Wow I wish I had a full machine shop.......

The audi sounds cool, car companies tend to stick with one bolt pattern so maybe they make a euro only car that is RWD?

I like the honda Idea, plenty of options for hop up, the crossflow heads are only an advantage, I believe that the Itake would be on the correct side and the exhaust on the other, you would need a custom exhaust anyway so that option would really create no extra work.

There was a guy on here recently who was starting a Miata engine swap but I believe that he never finished it. He did say that it was an easy fit. You can find wrecked miatas on ebay for under a grand, so this might be a cost effective alternitive.

Also you might try the RX7 rotory motor, less weight, more power, and plenty of room for hop-ups, the only downside is that they arent rebuildable.

HTH

Chris

 

A while back someone suggested the Toyota 4Age Motor, there is tons of info on this motor just check google.

 

Jon,

I am in the midst of swapping a GM 60 degree V6 into my Opel GT, but I had seriously considered a 1.8 from a Miata.

The Miata has a superb gearbox, and makes decent power right out of the box, but what really made me consider the Miata swap was the availability of supercharger and turbo kits right off the shelf. From what I have read, these kits allow the 1.8 to make an easy 200 hp.

Plus, the Miata engines are still in production making for great parts availablility and aftermarket suppport.

Nathan Acree
Albuquerque New Mexico

 

Hey Nathan...

We are practically neighbors (Colorado/New Mexico). I am leaning towards doing a GM 3.4 in my GT next year. I would love to talk with you and get info and pictures of your project... I too am considering the 1.8. What made you finally choose the V6?

Drop me a line sometime if you would... mdelmoni@ford.com

1. What production year is your engine? Is is a 3.1 or 3.4?
2. Where did you get it? What did it come out of? and what did you pay?
3. Are you fabing a new engine cross member?
4. How are you integrating the wireing harnass?

Info please!

 

hi, why not stick with gm. In europe we have what i think gm in the us call a "j" car we call it an opel vectra. the 2 litre twin cam efi puts out 150 ponys &can chip to 220 with no problems. as a plus it will also go on to the manta 5 speed box with just the prop to shorten. over the winter im putting V12 from my dead jag in to my gt ,i'll post some pics soon (you should see how much metal needs to be ripped out its almost enough to offset the block)

 

I don't have a lot of time at the moment but I can give some brief answers

1. The 3.4 I am using is a from a '93 F-body (ie camaro or firebird)

Camaros/Firebirds came with 2.8

2. The engine was acquired at a junk yard for $400- I got a really good deal

The trans I am using is a T-5 from an '87 S-10 with the 2.8 v6.

3. Yes, I have made a new cross member, see pictures at:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/nacree/images

4. Wiring has not yet begun.

I am sort of in limbo on this project for while I sort a few things out, but the engine and trans have been mounted and connected via a custom (very short) driveshaft.

Basically I am integrating aftermarket AC into a custom dash and I have not had the time or workspace to get these things finalized yet.

Stay tuned I have a web page in the works and as soon as I have more content I will publish it.

Nathan Acree
Albuquerque New Mexico

 

Sorry, in the above post I wrote

"camaros/firebirds came with 2.8" and I was interupted while I was writing that message and did not finish that thought.

What I meant to say was that camaros/firebirds came with the 2.8 V6 and then the 3.1 in the late 80s to early 90s, and then they went to the 3.4. Either the 2.8 or the 3.1 would also be good in an engine swap, but the 3.4 has more torque and also has a lower profile intake manifold that is only two pieces as opposed to the three piece intakes of the lower displacement varieties.

Nathan Acree
Albuquerque New Mexico

 

Here's the GM 4.3 that I was going to stuff in a GT. I bought the headers just for the flanges. Then I picked up the '51 Olympia and that killed that project.

BTW, Nathan, you can edit your posts by clicking on the "Edit" button at the bottom of the post.

<Speaking of editing, I'll lighten up the picture tonight.>

 

Miata 1.8L swap?

I have been pondering an engine swap for a while: rebuild a stock 1.9L, another opel from ogts, mazda 13b, even the gm 60 deg v6. But i think i've settled on teh mazda miata 1.8L. Makes about 140 hp (as i recall), and has a 5 speed.

Has anyone ever done this? Is there any problem w/the gt's backend with this amount of hp, or can i leave it stock for teh time being? Hopefully i'll eventually upgrade the rear end and upgrade all the brakes to vented.

Any info would help.

Steve
70 gt

 

Miata Transplant Thread Merge

I have merged these two threads. Could I ask that posters take a moment to search the forum before they start a new thread? But then, ask away!

 

Actually it depends more on the driver. I've broken three rear axles with automatic trannys and Opel engines under 150 hp. And with a manual tranny and sticky tires, it'll fail regularly with as little as 120 hp if you drive it hard. At 200 hp, even with a limited slip, it won't last long.

When Opel went rallying with the Ascona 400, they installed a reworked rear axle with the guts from an Opel Commodore, and eliminated the torque tube altogether. This was with 240 hp initially, with phase 2 engines making 255 hp and phase 3 making 275. At 275, even the bigger Commodore axles began failing regularly.

 

I always thought torque played a larger role than horsepower in determining whether a transmission or rearend would survive. Fact or myth?

