Engine transplant vito 115/ 120

[zenman63]

Thinking of buying a Vito120 van and swapping the entire engine in my 115 and then reselling the van as a 115.
What problems can you see in this?
I have also considered selling my 115 and buying a 120 duel liner as I have but it will cost over 10k more to do this.

I am thinking dvla, change engine numbers easy enough but what could be a problem?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Can you just clarify this?

You want to buy a V6 Vito 120, remove the engine and put it in your 115?

 

[zenman63]

Yes thats right

 

[BTB 500]

Is this because you've had special mods done to your current van?

Is your 115 an auto? If not this would further complicate things technically.

If you did do it both vehicles would potentially be difficult to insure afterwards as they'd be "modified" - DVLA would show a 3.0 litre 115 and a 2.2 litre 120.

Sounds like a nightmare to me.

 

[zenman63]

Yes it's auto.
Mine is mint inside and out, I would need to spend 20k plus vat in the same 120.
So got me thinking, I can buy a low milage say 30k 120 panel van for 10k
swap the lot and then resell the van as a 115, even if it cost 4k it would be cheep.
There are engines at 3.5K but lot's will me missing that why the hole van.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

This would cost a fortune!

Why not just buy a 120 and sell your 115?

Edit: just seen your explanation.

 

[zenman63]

A new 120 sport is best part of 40K new with the vat!

 

[BTB 500]

But when you sell the donor van it won't be a 115. It will be a modified 120.

Although you can change the engine no. and size at the DVLA I don't think you can change the model.

I mean if you buy a CLK200 and transplant a 55 engine, wheels, and body kit onto it you are not going to be able to register it as a CLK55. It's still a modified CLK200.

 

[BTB 500]

A new 120 sport is best part of 40K new with the vat!

But your current van is 4 years old, not new. So it's not really a fair comparison.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I can vaguely see what you are on about, I just think it's financial madness.

Not including your own vans valuation, how much have you got to spend, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[zenman63]

But your current van is 4 years old, not new. So it's not really a fair comparison.

Yes I know but to buy new is not an option as I have no finance and would never do it.

I could sell the 115 as salvage for 5k easy

 

[zenman63]

I can vaguely see what you are on about, I just think it's financial madness.

Not including your own vans valuation, how much have you got to spend, if you don't mind me asking?

I own my van no finance, if I sell it I would get say 7k at the most.
the cheapest 120 duel liner with low miles is 14k plus vat and all I gain is an engine upgrade.
I am not Vat reg.
A low milage 120 sport is 20k plus vat

 

[BTB 500]

As above I would first talk to a few van insurance companies and see if anyone will cover your 115 after you've fitted a 3.0 V6 into it.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I own my van no finance, if I sell it I would get say 7k at the most.
the cheapest 120 duel liner with low miles is 14k plus vat and all I gain is an engine upgrade.
I am not Vat reg.
A low milage 120 sport is 20k plus vat

I understand your situation now....

Either way, using your own figures, you are going to have to shell out £17k (Inc VAT) for a 120, then pay out for all the work to be done to swap the engines over etc and then sell van that was a 120 as a now 115.

If you can afford to leave your van off the road for a while, I would just find an engine and associated parts.

How much do you think the 120 (now with 115 engine) will be worth after the transplant?

It still all seems a massive headache to me.

 

[312 Sprinter]

Will it run afterwards? A modern CDI will look for all sorts of signals, security code from the key, ABS, immobiliser modules etc etc etc. To get it to work you'll have to swap literally everything so all the electronic modules talk to one another. It would be pretty easy to end up with two non functional vans

 

[zenman63]

Will it run afterwards? A modern CDI will look for all sorts of signals, security code from the key, ABS, immobiliser modules etc etc etc. To get it to work you'll have to swap literally everything so all the electronic modules talk to one another. It would be pretty easy to end up with two non functional vans

This is what I was thinking, I would swap everything my self no problem there.

 

[zenman63]

I understand your situation now....

Either way, using your own figures, you are going to have to shell out £17k (Inc VAT) for a 120, then pay out for all the work to be done to swap the engines over etc and then sell van that was a 120 as a now 115.

If you can afford to leave your van off the road for a while, I would just find an engine and associated parts.

How much do you think the 120 (now with 115 engine) will be worth after the transplant?

It still all seems a massive headache to me.

I can buy a 120 van for 10k inc vat
I can buy an engine for 3k with only 10k miles
I will do the work my self.
Not worried what it's worth after as I will keep it for years.
So if it cost me 5k at the most I will be £££ in

 

[Deleted member 37751]

You are going to do all this yourself?

You must have a lot of spare time on your hands.

Do you have a Star diag. machine?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I can buy a 120 van for 10k inc vat
I can buy an engine for 3k with only 10k miles
I will do the work my self.
Not worried what it's worth after as I will keep it for years.
So if it cost me 5k at the most I will be £££ in

What I meant was, how much do you think the donor van will be worth once you've taken the 3.0 engine out and replaced it with a 2.2?

 

[zenman63]

What I meant was, how much do you think the donor van will be worth once you've taken the 3.0 engine out and replaced it with a 2.2?

I think 4k or so