Considering a Major swap

vdubr928 · 02-20-2010, 05:25 PM

I am considering a chassis swap. As you guys know the 86.5 is a goner and I'm still waiting on the check. The insurance co is having some trouble putting a number on the car. There are interior pieces missing and they are going to depriciate the car some so when I do get a check (should be any day) I may not have enough to replace the car. Mason had plans to ship me the remaing pieces but since I didn't have the car put together when it was wrecked they are going to value the car without the parts. I have my 82. It's a runner but not in the best shape. What problems will I face if I just swapped the powerplant, suspension, and brakes from the 86 to the 82? Of course I would have to swap the entire harness or do a Mega-Squirt conversion for the motor. Here is a list of my ?????

1: Is there any difference in suspension or engine/trans mounting points that will cause a major issue?
2: How easy (or hard) would it be to add knock sensors to that motor while it's out? If doing mega squirt then I want knock sensors.
3: Will all parts fit? Gas tank? and all?
4: Does anybody have an 86.5 chassis that's straight that they want to swap for a running 82 auto us? lol

I haven't committed to this yet because I want to make sure that I shouldn't be committed for even considering this. All of this depends on how much money they take off the value for the missing pieces.

Danglerb · 02-20-2010, 06:45 PM

86.5 and 82 will be a wiring mess, not the years of struggle that going MS would be, but months.

Almost a sure bet you will want to further negotiate the insurance. Might as well wait to see where that leaves you.

vdubr928 · 06:59 PM

If I did not do the ms conversion then I would just swap the entire harness. Once I have the dash, carpet, and drivetrain out of each I can't see the harness swap taking more than a day or two. Unless I have to make a bunch of new holes through the firewall. (which I doubt) Keep in mind..... I mean the whole shebang. Fuse panel and all.

If I can't do the swap in 2 or so weeks I won't do it. figure 6 days to strip both cars..... 2 for harness swap.... leaves 6 days to put a motor, TT and trans and all the suspension back together. Should be that bad if all the parts swap. I've built cars from scratch in less time but I need to be sure that all the parts will fit. The 82 has different motor mounts..... Will the 86 crossmember fit? The 86 has different control arms.... Will they transfer? the rear trans support looks different.... Will it fit the other car? I'll have to cut a hole for the ABS rig and probably remake all the brake lines (or transfer them) all of these things need to be answered before I would even start.

I really hope they don't take too much off the car value wise but I'll let you guys know how it all washes out.

Mrmerlin · 07:05 PM

the rear suspension locating points are quite different.
The 86.5 has ABS and this is integrated into the harness
I would look for another 86.5 chassis, if you really must pursue this idea.
MF might have one, and leave the 82 alone.
OR sell the car back to Mason and buy another solid car that you can drive today,
keep the check and what MF will give you. Or sell it outright. to the highest bidder
Use the proceeds to get a solid car

Mrmerlin · 02-20-2010, 07:04 PM

your talking about spending lots of time trying to graft together mis matched parts, WHY???
The obvious answer is you can but still why???
dont you want a car that you can drive today???

vdubr928 · 02-20-2010, 07:09 PM

I do but there may be a money issue. Mason offered me a fair ammount for the wrecked car and I would love to buy the other 86.5 he has that he was planning to prep for sale, before he does anything to it but I just don't think the cash is going to work out.

How are the rears different? Is it the body mounts that are differrent? If so then scratch entire swap. I may have to part the 86 just to have enough to buy another car though.

Mrmerlin · 02-21-2010, 06:39 AM

OK lets start over how much are you getting from Ins. co?? how much from MF?? how much more do you have to spend??
Just need a total number here????
Then figure out what you really want , I wouldnt waste any time swapping parts to another car so you can have driving car.
You were searching for a 5sp 86.5 so that whats you look for.
You know the drill buy the best one you can find, of course you might consider keeping the special bits from the crunch car,

JK McDonald · JK McDonald's Garage

VDUB928 - The basic law of projects is that anything can be mounted into any chassis with enough time, money and effort. To swap out the running gear from an 86 to an 82 will really be quite an ambitious undertaking. Although most of the major assemblies upfront will drop in, there will be lots of issues involving studs, blind nut plates, mounting brackets, routing holes and the need to relocate just about every major electrical harness, fuel line and gas tank vapor line imaginable. You’ll find that although the changes to the interior and exhaust were relatively minor, this area will also impose a persistent series of challenges. Installing the 86.5 rear drive train assembly into an 82 may be a questionable effort at best. There were a number of chassis, component mounting point tweaks and revisions over the 82 - 86 span. You might look this project over really close before diving in.

Ask to see the Ouija board used by the insurance adjuster to estimate vehicle values and work out the best deal you can. Sadly many of us have already dealt with the 50% of 70% mumbo-jumbo divided by the phase of the moon formula over the years. In this case, be patient and remember that there are usually good deals out there just waiting for a “money in hand offer” that can save you a lot of unnecessary grief.

