gm v6 into a 1g awd dsm

[jonnymick]

please dont flame me for this, but i have a friend that has a 1st gen awd talon good trans, in good shape, with no motor, and i have another buddy that has a 3400 v6 that would sell it to me on the cheap. ive always wanted one of these cars (the awd's) but i have no interest in having one with a mitsubishi engine because i do -not- want to have to work on it all the time (i have a few friends that have them, and yes i realize they are a lot more high tech & better designed, but they need worked on all the time & i dont want that, let alone that id like to have something very original). id VERY much like to swap the 3400 into it but im not sure how well its going to fit. since they put the same sized engine in early 90's cavs without conflict, i really figure that with some modification, one will fit in a 1g awd. 1st questions

will it fit?

what will i need to control the trans for a standard/auto if i remove the old wiring harness under hood & intall the one for the 3400.

could i have an adaptor plate made to adapt a 1g dsm flywheel to the 3400 & another made the same thickness that itll bolt to the trans-would that work or would i need a custom flywheel matching the dsm specs & the 3400 bolt pattern.

please be gentle.

 

[Bud92gsx]

That is one crazy idea you got there guy. I would love to see how this works out if you do decide to do this swap..

As for ideas on how to do the swap. I'm not that experienced with engine swaps, so I'm not going to be that much of a help to you sir..

 

[stormwolf1972]

....you will probably be flamed for this idea but since i owned a 3.4 firebird i will answer some of this for you. The mitsubishi trans has an independent controller computer seperate from the ECU....IF you can get the 3400 to mate up with the trans. As for fitting.....you'll need to take measurements of the engine and engine bay....it may fit, it may not. If it does i highly recommend swapping in the upper and lower intake and heads off of a 3500 V6. Direct swap good for about 20 HP. But it will still be a let down considering how much more power can be made for a lot less money with the 4G63T motor. The power for less money is why i got rid of my 3.4 firebird...

 

[boostin92awd]

Ok first I wouldnt waste my time on this project but I did see someone who turned a awd into a rwd v8 so I dont see why the v6 wouldnt fit,obviously you would need the wiring harness,ecu, and tranny to the 6 cylinder.

 

[stormwolf1972]

It MAY be possible to mount the engine in a RWD configuration. Probably a better idea due to the tight engine bay but without measurements you'll never know...just whipe out the tape measure and get started.

 

[UGOT8UP]

So you dont want to work on it all the time is the reason for doing this???

so you are willing to spend the next 3 month's of your life doing this swap??

You could pull the OEM engine out and rebuild it 10 time's and you will still have less time in it than doing that swap go ahead and give it hell

 

[jonnymick]

wow thats a lot of responses really fast-glad to see people are active on here! the whole reason behind the swap would be to retain the awd, get excellent gas mileage, and have something very unique (ive always dreamed of having an awd v6 dsm. also i have no intentions of putting the engine in the back of the vehicle-if its going anywhere its going right in front like it shoud, this isnt a damn fiero -also, the friend with the dsm shell is on vaca for a week or 2, so i cant measure it anytime soon. can someone please measure & tell me how much room id have for the v6 H/W/depth? i intend to keep the trans in the stock location if possibile, as well as gut anything under the hood that im not going to need/that will be replaced, what (if anything) would limit the size of the engine the most?

 

[gsxtasy]

So you want to trans-mount a v6 in a DSM, mate it to a DSM transmission, and keep AWD? Ain't gonna happen, save your time.

 

[easy]

why a n/a 3400?... if your going through all the hassle, why not look at a L67, the supercharged 3.8...

 

[the_illest_fool]

or just forget the eclipse and go to a 3000gt its still a dsm kinda and its closer to what your looking for, and our engines like all engines are very reliable if you keep up to date on your maintenece

 

[welfle18]

Well for one he said that he could get the 3400 for cheap. As for the good gas mileage with the 3400 I dont agree with because my pontiac with the 3400 got about 19/20 per gallon compared to my 4g63T 26/28 per gallon. The other post was not saying mount the engine in the rear but to switch the orintation of the engine so that you could hook it up rwd. Still think that it would be alot of work and a lot of man hours to even get this to be feasable. Good luck if you try but dont think that it will be successful.

