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1995 GSX; 7 to 6 swap

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Fury10

Probationary Member
8
0
Jun 23, 2015
Jacksonville, Florida
Looking to buy a fully built 6 bolt, head, and cams. (I think?)

My 7 bolt has a warped head, and an oil pan leak, as well as a few minor ticks that are more annoying than worrisome.
I have her at about 350hp as a daily, and I love this car to death. I don't want to scrap it and get another and worry about a whole new list of problems. The body is almost ready for paint ( I just need seat adapters and a new hatch) and she's done cosmetically.

The engine has barely 118k on it. New clutch. Big 16g.
I'm wondering if swapping to a 6 is more efficient, or if I should try to fix what I have. I've heard that 7 bolt's can be more expensive to repair and 6 bolt's are a dream in comparison, and they seem to hold up better with higher hp's.

I'm not looking for crazy bragging rights, nor am I going to drag it. I want a daily of 350-400 hp, and I want to do it right.

Can anyone point me in the best direction?
 
Cheapest route... get a new head or see if yours is salvageable or if it is warped to badly. Check your crankshaft endplay if you are one of those "fear the crank walk" type of people or just for peace of mind. Fix your oil leak...
With you modest goals the stock 7 bolt is plenty capable.
 
The swap to a 6 bolt is not straight forward. There are wiring and sensors to modify, motor mounts, cooling lines etc.

See if you can find another good running engine and swap it out. Especially if it's a DD you don't want much downtime.

Not sure where your located but we have a good 7 bolt out of a 97 for sale.
 
Yeah the above post are dead on. Most of us switch to the 6 bolt so as to avoid the worried of a heavy duty clutch wearing out the thrust bearing. But is seems you have a pretty modest setup and will benefit more from keeping the 7 bolt and repairing your current issues. Just my $.02:)
 
word of advise, keep the 7 bolt. the best one to have is the 97.5-99 year block. more 6 bolts have crank walked than the 97.5-99 year 7 bolt. the weak link in the 6 bolt is the crank main caps. its 3 piece where the 7 bolt is a single piece. the rods in the 7 bolt are its weak link. where the 7 bolt can still make 500 hp stock internals is still pretty good. the 6 bolts do have the stock rod strength advantage. thats about it though. reliability is the same. 6 bolt swap as mentioned is not a direct swap. there isn't really any advantage to it either. rebuild the 7 bolt or find the 97.5-99 block with thrust washers.
 
word of advise, keep the 7 bolt. the best one to have is the 97.5-99 year block. more 6 bolts have crank walked than the 97.5-99 year 7 bolt. the weak link in the 6 bolt is the crank main caps. its 3 piece where the 7 bolt is a single piece. the rods in the 7 bolt are its weak link. where the 7 bolt can still make 500 hp stock internals is still pretty good. the 6 bolts do have the stock rod strength advantage. thats about it though. reliability is the same. 6 bolt swap as mentioned is not a direct swap. there isn't really any advantage to it either. rebuild the 7 bolt or find the 97.5-99 block with thrust washers.
Very good advice but why do you say the 6 bolt have a weakness in the main caps just curious. I don't disagree with a one piece main cap being better but doesn't mean 6 bolt is weak mine is holding up just fine at my powers levels just saying. Again good advice though!
 
The OP didn't say he wanted a 6 bolt engine he wants a 6 bolt head. If you want to bolt on this cylinder head it shouldn't be a problem. The problem comes from the various sensors bolted to the head. There will be some conversion necessary depending on what year car you have. Since you stated you have a 95 car you will have a problem because this cylinder head doesn't have provisions for the cam sensor. You will have to convert to another style cam sensor. You will also need a first generation manifold. You won't have the problems associated with bolting in an entire 6 bolt motor but you will still have the electronics problems
 
:hmm:Oh, I misread that. I thought the 7 to 6 title meant the whole engine, maybe if it was titled 1g head on a 2g I would not have been confused.

Well either way still a pain to swap and you can still get plenty of power out of a 2G head.

We still got that 7 bolt ready to go!!!!
 
Looking to buy a fully built 6 bolt, head, and cams. (I think?)


I'm wondering if swapping to a 6 is more efficient,
Can anyone point me in the best direction?
Seem plural. Block , head and ect! Well seem as if I misread the post.:cool:
 
Last edited:
i misread it to then. there still isn't really an advantage to a 6 bolt head. same cams but 7 bolt heads flow better. port the intake ports and port/ polish exhaust ports and if you want the 6 bolt advantage, then get larger valves. then you have the superior head. the 6 bolt main caps don't have a solid thrust bearing cap. its a single. thats the weak link. most people get the kiggly racing girdle which bridges them together
 
I did mean swap the entire engine. I've seen a 6 head on a 7 engine, and it didn't work out at all. It could be that the person who did it just sucked at his job, but that car was always failing
 
I just want something strong, and I want the most reliable route. I have the money to spend this year, finally, and I want her done right. I don't have any problem with builds, my husband is a master mechanic, but we just need ideas on how to go about it. He wants to completely redo the bay and put a 6 in it. But I'm not too sure if that's the best route.
 
Yeah the above post are dead on. Most of us switch to the 6 bolt so as to avoid the worried of a heavy duty clutch wearing out the thrust bearing. But is seems you have a pretty modest setup and will benefit more from keeping the 7 bolt and repairing your current issues. Just my $.02:)
I have a stage 4 twin plate 6 puck clutch, so it's not exactly light! I recently damaged my Achilles tendon, so she's going to be sitting for a couple of weeks until my foot can handle that clutch again.
 
Sorry for the confusion,

You are more than competent to make the switch to the 6 bolt, however as stated the swap involves other modifications. See what you can find near you, weather you end up rebuilding what you have or swapping to another 7 or 6 it doesn't matter. The biggest thing as I'm sure you know with any car to make it reliable is good clean maintenance. You might be better off rebuilding your own engine so you know what's been done and can have confidence in it. You can find pages and pages of posts with people arguing back and forth which is better and holds more power etc. but at the end of the day no matter what engine you end up using, your engine will hold together for what you are doing. Although the DSM world has flaws they are not poorly designed.
 
Thank you. You make a very good point.
 
keep the 7 bolt. find the issue and fix it, or buy another 7 bolt and build it. stock internals are still rated for 500 hp in the 7 bolt. as i said before, weak link in them compared to the 6 bolt is rods. find the 97.5-99 block and you'll have no crank walk worries. even though it rarely happens
 
I have a stage 4 twin plate 6 puck clutch, so it's not exactly light! I recently damaged my Achilles tendon, so she's going to be sitting for a couple of weeks until my foot can handle that clutch again.
I hear ya LOL! Look at tmz website, his southbend clutches are very easy on the leg and the thrust reason being where the diaphram pivot is positioned.
 
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