In a message dated 10/02/2006 9:44:03 AM Pacific Standard Time,
owner-mgs-digest@autox.team.net writes:
One should make sure they are committed to the project before beginning,
engine swaps are a lot of work and it will cost more than you think.
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No kidding!
I see these starry eyed kids that want to do a swap and figure they can get
the mount kit for say $600, and an old engine for a couple of hundred and
wind up doing a swap for $1000 and just shake my head.
These are the projects that never get finished.
When was the last time you rebuilt an engine properly? Machining and parts
can consume 2K even if you rebuild it yourself, unless you get a good deal on
a rebuild from one of the rebuild 'factories'.
When was the last time you bought a new clutch, had welding done, restored a
stock car much less a swap candidate?
Yes, you CAN take an engine with decent compression from a wreck and stick
it in and you might get lucky and save a thousand or more. You MIGHT find a
used trans that actually turns out to resemble the representations of the
optimistic seller and isn't a bag of grindings. You MIGHT find a radiator that
MIGHT work and won't leak. Etc., etc. But the chances are against it.
If you want to do a swap on the cheap, the best way is to find someone
else's project that they gave up on - you will usually get the car and bits
for
about half what they have into it.
I will NOT be adding up the total cost of my Jamaican MG swap - my wife
might find it and who knows what might happen then.....
Bill
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