Go to a GTG, and... you will still lose to the $12K modded SRT coupe sitting next to you, and it has cruise, turns over with the key, etc.

I really hope you can make this work, but on aging platforms some already 15 years old, I just don't see a lot of guys ponying up the big bucks. If anyone can prove me wrong, it is you

 

True, but will he be having as much fun rowing throu.. I mean putting it in drive? What's the gas mileage of a modded SRT? They have a good amount more power, but they're 300lbs heavier. How does that factor in? What's going to happen when I'm modded? Wavetrac, custom intake, secondary cat delete, K&N's, Fully redone exhaust, and tune? We don't know is the answer lol, but I hope to learn how to drive so I can find out.

I accept the challenge! The one thing to remember is that I can offer some of the older high end M113 AMG's more...

Just wait man, when I come to check out Indy you'll get some seat time, don't worry lol. You'll be whistlin' a different tune.

 

Not to derail, but 300lbs heavier? I would imagine any weight saved by using the base platform was absorbed by the larger engine afterwards, no?

 

Your market here, money aside, is anyone who didn't buy an SRT due to the Automatic. That would include me. However, the other aspect of this is of course cost. And I'm not talking final cost, I'm talking initial cost. If I could finance a V8 Crossfire and pay for it over 4 years, sure I'd be on top of it.. but getting private financing can be a hard prospect, especially for a car that the bank would value well, well under the actual sale price..

Having all the options, though, is the way you want to go... V8 kits, any upgrades for the already existing SRTs and N/As, full turn key V8's...

Hell, I hope you're the next Carroll Shelby.. I'll be in line as your first part time employee to get the word out and do some wicked marketing, shouting from the roof tops!

Now is this all economically viable and a self sustaining business with the already niche Crossfire market? Maybe not. But I do think you've got some great potential, especially if you apply the knowledge you have to other Mercedes.

 

Nope, my seats shaved a lot of weight, ~70lbs. County dump got me at 3240, me and my sub's present. My subs and amp are a good 100 lbs and sitting on the garage floor now, I'm 140. So full tank of gas (was getting ready to go out of town), curb weight sit's at 3000 even.

Now I know that they may not calibrate their scale, so I got ahold of shipping and receiving here on the naval base who said that their's is calibrated weekly and extremely accurate. When I get a chance I'll be running over there to get the real, final reading.

On the MB forum they have had discussions comparing the 368lb 5.4 NA motor weight to the C32. From everything I read IIRC, they came to the conclusion when you factor in the SC, H/E, IC, and plumbing, they're equivelant. My motor is probably a fraction lighter than the 5.4 NA. Then you need to factor my manual trans, and I have the SLK32 auto in my garage, so no lying! It's a heavy sumbeech lol

 

The last time my car was weighed it was 3298 with 1/2 tank of gas and me in the seat.

Les

 

Honestly I want to look into what Brabus does... They upgrade the cars and sell them as their own, financing through your normal bank for 2,3,4 times the cost of the original.

I do understand the market is not here... The crossfire community is tiny, I haven't gone to the MB community because of time. I'll get backed up and never get product out. I hope to get a steady income for now, then hire help and take more business in. We will see how it plays out but stay available, I'll recruit you when the time is right .

 

Nice! Then why was doc saying 3300 without him in it?

C&D is saying stock is 3220 for the SRT coupe, so I was off. But does that include gas? My 3K was full tank.
Chrysler Crossfire SRT-6 - Road Test - Car Reviews - Car and Driver

 

Another thing, what if I were to sell a Crossfire NA 5.0L V8 6-speed with 70K miles on the motor, 150K miles on the chassis, for $12K???? Is that a good price if everything in, on and around it is pretty clean and nice, no issues?

My thought to pull it off, is find a cheap NA 6-speed with 150K miles and just take my time swapping. Rather than drop everything to get it done immediately. Could I possibly sell a few if it's at that price? Thoughts?

 

LOL well I have been singing the NA V8 tune for longer than you have owned the XF, so it would be nothing new for me, but if we are talking about $20K, I won't be singing your kind of tune LOL

 

Lmao.

