Gen 3 Project Car

[Token]

My lil bro has killed (and i mean absolutely killed) his gen 3 camry.

hers a brief list of the problems
- no dash lights
- immobilizer broken
- the radio is missing (there is a huge hole in the dash)
- one of the tail lights doesn't work
- leaking head gasket
- cracked radiator
- front struts soft (whats this mean? )
- coolant overflow bottle cracked
- oil filter cap broken
- belts oil contaminated
- L/H power steering boot split (whats this mean? )
Now we are considering fixing this car up, possibly putting a 3S-GTE engine into it ( a friend has sourced one for me, and as far as i know its complete with exhaust and transmission), giving it a bit of a spruce up ( interior and exterior ) and generally making it into a project car for a bit of fun without breaking the bank.

I have no experience in car modifications ( being a sports bike rider, heck i don't even know what some the problems listed above mean ) and would like some opinions on whether or not this is a good idea, on a rather tight budget. Also how reliable is the car likely to be after dropping the new engine in?

Any opinions will be warmly welcomed

[auscam]

O.k well your going to be looking at quite a bit of money just to do the conversion. If you can buy a 3SGTE as a complete front cut, then you maybe lucky and be able to eliminate the 80% of the issues.
Get your streering boot fixed before it creates more problems,
buy a new radio,
check your fuses in regards to dash lights,
Buy a new oil cap, over flow bottle, and belts
get some new strut inserts for the front, when they go soft like real soft they are just about stuffed,
tail light - check globes

[Token]

Ive been told the 3SGTE is a half cut... what does that mean? :P and how much should i be paying for the conversion?? approx ... radio and dash shldnt be too hard to figure out, same goes for tail light... Will it be expensive to fix the strutts? Cheers for the feedback

[ghettosled]

invader zim fan! wahoo!

anyway, back to reality, those arent terrible things to have wrong. heck, i share some of the same problems. as auscam said, a motor swap will solve most of those problems, but not all. and who is to say the motor you buy doesnt have problems of its own.

if your bro really did beat on the car, is it really worth spending the time and money fixing it up? if it was me, i would get a used radiator and oil cap, replace the bulbs in the tail light and dash and possibly replace the power steering boot and drive the snot out of her.