Duke, Either a)you greatly underestimated your mechanical skills, b)your tools are much better than mine, or c)I'm much too meticulous. Engine removal in 2.5 hours? I spent 4 hours today just fiddling with my parking brake! You are quite ambitious. I do appreciate your reasoning for the engine swap, but my preference is to stay "casual stock", I term I coined to mean "updated and improved but original and stock-looking to everyone but a clipboard-toting, white-glove-wearing, magnifying-glass-carrying concours judge." Thus my choice to pursue the Wynne-inspired super PRV. As for the parking brake, I was tinkering with it because it won't hold the car despite new pads. I thought I could tighten the adjusting screws on the calipers, but even when fully clamping down I could see between the pad and rotor. The pads were only making contact over about half their surface, since they weren't parallel. I even tried using the parking brake to stop the car several times to wear them down to flat, but it didn't help. The real tinkering began when I was just about done and tried to lift the brake handle...POP! then no more resistance. I thought I'd broken a cable but I was mistaken. One of the cable ends pulled through the bracket under the handle by *bending* it and slipping through, which is probably the result of my using so much force on the handle to keep the car parked. I assume this is not a typical Delorean experience for the rest of you, no? Gus Schlachter Austin, TX VIN# 4695 > -----Original Message----- > From: Duke Bladorn [mailto:at88mph@xxxx] > Sent: Friday, January 07, 2000 10:12 AM > Subject: [DML] Re: Vortec install and update (was PRV tuning) > > > I wanted to voice my opinion for the other side of the coin. > > The engine swap isn't that difficult. I do not have any major mechanical > skills, just alot of common sense and ALOT of great support from Mike Bell > and Darryl Tinnerset. With their advice and advice of Vortec owners, my > swap has been extremely painless. The whole swap could be > completed in 3-4 days with the right parts... > > ...Here's my time frame. It took me 2 1/2 hours to take the rear facia, rear > louver, engine cover, and engine out. When I got the engine out I called it > a day. This weekend I will take out the stock trans and install the new > trans and bellhousing. I'm guessing it shouldn't take more than 2 1/2 to 3 > hours. Next week I will have to have the oil pan made and mounts as well. > Then next saturday I can install the engine and take the rest of saturday > and all of sunday to wire it up. To be honest, it will probably not be > going in next weekend because I want to build the engine and get about > 250-270 hp out of it so I have to send it out to a shop...