I did Lago's harness for him....it was the first one i did for another member! And i think i only charged him 175 for it cause he was taking a chance with me possibly messing it up. I actually had one wire in his harness that i forgot to hook up.(the main power wire, haha) It took us like 2 days on the phone talking for hours tracking the problem down.
DG

[playr158]

LOL main power wire...smoooooth

[lagos]

art don't forget you also had to do wiring ect. and a few misc. things
this one has a lot of pre-prepared stuff already not to mention lots of documentation which also wasn't around back then....

but unless youve done lots of swaps before, there is no way youll be done in just 9 days.

and just cause he hasn't done one doens't mean that its impossible...

but the only way to find out is to try

I did Lago's harness for him....it was the first one i did for another member! And i think i only charged him 175 for it cause he was taking a chance with me possibly messing it up. I actually had one wire in his harness that i forgot to hook up.(the main power wire, haha) It took us like 2 days on the phone talking for hours tracking the problem down.
DG

yeah, those were good times...lol i got to learn all about my harness, tryring to track that damn wire down..lol

[Dr_Tweak]

I'm taking bets on the finishing time. I wager $5 it'll be 21 days.

-Doc

[playr158]

i'll take that 5$ in 9 days from today

[hitcachi]

lol, this board would feel so empty without Dan's shananagens!

[brianforster]

I'm taking bets on the finishing time. I wager $5 it'll be 21 days.

-Doc

damn doc, i dont need you workin against me!

[brianforster]

got engine home today after much debate on where to mount the chain and some close calls (thankfully it was on grass)

entire engine is wrapped in a tarp (even underneath) and a tarp is over all parts outside in case of rain, i will get pictures soon of the swap area, the engine, all my misc parts, and of course the celi

[brianforster]

pulled interior: seats, center console, shifter trim, and radio trim

brought them inside to scrub clean, they are cleaning up nicely!

carpet is in excellent condition, body of the car is pretty good too, its the definition of "needs a little tlc" but its coming along well.

hope to accomplish today taking off headlights, front bumper, fenders, and to move the car around back to prepare for pulling the engine which starts tomorrow.

[brianforster]

maybe less pics than id hoped, i did not have a camera today, will try to update tomorrow too.

what i accomplished toda (thanks for the help chucky!)

removed seats, door sills, door panels, glove box, gauge cluster, shifter trim, etc, basically stripped the interior except for steering wheel and dash in preparation for airbag + power windows/locks installation on monday.

removed front bumper, and all 4 headlights

today was mostly prepwork, tomorrow will be removal of 7afe.

BTW it RUNS! hahah, we jumped it and it ran, it shook and smoked violently but hey, it moved under its own power to the swap area. im not sure whats wrong with it, "blown head" seems to be the diagnosis.

[lagos]

I'm taking bets on the finishing time. I wager $5 it'll be 21 days.

-Doc

5bucks? im willing to put up the title to my car, that it wont be done in 9 days...lamo !!!!

there are 2 ways to swap a motor. one is what i like to call "the quick and dirty". the other is "take your time and do it right". needless to say, im not a fan of the quick and dirty.

[brianforster]

I'm taking bets on the finishing time. I wager $5 it'll be 21 days.

-Doc

5bucks? im willing to put up the title to my car, that it wont be done in 9 days...lamo !!!!

there are 2 ways to swap a motor. one is what i like to call "the quick and dirty". the other is "take your time and do it right". needless to say, im not a fan of the quick and dirty.

i think i am the first person on these forums to pull a setup from a running 3sgte swapped celica and put it into another celica.

how long do you think it would take you to take your entire setup and put it into another car? now subtract the work involved in removing teh setup from your car.

if you add up labor hours, my swap will probably involve similar times as most other peoples , i just putting the labor hours in consecutive days one after the other.

you are consistently pessimistic in my thread, so how about everybody stop guessing on whether this will get done or not (i already have enough negative energy coming from my friends that like to hassle me, and my parents who think im a moron) this site is about enthusiasts and encouragement.

note this was not supposed to be specifically for you lagos, you help a lot and im not sayin i want you to stop giving me advice, lets just all try to keep the comments down about whether ill finish this or not.


thanks
-brian

[lagos]

brian. im not trying to be hard on you .. and im sorry if something i said offended u. i know a swap can be very stressfull.

if you read my post again, youll notice that i said that im not a fan of the "quick and dirty". what i really ment to say is that i wouldnt recomend setting any kind of deadlines. take your time and do things the RIGHT way. make sure its a nice clean install, that you doubble check everything, take the time to verify you have a good motor, that all rubber gaskets are in good shape, etc...

