Swapping skins

[SteeleMX3]

Alright so, I have been in contact with the guy who is is possession of my new MX3 , I'm picking it up some time in the next day or so and am very uber-excited. Anyways, the point of this whole operation is to drive this n00b to work and back, then a week or so before Kelowna, replace every exterior bit. I'm talkin hood, bumper, bumper support, fenders, doors, and rear quarters... now, before I go further, the rear quarters are a concern. I've done some searching and found mixed results as to whether replacing rear quarters is feasable with limited body-work skill (pretty damn limited )

Ayudame por favor

EDIT: I should explain this is because I crashed my baby and the one I bought has a basically mint body, just some tranny issues (why I got her for 6 c-notes)

[ice_mann]

how is your skills when it comes to welding?

[RS_OBD'oh_2]

move the engine and tranny etc over. Don't mess with the rear of this car. Short cuts will only bite you in the arse. Do it right.

[SteeleMX3]

arghh, I can't afford another engine/tranny swap but it obviously is the best solution... as to the first reply, I am fairly limited in welding technique/skill, I took a High School course about 2 years back and I think I got away with a B+, somewhere in that range.

[ice_mann]

If the new 3's body is basically mint, why do you want to replace all the body pannels?

[fowljesse]

An engine/ Tranny swap is 10X easier than rear 1/4 panels! the skin is thin. it would be reallllly easy to burn holes, or warp them. Is it possible to starighten them out?

[wytbishop]

It is far easier and less expensive to swap every mechanical part from your old car to the new one than to repair the rear quarters on your old one given your level of experience. It is also far less likely that you will do something to irreparably damage both cars...which could easily happen when cutting the body panels. An experienced body man I would say otherwise, but unless you have some help...do the engine swap.

If all the parts on your old car are in good shape what makes you think doing the swap will be expensive?

[_-Night-Shade-_]

Keep the one with the good body, that's your foundation. Everything else mechanical can be swapped over, no questions about it.

[SteeleMX3]

yah fair enough, I suppose the engine/tranny swap is my best/only option... The situation is that the ZE and Tranny in my current 3 are awesome, however, the body is... shite. Now, the body on this new 3 is great, however, the ATX is a situation on its own and it still has a K8 with 237K km's on it. I've been told the tranny issue is common and is probably due to a sensor but I have no idea TBH.
Another issue I'm having is what to do about the Auto Tranny, is it a complicated swap to a Manual?

Cheers

[wytbishop]

Not if you have a manual donor car. If I were in your shoes I would just start tearing that auto car apart...the disassembly part is fairly easy and you can have it gutted in a couple weeks just working evenings and stuff. I think I could do the swap myself in a long weekend if I had the room to work.

[SteeleMX3]

I think I could do the swap myself in a long weekend if I had the room to work.

What if I told you I DID have the room... just sayin

Come down to Calgary!

[wytbishop]

What's your timeline?

[SteeleMX3]

I'm off on weekends, including this log weekend I believe. Schedule is posted so I'll confirm tomorrow but if it follows the same pattern as the last month and a half I'll have it all off, including Friday.

[Evo_Spec]

i'm back in calgary too now, just need to get my car re-registered and re-insured, she started up right away with no problems after sitting for 6 months.
i love these cars =D