2gNT V6 Equipped (6g73 swap)

[BLACK'98DSM]

This is the Build Thread for 2gNT V6 Equipped (6g73 swap). Reply below.

Here we have an interesting project. Yes, someone is actually engine swapping a 420a equipped 2g, instead of just talking on the forums about it.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Intriguing. What brought you to do this? Any mods planned for it?

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

What brought me to do this... well, 2 things:
1- I thoroughly examined a 97 Sebring LXI, walked around it for probably an hour trying to decide what differentiates the front subframe, strut towers, radiator support, and firewall from a 2g non turbo. I couldn't come up with much at all. It's practically a 2g with a v6 in it. So I figured, if the engine is there why can't I fit it into a 2g? The difference of one transmission mount and some wiring couldn't hold this guy back.
2- How many times have you actually seen an engine swapped 2g? Especially with one that never belonged. I have only seen one, sitting at the junkyard being ripped apart (i put pictures of that one in a junkyard thread). I'm sure you've seen this, as many members here have, some newbie asking on the forums what kind of engine can be swapped into his new ride - and being left with no answers but instead insult. But what if there was an engine producing 161hp/163tq that could actually replace the 420a producing 140hp/130tq?

At the end of the day, it is just replacing one outdated Chrysler engine with another. But I will have some fun pioneering (sort of) this project. And I can be one of very few guys to have a V6 2G, so why not
I was presented with opportunity, so of course I'll take it.

 

[CrackedDSM]

What brought me to do this... well, 2 things:
1- I thoroughly examined a 97 Sebring LXI, walked around it for probably an hour trying to decide what differentiates the front subframe, strut towers, radiator support, and firewall from a 2g non turbo. I couldn't come up with much at all. It's practically a 2g with a v6 in it. So I figured, if the engine is there why can't I fit it into a 2g? The difference of one transmission mount and some wiring couldn't hold this guy back.
2- How many times have you actually seen an engine swapped 2g? Especially with one that never belonged. I have only seen one, sitting at the junkyard being ripped apart (i put pictures of that one in a junkyard thread). I'm sure you've seen this, as many members here have, some newbie asking on the forums what kind of engine can be swapped into his new ride - and being left with no answers but instead insult. But what if there was an engine producing 161hp/163tq that could actually replace the 420a producing 140hp/130tq?

At the end of the day, it is just replacing one outdated Chrysler engine with another. But I will have some fun pioneering (sort of) this project. And I can be one of very few guys to have a V6 2G, so why not
I was presented with opportunity, so of course I'll take it.

Definitely not hating. I think it’s awesome!

Bet it’s low compression and I bet it would take nicely to a small amount of boost…

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Trying to fit a turbo in the mix would probably be tough. Definitely do-able, but not what I signed up for.

Based on my research it has a 9.4:1 CR. Low boost would probably be fine for a little while. I'm thinking of just bumping the compression a bit and having a torquey street car.

Right now, the blueprinting hurdles include transmission and ECU. I want a manual transmission. But the Sebring is 4 speed equipped, and I can feel that those are not meant to perform. Unfortunately the belhousing bolt pattern differs from a 420a. I've read it may be possible to use a 5 speed from a 3g 6g72 Eclipse, but no concrete info. I also want a standalone engine control, as I'm sure the 90's ECU is just another trashy Chrysler product. It doesn't look like I can use a Megasquirt for 4 cylinders (imagine that), so I'll have to research what can be done there.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves though. The engine still needs to be removed, along with acesories and wiring harness, place the engine on stand to tear open, make necessary repairs/modifications. Then removal of a 420a and related components, start swapping parts over, discover more hurdles with parts that won't work, modify some more, finally get the engine placed in... now it's custom plumbing an exhaust system because it is rusted seized on the Sebring... you get my drift. This project will probably take a painfully long time. But once it's drivable, it may be worth it.

 

[TheDude236]

This could be pretty sweet! Met a DSM’er at the shootout with a 1g 6g72 swap which was really interesting, but it was far far from a street car, very much a purpose built drag car.

Would be interesting to see a OEM or street style V6 swap. Good luck! If you need me to hit up some pull yards in northern Alabama for ya let me know!

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

We will see. I would hope that any parts I need will already be on one of 2 cars, but you know how that goes.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

I'm so far ahead of myself, I'm already trying to find a radiator for the car. I definitely do not want to attempt reusing an old plastic tank radiator from donor car. So my first glance at the radiator "wait is that a turbo DSM radiator?" Nope. Unfortunately the lower water pipe is exactly opposite. So it looks like full aluminum is out of the question without waterpipe modification. I guess plastic tank it is. I do wonder about a Honda half radiator, but we'll figure this out later.

