H-Body Turbo V-6

[79bird]

Without having to search all 90,000 plus posts here, does anyone know of any posts concerning putting a Turbo setup into a Monza/Sunbird?

 

[fuzzyGN]

You have PM

 

[b4black]

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60026

Not SFI, but Buick V6.

 

[79bird]

I'm debating wether or not to go with a 4.3 Chevy V6, or a Buick Turbo V6. The 4.3 would be easier but I may be able to get hold of a GN a friend knows about. The body's trashed, otherwise it would be restoration bound. If I can get the GN I would swap over all the electronic stuff of course. Any ideas that may help? And what is meant by PM

 

[GNVAIR]

I am currently helping a buddy of mine install an intercooled 87 engine into his 79 Monza Spyder. The only bolt in part of the whole swap was the motor mounts. It requires custom headers and down pipe. There is no way the stock stuff will clear; especially on the passenger side.
The driver side header runs right into the steering shaft. Also note that its almost impossible to run power steering or a/c since the engine comes so close to the steering box. The factory 3.8 equipt H bodies used V belt accessory drives like the NA Regals did. The other obstacle was the transmission crossmember and torque arm. We are using the TH2004r and it require us fabricated a whole new cross member. We originally planned on using the torque arm and stock rear suspension, but you can barely fit 7 inch wide tires in the back. We are currently mini tubbing it using an after market 4 link set up. We got a bolt in Ford 9" from Currie enterprises. They are the only outfit that will build a bolt in housing for an H body and they are mighty proud of it. It cost my buddy $3k for it.
I say all of this since we are still working on it. It is definitely not a swap for the mechanically impared. A hot air motor might fit better. We have a TTA engine and ran into the same problems with those headers.

 

[fuzzyGN]

PM = Private mail. A button at the bottom will take you to them. The first thing to decide as with any project is what you want the car to do. You MUST be completely honest with yourself right from the start or you won't be happy. If it is going to be a quick weekend cruizer then you really don't need a ton of HP to be really quick. The car only weighs around 2300 pounds. Every 100 pounds is worth a tenth in the quarter. So 200 HP in a 2300 pound car is like having closer to 300 in a full weight Regal. It is very easy and cheap to make 200 HP with even a N/A Buick V6. My wagon isn't finished yet but it will be a 4bbl 4.1 with ported heads, big cam, headers, dual pipes, and a good amount of compression. Just deck the heck out of the block. For every .030 removed you get half a point compression. Going to use stock replacement pistons. My TOTAL investment for the ENTIRE car so far is 2300 bucks. I have done a serious amout of "horse trading" to get to this point but it should be close to a high 13 sec. car for around 2500 bucks and still get mid 20's fuel mileage. Also just starting a 73 Vega and hot air project.

 

[Mr. T-Type]

My dad put a 350 in a Monza when he was younger for the hell of it.

If you are considering the 4.3L, have you considered the Ty/Sy engine?

 

[79bird]

I decided long ago I was not the drag racing type, A 4.3 with a 200R4 will get me what I want. The weight of my car is actually around 2800lbs but thats not important. I'd like a good driver that can handle mild to moderately spirited handling. I'm going to rebuild the susp. with PST Origional rubber parts, add sway bars front and rear. Moog steering parts and other stuff like that to bring the important areas up to date. The 4.3 will provide more than enough power for my needs. I don't know anything about the Typhoon motor though.

 

[fuzzyGN]

Well, if you just want a peppy little car then go with the 3.8L Buick engine. It will bolt right in with stock parts. The trans will need a tailshaft housing that will accept the torque arm so either a TH-350 or a 4/5 speed will work. Pretty much a bolt in deal with the right stuff. Not too sure on the 4.3L because it was never offered in that body style.

 

[b4black]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1871418595&rd=1

 

[GNVAIR]

I would recommend the 4.1 Buick V6. You can extract a tremedous amount of power and bolt it in with factory mounts and accessories. The only major mod you would have to make would be a new transmission crossmember for the TH2004r and also a mount for the torque arm. It would definitely be an easier swap that the 4.3 Chevy V6.

 

[fuzzyGN]

That is what I did for my wagon (a 4.1L) but I have found that they usually need work before they are ready to run. The engine I bought had a spun rod and junk everywhere. I decked the block and it took .030 just to make it square and true. Have not found one yet in a yard "ready to run" but if you are planning on building the engine anyway it will give more cubes and more power. A 3.8L on the other hand can be found ready to go at the expense of some displacement. Besides the pistons and block, the parts are all the same. Some of the later cars had a manual 5 speed with the torque arm provision. Check your gear set though as they may be high enough that an overdrive is not needed. I put 3.73's in mine and will run a short tire so overdrive was a must.

 

[79bird]

a 4.1 would be a good choice for me, probably cheaper too. do you have the vin codes to look for on these motors? a nice Q-Jet with a factory aluminum manifold would be good.

 

[79bird]

As for the trans mount and torque arm mount, I have info from the H-Body folks. Specificaly a guy named GNSpyder who is going hog wild building a Monza for racing. He used the trans crossmember cut at the bolt on points and welded to a u-shaped piece of 1 1/2" Cromoly tubing. I can do that and put a piece of steel up to hold the torque arm, simple. and if I want I can go the 5-speed route because I have the whole setup off a donor car.

 

[fuzzyGN]

The 4.1L was only made from 1980 to 1984. You would want to find a later model year (83 or 84) because they had better oiling circuts. They were found in all the big Buicks like the Riv's etc. I think there is a complete list on the Turbo Regal website. They will have a "4.1L" cast into the bellhousing area on the drivers side. They all came with an alum. 4bbl intake so grab that and the carb too. For the trans stuff, if you are handy with a smoke wrench anything is possible. I just went the easy way and put in the T-55 from a Sunbird. In case you didn't know, the rear (assuming it is a 7.5 and not a 6.5) is the same as found in an 82 to 84 S-10. That is where I got the gears for mine. The axles are exactly the same width too so you get 5 bolt conversion. The pinion bearings are different but there is a special part number so it will be a drop in. I can find it if you want it. These cars are very cool as far as interchangablilty goes. Very inexpensive.

 

[79bird]

I already have most of the parts for the five lug conversion including a set of 15 x 7 older ARE rims that look like the Turbo TA rims with the gold honeycomb on the inside of the shiny rim part. If I go with a 205 or 215/60R15 I shouldn't need spacers. '78 and later H-Bodys all have 7.5 rears. I have to look at the tag to find out my ratio, probably 2.73/1. There's several yards in my area I can look in for the 4.1. What's .2 liters anyway? Plus with either the 200R4 or the 5-speed ('78 Skyhawk) I'll get great mileage also.

 

[79bird]

I also have the frame plates to accept the motor mounts for the 4.1, have the mounts too.

 

[b4black]

http://home.flash.net/~rjgeorge/252V6.htm

 

[79bird]

b4black, thanks for the heads up. I copied all the info to one of my files.

 

[79bird]

so the front wheel drive motors will bolt up the same as the rear wheel? I'll check out the yards around me to see.