yes or no aspire swap...

[dragonslit]

im a bit flustered with this whole aspire swap idea. been to the yard and theres a couple donors that look descent. well money a little short but with new front and back brakes and tires well you can see why im hard on the decision. yay's and neigh's plz and thanks guyz. would like to hear wat your opinions are.

[Aaronbrook37]

Do it in pieces if you have to. You could go once and get the shocks/springs (if wanted) and front swaybar. Then you could get the front brake setup on the second trip. Then you could do the rear beam/brakes on a third trip. No reason to have to pay for everything at once!

[Tommychu]

Aspire swap doesn't need to be expensive. You can do it super cheap if you follow these guidelines:
Drums and rotors: keep the junkyard ones on and get them machined. Have them measured first; If they're too thin to machine, take them back to the JY and either find another set or grab some white box rotors
Pads and shoes: You can get the white box stuff here too, or if your donor has decent pads just use them 'til you have some cash flow. Especially the rears, drum brakes last forever.
wheels: pull some 13-14" steelies off a honda or whatever has the best rubber and a 4x100 bolt pattern (if it's a VW make sure you keep the lugs, VW uses ball seat lugs)
If the aspire has decent rubber, just use it's wheels. done. You don't have to roll on ballin' 15" dubs right away, and it's better than 12s

With the front end still together on the JY donor, just give the tire a wiggle to see if the tie rods have any play. If it's tight, keep 'em and use 'em.
Calipers:look at the pads that were in there. If there's a significant (visible without squinting) diference in thickness take the sliders out, wire brush and lube them. (edit: clean and lube them anyway. it'll save you some grief and a lot of squealing down the road) visually check the seal around the piston too.


You can pull it off, still get all the benefits (albeit to a lesser level) and spend about half the money if you can do all that.

[dragonslit]

well good news and bad news.... my dad found me an aspire 93 with engine trouble for $200. cant get it for a few months but i went to advanced auto and got rotors pad shoes springs and drums... anything else? Im doing drums but the shops doing rotors and pads.
rear drums and e brake... fun. cant wait. but yet back to the aspire. father said he would hold it in his kansas home for me as a parts car till i can find another festy to put my new stuff on and have 2 festys. cant wait.....

[FestYboy]

why not do the front yourself, they're MUCH easier than the rear... (unless you're refering to the festy rotors).

[dragonslit]

so.. shops pressing rotors and rear drums inner bearing sleeve.... which needs pressed in a new rotor... didnt know, but cant wait to borrow money and try to get this thing fixed... will have pics tomorrow of wats off and going on. need brake help if u can find threaad.