Swap Dilema...What would you do? Options

[Coomer]

Hey guys,
I just came into town yesterday, and I drove by my mechanic's shop, and he hasn't touched my car for three weeks. Three weeks ago when I was home, I went and talked to my mechanic, and I brought my dad along, and we all agreed that he'd have the car done January 1st, and I'd pay $500. Well, now it looks like my car isn't going to be done. My mechanic lied to me, and in fact hasn't even started the wiring yet, which is going to be very hard. Also, there is other stuff that needs to be done, such as the A/C, power steering lines, throttle cable, etc.

So I'm almost completely positive that my car will not be done on January 1st. When this happens, I'm going to bring a laywer and my dad with me, and we'll have a talk with Josh, my mechanic. So below are the options I'm thinking of telling him he's got.

1. Tell him that he needs to pay someone to come out and finish my car correctly, or tell him that he needs to pay to get the car towed to a competant shop where they'll finish the work, which he'll need to pay for as well.

2. Tell him that he needs to put my stock 7A-FE back in correctly, and buy the 4A-GE engine from me for the price that I paid for it and all the replacement parts.

What do you guys think? Are there other options I should be thinking about? Is there anything else I should do?

[97GTinKC]

I think you should take it home and finish it yourself, it may take a LONNNNGGG time, but you would learn a lot along the way,,,

You may want to consult with the lawyer 1st b4 going back to the shop, but only if you know the lawyer and trust him, , If you piss off the mechanic too much, he could screw you big time, (I think it would be a toss-up on who gets to you worse, the mechanic or the lawyer)
the mech could simply say he already has all these hours in it, and you dont want to pay what it will cost to finish, I think the judge would take his side simply because he is a "businessman" and you are just a "kid" (nothing personal )
Worst case - he gets a mechanics lein and legally keeps or sells your car, any reputable shop will be getting at least $50.00/hr for labor, there is no book to look up how long a swap should take, so its his word against yours on how much time he has in it.
Hindsight is always 20/20, My other recommendation would be to put the stock motor back in and just drive it. Swaps are way too expensive if you are paying going labor rates. Even if he were to get it running, will you know what all the parts are from? and what wiring diagrams to look at in the future? , If you dont know and/or cant work on it yourself, every mech from now on will just be guessing as to what parts to order, etc. Meantime you will be paying their labor rate while they experiment, I hate to be such a bummer here, but from your description of where things are at now, I think he has at least another 20-30 hrs of labor to complete it, and maybe more parts costs too. he is NOT going to do it for $500.

SO the only 2 practical options I see are:
1: take it home and finish it yourself- however long it takes,
2: put it back to stock, either yourself at home or the mech if he will do it for a reasonable price. Good luck either way...

any other option will take LOTS more money and time.