Coomer, whats goin on Options

[bojangles_8686]

I noticed your new sig, whats goin on

did somethin go wrong with the swap?

I wouldve PM'd you but im sure everybody else wants to know too.

-Chucky

[Coomer]

Sigh....

Late May, 2003 - I ask a local shop named Auto Boogie about swapping a twenty-valve AE101 4A-GE into my Celica. "Yeah, no problem. I do swaps all the time. It'll take a week tops." was the response I got. Convincing the parents to let me do the swap began. Comments such as "C'mon mom, it's a smaller engine." and "It's cheaper than replacing piston rings, valves, synchros, and getting a new clutch." helped at this stage. Finally, I got the "ok" from my parents.

Early July, 2003 - AE101 4A-GE engine, tranny, ECU, harness, axles, AFM, ignitor, and power steering accessories ordered from Storm Performance.

July 23, 2003 - Engine and tranny and harness arrives one week later than I was told it would. No ECU, axles, AFM, ignitor, or power steering accessories yet. After a phone call, one week later, the ECU arrives.

July 27, 2003 - The tranny is taken off the 4A-GE engine, and the clutch has about 40% left, so we decide to replace it anyway, while everything is apart. We pull off the spark plug wire cover to look at the spark plugs, only to find that the engine has no spark plugs. We decide to pull off the valve cover, only to find dirty oil and oil sludge everywhere. A leakdown test confirms that this engine is dead. The number one cylinder holds no pressure whatsoever, due to a fried piston ring and intake valve we believe. We decide to call Storm and trade them engines for one that will actually run well.

Late July, 2003 - Replacement parts for engine ordered. OEM parts include timing belt, idler pulley, water pump, distributor cap and rotor, front and rear main seals, spark plug wires, and flywheel bolts. Other parts include a Clutch Masters stage one clutch kit, a JUN chromoly-steel lightweight flywheel, and NGK iridium spark plugs.

July 30, 2003 - A phone call is made to Storm Performance, and another engine is shipped out.

August 2, 2003 - The second 4A-GE arrives. This one looks much worse on the outside, but inside, it's far better. At this point, Storm Performance tells me that I can keep the old engine, because they have no use for a dead engine.
August, 2003 - All of the various parts arrive, except for the engine components that I ordered from Storm Performance with the engine, such as the axles, AFM, ignitor, and power steering accessories.

September 3, 2003 - Car goes into the shop.

September 17, 2003 - The 7A-FE is pulled, and part of the engine bay is painted. At this point the car is ready to have the twenty valve 4A-GE put in. I ask if they can have the car done in two weeks, and they say that they definitely can have it done.

October 4, 2003 - Two weeks later, the car isn't done. Auto Boogie says one more week.

October 10, 2003 - I go home from college to look at the car, and the engine still isn't in the car. Additionally, I still haven't recieved my axles, ignitor, and power steering accesssories from Storm Performance. Multiple voice messages on their phones, and multiple emails are sent, none of which are replied to. Fortunately, the stock axles can be used for the swap. Auto Boogie makes a promise to me. They say that if my car is not completed by the end of next weekend, the labor will be free.

October 13, 2003 - I finally get a reply from Storm Performance. They tell me that they'll send me my axles immediately, and tell me they'll send me more information by email about the other parts, but they never do.

October 18, 2003 - The engine is in, but the car still isn't done. In fact, despite the lies from Auto Boogie saying that the wiring was going well, it hasn't even been touched yet. Also, the A/C isn't hooked up, and power steering isn't hooked up. After talking to Storm Performance, they tell me that I need to pay extra money for my AFM and axles, yet it was originally included in what I paid for earlier.

November 2, 2003 - The car's labor should now be free, but the car still isn't done. More excuses are given by Auto Boogie as to why my car isn't done.

November 7, 2003 - I call Auto Boogie, and they tell me that my car can't be completed, due to various issues with the throttle cable, A/C, power steering, and wiring. My car is now completely undrivable, and there is no-where else to take my car in the town that I live in. I figure that it will need to be towed to a town two hours away to get the remainder of the work done.

November 8, 2003 - My parents pick me up from college and take me to Auto Boogie. I talk to Auto Boogie, and they say that they in fact can do the swap. They were lying about not being able to finish the car so that they would not have to do free labor! Also, they damaged the paint on my rear bumper by apparently running my car into a red car or running a red car into my car when moving it around! After talking with Auto Boogie for a while, I agree to pay them $500.00 to have the car completed by January 1, 2004. At this point I drop off my old wheels and tires so that Auto Boogie can put them on to ensure that my nice wheels don't get damaged.

November 26, 2003 - I come into town for Thanksgiving break, and I stop by Auto Boogie only to find that they haven't even touched the car since November 8, when I was last there.

December 10, 2003 - My dad goes in to talk to Auto Boogie. At this point the car hasn't been touched in over a month, and is sitting outside. Auto Boogie's reply to my dad when he asks if it will be done by January is "Hey, I've had some cars in the back for a year and half." My dad goes on to say that I can't and won't have my car down for a year and a half. Auto Boogie eventually says that it will be done by January 1st.

December 17, 2003 - My car still sits outside, and is now covered in snow and ice. After finally getting a hold of Auto Boogie, they assure me that my car will be in the shop by the end of the week.

December 22, 2003 - It's the beginning of the next week, and the Celica still is sitting outside covered in snow and ice, still sitting on my nice wheels and tires as well. I call Auto Boogie and ask them to stop lying and tell me when it will actually go into the shop, and they say that tonight it will go into the shop.

December 29, 2003 - The night of the twenty-ninth, the car finally goes into the shop, after many lies and sitting under snow and ice for a long time.

December 30, 2003 - As the deadline of the first of January approaches, I go into the shop to look at my car. At this point, the entire car's paintjob, which is less than 14 months old, seems damaged, though I can't be certain until the car is cleaned. The car looks exactly like it did on November 8, 2003, and at this point, no work has been done to the car since then. The nice wheels and tires are still on the car, and when asked why, Auto Boogies says they never had time to put on the old ones that I dropped off.

January 2, 2004 - This was the day I planned to tow the car to a different shop. When I go into Auto Boogie to tell them that I'm taking the car elsewhere, I am shocked by the fact that a lot of progress has been made on the car. A lot of the wiring had been done, the exhaust was done, and a lot of the new parts were on the car. I decided to let Auto Boogie finish up the car in a week, like they said they could.

January 16, 2004 - The morning of the sixteenth, I called Auto Boogie and they said it'd be done for sure that weekend, so I made the long drive home and came and looked at the car. It had progressed further, but was still far from finished. Lots of wiring still had to be done, the power steering and A/C and throttle accelerator cables still had to be dealt with, and the belts and pulleys had to be mounted onto the engine. Speaking of pulleys, Auto Boogie had lost my pulley for my water pump, and I had to go get the old pulley off of the dead AE101 4A-GE engine because of Auto Boogie's incompetance. Also, Auto Boogie managed to damage my paint again, this time by hitting my front-left fender with a chain and putting two 1cm-diameter paint chips in the paint.

January 19, 2004 - Auto Boogie called me and said that they need more detailed wiring information in order to complete the swap. They also realized that my engine harness didn't come with the igniter, which is necessary for the swap. So I called Storm Performance, and finally got a hold of them. They told me that they'd send my axles and igniter the next day.