Hello all, my name is Ashley, I have recently finished paying off (as in earlier today) a 1996 Cavalier Z24. What does this mean for me?? I now have money to make my car show & shine and go go go!!!
What does this mean for you?? I do not at this current time have an extensive knowledge of my car or any car for that matter. BUT. . . I am muy intelligento and I want to learn. I will be doing studying on my own but I'm sure I will have questions and I wanted to prepare you all for the arduous road ahead.
My goal is to replace the engine currently in my car as it has 200k+ on it, and will probably not last much longer. I would love to do the install myself but don't know where to start. I know people with knowledge of automotive transportation devices who would be willing to help, but I can't be without a car for more than a couple days. So, if that is not plausible, I am willing to let a shop do it for me.
I also want to upgrade my ride visually, both internals and externals. But that comes second to go go go!!!
Any help would be appreciated, please be gentle as I did not bring lube. . . .
Incredible Watermelons. . .
let me be the first to say... WELCOME!!! you've come to the right place, as guys on here no more about these cars than most shops lol.
now a new engine is pretty straight forward. have a knowledgeable car friend help and you can easily pull the old motor and put the new one in in a weekend, if you have all the parts beforehand.
and about making your car look better, theres alot of roads to take. rims and lowering can make ANY car look better. z24 rims look good though, so you might wnat to keep them. i regret selling mine. depending on where you live and if you drive the car year round, a body kit is a good visual upgrade. our cars have a good amount of visual mods available such as body kits, hoods, carbon trunks, basically anything if you look hard enough.
the interior has just as many options, like racing seats, rear seat deletes, ect. a system is always a fun thing to have in a car.
and if your like the rest of us (LOL) you may feel the need to go a bit quicker. you have the 2.4L LD9 engine which is ripe and ready for some upgrades. simple upgrades like intake, header, exhaust, high flow cat and pulleys can actually increase MPG while netting you more HP. should you decide to get a little more into going faster theres endless routes to take in the way of going fast. so read, read, read and soon youll learn your way around the engine liek its part of your room!
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Mike wrote:The auto to manual swap is not as involved as you would think.
Get all the parts you need in a pile, and drive the car into it.
They will find their way into the correct places.
Ashley Ellis wrote:My goal is to replace the engine currently in my car as it has 200k+ on it, and will probably not last much longer. I would love to do the install myself but don't know where to start. I know people with knowledge of automotive transportation devices who would be willing to help, but I can't be without a car for more than a couple days.
Welcome to the org, depending on what engine you are dropping in I would seriously consider letting a shop do it for you, even for those with High mechanical knowledge there are still always things that can and will go wrong...plus you should usually expect to spend at least a weekend on it (also just want to make sure that you know that QUITE a few tools and special items will be needed for a swap engine hoist etc.)....you might end up spending more to let a shop do it, but in the end if and when something goes wrong it'll be their problem and not yours. Now as far as interior mods and small exterior mods are concerned, those are fun and mostly inexpensive....
Have fun and good luck,
Jack
WELCOME!! Like Vman said you should really have a shop do your engine swap they usually have a damn good warranty with it. Im about to get a shop replace my engine it will cost about 2600 for a brand new built engine with a 75k mile warranty. thats basically a brand new car for about a tenth of the price. He is willing to replace my engine and trans all for around 3100 both with 75k warranty.
Exterior mods a body kit, rims, and lowering it will make it change drastically.. Interior is really cheap to do unless you want racing seats those can get pretty pricey.
Good Luck on everything and you have came to the right place.
Aww. . thanks for the info. . I spent this weekend painting the interior and added new pedals, shift and shift boot. All in all spent about 10 hours and the result is a brand new look that I'm pretty happy with. Also added some pretty spiffy LEDs. I'll drop some pix later- I'm on break from work right now and running short on time. But I just wanted to let you all know what's been going on with the foxy car lol.
Incredible Watermelons. . .
you did paint it the right way right?? such as wash with soap, prime, base, and clear basically. just making sure because if you just take it off use a armor all wipe and then spray the color on it will start to crack and fade badly and its sometimes a pain in the ass to go back and sand that paint down to do it the right way.
Just trying to help ya out.
Welcome
and
I really hope you didn't just take out the easy pieces and paint them.......
you'll find that simply painting the interior typically is a phase outgrown quickly.
Satch Timeline Progress Thread
JGM T-SHIRTS!!!!
In Loving Memory of Phil Martin December 14 2005
Alexis: Dustin, you're ghey, lol. I am better. I have tits, and tits rule all.
I dont think she was being a bitch in the other post. it just seemed like the usual BS always spoken when two people disagree on here lol
Thanks guys!! So about painting, pix are now posted in show & shine. And don't worry I did it the right way which is why it took me 10 friggin hours. But. . . well worth it I'd say. Feedback please. . !!!!
Incredible Watermelons. . .
