TRUE Beginner Questions
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 2:50 am
I find it quite annoying sometimes when people go on and on spouting all kinds of mechanical jargon that a TRUE beginner would never know, myself included. I've been prowling this site for more than a year, and I still find myself only maybe 15% more proficient when it comes to possibly doing a swap on my car.
Unlike most people on this forum I personally have never done anything to my car besides change the oil, spark plugs, wires, windshield wipers, and refill the brake fluid. Everything else I'm pretty much a...beginner. I don't understand half the crap in the "no bs swap" post and I remember when it was posted originally. I really, really know NOTHING about the internal workings of cars, and you can read my previous posts to see how much money I threw away recently to get my car running. I have spent more money paying someone else to fix my car than I paid for it in the first place for the simple fact being that I have no other car and I need it running when I need it running. I simply cannot sit down and take apart my car to find out how it works, because if I did I'd end up making it undriveable somehow and have to pay someone yet again to fix my car.
All that being said I haven't given up on the prospect of doing a swap, I just need some info that I haven't been able to find in all these swap guides:
1. What EXACTLY are all the tools (sizes, best brands, etc.) I will need for the swap? Are they common? Could I get them at a Autozone or something?
2. Everyone suggests replacing a whole lot of stuff while the engine is out...but if I know nothing but how to do the swap due to the site, how will I possibly know how to take out my clutch, transmission, flywheel, etc.? I don't know anyone, who wouldn't charge me, who would know how to replace these things. How could I find out?
3. I own a Chilton's for the Mazda/Ford Probe, etc. but it hasn't helped me much when it came to fixing what went wrong previously, compounded with the fact that my mechanic stole it. Is it possible to get back order Chilton's?
4. I'll need a engine lift thing (I forget the name of it) but where can I get one? Do auto stores rent them out?
5. For a ABSOLUTE beginner could the swap plausibly be done in two to three days? That is quite simply how much time I could possibly spare.
6. I own, as I stated in my previous posts, a 1992 MX-3 that has stock everything minus the stereo. Recently I had the wheel bearing for the passenger side replaced, as well as getting a brand new front side axle put in. Question: Shocks/struts/suspension? Are there different sizes or are they one size fits all? I know one of them lowers the car X amount of inches depending on what you buy, but I do not know which one does what.
7. According to the Wikipedia article the BPT is only found on the Mazda Familia and the Ford Laser, so how would someone in the states get ahold of one? Not only that, but if the swap "is sooo easy for beginners" how would a beginner put a turbo on the engine if he was...a beginner?
8. I only vaguely know what/where the distributor is because when my car broke down last time we thought it was the problem. Is it possible to replace the distributor, or would it already be on the engine I got from the junkyard or online?
9. I love my MX-3 to death, but I reckon it would be cheaper to do all these things to it and love it even more than it would be to purchase a new car. Is my assumption correct?
10. Where did all the GOOD body kits go? I've seen some insanely crappy body kits, I've seen some very sexy body kits, but all the links on the site are 3+ years old! I consider the MX-3 on the main site's body kit sexy. Where could I get (besides Ebay) body kits from?
11. I make roughly $1200 a month, can everything (paint, replaced parts, swap, etc.) be done in a 2-3 month period with not much money?
12. My mechanic replaced (so he said) the computer, steering wheel switches, fuel pump, and water pump. All of the above was around $700, as posted in a previous post. How could/would I check to see if this were true?
Please, please understand that while parts of these questions have been answered on the forums, most of them have been answered in a way that I could understand. (Replace the temperature gauge behind the firewall? My car has the internet?) Search, search, search people say. I DID search, and I HAVE BEEN searching since I joined this site in 2005. I even looked on the atlanta-mx3.com forums as well, and none of them were easy enough for someone like me to consider doing a swap alone or with a friend who was just as ignorant about cars as I am. I don't expect easy answers, but please don't just post links to XYZ article here and there, odds are I've probably seen XYZ article and am still lost.
