i have a 2.2 91rs.
what would you need for a 2.3 quad4 conversion?
would it be worth it?
for all the work you would have to do you would be better off doing a v6 swap with a 3.1/3400 hybrid engine
a HO would be faster.
chris
'02 Z-24 Supercharged
13.7 @102.45 MPH Third Place, 2007 GMSC Bash SOLD AS OF 01MAR08
http://www.quad4forums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=674
Look up SVC around here or over there.
I've done one as well. As swaps go it's not too tough, but a donar Beretta GTZ comes in real handy. It's mostly a bolt in exercise except for one bracket to mount the tranny.
The mechanical/ fabrication work is minimal, but with any EFI swap the wiring/harnesses take some patience to move from car to car. A $15 membership to alldata.com helps with that though.
The 2.3 swap would be easier than a 3X00 swap.
This was originally posted by Speed Vission Cavalier (SVC) on this site when I asked about this swap about a year ago and I saved this, enjoy
first you need to go buy a donor car thayt has all the goodies you want like a HO engine and a 5 speed (GTZ or grand am). better to at least have the donor engine running and in good shape before you take it out so you know at least it works (saves hassle and headache later).
take off the hood and remove your old engine/tranny from the cav. radiator should come out first to avoid damage. use a chiltons or haynes manual for help. wiring needs to come out too. remove the subframe, and engine mounts and the struts while you're at it. you should have the car on stands now anyways. remove the donor engine/tranny keeping all the wiring connected to the engine so you save headache. take special care to label each wire you disconnect, and the one it plugged into. THIS IS A BIG THING.
while the engine is out, take an hour or so to really clean out the engine bay while you have tons of room. it will look a little better later on. use a few bottles of engine cleaner on all that is in there. put in the donor cars subframe (its the same as yours, but i has a mounting point that yours doesnt) into the cav, and bolt it up. this also will take cars of the front sway bar, and the strut attachment points for that. i used a wire brush to clean all rust, and painted the subframe black so it wouldnt rust anymore while it was out.
bolt in the donor mount that was near the timing chain. the holes are already there, so its easy. cut the tranny mount bracket out of the donor car, and weld it into the cavalier. this is the hardest part since you have to get it right. i attached it to the engine, put it in place, and then marked the spot it needed to be welded.
change out the shifter cables, the shifter is the same goemetry, but it may need to change too due to the connectors shape. change out the clutch master cylinder from the donor car. swap out the accelerator cable. if you didnt have cruise like me and the donor does, decide if you want to keep that. i didnt, so its wired in strait. install the new heater hoses(use new ones) on the old core. it will bolt up. either swap out the fuel lines, or modify your old ones to accept quick connect fittings instead of screw in type. be prepared to extend your power steering hoses to fit onto the new pump and location. change out or get a new fuel pump just to be sure.
put the new engine into the cavalier, and assuming everything went well, it least it fits without hitting anything important. of course its easier when you remove the brake master cylinder, and hold it to the side as you drop in the engine. connect your shifter cables, fuel lines, heater hoses, P/S hoses. install the radiator. this could be a custom job like mine since i used the cavalier radiator, and had to relocate it forward about 3 inches, and still put the stock fan in front of the radiator instead of behind. (i plan on changing this setup to an aftermarket fan later.)
put in your axles, struts, and the rest of your front suspension that has been sitting around.
now is time for wiring. if you do this right, you should have the front end of your donor car sitting in your cavalier, amd all the wiring can be attached the same way it came out. this would be a perfect world if it worked that way. that was the theory. MAD props if you do yours that way. i couldnt resist trying to take a shortcut and use part of the cavalier wiring and the GTZ wiring to accomplish the swap. it still isnt working right. USE ALL DONOR CAR WIRING AND ECM! (BTW, i am putting in the new wiring under the dash lately, so i am taking my own advice.
by this time, you should have the donor car's gauge cluster, and ignition. have some friends look at your work and look for things you missed like VACCUUM HOSES. we had a terrible time hooking all of those up to the right places since some of my labels came off. start it up. hopefully it works. if not, it will usually be your wiring. keep trying to trace it out. this is not my specialty. my dad did all my wiring. i did the mechanical stuff.
now once it does run right, you should have just the exhaust downpipe and the intake manifold on. put a filter on the TB, and drice it to the exhaust shop to get some exhaust fabbed up for it. have them make an intake for you also so the filter is in a better place. then you should be in buisness. give your self 500 miles before you step on the gas hard, since im sure you changed the clutch while it was out.
Mr.Efficiency (Tyrin) wrote:by this time, you should have the donor car's gauge cluster,
So i have to use the donor car's gauge cluster... .. i would think if i played with the wiring harness i could get the cavy's cluster to work...
i was talking a bout the 3.1 block with the 3400 top end. that is a bolt in if you have a doner car
and are you shure a HO is faster than the v6 i thought the v6 would have more potential
^ not really,
its about as mutch as a bolt in as a quad 4.
IE, fuel lins have to be changed, coolent lines, wiering for the injessters, knock sencer...
.. doller for doller id have to say the quad 4 is faster, how ever id thing a 3x00 would be able to make more if pushed to its max ( forced induction, N2o. cryoed crank, blanced rotating asby. get my drift?)
but thats just me.
chris
'02 Z-24 Supercharged
13.7 @102.45 MPH Third Place, 2007 GMSC Bash SOLD AS OF 01MAR08
