First time engine removal project

[FirstNissan]

Hi, my nephew and I are looking for a summer car project to do together. He is interested in buying a cheap car (his parents would like a volvo) with a bad engine and removing/replacing it. Car will likely be an early-2000s, budget for the car iteslf is approx 1000, budget for overall project is approx $2000.

Is this a feasible project for a weekend amateur mechanic (me) and a non-skilled 16 year old teenager in my 1-car garage? Any guess of realistic approx time-frame to pull and replace an engine?

 

[cpayne5]

Absolutely!

Tools, documentation, organization, and determination are all you need.

Do your research, buy the right tools ahead of time, organize the fasteners and components as you remove them, take your time, and pay attention to detail. Try to find a factory service manual and follow the steps verbatim. If you do, then just reverse order on reinstall. What I usually do is buy a box of ziploc bags. Each component I take off, I label the bag and number it. When going back through the reinstall, just follow the bag numbers in reverse.

Some people would never attempt it, and some may poopoo your thoughts of attempting it, but if you've got the gumption to attempt it, that's half the battle.

Let your young nephew be the one who winds up on the ground under the car removing stuff.

As for time, take book time and double it?

 

[Trav]

One working day with a engine hoist half a day for a pro on a car you can lift the engine out like the Volvo. Stay away from cars you need to drop the cradle out to swap the engine, those can be a PITA job for anyone, again depending on the model.
A VW 4cyl is a perfect choice also for what you want to do, they are cheap and plentiful with cheap but good used replacement engines, they are very easy to work on and good quality cars.

 

[Chris142]

How much is a used volvo engine?

 

[cpayne5]

Originally Posted By: Trav
...A VW 4cyl is a perfect choice also for what you want to do...


Careful, Trav, the BITOG mob will be sharpening their pitchforks after hearing a statement like that.

 

[OneEyeJack]

YouTube will be your friend.

Keep us updated. Pictures?

Every young person should get involved in something like this at least once in their life.

My daughter on her way to becoming a speech therapist took an automotive course at the local community college where they did tune ups, brake jobs, general service and an engine rebuild. Now she can better deal with having her car maintained and dealing with shops and mechanics. They did the engine sway and overhaul on an early Mustang with a 289 V8. Automotive service people have a difficult time treating her like an uninformed woman that could be sold a muffler bearing.

 

[simple_gifts]

Originally Posted By: cpayne5
Originally Posted By: Trav
...A VW 4cyl is a perfect choice also for what you want to do...


Careful, Trav, the BITOG mob will be sharpening their pitchforks after hearing a statement like that.

Should be NO problem, finding one that isn't running.... j/k

A friend of mine has picked up 3 since in the last 25 years all with blown HG; being a mailman gives you a lot of visibility into inoperable cars; he offered to remove them for free, fixed the HG and drove them around for years.

 

[JimPghPA]

To the original poster, find the largest junk yard that is within traveling distance and give them a call and ask them if they have any cars that are in good shape with a blown engine, and also ask if they have any good engines that would go into the vehicle with the blown engine.

 

[JimPghPA]

Get a roll of masking tape and use it to label everything just before you remove it or disconnect it. Documentation is the most important thing. It is real easy to take it apart too fast and then forget how to put it back together.

 

[HangFire]

Pick a vehicle with a smaller aluminum block engine. A lighter engine means a safer, easier job all around. (I think this is what Trav was getting at?)

 

[BrocLuno]

An older car will have lots of rusted fasteners. The exhaust system will be a PIA to crack open, but penetrating oil and patience will win out.

If a stick car, you'll likely want to do the clutch at the same time. With an auto car, you may want to replace the transmission front seal while you are at it ... If a stick & over-drive car, you may want to put new seals in the OD unit so it will stay full and shift. Leaky Volvo OD units will not stay in gear ...

I would not shoot for one or two days. I'd pull it on one weekend, and put the new one in the next weekend. Take your time and do stuff as well as you can. If there are signs of oil leaks, pop the stuff apart and put in new gaskets. Much easier to do with the engine out and hanging on the hoist.

Get a bolt together engine hoist from Harbor Freight. Use it as much as you need and sell it after the project is done.

