Time can be made during school vacations, but I have outdoor weather to be concerned with and no lift.

I work on my cars outdoors in the FL heat and rain with nothing but drive up ramps and tarps to lay my back on.
The heat and the rain, as well as the sudden changes in the daily weather kill my progress. I seldom get any real contiguous time to work on anything. I have go inside and cool off every 15-20 minutes in the sun or get in from the rain. I rent, so cannot make things like I would want.

And no yourmechanic.com mobile mechanic will do the work on the ground without a cement floor.

This shop May not want the work.

If I had a closed in place to work, it would be a very different type of decision, because I would install a lift or overhead pull, and I could have AC instead of a cool scarf, water soaked ballcap and a bottle of water.

I have had to go inside and stand under the shower to cool down!

Not fun.
It takes all the fun out of learning new things and acquiring new skills.

Talking to owner of Zfever in Tampa.
So happy with them already..

Owner actually responded directly with email..
Looks like I will get real diagnosis and worse case new-low mileage motor for $4700+.

The current shop I have been using is swamped and doesn't need the work. They are so much as asking me to read between the lines of their quote. They have been very good to us in the past.

Wife wants an SUV..maybe we will find a z enthusiast customer who wants a trade of sorts.

Thanks all..so far..
I know my humor comes off as sarcastic at times..
You folks are awesome...
I hate to leave the forum should it turn out that way.

I understand, I lived the days of no garage and did work in the snow at times. It became a priority for me to get a garage if I ever wanted to continue working on cars consistently.

Sounds like you got a shop, so that's good.

Personally I wouldn't deal with the headache. Out with the old, in the with the new.

She wants a SUV then get her a SUV

Sell everything buy brand used. Expand your search area. I drove 20 hours to get my replacement last month. Couldn't be happier.

Dropped the car off at Fever Racing (formerly z fever) in Tampa today.
I had to run the heater on full to get her there...

They will diagnose and go from there.
I feel good about the car being in their hands.

I plan to get rid of the Audi at some point in the future and commandeering the G from my wife.

I may get the transgo mod done under the wife's nose..

fever racing is an amazing shop, if I was going to pay someone to work on my G in the southeast I’d want it to go there. They did the tune on my Vortech G. The owner explains everything in such great detail. He is what kept me from boring over stock for my replacement engine. Just swapping seals / gaskets and going.

Yup..he is very involved.
I traded numerous emails with Doug about my situation with my little daily driver. Good talks.

Got to the shop by turning heater on full. Shop was about to close up on a Friday.
Mechanics were getting ready to play.
Dyno...350z with a reverse mounted Whipple was driving in.

DONE.
30k mile JDM motor.
And a car I don't have to do the used car shake down cruise with.

Do another oil change after about 1000 miles, sometimes there's all sort of nasty **** washing around in those used motors or corrosion that gets worked loose. It'll all end up in the oil filter but it's better to do an early oil change on a fresh motor. Personally I always cut the filter open on a motor swap just to make sure it's not eating itself but you probably don't need to worry about it as much since a reputable shop did the work and probably also have a limited warranty.

I also recommend checking oil level and coolant level every couple of days in the morning before starting the car just to make sure everything is sealed up good.

good advice for any swap!