Darrin

 

Yes. But then again, with moderate hp/torque going through a transmission's gear ratios, the torque multiplication is substantial.

 

turbo engine swap

well guys, thank for the advice...i have decided on which engine to swap into my opel. I am purchasing a 87 ford thunderbird turbo coupe. (in complete running condition, from a ford mechanic, with a brand new factory turbo for $750.00) it has a inline-4 2.3 OHC turbo intercooled 190 HP engine...stock! you can easily ungrade this engine to 250 HP plus!!

i am doing all of this so i can enter the GRM $2003 challenge(http://www.grassrootsmotorsports.com), 250hp in a 1900 lb car should be a very hard car to beat!!

the thunderbird is also a rear drive car with a 5spd maunal. parts are cheap, and interchangable with the merkur xr4ti, mustang svo, and any 2.3 ford engine. these engines can survive upto 400 hp without any bottom end modificationsbecause of a forged crank, rods, and pistons.

the layout looks correct, the exhaust is on the pass. side where there is room. the intake is high on the driver side, i will mount a bigger intercooler in my OGTS air dam up front. http://www.35pickup.com/SVOengine2.jpg

check out these sites for ford turbo info

http://www.key-ideas.com/MerkurPage.htm

http://www.key-ideas.com/DG_KurTwo62502Update.html

i will update as i proceed...

Jon

attached is a picture of a very nice 2.3 turbo

 

supra rear end?

i was also looking at using a indepentant rear from a supra, my buddy has a 84 for parts, it looks like it could work...will it hold the power? (250 hp/tq)

Jon

 

Yea, no sweat. I know of one person locally who drag races a 1985 Supra and he's turning low 12's with it.

Oh, BTW, there's a group of about 4 of us who are going to try to assemble a Manta for the 2004 (not 2003) GRM Challenge. Should be fun, we're gonna try to keep it all Opel however (I know, we're asking for trouble). The Manta should do VERY well on the autocross however, and with about 220 hp will run fast enough to keep up with the big boys. The tough part is keeping the engine together with that budget

 

Miata motor

I owned a 95 miata for awhile with the 1.8 and 5 speed. This motor is really going to need the supercharger or turbocharger to make you happy you went through the trouble of conversion. It is a blast on the highway, but in town and starting from a stop, you really see it's lack of torque. A Jackson supercharger is just barely longer than the GM A6 A/C compressor and would fit about the same area, just closer to the engine than the A/C did on the 1.9 Gt's. The other problem is the miata tranny is pretty long. Total distance from pulley to shifter is 52 inches.
It is a very compact motor and from my eyeball measurements might be able to work with the stock engine crossmember if modified. I like it's potential over the 3.4 GM, but I like the torque a whole lot better on the v6 is both are in stock fashion.
Oh, the other big plus for the Miata, is that the accessories are configured in such a fashion that the Air Conditioning Compressor will fit, I'm not sure that this is the case with the GM 3.4
-Bret

If anyone gets started on the Miata swap, let me know and We'll do it at the same time and converse to help each other along.

 

This is in reply to Jon.hass comment on buying the turbo motor.

I seem to remember a few years back there was a thread about this motor on the classicopels list and I think that motor was found to be excessivly tall. You may have a problem fitting it into the gt engine bay. I could be wrong but the manifold does look tall.

Chris

 

jon.haas - I too think that the engine in its stock form will require you to make custom engine mounts to have it sit lower. This really isnt a big deal... Many engine swaps require new engine mounts. Other than that have you measured the shifter linkage? Will it poke throught the stock GT console correctly? Sounds like a nice idea.

 

2.3 ford turbo swap

the engine is absolutely perfect....it is going to fit like a dream. the shifter mount will be stock, the turbo will fit, etc...

the intake is too tall but i am using an aftermarket intercooler so the intake tubes will run from the turbo to the front of car (intercooler) then across thru the intercooler and back up to the intake...not going over top of the valve cover....

i will update as i proceed more....

300 hp / 1900lbs.....watch out

jon

 

do you have any picture of that intake? That was the problem that I saw was that it went over the valve cover to one side.


Chris
(soon to be with new opel)

 

My mom just told me that she is wanting to get rid of her 91 toyota corrola, and I thought that this may be a good motor donor. What I have found on the internet is that it is the 4AGZE motor, and that hop ups and replacemnt parts are plentiful. I remember the motor being fairly small so I think that it would fit in a gt, plus I could steal the A/C components out of it too, maybe even the power stearing but anyway does anyone know what transmission I would need?

 

T-50 trans is what you would need

check this out for more info


i think this would be a nice swap and you could twin charge it also (super charged and turbo charged)


"Also in the early 90’s, Toyota revised the Corolla engine and 7A-FE was introduced. This larger stroke cousin of the 4A-GE produced as much power as the 4A-GE, but was designed for a more mundane driving use. It wasn't long before tuners discovered that the 4A-GE head could be adapted to the 7A-FE block to make a hybrid engine commonly nicknamed the 7A-GE. "



http://www.trs-usa.com/8ag.htm

http://www.twelve100.com/faq and tech_pages/5A and 7A.htm

HTH
Davegt74

 

What is this T-50 trans that you are refering to? what car does it come out of?

Thanks

 

How are you planning on getting 300hp out of a 2.3?