Engine transplant completed!

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Last night at about 10:00 the clouds parted and a voice boomed from the heavens, "Let there be spark!" And there was spark (and a lot of smoke and sputtering).

Yes, this seemingly simple, yet torturously long and complicated, 3.2 swap was completed last night with the help of a great many generous folks. My old 3.2 was running seriously rich and burning oil. After a few months of small fixes and much diagnosis, I was sure I had done permanent ring damage, was about to jump on Verburg's 3.6, when a sweetheart deal on a recently rebuilt and upgraded 3.2 fell into my lap, courtesy of another great Pelicanhead.

Marcesq, proprietor of Marc's Garage & Grill, offered (was begged) to host the swap. Over the next few weeks a lot of folks came by to hang out, help, chat, loan tools, drink Pabst and just keep the project going. APKhaos, Jim Richards, Charlie, David Riley, Doug E, BW911 and a few others (sorry if I'm forgetting names) were real stalwarts. Marcesq, the MacDaddy of NoVA/MD/DC DIY'ers and owner of the ultimate set of tools, made it all possible. His wife is soooooo patient. And a wave of the wand to Dr. Steve Timmins, who seems to be the only guy in the world who had the correct fan housing for my engine.

I haven't figured how to shrink digital photos yet, but I will get them posted one way or another. My new 3.2 has about 8k miles on the rebuild, Webcams, EBS headwork, is bone dry and very clean. While we had her all apart, we put in new trailing arm bushings, Sway Away adj. spring plates, neatrix bushings, 29mm rear torsion bars and now she's at the shop getting aligned.

It was quite an adventure driving her over to the shop last night (about 10 miles). But after a few minutes she began to run like normal and the smoke went away. I hope to have her back by Sat. for some very spirited "test" driving.

Thanks again to a great group of people. My strong back and weak mind are available to help others with their P-cars now.

01-30-2003, 06:24 AM

That's great Richard, but freakin Pabst, come on man. Hey if you have Office XP, just right click on the saved picture and click send to mail recip. It will ask you if you want to reduce the picture size. Click yes, then send it to yourself and you have a small pic.
Cheers,
Mark

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Thanks - will do.

Hey, I brought Beck's and Pilsener Urquel to my first engine drop party and no one drank it but me.

magilla · 07:05 AM

I can resize and host them for you, if you want to email them to me.

Magilla

APKhaos · 01-30-2003, 06:35 AM

Let it be known that I refuse to drink anything that I can pee stronger than. Passed on the Pabst.

Great to hear that you buttoned it up, Richard. There were a few little challenges along the way, but it was worth everything it took to get that particular 3.2 running in a car again. Congratulations.

cary · 01-30-2003, 06:36 AM

Those guys are a cheap date............ LOL

VincentVega · 01-30-2003, 06:41 AM

Nice work!

jtf914 · jtf914's Garage

Congratulations Richard! Glad to hear everything worked out for you.

Justin

NapTownSpeedy · 01-30-2003, 06:48 AM

Richard,
Great to hear you have her running again. No more dates in the pickup.

I hang out with all beer snobs, and we would approve of your first engine drop, but wouldn't complain at the second either.

What are you doing with the old engine? Bad rings? Could be a good project base for me if you still have it. Let me know.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

I sold the old engine to a reputable rebuilder. This whole project ended up costing me about 1/2 of what a top end would have run me - net out of pocket. And that's including the suspension upgrades.

KTL · 01-30-2003, 06:58 AM

What were the differences between the two motors that caused the hassle(s)?

Congratulations on the job well done.

BTW, what did you end up doing about the trailing arm bushings?

George find a car yet?

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by KTL
What were the differences between the two motors that caused the hassle(s)?

Congratulations on the job well done.

BTW, what did you end up doing about the trailing arm bushings?

George find a car yet?

Thanks. The new engine was in a car which was rolled and a few items on top got damaged and needed replacing. Would you believe I was sent a fan housing for a 2.7, then one for a 3.0 and the two 3.2 housings I found were cracked. Then Dr. Timmins got me the right one. I was sent the wrong CV bolts and the wrong spring plates, which we first installed (ouch!). Dr. T. also got me the Weltmeister trailing arm bushings which went right in. George is not serious about a 911 - he's got terminal tire-kicker-itis.

magilla · 01-30-2003, 07:05 AM

Here are the long awaited pictures!

Marcesq checking out the spring plates:

APKhaos manning the jack:

Jim Richards manning the other jack:

The old engine coming out:

Marc's garage and my new 3.2 off to the side:

Richard working on the new engine, with Jim Richards off to the side:

Enjoy!

KTL · 01-30-2003, 07:09 AM

Well, the important thing is it's done. The hassles end up being learning experiences which you can pass on to the uninformed later.

I imagine those cracked fan housings could be due to overtightening the strap bolt. I think the spec is quite low like 18 ft-lb. (not sure on that), but i'll bet lotsa people gorilla tighten that bolt.

Jim Richards · 01-30-2003, 07:33 AM

Geez, freakin' Pabst...

Richard, you've used up your quota of engine drops / swaps for 2003. Give the rest of us guys a chance to work on our cars.

PS - Glad your car is back on the road. Keeps the police from watching the rest of us!

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Jim Richards
Geez, freakin' Pabst...

Richard, you've used up your quota of engine drops / swaps for 2003. Give the rest of us guys a chance to work on our cars.

PS - Glad your car is back on the road. Keeps the police from watching the rest of us!

Jim, I don't think you ever have to worry about getting stopped for speeding.

Jim Richards · 01-30-2003, 08:38 AM

Tell that to my insurance company.

Now, back to you're engine swap, I guess the major lessons learned are getting the right parts (and how difficult that is sometimes), and getting a known condition donor engine so that you don't have to rebuild the donor anytime soon. Finally, buy good beer or hear the complaints from your buddies!

BTW - was the initial oil cloud due to oil tossed around into unusual places as the car it was in rolled a couple of times?

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

I DID bring great beer the first time and no one drank it.

The oil cloud was from the the puddle left in one of the cylinders after it rolled. Remember when we first started adjusting the valves? I pulled a spark plug out, turned the engine over by hand a few degrees and a geyser of oil shot out and hit Marc's car. Last night's smoking episode would have been a lot worse had that oil not gotten out of there. It really wasn't so bad. I know there was some oil in the left heat exchanger too. By the time we got onto Wiehle Ave. (less than a mile), there was no more smoke. Just heard from Dulles that she needs a full corner/weight balance job, which ain't cheap. My huge savings is going up in smoke today.

KTL · 01-30-2003, 08:56 AM

Don't let 'em charge you too much Rick.

I see those Californian guys get the CB done relatively cheap. Usually no more than $200 for the whole CB and align job usually.

scphelps1 · scphelps1's Garage

Congratulations Richard! That's great that it is back together and running. I'm looking forward to another run with you NOVA guys. I wish I could have been around for some of the wrenching. Sometimes my wife isn't as understanding as Marc's!!! Also, the drive up there wouldn't have been in the p-car so not nearly as much fun!