Finally, my swap thread!

[hoveringuy]

So I started tonight, took me about 4 hours to pull the motor in the cold. No big suprises, except the tranny mounts were torn. Used the patented front-hook-only removal, no sweat (really, because I was freezing!)

The only weird thing I can't figure out is my hoses to the heater core. WTF? Anybody ever seen a bypass hose? Is that stock or a special Arizona mod?

Do I need to order another hose for the M50 connection to the bottom heater core pipe??

Stand-by for the required "in the engine bay" photo.

[FredK]

Nah, that was a recall item, after heater cores occasionally blew up, spewing hot coolant over people's legs.

That valve reduces the likelihood of it happening.

[hoveringuy]

So do I keep the bypass or order a straight hose?

Also, on RealOEM is that the "water hose inlet" or "water hose outlet" coming out of the back of the head?

[etxxz]

straight hose and make your own with heater hose.

[hoveringuy]

I went to the dealer and got the proper hose, hope my heater core doesn't pop on me now!

Swapping the tranny went smoother than I expected. Popped the old idle bearing and replaced it and the throwout bearing. Clutch still looked fine so a machined, lightened flywheel went on and then the tranny. No clearance issues but I left the bottom bolts out because of the alignment.

Motor went in soon after and installing took about an hour. I hung it off the front mount again and jacked the front of the car up after the motor was dangling over the engine bay. After that it was a combination of lowering the motor and jacking the transmission to get it in. Perfect fit!

There's 1/16" clearance at the brake booster so I may shim the drivers side later but no worries for now. How much clearance should I have (320 booster)

After I connected basic electrical and fuel I made some cursory electrical safety checks (does ignition on make smoke?) cranked it and it started after a few seconds. It fell into a very loud but smooth idle.

I'll install accessories and start on the exhaust today. The center bearing was shot so that's on my list, too.

...and it's just not a swap without the "in the engine bay" picture... <grin>

[MIKe30]

talk about working fast... sheesh.

[FredK]

Haha! Awesome progress!

[golde30]

yah, thats some fast work. hot damn.

[hoveringuy]

I've got a check engine light, I guess it's from not having the O2 sensor connected??

I'm fabbing the exhaust right now, any problem having the O2 sensor in one of my OBDII header bungs instead of at the pipe merge?

[matt]

No, not really.

[2002maniac]

Nah, that was a recall item, after heater cores occasionally blew up, spewing hot coolant over people's legs.

That valve reduces the likelihood of it happening.

That happened to me in my '71 02. Scalded the crap out of my right leg.

[hoveringuy]

I drove it around the block a few times this morning after installing the exhaust.

Current issues:

-Grinding sound coming from shift selector rubbing on drive shaft. Easy fix, I'll bend it a little.

-Whirring sound coming from center bearing that I replaced. Are there any tricks to replacing it? Is it normal with a new one? Will it go away???

-Installing the O2 sensor fixed the check engine light, except that the engine starts to idle rough after about 2 minutes of idling and then the check engine light comes back on. I'm thinking O2 heater circuit.

I'm glad to be almost done, it's been a lot of work!

[etxxz]

I drove it around the block a few times this morning after installing the exhaust.

Current issues:

-Grinding sound coming from shift selector rubbing on drive shaft. Easy fix, I'll bend it a little.

-Whirring sound coming from center bearing that I replaced. Are there any tricks to replacing it? Is it normal with a new one? Will it go away???

-Installing the O2 sensor fixed the check engine light, except that the engine starts to idle rough after about 2 minutes of idling and then the check engine light comes back on. I'm thinking O2 heater circuit.

I'm glad to be almost done, it's been a lot of work!

shifter: had same problem with e36 driveshaft, bent rear plastic mout and fixed it.

what car bearing and what driveshaft? no is not normal. is it twisted or anything?

as for the swap :bow: that was hella fast!!!

[2002maniac]

wow! 3-day swap? way to go!

[hoveringuy]

I've going to pull the driveshaft back out this morning. I can't get enough of wrestling with the exhaust.

I'm stock from the 260 back.

I think the problem may be that the dust cover is spinning is something like that. I don't think wrong preload would cause a "click, click, click" like I'm getting out of it now.

I also had an oil leak that started to worry me last night. I had oil leaking from high on the head in the very back. I traced it to the valve cover gasket having one of the tabs bent over into the cam valley area and that fixed it.