Are you going to be doing this swap yourself, or paying a shop to do the install?
There are FOUR sources of additional costs I can think of:
1) HELM'S MANUAL. If you are doing this swap yourself and don't already own one, stop reading NOW and start tracking one down (they are in short supply right now). The writeup in the FAQ is ment as a SUPPLEMENT to the Helm's (I should know, since I wrote it). I consider myself fairly mechanicly inclined, and I'd have been lost without my trusty black book.
2)It's easy to overlook the "little" costs, which snowball quickly. Have you made allowances for fluids (oil, trans, coolant, clutch), and filters (oil, fuel)? You will probably end up having to cut the radiator and heater hoses when pulling the old engine, so you will need new hoses and clamps. Heck, even if you can salvage them, replacing the 10 year old hoses with the engine out is LOADS easier than the alternative. Have you included funds for wire, heat shrink, wire loom and a soldering iron (if you dont have one)? I'd be wary of trusting an engine harness assembled without the previsouly mentioned items. Also, you probably want to pick up degreaser, engine cleaner, shop towels, rubber gloves, spill absorber, etc. All these things are pretty cheap by themselves, but it's a nice chunk of change to buy it all.
3) You will also probably run into some unexpected costs. Your engine could show up with a busted VTEC solenoid or TPS. Maybe you will find out a motor mount, ball joint, or wheel bearing is bad while you are monkeying around. I had to replace the clutch cylinders ($130) in the middle of my swap (which fail pretty often on 4g's). I also found out one of my axles was junk in the process of putting the suspension back together, adding $70 to the bill. I also spent about $20 on new bolts and hangers for the exhaust. Inspect as many of the components you plan to be reusing (bushings, mounts, sensors, etc) NOW to avoid as many suprises as possible.
4) Do you have all the tools necessary (or have access to them)? You need a fairly uncommon size of socket if you end up having to pull an axle. Will you need to rent an engine hoist? A ball joint seperator makes suspension disassembly a lot easier. Accessing the rear motor mount requires some swivel and extensions for your ratchet. Jack stands, a floor jack, hoist chains, a nice rubber mallet. . .it all adds up.
Personally, I would skip the fancy valve cover and plug wires and use that money to replace a few other "wear" items:
- replace all vaccum lines
- Fuel Filter
- Dist. cap and rotor
- Plug bore 0-rings
- new heater and radiator hoses
- maybe a new O2 sensor
- remanufactured cluth master and slave cylinders (if needed)
I don't mean to scare you, as the swap is fairly straight-forward if you have all the supplies and tools you need. You just need to be honest with yourself about how much all the "little" items raise the cost. I went about $200 over budget, and I made a pretty comprehensive spreadsheet before starting. Add up the total cost of all your components, tools, and upgrades, then increase that amount by about 15%. That should keep you from getting stranded in the middle because you can't afford to replace some miscelanious parts you didnt count on. Hope this helped, and feel free to contact me with any questions. I've done this swap once, written 3 write ups about it, and helped about 4 other members get their swaps running.
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