This swap was the perfect example of real world vs paper. On paper this swap should have net me stock STi range, but real world I wooped on a stage 2 2007... Twice.

Don't worry man, when I'm in Indy, if you pull your weight I'm sure we can get there for quite a LOT under that lol. I wouldn't let you spend that anywhere near that much for a 55K conversion. You've helped me out too much.

 

John, what's your opinion on me selling a 5.0 6-speed for $12K with 70K on the motor 150K on the chassis?

 

Not to be a bug and jump in on this but I am going to anyways, the problem is going to be trust and creditability. If you get a car with that kind of mileage you will be replacing a lot of additional parts to keep the safety factor and problem free for the first little while. Your 12k price seems low. It only takes 1 customer to spout out some negative comments about quality of the build which puts doubt in potential buyers head. for 12k someone can get a srt6 with a bit on miles that hasn't been tampered with and can look in a catalog for a part when they need it...


With all that said, I know parts for my v8 car are not the easiest to figure out but I also have not need any major work... yet

 

The $12K is real low. In fact the only way I could pull it off is buy the car and take my time with the swap. One of those put it on the backburner. I'm not sure though, it's a lot of work for a little profit. I might just buy one and do it with the plans to keep it. If I'm offered a good price for it down the road then so be it.

Again, curious on the parts complaint's... All of the parts are the same except for big items: Block, head's, cam's, crank, piston's, fuel rail, injectors, etc... Added to that for you: SC, intercooler...

 

Let's get serious for a moment.

The realistic variable in your back of the envelope business plan would be thecost of the donor cars.

Josh, where would you need to be with a provided donor car, manual tranny, to make your margins?

And then deliver a first rate, no corners cut, just like a real company, product?

I added your numbers and got $6,200 . Assuming a grand for travel (customer) plus a $8K donor we are at around $15,000 invested.

For that one gets a California plated car?

Am I close?

 

For me to swap a 50,000 mile 5.0L into stock Crossfire formation, have it look pretty, and confident enough to warranty the work... $12-14K depending on how good a condition the motor and car are in when I get them. Of course other motor's would be different pricing. Same mileage SRT motor into a 6-speed NA - $9-12K Depending on arrived condition of motor and car. The 4.3L would be~ 11-13K. The 5.4NA would be more like 14-18K because there is still engineering work to be done for the ECU work, and the 55K would be $20K+ depending on a lot more because we are looking at serious upgrades to hold the power, especially for a 6-speed.

Edit: There are still other variables... SRT - 55K: Cheaper than automatic NA - 55K... Which would be cheaper than the 6-speed NA - 55K...

None of the prices include receiving the car, or returning it.

 

I just happen to have a high mileage 6 speed NA that I was trying to get turbo'd. I'd love to jump on a V8 swap but only if you can do it in two weeks!

What kind of issues is Cork gonna hit when he attempts to tune the turbo setup if it gets that far?

 

Yeah, actually lol, almost exactly where I came out going the other way about it. I have a spreadsheet I forgot to look at earlier but it comes out about the same.

If someone wants it california legal, it's another $50 lol, just kidding. Yes, CA plated is no additional cost since the Ref only took $8 from me.

 

Saweet!

He Boiler up, forget the canadian flyer.


I am all over this. just don't anyone tell Crumpy

 

If it came down to it (preparation) I could do it in a weekend, however, I'd like to hold on to the car to test everything to warranty the work.

I want to assume he is that far. There are a few problems he's going to have... First he has to find what PROM to extract, then it's a matter of extracting the maps from the mapping file, finding the maps in the Hexidecimal, figuring out how to alter them, and loading the new file in correctly... One company makes software capable of SOME of this and they are VERY expensive, like $30K+. To do all of it, you need to understand Checksum's, have great soldering ability on SMT's and be able to trial and error the entire process over and over. He will ruin many ECU's if he hasn't already ruined one and got stuck. If he did ruin your ECU he wont be able to fix it, just let me know and I'll fix you up for free if he give's me my damn deposit back.