[wegmanracing]

Budget Engine Swap

I have successfully completed the 60 degree V6-T5 conversion into my 1970 Opel GT. And at the ripe old age of 14 years old. And I did it for under 800 dollars. When I got my GT the motor in it was about to blow so I decided I wanted a different motor between my fenders. I got myself into about 10 months of fabricating and working on my car to get it to this point. I got the motor from a 84 Camaro from a U-Pull It junkyard. To keep the swap simple I chose a carburated motor. The transmission was from an 84 S-10. The motor and transmission together cost $350. The driver side foot box did in fact have to be cut flush with the steering to accomodate the exhaust. The first thing that was done was motor and transmission mounts were fabricated. The transmission mount was made from angle iron and the Opel automatic bolt holes were used. The rubber mount for the transmission was bought at a general parts store. The motor mounts were made out of old Chevy rear bumber mounts. A very modified opel crossmember was welded between the mounts to give the car added stability. New holes were drilled in the bumber mounts to line up with the opel bolt holes. Then once again some single bolt mounts were bought to cushion the engine. Oh, and the mounts that bolted on the motor were very modified S-10 motor mounts. Because my motor was from an 84 it had a distrubutor so had to be mounted about 2 inches farther forward than wanted so the shifter did hit the center console so it had to be cut. Now on to the exhaust. Custom exhaust manifolds were made by me and my dad. We took a flat piece of 1/8 in. steel and cut the exhaust pattern in it. Then three pieces of 1 1/2 in. exhaust pipe were welded straight out. Then another piece of exhaust pipe was welded perpendicular to the other three pieces. A few elbows were thrown on then a pair of cherry bombs and 2 in. exhaust pipe coming out the side. The driveshaft was cut by a local shop and cost only $40. The wiring of the engine was pretty much trial and error. A new S-10 clutch was bought. The end of the T5 clutch arm was cut off and the end from a ford clutch fork was welded on the end. That will enable you to use the stock opel clutch pedal and clutch cable. Then a bracket to hold the cable was fabricated. The day we fired up the engine to drive was not the most glorious. The motor fired up and I heard the loudest rod nock I have ever heard. We dropped the crossmember and oil pan and put a used bearing in to quiet it down a little but the crank was demolished. I have one question though. No matter what way we hook up the alternator it gets severly hot. Like hotter than the motor. Does anyone know what that could be? Look at the pictures below. Look in the photo gallery. My GT is in there and my brothers Chevelle.http://www.wegmanracingteam.ontheinter.net/

 

[wegmanracing]

I'll check out the alternator and see if that is the problem. As for the engine, I actually did start it in the back of a pickup truck on jackstands but it had no exhaust so that's probably why we didn't hear the rod knock, then again we started the engine in the car with just the exhaust manifolds and we could hear the knock clears as day. So I don't know. That would be a good idea to cup out the firewall but we weren't sure what was behind the part of the dash so we decided not to fool with the firewall.

 

[wegmanracing]

as for the footwell, even with my custom exhaust manifolds, i had to cut about 2 1/2-3 in. out of it or i cut mine flush with the steering column. Patching up the hole was harder for me. This German metal is a pain in the butt to arc weld on. It just burns wholes right through it. I actually caught the foam that is under the carpet on fire (not funny). So I tacked it in a few places and then said the heck with it and just put body filler over it to make it nice and smooth. I'll tell you, i think the hardest part of this swap was either the exhaust or the gas pedal. I'll try to get picks of all the fabrication when I take the motor out to put a new crank in it. I'll get some picks of the motor in too. I think this is definetly the way to go for an engine swap. With a huge rod knock and a stock motor. My dad floored it and it smoked the tire all the way through 2nd gear. And you can get some awesome aftermarket parts for this motor. Such as a roots type Supercharger from Fageol Superchargers. Get a nice cam up in there, some forged slugs, some ported big valve heads, a supercharger and you should be able to hit about 350+ hp. Now if you could get this to hook up it would be awesome.

 

[wegmanracing]

another question about the alternator! even though it gets extremely hot, it isn't bad. the motor does not run on the battery and the batter doesn't go dead so any suggestions would be helpful. maybe those alternators just run really hot. ???????!!!!!