Efficient, cheap beaters! Used car ads: 35 mpg highway or more for $1500 or less

[Xist]

I would never think that an engine swap would ever be easy, but 35 hours?!

[freebeard]

I vaguely remember engine pull and/or engine swap contests, but DDG is no help. IIRC 4 minutes to swap Beetle engines.

[hayden55]

Originally Posted by Xist

I would never think that an engine swap would ever be easy, but 35 hours?!

Yeah I would say you're a glutton for punishment if you willingly attempt an engine swap. My time is worth more than that now at this point or maybe I'm overworked and don't wanna work that much anymore.

These days... If it isn't a Honda i4 or a Chevy v8 you would be crazy to attempt the swap. Meaning coming with one of those from the factory and putting the same thing back in. Those are the only somewhat doable swaps from my eyes, personally (the old stuff). The relative non complexity of the silverado vs the f150 from like 97-04 is why you see a lot of silverados riding around with their second engine, and all the f150s ended up in the junkyard after their first motor etc...

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I vaguely remember engine pull and/or engine swap contests, but DDG is no help. IIRC 4 minutes to swap Beetle engines.

I'd wager that isn't including the time to procure and prep the new engine.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by hayden55

Yeah I would say you're a glutton for punishment if you willingly attempt an engine swap. My time is worth more than that now at this point or maybe I'm overworked and don't wanna work that much anymore.

These days... If it isn't a Honda i4 or a Chevy v8 you would be crazy to attempt the swap. Meaning coming with one of those from the factory and putting the same thing back in. Those are the only somewhat doable swaps from my eyes, personally (the old stuff). The relative non complexity of the silverado vs the f150 from like 97-04 is why you see a lot of silverados riding around with their second engine, and all the f150s ended up in the junkyard after their first motor etc...

Bolded for truth

[Xist]

...looking up all of the instructions...

So, swapping a Chevrolet V8 for a Honda I4 wouldn't be easy?

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by Xist

...looking up all of the instructions...

So, swapping a Chevrolet V8 for a Honda I4 wouldn't be easy?

You'd be surprised how often it's done. More often than the reverse, even. For whatever reason most small displacement Honda engines hold together under higher boost horsepower than many iron block V8s.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Xist

I would never think that an engine swap would ever be easy, but 35 hours?!

This was a "simple" job of pulling an overheated engine with a cracked block and replacing it with a salvage yard replacement.

I was doing the work on my own and doing it for the first time so there was lots of time consulting the manuals. Also time taking pictures and labeling / cataloging every nut and bolt and putting them in ziplocks so they don't get mixed up or lost.

That also includes 4-5 hours trying to figure out how not to follow the manual's instructions and trying pull engine without needing to pop the ball joint and move the hub. (I was hoping to avoid paying for an alignment). Of course that failed so that time was wasted.

Time to clean and paint the junkyard engine. Time to clean and touch up paint the engine bay. Time to swap all the accessories from the old engine to new engine. Time to tear down the old engine to individual parts to maximize scrap value.

I also was originally doing this work for someone else and he was a cheapskate that wanted to save every penny. I had to redo some work after he abandoned the project and I bought it from him. Things like reusing old coolant hoses and brittle plastic vacuum lines or not wanting to even spend $15 to replace the spark plugs when the engine was out. All of that takes way more time when the engine is in the vehicle.

It took about 3 weeks start to finished working Saturdays and some nights after work.

[Xist]

ItStillRuns' Guide to Swapping an Engine:

1. Locate the engine.
2. Remove everything connected to it.
3. Remove it.
4. Assembly is reverse of removal.

[Xist]

It has 175,000 miles and needs a regular battery, but once jumped it runs and drives--loudly: https://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/c...269926674.html