 

[estuardowrld]

What will you do to your 420a motor? a v6 Eclipse?

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

That's where things get really interesting. I'm planning to do a double swap, each car ends up with a drivetrain. I'll sell the Sebring as a running 420a car. I really don't need anymore 420a parts sitting around than I already have, and no sense in scrapping the shell if it could be drivable.

 

[BeatupVR4]

As you already kind of mentioned the Eclipse chassis is just a shortened version of the Galant chassis. So whatever fit's in one will fit in the other. I'm mostly sure the 3G/8G cars are very similar to 2G/7G cars so you could probably source parts from them. We had a local guy put the manual running gear from a V6 3G Eclipse into a formerly I4 Galant. And I had a friend who put a 6G75 into his 3G Eclipse.

Subaru's are similar with 09+ cars being almost identical underneath. H6 swaps are becoming pretty popular in Imprezas and I have an H6 swapped Forester.

As for the radiator I wouldn't worry about spending the coin on an all aluminum one when you aren't going to overheat the stock one with 160hp. And if you really want to it's pretty obvious the radiators are the same minus the outlet port location. Nothing a welder couldn't fix in 30 minutes.

 

[estuardowrld]

That's where things get really interesting. I'm planning to do a double swap, each car ends up with a drivetrain. I'll sell the Sebring as a running 420a car. I really don't need anymore 420a parts sitting around than I already have, and no sense in scrapping the shell if it could be drivable.

If you have any parts for sale let me know

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

If you have any parts for sale let me know

What parts do you need? Send me a message.

 

[Justin DuBois]

An 11,000 rpm V6 would be interesting.

 

[BeatupVR4]

Doesn't the 2 liter Mitsu V6 in the FTO do that ? Well I think they like to spin those to 8500 at least.

Sure does sound like 11000

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Just picked up a barely used engine crane for $40. Amazing price I thought. We're about to see how well it works. I bought this one for the convenience of being inside my in-home garage. My other is out in the shop, where different projects happen.

Also, is it really a holiday again? Where has the time gone... Try not to comatize yourself with food tonight.

 

[Mahreeoh17]

Just picked up a barely used engine crane for $40. Amazing price I thought. We're about to see how well it works. I bought this one for the convenience of being inside my in-home garage. My other is out in the shop, where different projects happen.

Also, is it really a holiday again? Where has the time gone... Try not to comatize yourself with food tonight.

View attachment 713927

Good deal! Marketplace find?

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Very small updates. I've been running the Sebring for a little while. Trying to determine the health of the drivetrain so I know what I need to dig into during the swap. With only 82k miles on the odometer, the engine smokes quite a bit. The engine oil looked and smelled like varnish when I drained it. There is also a tapping noise from the front cylinder head. I was told the car sat in a storage unit for 9 years so that probably has something to do with it. I'd imagine crunchy valve seals and stuck rings. So bare minimum the cylinder heads are getting rebuilt. I may go as far as stripping to bare block and starting fresh. Time will tell. I foolishly picked up another Honda Accord a few days ago, as if I don't already have 4 unfinished projects sitting around. I swear I've gone crazy.

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

My bet is dried up valve seals that might even come back to life after some use. My “new” 6 bolt for my 1g had a stuck ring or 3 from sitting, a fresh oil change with the cheapest 15w40 Walmart had along with a couple gallons of fresh ethanol free recreational gas and a can of Berrymans b12 and a few minutes they came right back to life. Started it in the donor car with that mixture, let it run up to temp and revved the piss out of it a few times and it came right out of it, no more smoke and great compression numbers. Most in this community cry blasphemy over stuff like that but when you come from a family that tends to leave stuff parked 5+ years at a time without running it you learn the tricks. My 78 f250 sat for the better part of 20 years, same deal in it except being carbureted I fed it the berrymans right down the carb, runs as good as it did in 2003 and no smoke! (First start after it’s long hibernation yielded a lot of smoke and by the gallop when it cranked I can assure several piston rings weren’t piston ringing)

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

I do believe a thorough flushing of the crankcase and cooling system would mostly bring it back to life. But I've faced the fact that this engine was assembled in 1996. 2 years shy of being vintage. At this point all rubber components, including gaskets and seals, are due for replacement. I'd hate to go through the trouble of swapping this engine into a vehicle it doesn't belong just to have it smoking or leaking and then pull it back out soon after. I'd also like to go a size up with the valves, see if I can fit a larger TB, cut the heads down a bit etc. See if I can't squeeze close to 200whp out of it. It's also probably going to take some time to find the manual transmission that I need and I'll want to test fit out of the vehicle.

