My first engine swap build thread

[Festiva_Fred]

Going to be a really nice Festiva when it's done!

[freshtiva]

[ejp2fast]

good days work fresh!

[freshtiva]

Dear Diary:

Put eight hours in on the project today. Most of that time was parts cleaning. Thought Id use my shop parts cleaner until I found out that 20 Gals of mineral spirits cost a lot of money. Note, find bulk mineral spirits prices. This car must have come with a bad valve cover gasket from the factory and was never replaced, Ive never seen so much grease build up. Its thick everywhere. On a positive note the car has no rust underneath and all the nuts and bolts came off easily because of the liberal amount of oil all over everything. Even the dreaded weld nut on the backside of the control arm bolts. Finished the degreasing, sanding, and priming of the engine bay from the fire damage. Will paint tomorrow. Cleaned every part thats off the car. I found one part that doesnt need replaced. The drivers side control arm/ball joint and bushing are good. Thank god, Im taking that as a positive sign. FMS, Oreilly parts will be in within the week and things will be going back togather. Postponed rear torsion bar replacement until engine is in as the car has to be rolled under the chain hoist. Parts list made, checking account good, full speed ahead. The devil is in the details.

PS. worked on a DIY spring compressor for the front struts.

[Damkid]

good luck on the swap!! it's looking good so far!!

[freshtiva]

Also unhook the battery cable and depressurize the fuel system first. Yeah, industrial primer. I think its used for farm implements. Close enough

[festivaWES]

nevermind i reread the primer part.....weird color for primer.

[festivaWES]

You tell him your not suppossed to work on a car around fuel with a lit cig.

Fresh why competition orange on the firewall??

[freshtiva]

Yeah, the story as I heard it from the previous owner was that his Dad " a constant tinkerer" was attemping to change the fuel filter. If Id seen a festiva on fire I probably would have fainted. 8^]

[FestYboy]

got a little hot, 'eh?

[freshtiva]

^ On a b6 ?

Couple of update pics, trying to repair fire damage to the fire wall. Glad it wasnt a big fire. Removed stuff from the fire wall, degreased, sanded, taped and primed, paint tomorrow. I have most of the components, clips, and various pieces to rebuild. Note what was left of the inner fender sheild in the last pic.

[festivalife]

This all looks pretty exciting. I don't know if this is the correct thread to ask this, but found nothing in the several seaches done before this.
What problems would there be with swapping out my '90s camshaft with one from an '88?

[sasquatch]

I will, but it may take me awhile as Im usually at work and dont have much free time. Also I doing a three way swap plus repairing some fire damage so there are several more things to plan and do. Not to mention taking apart a donor car I need some parts off of. Tonight I took my aspire knuckles apart and started cleaning and painting plus replacing rotors, pads and anti seizing the bushing etc. Probably spend more time on just that tomorrow. What Im getting at is that I hope I get it done in time to help you out. I will document it well though. I just want to take my time and do a good job. Im guessing several months. No way I could do it in a weekend, I could clean on an engine bay for an entire weekend without doing anything else. You did see Skeeters Keeper article didnt you ?? I read it a couple of times.

sounds like you have to much time to think about you want to do... go out and do it lol jk... glad to see you are taking your time and doing it right. i hate seeing everyone rushing and doing a poop of a job. i may not have much time to do my swap but im a fast worker... and i have my friends to help. i wont have my motor together for a bit of time, its taking alot more time and money than i ever thought possable lol.

[freshtiva]

I will, but it may take me awhile as Im usually at work and dont have much free time. Also I doing a three way swap plus repairing some fire damage so there are several more things to plan and do. Not to mention taking apart a donor car I need some parts off of. Tonight I took my aspire knuckles apart and started cleaning and painting plus replacing rotors, pads and anti seizing the bushing etc. Probably spend more time on just that tomorrow. What Im getting at is that I hope I get it done in time to help you out. I will document it well though. I just want to take my time and do a good job. Im guessing several months. No way I could do it in a weekend, I could clean on an engine bay for an entire weekend without doing anything else. You did see Skeeters Keeper article didnt you ?? I read it a couple of times.

[sasquatch]

could you please make a how-to thing? ive been looking to find one, but cant im shure its easy but i need to have it done in one weekend so i can be to work on monday... so i need to have everything planned out good.