V8 Swap

[HOTSIX]

Anyone done it ?

Sounds like you would run into a few problems, mostly electrical, with the ECM and related wiring but it would be a project.

Getting depressed with the poor performance of my hotair.....spent too much cash and little results.

I am toying with the idea of a non fuel injected Chevy 350 with an intake and head combo...

 

[BuickTV6]

Hey d00d. I know a few people who have done engine swaps on these cars, and it is not that difficult.. But have regretted doing so afterwards. These cars are a little too rare to swap the turbo motor out for a chevy 350. Honestly if you can, but another G-Body like a N/A regal, monte, or cutlass and do a motor swap on it. I read in your earlier post that you were having problems getting your hotair to really cook. It sure sounds like you have more than the right stuff to get it smoking. Cause many have less and are getting more. I would not give up on the turbo motor yet. They are great performance motors, but anyone who owns one will tell ya that they are hard to work on! Guarantedd you'll get more performance out of a done up hotair than on a small block chevy. Do you have a scanntool? re you running the stock intake? If you are still considering swapping to a 350, at least consider doing an 86/7 swap first, and stick with the turbo V6 power

Just my 2 cents

-Todders

 

[Wildthing]

I am getting ready to drop in an 84 GN hot air V6 into my 88 Monte Carlo SS. I want a good daily driver with some horse power this seem like a perfect fit for my needs, good gas mileage and lots of power. If you want a V8 get a g-body.

 

[FJM568]

If you do a V8 swap into a Regal, at least do a Buick V8 swap...The Buick 350 will bolt right in with nothing more to change than the rubber motor mounts...The frame mounts are the same...You will need to use the 3.8L V6 rubber motor mount on the Buick 350...

BUT... Don't give up yet...I agree with what has been said so far...It sounds like you have some minor problems to work out...I think you had said that you had slow spoolup??? Check for intake leaks...What are the scantool numbers at idle(BLMs and INTs)??? Are you still running the stock intake??? Check for vacuum leaks at the turbo to intake adapter...The o-rings have been known to tear...Also, during the rebuild, did you have the heads milled down a bit??? You may have an intake to head gasket leak into the lifter valley??? Are you getting blowby out of the dipstick tube or oil fill cap??? There are a lot of little things that could cause slow spoolup like you describe...Especially a chip that was not burned specifically for your setup...

Hang in there...Don't do anything you'll regret later...

 

[WFO]

i agree with swapping over to 87 stuff bfore the v8.if you shop around it would be cheaper and easier anyway.and a whole lot faster!

later,sean

 

[WH1 85]

CALM DOWN!

Settle down a little bit. Tune the car. When I first got mine it would'nt burn the tires at all. Add an adjustable wastegate, new plugs, 10mm wires, K&N and lots of time under the hood and I have all the power I need. And my car has 136,000 on it. I have fewer mods than you have and I can lay down a 95 foot posi strip, (childish I know, and yes I measured it).

But whatever you do leave the engine in the car! It is far to rare to just drop in a chev 350. Buy another g-body and put a v8 in it. Or sell the car to someone who will keep it together. But TRUST me with a little patience your engine will give you more power than you'll know what to do with.

 

[turbowrenchhead]

What are your et and mph times?

 

[crazygn]

HOTSIX , take your time and think about it, you will not like the gas eaten 350, and you will beat the 350 with what you have now easy. There is a problem with your car now we just have to find it, but we are going to need some info. Let us help ya out and keep the turbo motor.

I have over 1200 post and 90% say i hate my car but when it runs good it is well worth it and i will never sell it.

Ok now , any header leaks , vac leaks that you know of, take some carb cleaner or something and spray the intake , egr valve, turbo adp , tb , intake manifold where the gaskets are at and the vac lines. This will make sure you have no leaks , if it bogs down when you spray it you know where the probem is. What is you fuel press at, what plugs are you running and gap, what is your tps set at.

please get back with us about the other info and we will get that car smoking the tires iam sure of it.

 

[HOTSIX]

Okay guys...

I know you are right. I am just frustrated and depressed, trying to get this car rockin' after all that work.

Guess i'm used to working on 350 Chevy's so it was my next option. Hope I didn't offend anyone !!!

So help me out....