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

Oh definitely worth doing gaskets and seals while it’s out and easy to access, really as inexpensive and simple as it is to re-gasket and deep clean an engine while it’s on a stand it always seemed foolish to me not to. However I wouldn’t go doing a full rebuild on anything just because it sat, and as far as flushing the case I wouldn’t even go to that extent while it’s in the Sebring unless it’s been a hard and neglected 82k miles. The thing you have to remember with oil is it doesn’t go bad, this doesn’t mean it’s wrong to change it or it wasn’t at the end of its life cycle when it was parked but sitting for 9 years didn’t hurt it. When I wake something up after a long hibernation unless there’s a big red flag like the oil is pitch black and doesn’t have any viscocity left or there’s water in it I don’t change it right away, I prefer to start it and run it up to temp a time or 2 to stir stuff around a bit before I change it. Again a Ford FE engine and Mitsu 6G are 2 different things, but referencing my 78 it had last had an oil change at a wal mart somewhere in West Virginia in 2002, and that oil was still pretty clean and well within its service limit so I ran it a few times on that before I changed it and really started to exercise on it. Same deal with a 93 Bronco with 62k on it we have in the family, parked for 5 years, woke it up and freshened it up a bit, loaded it down with a trailer with a 4 wheeler and lawn equipment and sent it 200 miles into the mountains the next day. If nothing was seriously wrong with them when they were parked the 100% best thing you can do aside from the basic stuff is run them a bit and they really start coming back to life. Again, not knocking your approach here and I’d definitely clean it up a bit and re seal it before it finds its way into the 2g if it was me, but while you have it running in the Sebring after some basic routine maintenance I’d just daily it a little bit and do it some good, if it has a catastrophic internal failure at that point it was bound to have that same catastrophic failure 9 years ago before it sat.

 

[97egl]

I do believe a thorough flushing of the crankcase and cooling system would mostly bring it back to life. But I've faced the fact that this engine was assembled in 1996. 2 years shy of being vintage. At this point all rubber components, including gaskets and seals, are due for replacement. I'd hate to go through the trouble of swapping this engine into a vehicle it doesn't belong just to have it smoking or leaking and then pull it back out soon after. I'd also like to go a size up with the valves, see if I can fit a larger TB, cut the heads down a bit etc. See if I can't squeeze close to 200whp out of it. It's also probably going to take some time to find the manual transmission that I need and I'll want to test fit out of the vehicle.

Have you been able to dig into any of the manual transmissions we had talked about a few months back? V6 Compacts with manual's are some peppy cars. Years ago I rode in a dodge shadow with the 3.0 v6 with a manual and that thing was fun!

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Have you been able to dig into any of the manual transmissions we had talked about a few months back? V6 Compacts with manual's are some peppy cars. Years ago I rode in a dodge shadow with the 3.0 v6 with a manual and that thing was fun!

I haven't found one yet. I've been digging through cars at the junkyard but so far they've all been 4 cylinders or autos. I could probably order one online but shipping is usually high. I can be out the door at $100 for a transmission at my local yard. That's still a good deal even if I have to rebuild the trans, which I'l probably end up doing unless I find something low mileage or strictly maintained.

 

[mysticj]

I haven't found one yet. I've been digging through cars at the junkyard but so far they've all been 4 cylinders or autos. I could probably order one online but shipping is usually high. I can be out the door at $100 for a transmission at my local yard. That's still a good deal even if I have to rebuild the trans, which I'l probably end up doing unless I find something low mileage or strictly maintained.

Manual trans from the 3G Eclipse as well as the Tiburon V6(both 5 and 6speed) will bolt up.

 

[mysticj]

I do believe a thorough flushing of the crankcase and cooling system would mostly bring it back to life. But I've faced the fact that this engine was assembled in 1996. 2 years shy of being vintage. At this point all rubber components, including gaskets and seals, are due for replacement. I'd hate to go through the trouble of swapping this engine into a vehicle it doesn't belong just to have it smoking or leaking and then pull it back out soon after. I'd also like to go a size up with the valves, see if I can fit a larger TB, cut the heads down a bit etc. See if I can't squeeze close to 200whp out of it. It's also probably going to take some time to find the manual transmission that I need and I'll want to test fit out of the vehicle.

the 3.0 cams with a 60mm TB will probably get you there.