 

[maxdustington]

I'm not sure that I would want to saddle a newb with an engine swapped car unless you have insight into some particular model. In addition to that, big projects can get intimidating quickly, make sure you inform him of that. If you must, Trav's suggestion is a good one. MK4 VWs are really cheap here, and it should be pretty easy to find a blown up 1.8T as that is their nature. 2.0s are way too tough and the VR6 is a little exotic for your budget. I got a 2003 Jetta wolfy 1.8 auto for $750 because the seller thought it had a sludged oil pick up and was toast, but I think it just got the turbo. They are extremely common in the scrapyards here and you could probably get a motor and turbo for cheap. You can also hot rod that bad boy if you guys want to go there in the future.

Personally I would wait for a good $1500 car and throw $500 to make it nice. People who don't understand how to work on cars think that a project like this would be easy. Looking back, would you buy your first car with a smoked mill and swap it on a limited budget at 16 with no experience? I would not want to scare the kid with some massive project when you can just as easily get some ok car and do brakes on it or something and start off slow.

Keep in mind that you are buying a non-running car, not a car that is a guaranteed runner after your plug a new mill into it. You could drop a new motor into it and something else could be toast, or blow up shortly. I'm going to guess that the parents want a volvo because it is safe? Buying a non-running car with a blown engine and then a complete newb and a newb to the platform doing a budget diy swap is not conducive to having a safe, reliable car.

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Looking back, would you buy your first car with a smoked mill and swap it on a limited budget at 16 with no experience?


Did then, wouldn't now.

I didn't know how difficult (on a Triumph 1300) it was then, so (with some equally clueless friends) it was accomplished, including quite a lot of work that wasn't needed because we wanted to "do it properly".

Now I know a bit more I wouldn't try it.

Ignorance sometimes gets things done.

 

[deanm11]

I did something similar but did it solo when I was about 25. My mom's friend had a gen1 Mazda RX-7 and seized the engine. Perfect, $200 car and nice light motor to change out. I bought a junkyard motor, rented a hoist and threw it all in the trunk of my '87 Regal T-type ! Changed the motor out in my mom's condo driveway after getting "dissuaded" by the cops from towing the car with a rope with my friend's help from where it died ! So paid for a tow and a few hundred bucks I drove it away. I'm not sorry I did it but the junkyard motor turned out to be a heavy oil leaker and had a bad clutch on it that I foolishly didn't swap out.

Absolutely do one where you have great documentation from someone that did one before. Lighter motor is nice for jockeying it (and usually an attached trans) into place more than it just being heavy to lift out of there.

 

[spasm3]

Saturn s-series are pretty cheap to buy, the engine is easy to rebuild. Takes more work to get it out than to to do the engine. Some parts are difficult to come by. You can pull the engine from the top, or drop the cradle. I'd advise against dropping the cradle.

P.S. third generation saturns were produced in lower numbers, so less junkyard parts are available. ( like body parts, hoods, good carpet etc.) Avoid any sunroof saturn s- cars.

 

[meep]

We have 2 volvos in the family (05 S60 and 09 S60) and find them pretty agreeable to work on. They are well-built and have a surprising amount of thought in how they go together under the hood. They also handle handle and feel differently than the domestics and japanese models - more suspension travel, heavier chassis, quiet interiors. I quite enjoy mine.

THAT SAID, the electronics in them are -picky-. If you do an engine swap, do not assume you can swap over anything with a wire. things like temp sensors and the like may be ok, but I would spend some time online comparing part numbers from different years to confirm that the same electronics (coil packs, crank sensors, etc.) are used. Flashable electronics - must be same year/model at the minimum.

A note on volvos. you are likely to find totaled volvos in junkyards after non-major fender benders, with perfectly healthy drive trains. They have minimal 3rd party parts support, so a bumper tap results in a $1200 cover, $900 in headlights, perhaps a rad/condenser/fan and support for another $1200. Add in time and labor and it's a gonner. But if you size it up right, and can scavenge those pieces from a 'yard, they bolt back up and go and all you have to do is determine how much you care about paint, and then get a repaired title. I know a dealer north of here that sells them this way at a very fair price and they are quite good cars this way.

-m

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: deanm11
Changed the motor out in my mom's condo driveway after getting "dissuaded" by the cops from towing the car with a rope with my friend's help from where it died !


Never experienced or heard of that with UK cops, though if you get the wrong cop on the wrong day anything can happen.

Tow ropes illegal in NJ?

 

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted By: Ducked
Originally Posted By: deanm11
Changed the motor out in my mom's condo driveway after getting "dissuaded" by the cops from towing the car with a rope with my friend's help from where it died !


Never experienced or heard of that with UK cops, though if you get the wrong cop on the wrong day anything can happen.

Tow ropes illegal in NJ?


I think tow ropes are illegal most everywhere.