ok, here is the problem




I have a nice almost complete 1986 2+2. interior is black/silver/green. exterior is met. gray.

I have a friend who is about to purchase a 1988 2 seater/ turbo.
it runs just as good as mine, the only issue is the interior. the interior is brown leather and tan carpet...I hate those colors.

I set him up with the car, and this will be his third, he only needs it to get around in germany, so he asked me if I wanted the engine or to trade cars since I was looking for a turbo.

so I am stuck, should I trade cars outright or do a engine swap.
ps. how hard is it to trade engines? I have a extra 3000 block, but...dont know how hard it is to unhook and rehook the electronics


thanx for all posts that might help in this manner

Wolfman

 

How stuck on the interior are you? Cause in all honesty it would be MUCH easier to swap the interiors then it would be to swap the engines. I'd take the turbo car and give him yours with the agreement that you can swap the interiors. Plus if you run into a snag doing something like that you'll both still be able to drive the cars. Where as with an engine swap if something goes wrong then both of you could be SOL til you fix the problem. But thats just me

 

Ok scratch that, I just read the part about the 2 seater and 2+2 deal. My bad. I guess then it comes down to whether you really want the 2+2 or not. Cause if you just take the 2 seater you could always end up redoing the interior in the future. And engine swap isn't all that hard at all, but you can run into snags and if either of you are dependant on these cars as daily drivers then you could be without if something goes wrong. I'd take the turbo CAR. But if you insist on keeping the 2+2 then just go for the swap. It wont be that hard and if you've both got other cars then you've really got nothing to lose other than a little bit time.

 

How many miles on each engine? How's the exterior look?

In the U.S. you can go to a local auto store and buy vinyl paint, which makes it incredibly easy to change the interior to any color you want. You could swap the seats out of your old car.

I cannot help you with the technical side of this with the engine swap, because i havnt done one.

 

I dont know the milage becasue I am rebuilding the engine soon, ps, that was not the issue, I was trying to decide what I wanted to do, make the 2+2 into a turbo or take the near perfect interior and put it into the 2 seater.

the 2+2 is a 1986 n/a manual

the 2 seater is 1988 turbo auto.

this is the interior of the '86 ps, this is after 3 mos of buffing out scratches and reapplying color due to fading
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...1/81cb1cc8.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...1/259e5336.jpg

'88 interior ps, the steering wheel looks like he carved it outa wood o and I hate brown for interior.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...1/a1108d24.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...1/75de03fa.jpg

even some panels missing
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...1/d4f8f8fa.jpg

here is the only thing that looks good as far as what he added
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...1/ef5be55b.jpg

and of course the T2 or 3 turbo cant remember which one he said it was.


a update: I am close to making up my mind, we are going to take the euro interior and put it into the 86 and put the interior I fixed up into the 88. ps, I am scared this is my first turbo... dont know what upgrades to buy atm.

 

Well getting the turbo car will be your first upgrade in itself. Enjoy that until you can decide what to upgrade next.

 

well I mean, what kinda upgrades are the best for the buck. like in a N/a a new intake/ exhaust is always the best route to go first, is that the same for the turbo? if so, I can find any good headers for it, guess they dont k=make headers for turbs, and if that sounded incredible stupid..I apologize..my first turbo and all.

 

A free flowing exhaust is always a good mod for a turbo car. Gets the turbo spooling faster. Intercooler and a boost controller will allow you to up the boost (be moddest). With that right there you can make some pretty decent power. From there its a matter of getting more fuel into the engine to go with all the extra air you can now pump through it with your turbo. Just keep the oil changed and the cooling system in good shape and dont boost beyond the abilities of the engine. Once you increase the amount of fuel you can pump into the engine and put on a decent intercooler and exhaust, it's just a matter of turning up the boost to make more power.

Just be ready for when the bug bites you. Once you see how easy it is to get power out of a force induction motor its hard to stop. Just dont push your motor beyond its capabilities. You'll soon learn however, that there's never enough power to be had

 

fyi, headers cannot be used on turbo cars.

 

lol, I figured that I could not use headers once I looked at it some more and realized it needs all the power to one pipe... o well

now to move onto the other answer.... do I need that computer to adjust the boost? and is a intercooler worth it? 1950+ worth of power? I was thinking of hooking up the co2 system. its used the same way as nos.

I was looking at a controler computer, any recommendations? I was thinking of one that can monitor and change stuff like fuel to air and also the boost ect.

sorry for the noobinizm in this post so far..but like I said, never dealt with anything but N/A from my camaro to my Z.

 

I'll take it in order.
You can get a manual boost controller for under $100.00. Some as cheap as $25-$30.

An intercooler is DEFINITELY worth it. Without it you'll be stuck in very low boost. Dont fork over $1950 though. You can pick up a inexpensive intercooler on ebay for less than $200 or you can go to a junk yard and get one even cheaper. You'll just have to make it fit. You can get piping kits on ebay for under $200 too. Cheaper if you piece it together from junkyard piping.

The CO2 would be unneccesary. An intercooler is a put it in and forget it deal. The Co2 will constantly have to be refilled and if you run out on a drive then you're screwed. As far as a fuel controller goes you can start with a rising rate fuel pressure regulator to compensate extra fuel. JWT offers tuned ECU's for a more accurate approach. Stand alone would be an extreme option (though mega squirt is inexpensive). You can get an electronic boost controller to monitor boost and A/F ratio and all that but those can get pricey.

Enjoy it. You'll be hooked on turbo from now on (as long as this one doesn't give you too much trouble )

 

hmm, time to do it on EBAY!!! what a tune.. seems to be a commin one, I just hope that I dont get carried away...

thanx, going window..I mean screen shoppin

updae on ebay shoppin... only one result for intercooler and thats a purg thingy.. anyone want to pick one up from a junk yard? I will pay for part and shipping and whatever you feel your time is worth. within reason that is

 

were you looking for an IC in Germany? I don't understand german, but I just typed in Intercooler in Ebay germany & came up w/ 54 items...

http://search.ebay.de/search/search....ler&category0=

 

Since you're on a military base (you are on a base right?, I'm assuming thats why you're in Germany so correct me if I'm wrong) then you should be able to order stuff off of Ebay from here in the states since you'll still be paying in US dollars and shipping is done through a military address (whatever its called). So I'd search around on ebay for items in the US. A lot say worldwide shipping anyways.

If not I'm sure you can purchase something and have it shipped to someone here in the states and then have them send it to you in Germany. I'm just throwing out ideas here cause I dont know how it works living in a foreign country.

 

guess I misspelt intercooler... but any ideas what size/ width would fit the best? anyone already have deminsions. I have never hooked one of these up... any poionters before I say Opps!!!!

 

Depends on the hp / boost you are aiming for... Also depends on the demensions of the location where you plan to put the ic & how you are planning to run pipes to it.

So... figure out that stuff & look at your options. Remember, big *** ic's also increase boost lag slightly. So you need to weigh your options / wants. There are tons of write ups on the web about choosing the right ic.

 

sorry for asking, but I took a better look at the car, and... have no idea where to start...... will bums websie have options or posts on this? I will look, but just in case I miss it plz tell me

prolly going to eait on the ic, but still deciding what to do all together. already ripped out the entire interior and planning on spraying the noise dampaning rubber this week. any other ideas for interior work or even exterior for that matter..