The Classic Opel Forums  

Go Back   The Classic Opel Forums > Performance and Racing > Performance > Engine Swap Forum
Home Opel Groups Calendar Members Map FAQ eBay Search

Engine Swap Forum Discussions on replacement engines

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-23-2008   #1 (permalink)
Opeler
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Iowa
Posts: 1
choirkid122 is on a distinguished road
Unanswered: Engine swap: 4.3 V6 in a GT

I am 17 and i am just starting to learn about cars and fell in love with the gt's as soon as i saw them. I am capable of getting a 71 opel gt and a 96 blazer 4.3 engine and tranny. i was wondering how difficult or even if it would be possible to put the engine and tranny in the car. any tips or advice or anything would be amazing. thanks
choirkid122 is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in Technorati
Reply With Quote Top home
Old 10-23-2008   #2 (permalink)
6,000 Post Club
 
namba209's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Imperial Beach, CA South of San Diego
Posts: 6,054
namba209 is on a distinguished road
Provided Answers: 6
Originally Posted by choirkid122 View Post
I am 17 and i am just starting to learn about cars and fell in love with the gt's as soon as i saw them. I am capable of getting a 71 opel gt and a 96 blazer 4.3 engine and tranny. i was wondering how difficult or even if it would be possible to put the engine and tranny in the car. any tips or advice or anything would be amazing. thanks
That's not an easy, cheap or quick project, and needs to be thought out very carefully. The 4.3 is a 90 degree engine and is really wide. It will take a fair amount of sheetmetal work to get one in the small confines of the GT engine bay. I've got a 60 degree 3.4L V-6 in mine, which is a bunch narrower than the 4.3. To get an idea of what it took, there are two sources on this site. The first is my Willit? Update thread in the Engine Swap Forum (it is a very long thread) and the actual steps of doing the swap are in the Performance Articles of this site. Understand the weak link of an engine swap is what's behind the tranny. The drive line will not take too much HP and will self-destruct under severe banzai starts. Best bet is get your GT up and running with what you've got and enjoy it while you contemplate an engine swap.
__________________
Ron
72 GT 3.4L V-6/T-5/ZF posi - almost done - Just need AC installed.
75 Chevy monza 5.7L/TH350/Auburn 3.08 posi - Next

Last edited by namba209; 10-23-2008 at 03:05 AM.
namba209 is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in Technorati
Reply With Quote Top home


Old 10-23-2008   #3 (permalink)
Supercharged 2.4
 
Gumby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Oregon
Posts: 619
Gumby is on a distinguished road
Originally Posted by choirkid122 View Post
I am 17 and i am just starting to learn about cars and fell in love with the gt's as soon as i saw them. I am capable of getting a 71 opel gt and a 96 blazer 4.3 engine and tranny. i was wondering how difficult or even if it would be possible to put the engine and tranny in the car. any tips or advice or anything would be amazing. thanks
I guess the biggest question is how much money are you looking to spend?

My advice is to stick with a cih engine unless you are a skilled fabricator. There is a lot more to an engine swap of this nature than just getting the engine to fit.

Also consider that 200hp is not out of the question with a 2.2 or 2.4 CIH engine and a little forced induction. 10lbs/hp is not a bad place to be.
__________________
1972 Opel GT: 2.4, big brakes, efi - inprogress
Gumby is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in Technorati
Reply With Quote Top home


Old 10-23-2008   #4 (permalink)
Trouble Maker
 
Phoenix's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Snellville, Ga
Posts: 1,970
Real Name: Tony Holcomb
Phoenix is on a distinguished road
Provided Answers: 2
That is one strong engine. I wouldn't want to try to do it myself but I did see a GT for sale with one in it a while back. They couldn't close the hood. It'd be much easier to put it in a Manta or Ascona, but why not find a GT that someone has already put another engine into. There are swaps on craigslist and ebay ALL the time.

Some interesting swaps on craigslist
__________________
Needs a 2dr Ascona, everyone else has one.
Phoenix is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in Technorati
Reply With Quote Top home


Old 10-23-2008   #5 (permalink)
Member
 
Dennis Texas's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 386
Dennis Texas is on a distinguished road
Provided Answers: 2
Originally Posted by namba209 View Post
That's not an easy, cheap or quick project, and needs to be thought out very carefully. The 4.3 is a 90 degree engine and is really wide. It will take a fair amount of sheetmetal work to get one in the small confines of the GT engine bay. I've got a 60 degree 3.4L V-6 in mine, which is a bunch narrower than the 4.3. To get an idea of what it took, there are two sources on this site. The first is my Willit? Update thread in the Engine Swap Forum (it is a very long thread) and the actual steps of doing the swap are in the Performance Articles of this site. Understand the weak link of an engine swap is what's behind the tranny. The drive line will not take too much HP and will self-destruct under severe banzai starts. Best bet is get your GT up and running with what you've got and enjoy it while you contemplate an engine swap.
Exactly, consider those words carefully don't ruin a perfectly good body on a hunch. I've also seen the Ford 2.8 engine, rotary powered , and high torque rubber band with a wind up key LOL J/K. On top of those issue already mentioned you will need to be able to stop it and handle it, add more for brakes, tires, rims and suspension work.
__________________



If everything seems to be going well you have obviously overlooked something.
Dennis Texas is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in Technorati
Reply With Quote Top home


Reply

Bookmarks


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 11:00 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.3.0
Clubs, Garage Plus vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.
1998-2009 OpelGT.com - OpelGT .com is not affiliated with General Motors Corp. or it's Adam Opel Division.