Help - KLZE swap into an Automatic RS? (I have good reasons)

[daryl]

Wasn't sure where to post this as its about both RS and GS.

I have a KLZE at the moment but everything is standard apart from the engine, headers, exhaust. But the bodywork is quite bad needs some welding and a full respray.

I'm thinking of buying an RS auto with a full bodykit already on it, door handles and boot lock removed with poppers to open, uprated suspension, leather interior, custom bonnet, and a very very nice expensive paint job, but with a knackered engine.

I know its alot of work, but I'm a trained mechanic with access to a professional garage (already done 6 engine swaps 3 were KLZE's into MX-3's).

I could never afford to do all this work to my own car and the body on mine in bad, so it would be ideal (on paper) to put the two cars together and make one and i'd prefer to put my ZE into the RS to keep its superior body and great paintjob that I could never afford.

Just want to check with you guys that it is possible? Any fabrication needed?

Swap engine, engine loom + ECU, engine mounts, gear stick bits.

Thanks

[solo_ryder]

There is alot of work involved in swapping a v6 into a RS, let along having to do the auto -> 5 spd swap. In this case I would recommend maybe selling your KLZE to someone locally (I am sure there are a few ppl in the UK that wouldnt mind getting a KLZE) and maybe then buying a BPT or something that would be abit more compatible for the RS model.

Or you can hold out and just keep an eye open for a GS model that is clean and go from there as well.

I would say no in this case as you are in the UK and I am know that parts are not easy to source and it would cost abit to do this.

[daryl]

What parts do I need?

Surely I should already have all the parts I need on my GS?
I'm not worried about the work, cars are what I do for fun.

I'm after info.

[wytbishop]

It's totally possible and this would be about the only situation in which I would do it. There used to be a write up...but it's been abandoned for years.

You have a GS donor so you have all the parts for both the engine swap and the 5spd swap. You say you have the know how. I don't think any fab is required. People recommend against it because of the number of parts that need to be swapped. But hell, people take their cars down to the nut and bolt all the time just to do a refurb. It's no more work than that and since you have a good reason, I think it's the right thing to do.

[daryl]

Bought the RS now I think so its on.

So will all the 4 engine mounts swap over, never even looked in the engine bay of an RS?

I can't find the writeup for RS to GS swap anywhere.

If anyone has any info it would be much appreciated.

[marcdh]

Hehe I know exactly which one you're talking about daryl. It's worth it. You have a complete donor car. Get it done. I'll be jealous mind you there's enough bps in this country too.

[wytbishop]

So will all the 4 engine mounts swap over, never even looked in the engine bay of an RS?

I can't find the writeup for RS to GS swap anywhere.

If anyone has any info it would be much appreciated.

Yoda had done the write up many years ago and posted it on his now defuct website. It hasn't been available for a long time. I'm sure the RS and GS mounts are different, and you'll need to swap in the front subframe but I believe once you've done that the GS mounts will bolt in.

[daryl]

Yeah the mounts will different, just wanted to make sure they will all go across without any welding or fabrication (i.e all the bolt holes for the GS mounts are there).

[umcamara]

Don't forget the V6 rad, power-steering rack, brake master cylinder & booster & proportioning valve & driver's side hard brake line from proportioning valve to front driver's side caliper & complete rear cross-member with disk brake assemblies, and front harness.

The front harness (I don't mean the engine harness) is different between the two models; it has a few pins in different places. This harness can be a b---- to remove, takes a few hours to remove nicely. The worst part is pulling it through this small plastic casing above the heater unit that the heater core is mounted in. You'll see what I'm talking about. When pulling the harness through the firewall it's best to remove the plastic splash shields below the front fenders. (I took off the fenders, which wasn't necessary )

The engine harness is not difficult to remove. Unclip the harnesses from the ECU and the fuel pump relay and, then pull through the hole into the engine bay. Then just remove the connectors that go to the firewall and such, and pull the engine with the harness still attached to all the sensors.

It's not as bad as people make it seem. If you enjoy the work as I do, it's just a matter of some time. Any other questions just ask away.

Good luck, and get yourself a few cans of rust penetrant to remove the pesky rusted bolts. A 1/2" impact gun with 10, 12, 14, 17, 21, and 32 mm sockets comes in very handy.

[daryl]

Cant you just change the offending wires on the front loom?
Doesn't sound that bad at all really, just got to swap over everything.
This is the kind of info I was after.

As long as there's no fabrication involved its just a matter of time.

[umcamara]

You could change the wires, but you'd need schematics for the respective model and year. I prefer to just swap the harness; if a wire has to go to a different connector all together, you need to tear open the whole harness anyways if you want to do it tidily.

It's not bad. It's a few week project (couple hours a day). You'll likely run across bushings and various other things which need to be replaced, and have trouble finding them at parts stores.

If you're gonna swap the rear disks, you're best off just dropping the whole rear crossmember with the spindles and supsension links still attached; it's nearly impossible to remove the long spindle bolts without an acetylene torch and melting the bushings unless you're in a corrosion-free climate. Then just bolt the whole crossmember to the RS (four 17 mm bolts).

I forget to mention in my last post that you'll also need the e-brake cable from the GS.

[Nd4SpdSe]

As long as there's no fabrication involved its just a matter of time.

Exactly. The mx-3 was designed for a K-series V6 as well, so it'll bolt in, but you gotta replace literally everything in the engine bay.

You want to splice a 4cyl harness for the V6? That's a BAD idea....People can barely modify the harness for a BP into a DOHC I4. The V6 is a totally different machine. You'd be just asking for more problems and adding more areas that you'd have to troubleshoot if it doesn't run.

[daryl]

No you misunderstand, everything going to the engine, ecu harness will be swapped.

Was just wondering if I could leave/modify the front lighting harness.

Looking forward to it.

[daryl]

Right, I've bought the car now and just picked it up.

It has disk brakes all round which is great as it means I can leave all the braking system alone right?

[umcamara]

Not necessarily. The RS never came with rear disks, which means somebody must have swapped them in. Problem is, many people don't also swap the master cylinder/booster/proportioning valve/driver's side hard brake line.

Rear disks require more pressure to the rears, and these GS engine components accommodate this.