yellowpatrol's SRT-4 to SRT-4 swap : Twin pics

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:26 am

I went to the shop again to pay them a surprise visit and check on the status, seeing as how they didn't return my previous 3 phone calls, and they said it would be a week or two more (nearly a month ago). The only thing they've done so far is the hot-tanking, but he assured me it would be QUOTE "a week or so" END-QUOTE. I asked him again before leaving and he said it will probably be no later than the end of next week.

I still need a few little knick nack parts and several large things such as radiator assembly, intercooler, MegaSquirt & accessories, injectors, throttle body, and fuel pump. Plus I know I'm gonna find I need little stupid stuff once I start working on it. Oh and MegaSquirt happens to be on backorder right now so I don't know when I'll be able to get that...

I'm also looking for some wheels still, I think I'm going to go with these:

But I need some really sticky tires to go with them. Any ideas?

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:59 am

Bass-tigess! Sucks about the engine man. Did they give any reason as to why it is taking so long?

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:00 pm

kc2002acr wrote:Bass-tigess! Sucks about the engine man. Did they give any reason as to why it is taking so long?

The guy said he had heart surgery and was out for 3 months.

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:56 am

Shop called today, they wanted more money for stuff that was not on the initial estimate- balancing motor and polishing crankshaft. Total of $215. They still think it will be done in less than a week.

Nutmeg · Post by **Nutmeg** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:13 am

Hope you get the engine soon.

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:36 am

yellowpatrol wrote:Shop called today, they wanted more money for stuff that was not on the initial estimate- balancing motor and polishing crankshaft. Total of $215. They still think it will be done in less than a week.

Damn that sucks.

Hope they do a good job and all is well man.

Great choice in wheels yourself.

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 10:30 am

So this morning I bought myself a MegaSquirt kit. I'm still nervous about programming it and not blowing up my car, but now I'm also excited. In other news, this $500 purchase has pushed my car over the $10,000 in upgrades barrier. I don't know if I should be happy or kicking myself.

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:17 am

I thought the MS was on backorder? You must of realized there is more than one place that carries MS and if one place says its on backorder doesn't mean they won't have it in stock somewhere else.

Hot tanking is so simple. All they do is set the block in this machine and turn it on. One hour later its done.

So $10k on top of the price of the car when you got it = How much was spent on the Neon?

Seems to me there will be nothing left to do once the car is running.

You will have everything covered from nose to tail.

2002TuRboNeoN · Post by **2002TuRboNeoN** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:52 am

lol be happy about ur 10 grand barrier lol im only on 4,000 for my srt build hey atleast shes cranking im gonna play with the fuel see wat ic an do with it

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 5:09 pm

MyNeonSaysHi wrote:I thought the MS was on backorder? You must of realized there is more than one place that carries MS and if one place says its on backorder doesn't mean they won't have it in stock somewhere else.

Hot tanking is so simple. All they do is set the block in this machine and turn it on. One hour later its done.

So $10k on top of the price of the car when you got it = How much was spent on the Neon?

Seems to me there will be nothing left to do once the car is running. You will have everything covered from nose to tail.

Nah the status changed from BACKORDER, to just a few hours ago they announced there were actually 6 in stock and they wouldn't make them anymore, so I bought one from RS. Woo hoo!

So are you thinking they ripped me off for polishing the crank? I'm not sure what you're saying. Either way it's not like I can do it, so whatever.

The car was $11,000 so now I'm up to $21,500. The sad part is 90% of the upgrades are just chilling out, not even installed in the car.

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Mon May 05, 2008 12:14 pm

Bump for status update. I called the shop last Thursday or Friday and pressured them a bit to have it done by this coming Wednesday.

MegaSquirt should be arriving today.

I can't make up my mind for how to approach the transmission side of things- whether I should stick with my T-350, or clean up the T-850, get a new clutch pedal, starter, differential, and axles. There are some pretty bad ass axles here: http://www.driveshaftshop.com/item135626.ctlg
that can stand up to 750hp, but they are $1,700!

I would really like to do that, but it's going to be way more than I was prepared to spend.

Also, I should be getting the new wheels at some point this month.

Other planned purchases include:
BFMIC, crane #14 cams, walbro fuel pump, 1600cc injectors, motor mounts, throttle body, engine bay harness, various fuel and vacuum lines...

glasswars · Post by **glasswars** » Mon May 05, 2008 1:54 pm

Wow. You must have a pretty kick ass job for all of this lol.

Nutmeg · Post by **Nutmeg** » Mon May 05, 2008 8:50 pm

glasswars wrote:Wow. You must have a pretty kick ass job for all of this lol.

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Mon May 05, 2008 11:04 pm

Nah, not the greatest job, just computer repairs / sales. I just know how to manage money.

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Tue May 06, 2008 12:43 am

yellowpatrol wrote:Nah, not the greatest job, just computer repairs / sales. I just know how to manage money.

