Has anyone put a 4t65e or 4t60e tranny behind a 3800SC in a 1995 - 2000 Cavalier or Sunfire yet ? If so, how ?
Thanks...
I know someone with the 4T65E they "plan" to put in his Jbody. And this transmission originally came out of a Sunfire (some race car) so I know the tranny has been put in a Jbody. But I dont know with a 3800.
I helped nothing I know I failed.
I have an L67 in my 2000 Cavalier convertible with a 4T65E-HD.. don't waste your time on a regular 4T65E.. get the Heavy Duty version or don't bother.
What do you want to know? It's not that hard. Custom length axles from Dutchman.. that was about it.
John,
Did you have to tilt the engine over ? Will I have to move the engine from where it is now with the Isuzu MK7 Tranny ?
John,
Can I get some pic's ?
I'm going to convert mine soon using the cradle I made already. I'm sure I'll have to cut the car body subframe unless you found a way to get around that.
Since you've told me you did this already, I'm getting excited !!!
This should help me launch the car better over the 5-speed. 1st to 2nd sucks (no traction), but 2nd on up is a thrill !!!
I have hundreds of pictures... unfortunately, they aren't hosted anywhere and are quite a disorganized mess at the moment... it's on my "to do" list, you know??
My engine is so far forward in the engine bay.. the axles are nice and straight, but the rad was in the way... the coil pack I had to mount beside the coolant tank, had to move the rad forward. There's no room for the A/C condenser, even if I wanted the A/C again.
Launching is really easy with the auto... but when I'm driving it around town, I really do miss having the 5 speed. In fact... when my trans goes (which it will... give it time...) I'm going to swap to a 5 speed.. you really sure you want the auto???
...j
John,
If you can tell me how to get this thing to hook-up in 1st, and still keep the "sleeper" look I have, then please do. (I'm not being a SM here either.)
I'm running stock steel rims with the silver hubcaps. 2nd gear even breaks loose at 25 mph just punching it to about 50mph, 3rd chirps most of the time. The Isuzu tranny (MK7) has a '93 GEO Storm 3rd Member Ass'y (all machined spider gears) and a PG/TG LSD with the TG "Gold" springs. Front end is all prothane and the tranny mounts are prothane. Welded a cross-bar on the subframe in front of the lower control arms to kill any flexing.
SPEC Stage 3 Clutch Ass'y with (6) puck clutch plate.
Tires are 205/60/15. I treid 215/55/15's but they looked to tall under the car.
BTW, with temp's in the 102+ range here, how do you keep your engine cool ? Modified radiator, or other model or aftermarket ?
This was a budget builder. I can't afford $400 for an aftermarket radiator. Any help with this would be nice.
Thanks for talking to me John ...
What brand of tires are you running? Usually that's the problem... is this launching at a track, or on the streets?
I'm running a stock Malibu rad.. it looks the same as the J-car rad, but different end caps. I have no overheating problems... but it rarely gets to 90 F around here... maybe twice a year.
i have no heat problems i run 185 all the time even in traffic and its like 100 here today
im trying this same swap in a 97 2.2. some people are telling me to use a tranny from a 5 speed 2001 cavi, or ion. what is different mount wise from these ones and the 4t65e? and wiring i guess im gonna try doing it myself. any help for wiring or mounting? please any help is appreciated.
need pinouts if possible to make for easiest wiring harness. thank you Nick
Well... the 5 speed is a manual transmission, and the 4T65E-HD is an automatic... the mounting is totally different than each other. But the stock mounts for the 4T65E-HD won't even work on the J-car frame, so you're going to have to fab up something different anyway.
The J-car stock mounts for a 5 speed could be used, if you're putting in a J-body 5 speed transmission. The Saturn 5 speed uses different mounts, so again, you'd have to fab up something.
My drivetrain was from a 2000 Buick Park Avenue Ultra, so it's mounted like the Bonneville (all from below) not like the Grand Prix GTP which uses the two dogbones to the rad support, which isn't beefy enough (stock) on the J-body. I was able to mount everything to the subframe and extension that I built... no need to stiffen the rad support.
I used all the wiring from my donor car... the PCM, BCM, cluster, fuse panel.... everything. All I did was remove the stuff I didn't need, then splice in the Cavalier stuff I did need (lighting, convertible top stuff, etc..) and fit it in the car... I didn't even bother trying to keep the Cavalier cluster, because it sucks to begin with.
...j
