Ok, i searched but i doubt very well. Maybe i just dont use good enough keywords cause i never get anything ( 0 results found) but ok --

How hard is it to put in a new motor?
I threw a rod in my d16y7 a while back and my car has been just sitting in tooele utah ( 45-hour away)

I have already taken off the head (first time tearin into things, really newb i know)

I just got my motor from hmotorsonline last night, it was sent to my grandma's shop where ive been thinking of paying them to put it in (quickly) (400$ labor) + (100$) towing my car to the shop. I gave them the key to the car and the car is still sitting in Tooele and will be there until monday because "hes too busy" so basically it won't even be started on til monday.

the motor is just the japanese equivelant of the d16y7. just the head + block.

Now, ive always planned to just do it myself cause its MY car and thats all i want for it, is just me to do it. BUT i recently am staying with my mom at her house again and she says it will just take me way too long and create a huge mess and its just worth it to pay the shop the $ to do it.

Now, to the question.

Can i do it? obviously i need an engine hoist, i think the neighbor here has one i could use. How long would it take me? i still need to get the block out and then drop the new engine in. How long does it usually take? I can do it myself? Id love to save my 500$ as money is HARD for me to come by. What are the steps to doing it? time taken? things involved? Any help is appreciated ! Thanks!

 

I feel that with the proper equipment and a Helms manual , even being completely noob I would say that you could do it in 2 days. That would be taking your time. Two days of work and the knowledge you gain from attempting it yourself would definitely be worth 500 IMO

If I had the proper tools and a couple of days to remove my motor, I would feel confident in doing it myself.

 

hmm ok, i have a Haynes manual but thats not very descriptive, but i think it would be pretty much common sence right? What tools are required?

 

look at the writeups for a b series swap. it entails removing a stock engine, and once you remove one, you know how to put one it. its a lot easier than you think. i have done an auto2man conversion, rear disc conversion, and an engine swap. it took me a week on the swap but that was cause it was in the middle of december durring a ******* snow storm and i was working outside. dropping an engine durring a blizzard is not fun.

 

What all do you need to switch over? Trans, crank pulley, flywheel?

I have torn apart my first two motors and have realized that 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 drive with MM sockets are needed with extensions (If you need to take the crank off (19mm 1/2in.) and for the flywheel (17mm 12pt. 1/2in.) and (10mm 12pt 3/8 or 1/2in). It helps to have a breaker bar and a pry bar. Jack and stands.

There may be more tools, but off the top of my head this is what I remember. You can also drop the motor through the bottom of the car, which would not require the lift... but I think if you are doing it alone a lift may be a better choice.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gsxr1k05 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...but that was cause it was in the middle of december durring a ******* snow storm and i was working outside. dropping an engine durring a blizzard is not fun. </TD></TR></TABLE>

^^ ouch, that cant be comfortable

 

Hey, I think this might give you a little boost. I did my first engine swap like a week ago and its a pretty involved project but I'm certain almost anyone can do it. First of all you will need the engine hoist obvioussly. Take ALOT of pictures of your engine bay to see where all your lines hook up, WIRES ETC..(this will help a considerable amount in the end). Disconnect axles from tranny, unplugg all wires, pull out all your vaccum hoses, coolant lines..basically dissconnect everything from engine..Now you want to get under the car and disconnect the shift linkage, I prefer doing this from the other end of the shift linkage,(not the transmission end..do not do this from the transmission end because you have the "bitch pin" which is easier to remove with the engine out of your car, then you can disconnect the shift linkage from the tranny. Remove headers(exhaust piping from engine... Once you have that done you want to hook up your engine hoist with a chain or whatever you have to secure the engine onto the hoist and then unbolt engine from the motor mounts..You may have some trouble shifting the engine around to break it free from the mounts and other lines/cables but nothing major. Once you have the engine out, get your other engine secured by chain to the hoist and lift it up into your engine bay and bolt it into your motor mounts first. Put your axles back into the tranny and then go back to your old pictures to see where "some " of your lines/wires hook up..You may want to invest in a service manual "Haynes" should cost less than $20 at a local autozone or auto parts store..This will be you biggest help in the end for all your hook-ups on your engine. Anyways good luck and if you got a question just PM me. Later

 

Also replying to your original question, it took me 2 days total to get it all done.
Pulled engine out first day(took maybe 2 hours at most). Got it done the next daytook about 5 hours to get engine back in and having it started.

 

wow, anyone else have any stories? I'm basically trying to convince my mom to let me do it here and not at the shop :D

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CivicUtah &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">wow, anyone else have any stories? I'm basically trying to convince my mom to let me do it here and not at the shop :D</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, when I was pulling the 454 outta my camaro to send it off to the shop to get machined, the piston lost pressure on the cherry picker and it dropped....fast...landed on the rad support - dented the oil pan, it's a 67 though and way back then they made cars like tanks..so the rad support was just scratched a bit...now-a-days it'd probably total the car .

It's not hard at all, but as with EVERYTHING else - **** HAPPENS.

How the hell did I know the piston was gonna lose pressure?? **** happens. My friend's been working on cars for 2 decades, busted the rear end in my Camaro when taking it apart...or putting it back together (forgot which) - **** happens.

USUALLY - swaps go well, but like I said before - **** happens.

Anybody that's been working on cars for a long time will tell you that sometimes **** happens - it's unavoidable - and you just have to work around it.

There's a fine line between not knowing what you're doing, and unavoidable **** just happening.

When my dad's benz was newer he took it to the dealership to have a headgasket replacement - they torqued it down according to manual - according to spec - it blew 200 miles later? Bad torque? No, everything was done 100% - just a faulty headgasket - again - **** happens.

So will it go 100%? Maybe.

Give it a whirl, if something happens, then 9 times out of 10 you can still work through it. Perfection isn't guaranteed.

I mean suppose you lose something stupid - like the bolt & cotter pin that goes on the lower ball joint support - you obviously aren't going anywhere too fast without it - but it's small **** like that that can set your swap back.

Go for it - see what happens - worst case scenario - something'll happen - in which case, H-T is open 24/7.