If this post is deemed unnecessary, please delete it. I will edit this post with more questions if I have any, and I will be checking the topic daily. Some questions are personal, the others are questions I believe any beginner would have.
Unlike most people on this forum I personally have never done anything to my car besides change the oil, spark plugs, wires, windshield wipers, and refill the brake fluid. Everything else I'm pretty much a...beginner. I don't understand half the crap in the "no bs swap" post and I remember when it was posted originally. I really, really know NOTHING about the internal workings of cars, and you can read my previous posts to see how much money I threw away recently to get my car running. I have spent more money paying someone else to fix my car than I paid for it in the first place for the simple fact being that I have no other car and I need it running when I need it running. I simply cannot sit down and take apart my car to find out how it works, because if I did I'd end up making it undriveable somehow and have to pay someone yet again to fix my car.
All that being said I haven't given up on the prospect of doing a swap, I just need some info that I haven't been able to find in all these swap guides:
1. What EXACTLY are all the tools (sizes, best brands, etc.) I will need for the swap? Are they common? Could I get them at a Autozone or something?
2. Everyone suggests replacing a whole lot of stuff while the engine is out...but if I know nothing but how to do the swap due to the site, how will I possibly know how to take out my clutch, transmission, flywheel, etc.? I don't know anyone, who wouldn't charge me, who would know how to replace these things. How could I find out?
3. I own a Chilton's for the Mazda/Ford Probe, etc. but it hasn't helped me much when it came to fixing what went wrong previously, compounded with the fact that my mechanic stole it. Is it possible to get back order Chilton's?
4. I'll need a engine lift thing (I forget the name of it) but where can I get one? Do auto stores rent them out?
5. For a ABSOLUTE beginner could the swap plausibly be done in two to three days? That is quite simply how much time I could possibly spare.
6. I own, as I stated in my previous posts, a 1992 MX-3 that has stock everything minus the stereo. Recently I had the wheel bearing for the passenger side replaced, as well as getting a brand new front side axle put in. Question: Shocks/struts/suspension? Are there different sizes or are they one size fits all? I know one of them lowers the car X amount of inches depending on what you buy, but I do not know which one does what.
7. According to the Wikipedia article the BPT is only found on the Mazda Familia and the Ford Laser, so how would someone in the states get ahold of one? Not only that, but if the swap "is sooo easy for beginners" how would a beginner put a turbo on the engine if he was...a beginner?
8. I only vaguely know what/where the distributor is because when my car broke down last time we thought it was the problem. Is it possible to replace the distributor, or would it already be on the engine I got from the junkyard or online?
9. I love my MX-3 to death, but I reckon it would be cheaper to do all these things to it and love it even more than it would be to purchase a new car. Is my assumption correct?
10. Where did all the GOOD body kits go? I've seen some insanely crappy body kits, I've seen some very sexy body kits, but all the links on the site are 3+ years old! I consider the MX-3 on the main site's body kit sexy. Where could I get (besides Ebay) body kits from?
11. I make roughly $1200 a month, can everything (paint, replaced parts, swap, etc.) be done in a 2-3 month period with not much money?
12. My mechanic replaced (so he said) the computer, steering wheel switches, fuel pump, and water pump. All of the above was around $700, as posted in a previous post. How could/would I check to see if this were true?
Please, please understand that while parts of these questions have been answered on the forums, most of them have been answered in a way that I could understand. (Replace the temperature gauge behind the firewall? My car has the internet?) Search, search, search people say. I DID search, and I HAVE BEEN searching since I joined this site in 2005. I even looked on the atlanta-mx3.com forums as well, and none of them were easy enough for someone like me to consider doing a swap alone or with a friend who was just as ignorant about cars as I am. I don't expect easy answers, but please don't just post links to XYZ article here and there, odds are I've probably seen XYZ article and am still lost.
If this post is deemed unnecessary, please delete it. I will edit this post with more questions if I have any, and I will be checking the topic daily. Some questions are personal, the others are questions I believe any beginner would have.