just throwing it out there

[ZEUS]

I'm in the exact same boat with my 2000 Xterra. Its sitting in my buddy's garage with a dead motor. So help me god if this happens to my VX.

Do you think the engine failure was due to a dry engine? Did you burn out all your oil? This really scares me...

Bart

He said in another thread, he checked while on a road trip around Christmas and the oil level was fine but by the end of the day it was really low and making the dreaded clickity clack noise... This kind of thing scares the crap outta me!

[Cobrajet]

I remember the days when Hemi Cudas and Boss Mustangs were being parted out after blowing an engine. Do you think any of their owners regret that decision?

[Chopper]

That high feature, GM 3.6 liter would make for a tasty swap. All kinds of great tranny possibility there too. You'd be way over your 5 grand estimate,and you'd need to be a tad creative... and I just don't hear any sort of "thrill of the hunt" in your voice. I haven't seen the body damage, but it sounded light. Don't know the overall condition either, but you may have the dismal reality of about a 3000-3500 dollar roller on your hands. Score yourself a really good beater...say a two door, no A/C, automatic,Tercel... or Sentra ( this way you will abhor driving the little ****box, and you won't lose focus Buy a nice car, and you'll never finish the project, and the VX will moulder under a tarp, in the side yard for years...a home for mice and bandicoots... a target for 11 year olds BB guns... till you pay to have it pulled away.)and save enough to get it back on the road. Parting it will be a long process, and again, you're only gonna get a few bucks for the seats and such, initally, then you have a stripped out shell on your hands. Fix it! Buy a "reman" take your time, pick your way through it, and do it yourself. Oh, and enjoy your 1988 Mercury Tracer in the meantime. Wayne

[IndianaVX]

kid,
dont move too fast......i agree with chopper. take a look around you, anything you dont need and could sell? any extra work you could do? any lifestyle changes you could impliment for a couple of months so you could use that cash for a "save the vx fund"? myself, and another vxr on the board are doing the same, and cash stash is growing. im selling so much stuff, my daughter is nervous thinking shes next!!
ya just gotta do what ya gotta do to get what you wanna do!!!
Keep your chin up.....keep smilin
now quit reading post, and go deliver those pizza's!!!!
David

[alanbradley]

What about replacing the engine with an Isuzu diesel motor? That way its possible you could run on WVO or a Bio-D blend and hopefully make the saving in fuel costs essentially pay for the engine swap?

I'm sure the folks at www.biodieselnow.com would be more than willing to help.

Now I come to think of it (says the Scot who drives a diesel Yaris) has anyone ever made the swap from petrol for diesel power in their VX? Judging by the prices being fetched by VW TDis in North America (I'm a member of a coupe of other US-based forums) a diesel VX would be worth 10s of thousands of $...

Good luck with whatever you choose...

Alan

[pbkid]

thanks for the wishful words guys but just like chopper said, im way over my head in money to repair the thing...
i actually have a 92 integra GSR thats my second economy car that i drive for fun and long distances that i am now driving with studded winter tires on it....
and actually if it werent for the fact that i live in a snowy *** state i would probably be ok with working on it slowing and trying to rebuild, but i go snowboarding about 2-3 days a week and the front wheel drive lowered car just isnt cutting it...
im not positive on how im gonna get rid of her yet because i literally paid it off a week before i got in the accident and two weeks before she died...so right now im looking to lose about 11k on her =(....making her out to be a bad investment...
hence the now on sticking with toyota/honda....
if anyone has any ideas of how i can maximize what i get back from her, let me know it would be greatly appreciated...of course ill be parting out the valuable parts and replacing them with stock pieces....included are:
roof rack
yakima snow rack
285 tires with toyota rims
powervault muffler
POSSIBLY the sound system out of her
and a few other small misc. other stuff...

[MSHardeman]

Jack,

I've been reading the post, and I'm so sorry to hear that your baby coughed up a lung. BIG time bummer. You where one of the first VX owners I met after I bought mine, and it would be a sad day to lose you from the fold.

If you ABSOLUTELY can't find a way to bring the VX back, I would say that you would probably make more money parting it out yourself, than to try and sell it as a whole to someone or a salvage yard. I know that's a big pain in the ***** for you (having to store it, and take the time to take the parts off, clean them, box them, and ship them), but it'll probably net you the most money. Being a complete cannibal I can think of a few parts that I would buy.

Keep us up to date on what you decide.

[kpaske]

What about replacing the engine with an Isuzu diesel motor? That way its possible you could run on WVO or a Bio-D blend and hopefully make the saving in fuel costs essentially pay for the engine swap?

I'm sure the folks at www.biodieselnow.com would be more than willing to help.

Now I come to think of it (says the Scot who drives a diesel Yaris) has anyone ever made the swap from petrol for diesel power in their VX? Judging by the prices being fetched by VW TDis in North America (I'm a member of a coupe of other US-based forums) a diesel VX would be worth 10s of thousands of $...

Good luck with whatever you choose...

Alan

Hi Alan, and Welcome. To the best of my knowledge, nobody has swapped a diesel engine into a VX, but I'm hoping to become the first to try it.

Unfortunately most Americans seem to be unaware of the advantages of diesel motors. I admittedly knew very little about them until a few years ago when Joe Black told me I could make my own BioDiesel fuel for $.70 /gal.

Diesel motors are about 30% more efficient than their gasoline counterparts, require less maintenance, and last hundreds of thousands of miles. In theory, the fuel should be cheaper because it is less refined (although the big oil companies have been sticking it to diesel owners in some parts of the country lately, it's still generally cheaper than premium gasoline) AND you can run several different flavors of alternative fuels (which helps to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy).

I won't rant, as this is really off topic anyway, but I just wanted to throw in my two cents. I agree that anyone who is considering an engine swap should SERIOUSLY consider using a diesel instead of a gasser.