you also remind me of myself when i started the swap. i took off 2 weeks from work and thought that was all it would take. i ended up learng a hard lesson about what it takes to do a job like this, not to mention, now important it is to take your time and do things right. if i had to swap in another motor into my car, i could probably do it all on my own in 1 weekend. would i want to do it that fast? no. im a firm believer in taking my time to make sure i do everything perfectly and to make sure its a nice and clean looking install. anything you rush through now, will just having to be taken apart and fixed later.

a few months after i finished my swap, i met a guy who was about 80yrs old. we started talking about cars, and i found out he restores steam powered classics. he gave me some of the best advice about car work ... " take any time frame you have for the project and take your budget, and multiply by 3. if you finish within that time and budget, conisder youself lucky" ..lol i thought that was some of the best advice anyone gave me.

This post has been edited by lagos: Mar 17, 2006 - 10:21 PM

[Dr_Tweak]

Brian,

Like Art said, we're not trying to be hard on you. I'm right behind you all the way and you have my number if you get stuck on anything. It's just that we've been through this, myself multiple times, and you just can't get stuff done that quick... it's not the big things that slow you down, it's all the pesky little things... like the clip that holds the shifter cables in being so corroded that you can't remove it and you spend half a day on that one thing... stuff like that.

Keep us updated though. And remember, if you do get it done in 9 days, you get to have Lagos car

-Doc

[brianforster]

i wont be mad if i miss my deadline, its not like a final thing, jsut a few people have told me its a reasonable goal given the parts i have, so im shooting for it.

ive definitly already put a LOT of time into this already, and the swap hasnt even started, lots of the thigns i have already done fall into the time spans that most of the swap diarys i have read include.

i know one thing for sure, if it does get finished in the time frame i hope, it will be thanks to the great people of these forums, not my automotive prowess

edit: Doc just posted, well thanks both of you for clearing some of it up, i should have known you were just doin a little friendly hazing, but i worry about this being the right choice to appropriate my funds to every day, 90% Of the time i am awake i am going over all of the info i have read, all of the parts i need, all of hte parts i think i MIGHT need, how im spending my money, if im spending it wisely.

i had a huge test and paper yesterday, and after that i had to load the engine and a hoist on a truck that could barely fit the hoist (lets say it was tight) and i got home and unloaded the motor at about 1 in the morning, went to bed and woke up at 6 to come out and start working, i just couldnt sleep. aside from a 2 hour nap mid day, i worked on the car all day, tomorrow i have friends scheduled to come over at 11 am, we hope to be able to pull the motor tomorrow and maybe accomplish other misc things. there will be like 5 of us here helping, thank god my friends are all automotive enthusiasts.

doh, edit again:

i do understand the little details parts today, i spent a good hour just now putting my armrest console back together as i had to superglue some pieces because i broke them now i letting it dry and hoping to put it back tomorrow. also chucky and i spent about 2 hours today removing the alarm he had wired up, and the car phone (i think it was a car phone anyways) that, combined with the "oh **** clip" that holds manual window cranks on, there was definitly some little things that held me up.

This post has been edited by brianforster: Mar 17, 2006 - 10:48 PM

[lagos]

yep, thats how car jobs go. little dumb stuff that should take 5min, sometimes take a lot longer then that .

at least your making progress! good luck! cant wait to see it done.

[brianforster]

engine is almost out, i think all we have left is 1 p/s line, and the axels, we got one axel bolt off, but the other one is so tough that we broke two sockets on it, both under warranty hopefully though.

tomorrow should be complete removal of the engine, and replacement of windshield (guys comin to the house to do it)

[bojangles_8686]

Brian lets make sure we have some PB Blaster today

[brianforster]

engine is removed! dan should be coming tomorrow and were doign the interior stuff (airbags etc)


still confused on how to keep a/c and p/s, as well as where to buy another power steering pulley.

edit: what i mean by a/c and p/s is that which "lines" need to be replaced like, they go ALL over the engine bay it looks like, do i have to reroute all of that or is there just a certani spot where it differs from the 5sfe/3sgte lines.

hopefully dan should come tomorrow and answer some (read: a lot) of my questions

This post has been edited by brianforster: Mar 19, 2006 - 5:15 PM

[playr158]

MWHAHAHAHAH i'll be there soon as my midterm is over!

btw umm i'm missing work for this at 15$ an hour, are you goin to compensate? lol