New Undertaking...

[urq]

> But... engine swaps are not cheap, especially when you have
> to pay a pro to do it.  For example, AudiConnection will put
> a manual transmission into a V8 for about $5000.  That is,
> you start with a car that already has a V8, and swap out the
> automatic for a manual transmission.  Now, putting a V8 into
> a car that didn't have one to begin with will be extra.

... I know that the tranny swap wasn't what the original poster was talking 
about ... but I did want to respond to the use of an automatic to manual 
tranny swap in a V8 as any indicator of the price of the swap from one 
engine to another ... The tranny swap that AudiConnection does in V8s does 
the job as it should be done.  This means that there is a lot of sheet metal 
fabrication to accomodate the shifter and pedal cluster swap.

As to engine swaps ... I don't have BTDT (yet) on going from one engine to a 
diffrent one, but it sure seems to me that if you've got a model which was 
available with multiple powerplant options and you want to switch from one 
of them to another that the difficulty might not be *that* bad ... no matter 
what do all the legwork up front to know what you need as best you can 
before putting down a lot of cash ...

Steve B
San Jose, CA (USA)