My buddy Mike and I are doing his 383 swap on saturday. I have had a motor out of a 79 camaro in an hour and half. Were taking it to a friends shop who has every goddamn power tool in the world at our disposal. We are getting started at 9:00 AM on the dot. Have the motor in and running by 12:00 and have the motor fully broke in by dinner time. Racin vipers that night/next day. Possible? we'll see. Let me know how long it has taken you guys. Its carbed, we have to put in a 3000 stall along with other transmission, work, new radiator.

 

When I rebuilt the 350 in my truck it took 3 months, that's as close as I've come to a motor swap. My dad's done it before though in a day by himself.

 

I got the engine and trans out of an 86 thunder chicken in about 5 hours total. That was in my school's shop with no power tools and a lot of kids running around "helping" me. It didn't have to go back in though so i worked a little faster. That didn't help you much, but that is the closest thing i've got.

 

My bro and I switched out his 2.8L, with complete 5.7L L98 out of an iroc. Took us every saturday for 4 months to do the whole swap. Well, it was also our first attempt at any of that too.

 

I did one in less than a day by myself, pulled an engine out of a Grand Prix and an El Camino, put the GP engine in the El Camino and had it running before dinner. Had to do some rewiring too.

 

I'd say it's possible if you got one or two guys helping you. But in my experiance if you putting in something the car didn't come with you usually require some part that pep boys or who ever doesn't have or the guy is to dumb to be able to look it up on a computer.

 

Taken me 3 months to go from 305 TBI to 350 Carbed. After the whole fuel pump in tank dieing, carb rebuilding, and now tranny blowing fluid everywhere..i've driven it about 30 miles.

P.S. Thats 3 months of working almost every single day...i've never done anything like this before.

 

Fastest I've ever done one by myself was 6 hours (well, it wasn't by myself, I had my 11-year-old son helping). With an experienced helper, I've done one in around 4-5 hours, drive in to drive out.

Where you get hosed is from not having what you need on hand when you need it, and having to dink around and figure out what you're screwing up. Either familiarize yourself with the job in every minute detail, by doing it 2 or 3 times before the time you time yourself on, for practice; or have somebody that you can send on parts store and dealer and junkyard and hardware store runs and Internet supplier surfs, to cut down on your time away from the task at hand.

 

well have you swapped an engine before?

 

I helped my dad when I was younger swap engines in his corvettes 3 times. And I put one in my 68 vette with his help once. Other than that the only time was when I helped my buddy pull that l-82 out of a 79 camaro. Took us about an hour and a half but it wasn't pretty. Trany fluid all over antifreese made a mess out his dads garage. That was 6 years ago. Alot older and smarter. This swap will be much cleaner. We are going to time it. I took of sunday too just in case we do run into problems. Im sure theres going to be little things that people always forget. But it seems we've thought of everything. My buddy has some experience he's a mechanic and has already done one motor swap in the car. Oh I forgot to mention its going into an 83 Z28.

 

Normally on my own stuff, I don't swap for speed, but when someone is paying me I do. I've done way to many in the past to count. On my roundy-round late model I pull the motor less carb, with tranny and reinstall in less than 2 hours by myself air tools not needed. But I designed the car that way, when I built it. On my SBC powered 70 Stang, I should be able to do it in the same amount of time with the motor plates. However, it's not done yet and haven't decided if I'll be adding a power adder yet.

The last swap I did for myself was a 455 from a 1973 Buick Electra into a 231 powered 1981 Regal. Had to 1st mock up the 455 in car, bolted to tranny and tack weld in motor mount perches from the Electra. Then had to remove motor, completely weld perches to frame and reinstall motor. I didn't feel like bolting them, even though I could've. Combined the v6 Buick hei distributor with a chevy v8 hei distributor, so I could dump the 455's points setup. Had car driving in about 5 hours. However, the stock v6 tranny grenaded on the 1st whole shot, in 1 blocks length. I figured it would but couldn't resist. Wound up having to rebuild a different 350 turbo that could hold up. I measured and planned out the swap prior, so it went faster than usual. But I'm not really into that stuff anymore. Kind of stopped when I sold off my last V8 Vega.

For some real fun, swap engines in a forklift. Those took me around 6-8 hours depending on the machine, when I was a forklift mechanic.

 

Once new engine is complete, with 2 people, about 5 hours. new engine running.............who knows?

 

2 1/2 years Never did it before. Now I think I could do it in weekend if I had to.

 

I've seen at my friend's shop an engine go from being on the hook to being mated up to the tranny and resting in the car in 5 min. Of course it took another couple hours to have it running hehe... Dead simple setup in a 65 Malibu vert though.
My own motor swap... forget how long it took but wasn't in any rush to get it done.

 

little of topic but I believe this is not the fastest swap ever (trying to be a smartass )

the guinness world record book states an engine swap with transmission in a f*rd Escort done in 52 sec.

 

Me and a friend swapped a motor and tranny in a 70 Challenger on a Saturday. No power tools either. Plus a couple cases of Bud and grilled steak. Hey....the car even ran !! Just don't remember too much of it after the first case. Guess we got lucky. Never do that again, as I spent my Sunday praying to the porcelin *** whos name is RAAALLLLLPH !!!