Yup. When you know how to do that, anything is possible.

Glad its coming together!

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Thu May 08, 2008 7:40 pm

Okay, I'm really pissed. The guy said he would call me Monday. As in four days ago Monday. He never called, of course. So today I called him and asked why I didn't hear from them. He said he was sorry and that he was very busy. Before I had a chance to say anything else he started asking me if I was going to put the pistons and rods in myself. I told him that I was under the impression he'd be doing that for me since we talked about it the day I dropped the engine off, nearly 9 months ago. He says, oh no, all I have here is "tear down engine, hot tank all parts, bore / hone block...". I said, "well what were you planning to do, just tear it down and give it back to me in pieces?"

He said "yeah".

So it's going to be fucking $970 to do what I originally thought he was going to do. There's nowhere else around here that does this kind of work AFAIK. What would you guys do in my position??

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Thu May 08, 2008 7:54 pm

i'd be super pissed and i'd pay it. take my stuff and never go back. and let him know that you'll never be back

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Thu May 08, 2008 8:56 pm

Whoa whoa whoa, back the truck up. I just looked over that original estimate he gave me, and it says clear as day install new engine parts!!

INVUJerry · Post by **INVUJerry** » Thu May 08, 2008 9:26 pm

I hope you don't like your boots, because I can see they're going to be up that guys ass.

supertrick_05 · Post by **supertrick_05** » Thu May 08, 2008 11:44 pm

Holy damn dude...I'd be fuckin pissed! I guess I didn't read your entire thread...were these people well-known in your area and recommended to you? If they were, I'd tell them how you feel and punch the person who recommended them to you square in the mouf! That's bullshit.

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Thu May 08, 2008 11:47 pm

Yeah they were recommended to me by 2 different people. I looked at the estimate again, do you think he meant "install new... freeze plugs"? It's misleading the way it's written on there.

03blackrt · Post by **03blackrt** » Thu May 08, 2008 11:59 pm

Burn down their shop!!!!

SRSLY!

Good thing I can assemble my own motor. My local shop only charges $20 a hole to bore/hone. $40 to hot tank.

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Fri May 09, 2008 12:01 am

03blackrt wrote:Burn down their shop!!!! SRSLY!

Good thing I can assemble my own motor. My local shop only charges $20 a hole to bore/hone. $40 to hot tank.

This guy is saying they have all kinds of balancing and shit to do too.

supertrick_05 · Post by **supertrick_05** » Fri May 09, 2008 12:02 am

yellowpatrol wrote:I looked at the estimate again, do you think he meant "install new... freeze plugs"? It's misleading the way it's written on there.

Yeah, I noticed that too...that may be it. I dunno though...good luck with them!

Nutmeg · Post by **Nutmeg** » Fri May 09, 2008 12:02 am

I didn't know God updated threads....

Jokes aside, that really sucks. Hope it all gets worked out.

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Fri May 09, 2008 1:08 am

*edit...I changed this post because I don't know how to read

But yeah, I noticed that as well. It's kinda funny...when I had my engine work done on my 2.2, it was written like that as well. I had a lot more stuff done, but the write-up was broken like that..very deceptive.

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Fri May 09, 2008 9:59 am

So should I try to put the pistons and rods in myself, or is that a precision type job that I should pay him to do? I don't want the whole thing to explode because a bolt is over or under torqued by a few pounds.

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Fri May 09, 2008 10:46 am

I would assume you have a FSM? If not

With said manual you should be able to assemble the engine yourself provided you have the proper tools to do so. It isn't hard, but if you haven't done this kind of thing before, it would be a good idea to practice on another engine first, or have someone with you who has to help out.

Tearing down and re-assembling an engine for your own car is a very rewarding experience if things go well...and very frustrating if it doesn't. Either way, you learn a lot

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Fri May 09, 2008 11:07 am

Danteneon wrote:I would assume you have a FSM? If not

With said manual you should be able to assemble the engine yourself provided you have the proper tools to do so. It isn't hard, but if you haven't done this kind of thing before, it would be a good idea to practice on another engine first, or have someone with you who has to help out.

Tearing down and re-assembling an engine for your own car is a very rewarding experience if things go well...and very frustrating if it doesn't. Either way, you learn a lot

I have a pretty good idea of everything involved, like I just said, it's not that I don't know how to do it but that I'd rather have the confidence that it's going to be done by a pro, and a simple little mistake won't ruin the whole thing.

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Fri May 09, 2008 11:22 am

Understandable. You just have to think about the price vs. the professional install. If his work comes with some kind of warranty, that may be the way to go. The only problem is if the engine does develop some problem it is easy for the builder to claim it wasn't related to something he did.

2GN.ORG

yellowpatrol's SRT-4 to SRT-4 swap : Twin pics

UPDATE: MEGASQUIRT, UPGRADES EXCEED $10,000 MARK!