I have FP set at 37 PSI, stock intake, Delco R43TS plugs @.035 gap, 93 octane fuel and NO vac leaks.

No ET / MPH times as yet...i'm a lil embarassed to take it to the track...not to mention that the nearest one is 1 hour away !

 

[JayLashua]

jesus ****in christ dude, the fact you even THOUGHT of a v8 swap sickens me

UPDATE TO TO A 87 INSTEAD GESSHHHHHHHHH!

(seriously...its 3429420342 times easier and people wont laugh at you for it!)

just my smartass opinion.. ;p

 

[WFO]

Originally posted by HOTSIX

I have FP set at 37 PSI, stock intake, Delco R43TS plugs @.035 gap, 93 octane fuel and NO vac leaks.

No ET / MPH times as yet...i'm a lil embarassed to take it to the track...not to mention that the nearest one is 1 hour away !

is your chip for an 87?

o2's @ wot?


later,sean

 

[crazygn]

What injectors are you running and is the chip made for the injectors , you still have the 85 ecm right ,

 

[HOTSIX]

Stock (clean and flow tested) injectors and stock 85 ECM still in it....had the stock chip (85) 'till last night when I swapped out the stocker for the ATR Pitbull chip.

After chip swap it seemed to shift a 'lil smoother during normal driving...not hammering it. Not sure why or if this is just my imagination.

I dont know any O2 numbers since I have no scantool.....

How do I know where my boost it set at ? Just by what the max amount of boost is that I get when she spools up ?

After I set the TPS it ran much better. I have it set at .44 v at idle. It WAS set for .50 v !!!

It ran well after I knocked the FP down a bit to 35 PSI and set the TPS. Still not gonna say its a rocket though....

I'm not layin' any 95 foot strips of rubber yet.....

 

[JDSfastGN]

Hey my 85 had a dying MAF that passed the tap test, and when I switched over to the 87 ecm and MAF translator, with a LT1 MAF, it ran a lot better. But don't change it over yet, spend the money on a scantool or borrow one from one of us and get some data. Does your puck seal the wastegate hole?? fuel filter? Maybe a header crack. Get a adjustable wastegate, and a boost gauge. Good luck

 

[HOTSIX]

JDSfastGN - I already have aboost guage - its listed in my sig...
My wastegate is adj - thats in my sig too... guess you missed um. I got a brand new engine with new fuel filter and new ATR headers.....

I took it out the last few nights for a run...and found that when I drop the hammer from a standstill it popped like crazy when it came into boost...I was warned by Nocooler when I bought the ATR Pitbull chip from him that it had tons of timing in it....

If it didn't pop (detonate) when it came into boost...it squealed the tires pretty good 'till middle or end of 2nd gear.

Gonna change the chip back to the factory stocker for now....don't wanna blow a headgasket or anything else.

 

[JDSfastGN]

Sorry about missing those mods, I was looking down at your post while i was replying and it doesn't show signitures on the post reply page, just the other replys i guess. Yeah the pit bull has a lot of timing we ran that in my 85 for a while and it ran pretty good until we put some other mods on it. Good luck

 

[HOTSIX]

JDSfastGN - Hey no problem...I noticed that you have ported heads and a ported intake.

Did you port them yourself ? I saw an article on gnttype about porting your own heads and how to do it yourself.

I was considering doing my intake and heads this winter. Dont know how much to hog outta the intake...or heads though....help me out ?

 

[Black Car]

HOTSIX,
Most ATR chips have way tooo much timing for street use IMO.
You are still using the factory stock chip, right?
That is part of the problem too.
You need to get someone to make you a custom chip for your setup.
I have a great chip that I use to use when I had my hot air car that I don't need, $30 shipped.

Gary

 

[HOTSIX]

Gary - What mods / combo is your chip set up for ?

My combo is in my sig below....

What kind of results should I expect from it if I buy it ?

 

[JDSfastGN]

HOTSIX, the heads were done by a friend that owed my dad a favor or something, the car is my dads, and it sat for 5 years until I decided to get it running. After a ATR headers and and a walbro it ran great , then after that the tranny crapped out and now the tranny is awsome but it detonates bad, i think the walbro 340 is bad , as the one in my 86 is from the same place and it is not putting out either. Go ahead learn to port and polish the heads and intake I bet it would be a great learning experience.