 

When I pulled out my old motor the night before I undid all the hoses and took out the radiator then the next day me and my friend had the entire motor and trans out in 15 minutes. Half of the time was getting the car on jackstands and removing the torque arm (always fun to take on/off for me). Although we got trans fluid, coolant, and oil all over the garage floor it was out as if it was nothing.

Putting it all back in took about 3 hours by myself. Would of been a lot quicker if I installed engine and trans at the same time. This may not seem too amazing but if you saw my garage you'd think it would be impossible. Every tool you need you will NOT be able to find until you don't need it anymore. I could literally search for a flat head screw driver for 40 minutes. You set a wrench down and it magically vanishes .......I think I have a tool stealing troll living in my garage now that I think about it....

 

TOOK ME ONE WEEK OF EVENINGS..and 2 weekends...around 40hrs....from 2.8 to now

 

hmm... 3 hours to pull and install and get it running... id say you better have a LOT of help, a LOT of experience, and EVERYTHING you could possibly need set out and organized... (ever part, every tool, everything)... helps if the tools are nicely organized too...

 

LOL mat89RS, actually the record was just broken if you have the new guiness. It was done in a Honda in 30 seconds. They used vtec power, I guess something we don't yet understand in America.(sarcasm)

 

On newer cars the whole K member comes out of the bottom of the car. ON a FWD car the transmission does too... With the right tools and such that is all easy. Not to mention moving a 200lb honda engine is alot easier that a 550lb SBC.

 

First engine swap. With no help.

Started on a Saturday morning with no air tools. Pulled a 305 and auto tranny from an old Caprice. Pulled the 250 straight 6 and 3 speed manual from a 66 Chevy P/U. Put the 305 and auto in by dark. Got everything hooked up and running by late afternoon on Sunday. Drove it to work on Monday as it was my only transportation.

 

Not counting the detailing and painting in between removal and installation, it took probably a total of about 3 hours to get my cousin's Ford Flathead V8 out and back in. Tranny included.

 

I'd just say take your time and make sure its done right! Sure an engine swap can be done in a few hour but sometimes you are going so fast you forget a few things. But you did say that it is a carbed set-up w/ is fairly simple so I quess it is possible. Make sure to let us know.

 

My swap has been going on for about a year now. Got an engine last August, turned out to be trash. Bought a whole new block and pistons, crank and just about everything new. So thanks to a lazy mechanic and just about every part having to be returned, I am just now starting to drive the beast. But it is well worth it!

Steve

 

i swapped out 4 motors in my RC car to put in my robot war machine... it kicked a$$.. it did an easy 30mph.... all 18 gauge sheet metal.. light and strong...

 

my dad and I have gotten to the point where we can have the LT1 out in 2 hours flat from drive-in to engine-on-stand. I guess thats what happens after pulling it out 4 times. We've gotten it down to a science, I unbolt everything on the bottom, he gets wiring and hoses. Works great that way. I think next time I have to do it I'll be able to restab the transmission myself, needed a little help last time.

 

Well it finnally is in. Total took us 36 hours. We ran into tons of problems, radiator was to big, transmission had to be worked through with new tourqe converter, pullies didn't line up, y-pipe didn't clear moroso oil pan. We are working through the problems now. We keep throwing belts. It took us 2 hours to get the motor and trans out, which wasn't bad. As far as the motor goes, its bad ***. Broke it in in 3 days, then took it down the track. Couldn't hook up at all, it was the first car I've seen burn right tire fire halfway down the track. Best time was 16 something. Got some problems to work out, of course but I will post back again when we get some better numbers.

 

What are the specs on that 383?

 

Its a 383, dont know what internals he has, Performer RPM heads and intake, 850cfm Edelbrock carb, headman lt headers into dual 2.5" pipes and into dynomax mufflers, 10.5:1 cr, roller rockers, XE 240/246 110LSA cam, and forged internals with Total Seal rings setup for nitrous.

 

Sounds like a stout little motor.

 

internals are, hawks racing nodular crank, Eagle I Beams rods, I believe TRW pistons, 3000 holeshot stall. 750 cfm carb, and Dynoflow mufflers.

 

RC motor swap huh? well...

I've pulled out my engine, swapped the head, changed the carb, changed all the fuel lines, rebuilt the starter, changed the exhaust gasket and had it back in and running in less than 1 hour

But it helps when you can lift the engine with 2 fingers quite effortlessly

BTW: Silicone gasket maker does not work well with nitro fuel, lol.

 

hehehe my motors were electric.... no swapping all that... no exahust... just clean rechargable powerfull electric motors. The thing had some serious torque... i think in scale... this car would own all. easy 0-60 in 2 sec.

 

what turn motor? what speed control? :-D heheh i had fun with my RC10T3 befor i sold it for car parts for the firebird :-D

 

id say a good 10000 turns.. they were very heavy, but kinda small. I guess they were like a 450rwhp small block 283. I had 4 of them.. AWD... oh yea... OWN3D the school. No speed control. Ever see the the old RC car that had 6 wheels? I forget the name, but i used the frame from that to build my beast... i had bigger motors. i also took off the two front wheels so it was a 16 gauge steal tank!!

