» Site Navigation | | » Recent Threads | | | | | | | | 10-01-2011, 01:09 AM | #1 | Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Atlanta Posts: 233 | Found a good deal on a donor car, what else do I need Hey all, been a while since I have posted. I have been busy with motorcycle projects and the ti has been falling a part. I've been thinking recently about selling the car and spending 2 or 3 grand extra to get something newer, but then I found a wrecked 328 for cheap and it got me thinking about a swap. The guy is willing to trade the car for one of my older bikes and it may be too good to pass up. If I do it, I'll have a full donor car and about $2K to totally overhaul the ti. I'm thinking new suspension, new cooling system, tires, brakes, maybe a paint job. What will I need to buy for the swap that I can't pull from the donor? Also, realistically, how long do you think it would take to do the swap and have the car back on the road? I'll have to do it in the afternoon and on the weekends, probably by myself mostly but with a helper once in a while. What do you guys think? __________________ -PTS- "Some people like cupcakes better. I for one, care less for them" | | | 10-01-2011, 01:51 AM | #2 | Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Potomac Falls VA DMV Posts: 1,794 | It would take a while. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ Im guessing im the youngest member on here with a S52 power'ed Ti at 16 years old! | | | 10-01-2011, 02:34 AM | #3 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Monterey, CA Posts: 770 | Prep time and well defined obtainable go a long way. Complete the swap on paper before you actually begin. That's how I conduct all of my swaps and they turn out fairly well with minimal hiccups. Here's an example: Day 1 (4 hours): Garage Prep/ tool organization Day 2 (4 hours): Donor strip 4: Wiring harness disconnected, coolant system removed, prep for day 3 (1 hrs) Day 3 (3 hours): Donor strip 2, front body parts removed, shifter and driveshaft removed prep for day 4 (1hrs). This will make your swap much more enjoyable and people will be more willing to lead a hand. Remember to always reset you workspace everyday and always prep for the next job. Tag and bag everything and take pictures of every component that you remove. Last edited by dahamler; 10-01-2011 at 11:26 AM. | | | 10-01-2011, 05:31 PM | #4 | Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: 43609 Posts: 3,425 | Took me 2.5 hours to rip the engine, trans, harness, intake, exhaust, ews, key, battery system from a 325 in the junkyard, then 5 hours to rip the ti apart in the driveway and install the 2.5. One hour to bleed the cooling system, test drive, iron out kinks, pick up another dme, then 2 hours to fab an exhaust from the headers to the tip. Done this two weeks ago. Prior to that, 98 ti with m50 conversion, cluster, wiring, exhaust, in and out for a custom in 9 hours. Definitely a day experience for me, but shouldnt take the average joe a weekend in and out completely __________________ 1995 Hellrot Clubsport 318ti -Gone 1996 Schwartz II Sport 357ti - 5.7L V8 LS1/6 1997 Moregrun Metallic 318ti - Gone 1998 Schwartz II sport 318ti - M50TUB25/5 Last edited by Bluebimma; 10-01-2011 at 05:33 PM. | | | 10-02-2011, 02:50 AM | #5 | Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Atlanta Posts: 233 | Good, that is what I was thinking. The goal is to have the ti back on the road as soon as possible so I don't have to ride the motorcycle in the cold weather. I was thinking strip the donor, haul it off, then park the ti and do the swap. Can you guys think of any parts that I should go ahead and get beforehand (rubber/replacement parts that I wouldn't want to use from the donor)? I found a guy willing to rent me his garage today so I think it is going to happen! __________________ -PTS- "Some people like cupcakes better. I for one, care less for them" | | | 10-13-2011, 11:59 PM | #6 | Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Atlanta Posts: 233 | I just got the swap car! It looks like this is really going to happen this time. I found a guy who is renting me his garage for two months, that should be plenty of time. The engine has 170K on it, but it sounds perfect. What sort of preventative maintenance should be done to the engine while it is out? __________________ -PTS- "Some people like cupcakes better. I for one, care less for them" | | | 11-17-2011, 05:38 PM | #7 | Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Atlanta Posts: 233 | Tearing the 328 apart, should be putting the new lump in next week! Got a LSD and e30 half shafts and a ****load of new parts. I'll put