engine buying decisions...

[fredio54]

Ok, I have a few options here :

A. run around pick a part and TRY to find a decent low comp one thats clean enough, and will probably run, spend 300nz on it, and half a day pulling it and a feed for a mate and no guarantee that it will work ok afterwards.

B. buy a whole running car that i know goes ok, and i think has low comp pistons, and has a semi known history. if i go this way, i can sell the trans, panels, and wheels. (maybe even the nifty rotating electric blower thingy to someone on here) equal half a day or more pulling it apart, but i know it goes, and even if its a bit dirty, its just had a cambelt, and new waterpump.

the particular one i'm looking at has tps,o2,4:1,fe3ncams,cat, and didnt pull much after 6k (but its auto) it also didnt blow a lick of smoke sitting on the rev limiter at 7200 and didnt tick at idle. it did however have rust stains in the coolant reservoir and black carbon build up on the inside on the cam caps etc. i looked with a light through the spark plug holes, and could see a small recess in the pistons, but no dome. that doesnt mean it wasnt there...

how much should i pay for this... depends on cost and availabiltiy of other options, but removed from the cost is 200nz for wheels sold, 100 for body sold, and possibly trans and panels etc too...

C. buy from a wrecker. should run as they pull them from runners usually. cost just under 700nz. probably cleaner than the runner in B, dont know if i can get a low comp one from a wrecker.

..................................

other considerations

even if its high comp, i wont be doing huge miles on it inside one month before i leave the country after i finish, so i can afford to run high octane race gas in it.

i'll be pulling the rocker and cams out anyway to put in fe5a cams, and clean lifters, and vr6 springs, and retorque head tighter. so i can clean a dirty engine a lot while doing that. i'll also be pulling the sump to inspect the big ends and fit my bottom end setup. so i can clean in there too.

i'm leaning towards the running car at the moment as it comes with a coil and igniter and wiring some of which i dont have, or have wrong types of. it would also be good to pull it at home at a leisurely rate. rather than being rushed at pickapart. plus i can almost certainly get the whole car cheaper than the engine from a yard.

let me know your thoughts, reasoning and ideas.

fred.

[fredio54]

20 views, and no helpful comments... wheres the comunity spirit???

say anything, whats the worst that could happen?

nadda.

fred.

[cam22t]

I would go the complete car option. There are so many benefits and you have already ran the motor. Thats the big plus.

Any other motor is a lucky dip.

The last FE that i picked up (used import one) had started to chew the crank bearings. So that motor had to come back out the car and get a full rebuild.

Plus if the car your getting has climate control. (not the swinging vent, i have that already), then i would be happy to buy it off you.

So it could be fair to say that the complete car could pay for itself.

[STW]

If I had extra space to put it, I'd have the whole car. It' likely to have useful parts not to mention the parts yu can sell out, and every now and then I have wished I had an original reference on something that might be messed up...

[fredio54]

i'm tending to agree, since posting, i had another look, and there are two more options, and also a whole fe3 for less, but it has a bad head gasket, and fresh rings that i want to avoid tuning with... i'll post about the outcome. it was nice to see it bouncing off the limiter with no smoke at all. even if it is a bit grubby, i can clean it up...

thanks for your imput you two. appreciated.

fred.

[carcenomy]

I'll throw some input into this...

Fred, for a pricing comparison, my Capella cost me $100 and a packet of John Brandon Special 30s... and it's a lowcomp.

I'd say go the whole car route, even if you only use a little you might just find bits you could reuse on the ute. Seats, dash, whatever. The rest, well hey, if it's FE-DOHC that means its likely a GT, and there's surely some NZ/JDM spec bits on there that the other guys here might want

[xplod_maz]

capella c2 coupe gtx are all low comp from what ive seen and they come up preddy often with blown tranies for around $100.
This would be the best option as long as nothing has cracked,warped or gone soft your gunna be replacing 90% of the internals anyway.

Another option abit more expensive is we have a place here called mazline which is basicly a mazda wrecker.Where everything is already apart.last time i was in there they 20 odd fe3's on the shelf from every possible model they came in.

[fredio54]

its not a c2, i know they come up cheaply, but i have time pressure...

i wont be replacing any internals on this(bar vr6 springs and 5a cams), i'll be using it more or less as is. i already have two fe3s to build up, but i dont have the time to build one, or the 2 - 4k nz to do it right. if i had more time, i'd also have more money... but alas, i dont.

when i too the top off, i checked the exhaust cam (3n) but in my haste forgot to check for intake gam on it. i bet that its feap! that would explain the total gutlessness at 6+k the other fe3 i've driven was not "fast" but not that gutless. the other one was a fe5a variety. so, i propose that that makes a hell of a difference.

fred.

[cam22t]

The vids in my sig are FE low comp NA with noth FE3N cams.

It was pretty tough that motor, especially considering my model is the heaviest model. It has every heavy option.

[fredio54]

the ap cam is visibly smaller... much worse, 2nd only in worseness to the f8 cams...

auto + ap cam = slow....

fred.

[sry_not4sale]

Complete car, nothing like being able to take your purchase for a drive before handing over the clams.

[Zach]

agreed, I would go full car as well. Just in case you break something while swapping into your car, you'll have a backup parts car. Or you could always purchase a 'front cut'.

[fredio54]

done, though, i'm not telling how much i spent... i will say less than most of you USA boys, and i'll get some back on parts.

i will be taking it for a few short drives, and videoing it.

plan is to vid it stock

swap in the vr6 springs and 5a cams, clean it out a bit and revid.

i could even do a fwd auto rollback :-)

fred.

[fredio54]

i've driven it, its here, i will get some vr6 springs and fe5a cams in asap! then we will see if it pull any better at high revs. no time to lose.

[fredio54]

ok, pulled off the cover this arvo for a closer look, and it is feap cammed. quite a difference from the fe5a model i also drove. that one was manual though. but still. this one will have fe5a in a few days. it will also be all clean on the inside. did a little bit towards that tonight. will get stuck in this weekend if not sooner.