Good Luck, Michael

153bigblock · 02-21-2010, 12:06 PM

Make sure you don't take the **** sandwich first offers by the insurance claim adjusters. Keep asking to speak to higher ups until you get satisfaction and fair value for your car. I went through this with my Insurance Co. last Spring with my Mercedes. It is tedious and frustrating, but worth thousands.

vdubr928 · 02-21-2010, 01:14 PM

Well, I've heard enough from the people who I know have the knowledge I lack to ditch this idea. I can always part the car out if the money doesn't come together. Mason said he would work with me and I have enough experience with him to know that he will. I'll update you guys as soon as I get an offer from them. The girl handling my claim doesn't work on the weekends.

Danglerb · 02-22-2010, 12:36 PM

MF would be buying the car for all the good 86.5 parts, so if you keep some, expect less. If it was my car I would be looking to keep that .5 upgraded brakes and suspension.

I've done the harness swap, and it took me a LONG day after I had the fenders off, to pull the front harness, and when I got to the headlights I found out it was spliced anyway, so YMMV. Putting it in was a no nonsense splice where its practical three day job. Testing it pretty much requires two people.

We swapped pods and modified the existing interior harnesses.

Car is a driver, but a year later little issues are still showing up.

vdubr928 · 02-23-2010, 10:15 AM

hmmmm, Impressive.

I think I'll take your advice. Currently looking to either purchase the car Mason has for sale. (I really like the color) or buy a good 86.5 chassis and do a driveline swap.

vdubr928 · 04-05-2011, 10:37 PM

So I know this is an old thread but...... I did the swap. Still not driving yet. Im a strong few weeks into this working on my time off. I took a few days off to get started but that included moving the parts car to a new location and so forth. Id say 60 hours invested and I started it today. Hearing the 5 liter roar again was great. Taking the time to do this was valuable and informative. Ill be driving it in a week but will still be slowing putting in the interior that I bought. I will post details of the swap if anybody is interested. Its not too bad but its a big deal. Only for the paitient with a good memory. Ps. All this on stands in the driveway. Lol roughing it.

MPDano · MPDano's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by vdubr928

So I know this is an old thread but...... I did the swap. Still not driving yet. Im a strong few weeks into this working on my time off. I took a few days off to get started but that included moving the parts car to a new location and so forth. Id say 60 hours invested and I started it today. Hearing the 5 liter roar again was great. Taking the time to do this was valuable and informative. Ill be driving it in a week but will still be slowing putting in the interior that I bought. I will post details of the swap if anybody is interested. Its not too bad but its a big deal. Only for the paitient with a good memory. Ps. All this on stands in the driveway. Lol roughing it.

Heck yeah. Post pics before and after.

vdubr928 · 04-06-2011, 05:51 AM

Ok. Ill get some posted as soon as I remember how. Lol. Here are some particulars.

First. I don't know about the rear controls arms themselves but the subframe mounts are the same. You have to switch subframe for the manual swap so this was not an issue. Bolted right up. Fronts as well. Part numbers different. Bolt pattern same.

Abs: not built into the main harness. Actually five seperate harnesses that only interface with the main in two places. At the fuse panel and a b+ under the hood. Either way I switched this too and had to drill six holes. This was difficult as I had to switch out all the brake lines. I was already doing all the fuel lines so it didn't seem like miuch more work. All the mounting hardware was already present on the 82 so it was actually easy. Hardest part waswelding the computer bracket to the drivers inner panel.

Did have to move the clutch master bracket. This I wouldn't do without pulling the dash.

Also had to weld the brake light beaker under the dash. Everything else went right in.

Oh. Crossmember is different for 32 v

Ill get you all some pics

racer951y · racer951y's Garage

I have been off this forum for a while but what was wrong with your '82s engine? If it is good are you/did you sell it? I am looking for a 82ish engine for a project I have been wanting to do for a while.

rhjames · rhjames's Garage

no offense man, but 60 hours and still not right is a huge investment....

$100/hour = $6K

yes, you've already done the deal, but think about it.

vdubr928 · 04-07-2011, 09:45 AM

I don't get paid to work on cars. Its running. Had a broken injector and picked one up used for now. Saab 900 16v had the corrent one. Now I have an 82 s3 1/2 lol. Its a keeper. My interior is almost flawless. Will finish getting that all in and snap some pics. It was worth it but if avoidable I wont do a build like that again without a lift of some kind. That would really shorten the hours.

riber.bentsen · riber.bentsen's Garage

This thread..

Ethre · Ethre's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by vdubr928

I don't get paid to work on cars. Its running. Had a broken injector and picked one up used for now. Saab 900 16v had the corrent one. Now I have an 82 s3 1/2 lol. Its a keeper. My interior is almost flawless. Will finish getting that all in and snap some pics. It was worth it but if avoidable I wont do a build like that again without a lift of some kind. That would really shorten the hours.

I think you put this quite well. As long as you enjoy doing the work, its not a loss.

Pictures would be good!