would it be better to fix up the 2.0 OHC in my 94 Sunbird LE, or do a 3.1 V6 motor swap? Also, whats involved in the 3.1 swap, ECU etc all basicly the same for wiring purposes, ie take out old ECU, plug new one in, and from a mechanicial stand point for installation, new motor mounts maybe same for tranny etc, i currently have a 3spd Auto, and its sad being beat by a 97 Z24...

V6 swap for sure. either 3.1 or 3400.
Your best bet is to find a V6 cav/sunbird for parts and park it right beside your sunbird and start swapping everything over. You are going to need to swap the wiring harness/ecu / fuel pump / trans / axels / mounts / radiator, and of course the engine.
Sounds like a lot of work but if you have the parts car sitting there its not a big deal, just a lot of wrench turning

hmm i gots a 2.0 with the 5 spd, but mines 4dr too, i'm really hoping to swap in a v6 one day i need to save stuff like this so i don't have to ask down the road heh, my question is, what am i gonna have to deal with, if i'm doing this swap with a stick, but i can research that one i guess, i do see a search button there... (goes to look for stuff)


"I live my life a quarter mile at a time..." "for those ten seconds or less I'm free"

If your car is already a stick shift and you are swapping in a stick V6 setup then all you might have to change is the shift cables, and the clutch pipe. the shifter and clutch master cylinder should be fine.

Trust me its worth it, even my first v6 swap which was a 2.8 mated to my auto years ago was well worth it

Sorry to rain on your parade but the 2.0 OHC trans will not bolt up to the v6, you need to swap the tranny. A 2.0 or 2.2 OHV trans will work but not the OHC, all sunbird 4cyl are OHC, all cavy 4cyl are OHV.
So basically if your putting a 3.1 into a cavy you can keep your trans but if your putting it into a sunbird you need the v6 (or 4cyl OHV) tranny.
Wiring isnt hard to swap out, once the motor is out of the way you just remove all teh wiring from the engine bay, unplug it at the two plugs at the firewall. Then go inside on the passenger side and take out the short little harness from the firewall to the ecm and swap that over with teh rest of the harness, the driver side firewall plug should be the same if the dash is the same. If the donar cars dash is diffrent from yours then the driver side firewall plug is diffrent and all the interior wiring is diffrent as well then you run into a wiring nightmare.

well i knew i'd have to swap the tranny, and the wiring harness, i'll just have to find a good v6 bird with a stick in it *shrugg* pain in the butt to find around here, but it'll be worth it, and i've done like 5 motor swaps already, so i know how much work goes into it by now it'll be fun ... so there is no rain on my parade friend,


"I live my life a quarter mile at a time..." "for those ten seconds or less I'm free"

Don't forget it doesn't need to be a V6 sunbird.
A v6 cavalier, sunbird, beretta, corsica, tempest, grand am are all good donors as long as they are around the same year (pre 94) as your car.

ya know. if you have the resources, (i.e. a lift, or able to lift a car to a pretty good height) droping the sub frames are alot quicker. all you have to do is unbolt the mounts, and the main wiring harness (that run into your fire wall) and lift car up, everything comes out in one giant bundle.


...

I've got a 1988 chevy cav 4 door sedan with a 4 cyl engine. I have a bad cylinder so I run off 3 cyls. But I want to replace the engine with a v6. I am going to get a v6 engine from a junk yard, and try to put it in. I am wondering if it will be too difficult to put in a different engine. Like are there different engine mounts I need to get and will I need to switch the transmission if I go up to the v6, and any other problems I might run into trying to do this. And also, how long do you think it would take me to do this project? I don't really have much mechanics experience with cars, but I'm not a moron either. I can put things together for sure.

Andy C wrote:I've got a 1988 chevy cav 4 door sedan with a 4 cyl engine. I have a bad cylinder so I run off 3 cyls. But I want to replace the engine with a v6. I am going to get a v6 engine from a junk yard, and try to put it in. I am wondering if it will be too difficult to put in a different engine. Like are there different engine mounts I need to get and will I need to switch the transmission if I go up to the v6, and any other problems I might run into trying to do this. And also, how long do you think it would take me to do this project? I don't really have much mechanics experience with cars, but I'm not a moron either. I can put things together for sure.

The answers to your question is in this post.. did you read it?

pezed wrote:The answers to your question is in this post.. did you read it?

hhehehehe, and the search button does wonders too


"I live my life a quarter mile at a time..." "for those ten seconds or less I'm free"