optimoprime

So with my swap in a running well I figured I would post my final thoughts on the swap and also post some pics and tips on how to do a Beta 2 swap into your RD.

I went into the situation knowing that I would face a few hurdles in this swap. The main things I knew I had to do were ……

1. change all sensors
2. switch my header/Intake Manifold over to the beta2
3. change water outlet because it does not have enough sensor locations
4. Fabricate the cross member so it would fit the new engine.

So let’s start with the sensors, all sensors on the beta 2 use a different signal to contact the ecu, so you will have to change over all your beta1 sensors so that they speak the same language as the ECU. There are about 6 sensors that you will actually mess with in the swap, the rest are already on your beta1 IM, EM and TB. On the front of the block is an either an oil temp or pressure sensor and also there is a Crank Position Sensor. On the side of the block are the coolant temp/pressure sensors, both of these are on the beta 1 water outlet so you will switch them both over to your new motor. Next on the back of the engine you will find your Camshaft Position Sensor and Knock Sensor, both of which are different and you will have to change. Another change I noticed at the last minute was that the Coil packs are different and while the both bolt up in the same location the connections are different.

Here are some pics of the different sensors sitting next to each other so you can see them up close.








Next once you have all the old sensors out you will need to bolt and torque down your Beta1 Intake and Exhaust manifolds to the new engine. I just kept my old o2 sensor in the header and my fuel rail/TPS and other sensors on the Intake Manifold.



Once you get all the sensors switched and the Intake and Header switched its time to focus on getting your old Power steering pump, Alternator, and A/C unit attached to the block. I couldn’t figure out how to make my A/c belt tight so I just left that off mine. I also left off my P/S because I prefer the feel of the car with out it.



Also don’t forget to change the Water outlet/thermostat over because the beta2 uses only 1 sensor there while our RD’s use 2 in that location.



With the new beta2 together now and ready to drop in we move over to looking at the engine bay. The new motor bolts into the same locations as stock but the oil-pan has 2 extra long bolts where it meets the tranny. Well you will have to do some fabing to get this to sit properly on our cross members.


So I went to my local AutoZone and bought a torch and a big hammer. I heated up the cross member where I thought It needed and I began to just beat the hell out of it till I thought I could clear the bolts. After that I lifted just the engine down in the bay to kind of test fit it. In the process of fitting I kind of sort of dropped the weight of the whole motor on the cross member, now let me tell ya. If I didn’t beat the clearance into the cross member the dropping of the engine defiantly did.

With the fitting out of the way I just bolted up my tranny to the block and I was ready to drop her back in. well I thought I was till I realized that my starter wouldn’t fit in the hole. After racking my brain as to what was going on, I figured that my old motor used to be an auto so the tranny plate on there was different. So I pulled the tranny/clutch/flywheel back off and switched plates. BUT surprise surprise it still was off. I’m guessing that the beta1 and beta2 tranny plates are just ever so slightly different and so I had a bolt hole that still wasn’t working with me. So I busted out the dremel and made a simple cut and I was back in business.






From there I just bolted everything back together and dropped the beta2 into my RD bay. While I was hooking everything back up I made sure to do a wire tuck on all the harness so it isn’t so in your face. Plus it really cleans up the look of the engine and the bay.




Overall I can say I was pretty happy with the results, my car feels like when I bought it 2 years ago. It’s just so smooth and rev-happy I can’t express how much of a difference this swap has made in the happiness of my car. And while it’s not as aggressive as my beta1 with 1.8l cam it is SOOOOO much smoother. I would trade the small performance FEEL of my beta1 for the smoothness of the beta2.



I did the whole swap in 5 days. It took me awhile because I have never really done work on this scale. Last year I couldn’t even change my wheel bearings but now I’m swapping motors. RDT has defiantly made this possible for me. And I just wanted to thank all the members here because you guys keep me inspired to keep this tib going. Last week I wanted to just sell it but now I think I’m going to end up keeping her till she dies.

I’ll post extra pics now to show you some of my progress.



this is my boy nick(projectx515 from elantraxd) he pretty much was the one helping me with this swap.






SOMEONE SAY SOMETHING SO I CAN POST MORE PICS

DTN

What a great thread! I read it twice because I already know that one day I will be engine swapping. A beta II would be my first choice. So a betaII has less power then a beta I?

optimoprime

out with the old and in with the new


with my flatblack tranny attached





and here is where i am on the clock


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DrivingTibNaked @ Jan 14 2008, 07:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>What a great thread! I read it twice because I already know that one day I will be engine swapping. A beta II would be my first choice. So a betaII has less power then a beta I?</div>


not less power it just dosent really feel faster and the way the power comes on is diffrent. hard to explain but dont get me wrong this is a great swap and i'm not sorry AT ALL about the diffrence in feel

Bullfrog

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (optimoprime @ Jan 15 2008, 12:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Overall I can say I was pretty happy with the results, my car feels like when I bought it 2 years ago. It’s just so smooth and rev-happy I can’t express how much of a difference this swap has made in the happiness of my car. And while it’s not as aggressive as my beta1 with 1.8l cam it is SOOOOO much smoother. I would trade the small performance FEEL of my beta1 for the smoothness of the beta2.</div>

So the optimal configuration would be either:

Beta I block with a Beta II head and Transmission

OR

Beta 1 block with a 1.8l cam and a Beta II transmission

I been following your posts. Thats some sweet stuff man, congrats on the swap. I had to do my timing belt a while back solo so i know what its like to do EVERYTHING yourself. Always nice to have a 2nd hand to hand you tools and to have a beer break with.

col96fx

Good work mate. Obviously this is the not VVT engine.
This is what I want to do when my engine's dead, but I was going to change gear box & engine together. fing02.gif

badshah

Congratz man!

This really inspires me to try to do more stuff myself!

BLK2KTIB

Million dollar question:

Did she start up on the first crank?

optimoprime

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BLK2KTIB @ Jan 15 2008, 09:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Million dollar question:

Did she start up on the first crank?</div>

Yes she did but today for some reason my coil took a shit on me, 1 and 4 were getting misfire. so i tried wires first because my #1 wire had gotten snagged in the chain while i was dropping it back in. i figure that it chould trigger both because the spark goes in 1 and back out 4 so that would trigger both.

well that didnt fix it so i drove back home and got a spare coil i had laying around from a previous lil spat with my tib. and threw that on and now everything is fine. so i'm back to being a happy camper for the moment.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bullfrog @ Jan 15 2008, 07:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>So the optimal configuration would be either:

Beta I block with a Beta II head and Transmission

OR

Beta 1 block with a 1.8l cam and a Beta II transmission</div>

man im going to save the final judgement for when weather lets up. but right now i'm leaning towards beta1 block/head with 1.8L cam and beta2 tranny.

im happy with my swap because my old motor was just not liking life at all and it was time for a change. in my area its easier to get a low miles beta2 so i'm happy i did it and my car is happy agin. but man i miss the extra duration/lift of that 1.8 cam.....

REDZMAN

Very Nicely Done!

I'd move this to the DIY section.

Keep stuff like this coming, and your warning level will go down.

optimoprime

if you have the power to move it i would do it. i'm sure this can help someone else to do the swap i wrote the title so it would be easy to search for