Looks like I'm walking away from this one.
I managed to get back up there and the plate on the firewall didn't have the transmission info in the upper left hand corner, it just had the model # and the trim #'s under it.
Model # is MA70L-BLPVPA. Non-turbo. I looked at the front of the engine where it says 7M-GE or 7M-GTE and the badge is missing. Didn't like that. I felt for the knock sensors and it seems to have two of them, so it's the GTE variety. Looked at the dash, no turbo gauge.
Without crawling under it I'm not sure if I'm able to see if he swapped the tranny with the engine, but I'm actually going to guess that he did, as the gear shift and the leather shroud look new, whereas everything else in the interior looks pretty beat to hell. (It's missing the glove box door and the center console cover.)
I talked to the manager of the used car department at the dealership and he seemed to have more info on the car (maybe he's the one that took it, not sure.) but from everything I can piece together the guy intended to use this as a drag car, which would explain why the A/C and the power steering don't work a lick (probably because he didn't install them when he swapped the engine). He's got a hard intercooler pipe and Magnaflow exhaust on it, so it makes sense.
It would take probably $2000 to get it presentable as far as interior work/paint/trim pieces go. Maybe more depending on if I wanted to replace the ratty seats.
Sigh... guess I'll just have to save up some money, keep driving my crap saturn I got for $500 and keep my eyes open for another prospect. Thank you for all the help fellas, I will be back.
|