Your experience: what was the hardest part of your 24v swap?

[mr walker]

As the title says. Wiring? Sourcing parts? The actual engine swap itself? Finding time or money? Fill in the blank.

What did you do to overcome said hurdle[s]?

Also, please share what you feel have been big learning experiences during the process. Think along the lines of: man, I wish I would have known that when/before I started.

I think this thread could yield a ton of useful information and solutions to those thinking about taking on a swap, or are currently in the middle of one. Especially for some of the more subtle questions, rather than "which engine mounts do I need". Hopefully this will be different from the threads stickied at the top of the page, but if you guys feel it will be redundant, then I'll delete it.

Thanks

[Wishno87]

Fitting it in...

[phreshkid]

Wiring stuffs, Fitting it in, damn motor mounts, and stuff never going according to plan.

[Danny]

My dick waiting for it to be done.

[giantkeeper]

Hardest part: Waiting for parts (odds and ends needed during build)

What did I do to make waiting better: Drank lots of beer (Stone Pale Ale to be exact)

What did I learn: It was not nearly as difficult as the R3V comprehensive 24v thread made it seem. And that you damn well better not ask any questions on here.

My golden nugget for you or anyone building: Take your time and do things right. Clean your damn engine bay, you filthy pigs. Change your gaskets and do all the normal PM stuff with the engine while it is out! If you do it right, you get to actually enjoy the car, and your work!!!!

[Mako18]

Well the hardest part for me is setting up an exhaust I dont want to change 3 months later to make it louder or quieter etc. Haven't got the tone I want yet. Looking for stock Mroadster but just a hint deeper.

[rThor432]

The hardest part was fitting the 3" intake boot on the 3.5" MAF. Piece of cake swap if you have the time.

[A_Whelan]

Hardest Part: Wiring issues. I know the wiring part is pretty straight forward and this is what scares most people. However, I ran into a no spark/fuel problem and ran out of time.

How did I fix it: I didn't yet, it sucks. I'll have time in a month when I visit home during Christmas time.

What did I learn: Electrical work sucks as much as I thought it would. Buy a wiring harness if you're not 100% on what you're doing. In the long run it will save time and money.

Useful advice: Make sure you have every part. If you decide on a Monday you're going to do a swap over the weekend coming up chances are it'll fail. As giantkeeper said, source parts well ahead of time, read a lot, then read some more. Take your time, document along the way and clean stuff.

[E30Strube]

Nothing going the way it is supposed to. The part will not fit where it is supposed to, you will be missing a gasket/bolt/nut, and that wire that looks like it will reach, really won't.

[greyis89]

I found a fellow r3v member very close to me by chance with a wrecked already swaped car and jumped on on it. A lot of the major parts and problems with expierence was easier being local. The little things give you some hangups but in all honesty it's expected for diy situation. Always takes more than you plan. Good friends and family do wonders, along with making the wrong or limited tools do the job. It was worth it. Best of luck.

[blackhawkimpact]

Hardest part was getting the money for my swap :-)
The rest is 123 abc

[Jafxod]

Hardest part: Getting the motor on the mounts without fucking up the engine bay, wiring the adapter, cleaning up the bay.


Take your time. shave and respray your bay while the engine is out, clean up the new motor before it goes in too. Dont rush it. Its not a hard task but take it slow so you dont regret not taking your time later.

[DREWHALL]

Dont rush it. Its not a hard task but take it slow so you dont regret not taking your time later.

+1234567890

I pulled my M50 to get ready for S50, instead of rushing leaving the bay half primered and unused brackets all in the way, I'm shaving/painting it before I put a nicer engine in. No sense in doing it half way. Just take the time to do it well the first time. I found the hardest part was waiting for parts to show up and finding the motivation on my own to get out there and do it.

[dnick]

wiring.. its kicking my fucking ass right now.

[scottinAZ]

hardest part was waiting for the parts to arrive. other than that, easy money swap.