 

i have come to the conclusion that any job me and my buddy think we can do in an hour takes a day.

 

My fastest motor swap was as follows:

2 hrs to pull the motor. had 3 guys. one underneath. one on the left and one on the right.
we pulled it from an 83 camaro leaving the manifolds in place by just disconnecting the y pipe.

4 hrs to build. needless to say only one man can handle the job when it comes to rebuilding but, I did have some assistance. while I was installing the pistons n rods I had the other two guys cleaning the gaskets surfaces on the motor itself while I was standing over it and the parts themselves. As I was moving along all I had to do was grab a part, set it and wrench.
We did have a problem though that required my wife to go to a muffler shop. when we disconnected the y we broke a stud and it had to be heated and pulled out. she did that while we were tearing stuff up. she was back by the time the motor was ready to go in.

3 hrs to install. needlees to say it is always easier to pull than it is to install. but, I got back on the left side and my other two guys got back on the right and underneath. this way each individual knew where harnesses, vac. lines and smog tubes went because they were the person that pulled them.

1 hr to troubleshoot. as with every installing timing needs to be set, that's a given but, we were getting a popping through the carb anyway and were scratching our heads. that's when we realized that we timed the car with the connector still of when we went for a test drive and also realized that the dist. hold down wasn't holding down because it was on upside down oops.

we stopped for the night. and I broke it in throughout the week driving back and forth to work.

total time = 10 hrs. from removal to properly running install.

 

My fastest motor swap was as follows:

2 hrs to pull the motor. had 3 guys. one underneath. one on the left and one on the right.
we pulled it from an 83 camaro leaving the manifolds in place by just disconnecting the y pipe.

4 hrs to build. needless to say only one man can handle the job when it comes to rebuilding but, I did have some assistance. while I was installing the pistons n rods I had the other two guys cleaning the gaskets surfaces on the motor itself while I was standing over it and the parts themselves. As I was moving along all I had to do was grab a part, set it and wrench.
We did have a problem though that required my wife to go to a muffler shop. when we disconnected the y we broke a stud and it had to be heated and pulled out. she did that while we were tearing stuff up. she was back by the time the motor was ready to go in.

3 hrs to install. needlees to say it is always easier to pull than it is to install. but, I got back on the left side and my other two guys got back on the right and underneath. this way each individual knew where harnesses, vac. lines and smog tubes went because they were the person that pulled them.

1 hr to troubleshoot. as with every installing timing needs to be set, that's a given but, we were getting a popping through the carb anyway and were scratching our heads. that's when we realized that we timed the car with the connector still of when we went for a test drive and also realized that the dist. hold down wasn't holding down because it was on upside down oops.

we stopped for the night. and I broke it in throughout the week driving back and forth to work.

total time = 10 hrs. from removal to properly running install.

 

My fastest motor swap was as follows:

2 hrs to pull the motor. had 3 guys. one underneath. one on the left and one on the right.
we pulled it from an 83 camaro leaving the manifolds in place by just disconnecting the y pipe.

4 hrs to build. needless to say only one man can handle the job when it comes to rebuilding but, I did have some assistance. while I was installing the pistons n rods I had the other two guys cleaning the gaskets surfaces on the motor itself while I was standing over it and the parts themselves. As I was moving along all I had to do was grab a part, set it and wrench.
We did have a problem though that required my wife to go to a muffler shop. when we disconnected the y we broke a stud and it had to be heated and pulled out. she did that while we were tearing stuff up. she was back by the time the motor was ready to go in.

3 hrs to install. needlees to say it is always easier to pull than it is to install. but, I got back on the left side and my other two guys got back on the right and underneath. this way each individual knew where harnesses, vac. lines and smog tubes went because they were the person that pulled them.

1 hr to troubleshoot. as with every installing timing needs to be set, that's a given but, we were getting a popping through the carb anyway and were scratching our heads. that's when we realized that we timed the car with the connector still of when we went for a test drive and also realized that the dist. hold down wasn't holding down because it was on upside down oops.

we stopped for the night. and I broke it in throughout the week driving back and forth to work.

total time = 10 hrs. from removal to properly running install

 

sorry don't know why it posted 3 times.

 

and that my friend is an honest man......:hail:

 

I'm pulling the motor in my camaro for a quickie rebuild and some go fast parts so we'll see how long it takes.

 

S...l...o....w d...o...w...n s...o...n.

 

LOL. guess I type like I drive.

 

Decided to pull my engine out at 10AM to change the crank.

It was on the bench upside down in the shop by 11:00 after draining the fluids.

Took a break for lunch...(we get there at 6 AM)

Searched for another crank with same size journals.

New crank and engine is ready to go back in at 1:00PM

Tranny bolted up by 1:40PM

After a broken carburetor stud and a quick run to the auto parts store the engine is running by the end of the day at 4:30

This is working by myself with no air tools, of course I had pulled my engine 5 times prior

 

Engine out in an hour? .....

 

when its a carbed motor i believe you can get it out in a hour.

 

Believe it or not...by the way it was all done at a machine shop where I work