Project Greenrio

We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms

so, the spectra motor is a bust. the yard can't find it. not just that, but after some vital comparisons of what transmission fits, it looks like the bellhousing pattern is incorrect. maybe if it was an auto it wouldnt be a problem. but it doesnt matter since i cant physically see if the dust plate fits the motor. i cant use the spectra tranny because the mounts are in different places, and its much larger physically than my current trans and will not fit.

insult to injury, a replacement motor that should go in the car is $500+ . i have a line on a running, driving rotted kia rio for that much as well....

i guess the next logical thing to try is an mx3 1.6L dohc, my friend is trying to get me to put in a 1.8 dohc BP motor from an escort which is it's bigger brother. both motors bolt up to my trans, and would use the existing fly/clutch/pp . both are very cheap, but the 1.8 is an entire inch longer which may only be the pulleys. i only need a pulley to run the alternator though. i have 19.5 inches to work with, and the old motor was 18.5 inches, lol.
 
i bought another kia rio, running/driving with spare parts. its a 2004 so it has the slightly bigger motor, and it has fifty four thousand miles on it. $300
 
this going to be great. i'll be able to glean the motor, back seat, knuckles, axles, wheels/tires, brake lines and rear brakes... then scrap it for $200 lol
 
lololol didnt it all start out for a joint ? this is what the devils lettuce has done for you it turned a plant into a money pit
 
saturday i put a battery/plates onto the other rio and drive it home :)

this is going to be great, i already have a full front component kit for the motor so i can change all that crap out easy peasy while the motor is out. for $60 i may as well order a new clutch and pressure plate too lol.


when all is said and done i'll have a 2100lb new car!
 
Drove like new but rotted underneath. This is a killer donor motor.


0FD65B74-75A5-42DD-85F7-9FF255422466.jpeg
 
990969C4-C193-47FF-B431-C6C607392971.jpeg
B9C1F8CB-51F3-4EAC-872F-6B63DDE6DBB9.jpeg
1E0546D9-4DE3-40C6-825E-A55111E56137.jpeg
BBE33790-ACB1-4C66-9754-FD16AB5180A4.jpeg
8CF63F99-7C13-41F2-8C34-9D823AA1908B.jpeg



Got the motor out and the axle/knuckle and trans and torque converter separated. The axle would NOT come out. Pulled it all as a unit and it broke free later 2 easy taps. Grr.

Now to freshen this motor up and try to salvage what I can of the better front hubs and bearings. The auto transmission is massive in comparison to the manual one.
 
That intake manifold looks so janky. Glad to see progress
 
that's too much work. also boots me out of stock classes. this thing is going to be a sleeper. well maybe more like a lumpy mattress.

the valve cover is going to stay black, i was thinking of painting the letters green or blue. the car is going to be half blue soon.
 
So we’ve hit some snags. I was going to swap the trunk, but the lights and bumper have to go as well, and I couldn’t get the rear bumper off the car.

Front end, the core support is too different I didn’t bother after removing the lights off the green car. Not even close however the bumper and fenders would have fit fine. If I had more time and space I would have moved the core support. I put all the panels back on so it still looks like a real car.

The suspension is all very loose, the plan is to block the front end once we roll it on the trailer and then remove the axles, hubs, and control arms complete so I can work on them in my spare time.

So the blue car is ready to go to the junkyard sans it’s gas tank. Tomorrow I’ll attempt that and it should just “fall off”.

With some luck the car will be gone next weekend :)
 
Back
Top