Building a good car out of two?

[1982_928]

Alright, I've had my 928's for a few years now, and if you ever read any of my threads, my issue is centered around garbage automatic transmissions.

I bought my 82 for $200 with a bad engine and missing some parts. Then a few months later i bought my 83 which ran good with a bad transmission. It came with another one that was supposed to be great. I swapped them, and the one that I put in wasn't any better than the one that came out. I'm not going to pay more than the car is worth to have one of them rebuilt, or pay $1000 for a used one that could crap out at any time. Plus, I just really don't want to change it again.

My 82 was running and driving in 2007, when the head gasket surfaces on one of the banks corroded to the point where it blew a head gasket, and the engine was pulled. This leads me to believe the transmission is fine. My luck it will probably be crap though.

My plan is, in a few months, to yank the engine out of my 83 and drop it into the 82. I'll take the rest of the missing parts (Gas tank, relays, interior parts) off of it as well. The 82 has a good windshield and decent paint, where the 83 has no windshield or hardly any paint, so this helps with my decision.

Are there any differences between how a 4.5 and a 4.7 bolt in and hook up? I have the 4.5 and can rob pieces and put on the 4.7 if there are any differences.

Does my plan sound reasonable? Any input is welcome.

Thanks!

[Danglerb]

Most of the time similar year cars have the same good and the same bad parts.

You are rolling the dice, which is OK if your time and labor mean nothing, and a disaster if they do matter.

A motor or transmission out of a recent known good running car will sell at a premium over an unknown part, which most are wise to consider as no more than a core to rebuild.

If you think you have found an inexpensive path to a nice running 928, let us know how that works out as far as I can tell its just luck, and most of the time more costly than sticking to reliable parts.

[1982_928]

I understand what you're saying, but how would you know if a used transmission was out of a good car? Anyone can say it was. The transmission that came with my 83 was supposed to have been out of a good car, and came from a guy with about 15 928's, but was garbage.

The guy I bought the 82 from never ran the car, but the guy i bought the 83 from had, just to move it around. This tells me the transmission hooks up. (Guy that I bought my 83 from owned the 82 prior to the guy i bought it from)

Since the engine in the 83 doesn't smoke, get hot, and has good oil pressure, and the 82 was registered and inspected in 2007 (and it had to drive to pass inspection) when the engine went kaput, I don't see how it would be just luck. I'm using known good parts.

Are my assumptions reasonable?

[Danglerb]

I would put it more your hopes are typical.

Transmission needs someone you can trust to have driven the car recently. That said the automatics are generally reliable unless abused. They are fussy about fluid level and good fluid.

Lots of owners don't want to pay for this or that they think costs more than the car is worth, so its not unusual to find somebody's daily driver is full of issues, with a flaky transmission maybe the most common.

What specifically is wrong with your transmission collection?

Motors I don't trust until the heads are off and block and heads are inspected.

[XLR8928]

Originally Posted by 1982_928

Alright, I've had my 928's for a few years now, and if you ever read any of my threads, my issue is centered around garbage automatic transmissions.

I bought my 82 for $200 with a bad engine and missing some parts. Then a few months later i bought my 83 which ran good with a bad transmission. It came with another one that was supposed to be great. I swapped them, and the one that I put in wasn't any better than the one that came out. I'm not going to pay more than the car is worth to have one of them rebuilt, or pay $1000 for a used one that could crap out at any time. Plus, I just really don't want to change it again.

My 82 was running and driving in 2007, when the head gasket surfaces on one of the banks corroded to the point where it blew a head gasket, and the engine was pulled. This leads me to believe the transmission is fine. My luck it will probably be crap though.

My plan is, in a few months, to yank the engine out of my 83 and drop it into the 82. I'll take the rest of the missing parts (Gas tank, relays, interior parts) off of it as well. The 82 has a good windshield and decent paint, where the 83 has no windshield or hardly any paint, so this helps with my decision.

Are there any differences between how a 4.5 and a 4.7 bolt in and hook up? I have the 4.5 and can rob pieces and put on the 4.7 if there are any differences.

Does my plan sound reasonable? Any input is welcome.

Thanks!

I completed a 4.5 to 4.7 swap about 8 months ago. You lucked out having the '83 motor, as pretty much everything swaps over. You'll notice a slight power increase, but also the 4.7 has better cams, and revs out better. I went ahead and had the valves ground, and the heads surfaced. Be very careful with how much they machine the surfaces though, as any more than a few thousanths will alter cam timing, and you may not be able to bolt your water crossover in. (I had to take a few thousanths off each side). I also went with euro cams, and a full custom exhaust as well.
Good luck with your project!
-Kerry