some pics up tomorrow. Question: If I use the front half of the 328 driveshaft and the back half of the 318ti driveshaft, am I going to need to have them balanced somewhere? __________________ -PTS- "Some people like cupcakes better. I for one, care less for them" | | | 11-17-2011, 05:48 PM | #8 | Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Louisiana Posts: 1,093 | Take many pics for us who ain't swapped yet !!!! __________________ was the 1 an only Bagged Ti on 19's!! | | | 11-22-2011, 03:18 AM | #9 | Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Atlanta Posts: 233 | As much as I wanted to do this swap myself, I ended up having to pay a friend to do some of the work while I was at work. My crappy automatic transmission finally bit the dust and I needed to get the swap done as quickly as possible to avoid having to ride the motorcycle all winter. That said, there was some real progress today!!! Engine out! Bye bye wimpy four banger (for sale btw) Hello 2.8L I6! And while I'm at it, why not toss in some (almost) new Yokohama Avid Envigors Also have a limited slip 3.73 differential on the way with e30 axles. I am worried it will be too high a ratio but I guess I'll know soon enough. Anyone with an m52 using one of these? How do you like it? New radiator, waterpump, thermostat/housing and all hoses, etc. Also found out that the donor has an X-Brace and Bilsteins! I plan to use the front brakes, springs, and shocks if they aren't bent up from the PO leaving the ebrake off and letting it roll down a hill into a tree. Once the engine was out, I was able to see the cause of my elusive "weird steering wheel kind wobbly feeling". The rack is pretty much toast. I'll be buying a new one soon. I am hoping to recover a little bit of the cost of all this stuff by parting out the donor. Plenty of good stuff left on it if anyone is interesting. Also, will have a 4.10 open diff, getrag manual transmission (bought it previously for the swap but decided to use the zf in the donor instead), 318ti exhaust, dme, etc. __________________ -PTS- "Some people like cupcakes better. I for one, care less for them" Last edited by PrimeTimeSlime; 11-22-2011 at 06:13 AM. | | | 11-22-2011, 12:42 PM | #10 | Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: SW Florida Posts: 4,275 | you should change those cabin filters while they are easy to get to....once you button up your swap it'll be an SOB again. __________________ Sean 1995 Active | | | 11-22-2011, 01:45 PM | #11 | Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Atlanta Posts: 233 | Quote: Originally Posted by teetime4one you should change those cabin filters while they are easy to get to....once you button up your swap it'll be an SOB again. | Yep, I have the filters. The other ones were DISGUSTING! __________________ -PTS- "Some people like cupcakes better. I for one, care less for them" | | | 11-23-2011, 01:41 AM | #12 | Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Atlanta Posts: 233 | Got some more goodies today. LSD! Needs a good cleaning but looks like it should do the job. __________________ -PTS- "Some people like cupcakes better. I for one, care less for them" Last edited by PrimeTimeSlime; 11-23-2011 at 01:43 AM. | | | 12-08-2011, 11:18 PM | #13 | Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Atlanta Posts: 233 | It's in!!! Only one problem though. I took it to get the emissions done before I started the swap to buy myself some time in case it doesn't pass emissions with the new guts. The emissions guy broke the ignition barrel and we can't get the damned thing out. I am going to swap clusters with the other car since I need a new one, and we already swapped dme, and ews from the donor. Looks like I'll have two keys now but that doesn't bother me. Working on the LSD and exhaust now.Almost there! __________________ -PTS- "Some people like cupcakes better. I for one, care less for them" | | | 12-09-2011, 01:04 AM | #14 | Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: SW Florida Posts: 4,275 | i'm glad to see you've made some headway on your car...that engine looks nice and clean too...i hope it runs as good as it looks. __________________ Sean 1995 Active | | | 12-09-2011, 01:36 AM | #15 | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Scranton/Wilkes-barre area PA Posts: 454 | whats with your "tow hook"? __________________ ***Derek*** ^^Lola^^ Pioneer radio/ Pioneer 6-Disk CD Changer/ JBL 601.1 Grand Touring Amplifier/ Bilstein Sport shocks/ Bilstein e36sedan springs/ Green LED Courtesy Lights Accident Counter: 3... Last edited by rochey6957; 12-09-2011 at 01:37 AM. 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