 

[UGOT8UP]

I hope that you have ALOT of money....With the time and effort of doing this swap just for reliably you'll be better off buying a car with a warranty .

 

[jonnymick]

nope-im not interested in choosing a different vehicle-if this can be done, whether or not-i intend to find out beyond a reasonable doubt. and i chose the 3400 because its easy to find parts for-cheap to find-gets good gas mileage & is reliable-its an excellent engine besides the obvious gasket replacements needed from the get go. plus its a cheap engine to get and itll fit a hell of a lot better than a 3.8 sc. i figure with a good tune & exhaust-were talking as much power as this car has stock, only like 200lbs more weight, and gas mileage/torque galore (with a good tune in a 3400lb lumina these things get 30 mpg highway easy-so in a 3300lb car 30mpg should be cake.

 

[jonnymick]

your pontiac-is it a van? if so thatll have a huge bearing on it-and it sounds like you were having some issues (its just like ive had a 3.1 that got 12mpg & one that got 28-not sure why...

 

[dsm-onster]

Wow. . . Some one actually wants to swap out the 4g63 in favor of the drivetrain?

but i have no interest in having one with a mitsubishi engine because i do -not- want to have to work on it all the time (i have a few friends that have them, and yes i realize they are a lot more high tech & better designed, but they need worked on all the time & i dont want that, let alone that id like to have something very original).

That's a laugh. What 3400 do you know that will handle the power a 6-bolt can handle as stay whole. These buddies of yours that work on these mtors, what are they "working on"?

... I am in no way looking down' on you. Just your aquaintances that can't keep a 4g63 *motor* running.

 

[UGOT8UP]

You can build a fine 4G63 that will run so much better than that 3.4, the 3.4 is prone to intake and head gasket failure, I've changed them out daily when I was a GM tech

The swap rely is not worth the time or money, you will have a much more reliable car if that money and time was spent on the 4 banger.

 

[rstchris]

If gas milage is what you want you should get a Kia, as for the v-6, people have put them in DSM's but not a GM engine. If you want power, look for a Psyclone/Tyfoon engine. The time, effort, money, loss of hair, just seems like it will put a mans fab skills to the test.

 

[4g64fiero]

4G63s ARE reliable when you just leave them alone. IF you turn the boost up like every other ricer without the proper tuning then ofcourse it will have issues. I have had 4 dsms over 200k with no rebuild.

Is this the dohc 3.4 you speak of? If you want that engine so bad I would buy a fiero, they bolt right in.

3.4 dohc has a diferant bellhousing bolt pattern than a sbc style like the 3.8s have, but I guess that doesnt matter if everything is going to have to be fabricated anyways.

 

[easy]

still not sure, considering the massive fabrication and alteration, swapping in a different motor like the 3.4 will make it more reliable than a 4G63 stock... seems to me that is just a hundred new things that can go wrong/break...

 

[welfle18]

I had a grand prix and I was talking city miles. Still dont know why this is still being considered. I think for the time and energy wasted it would be less of a headache to buy a used longblock and drop it in. My car has over 150000 miles on it and is heavily modded with the stock longblock. Thats pretty relaible in my opinion. But to each his own.

 

[jonnymick]

no im not talking about the dohc lq1-thats an excellent engine from a performance standpoint like the 4g63 but also is not nearly as reliable as the much less hp variants & i dont want that. also i specifically stated that i want to use the dsm awd platform because i want the awd. there is absolutely no point in trying to talk me out of it-i -will- find out if it will fit, and if it will fit then i -will- put one in it. im ONLY looking for help with this potential project-not help deciding on a different one.

also- i have a few friends with kias that get crap gas mileage & they are pieces of junk, id own a saturn before id own a kia.

the point is, i absolutely dont want to put a mitsu engine in it-i realize that it would be cheaper & easier, but its not what im looking to do. what other v6's have been put in these?

 

[easy]

i had a GTP, fantastic motor... considering the time and money that would go into the swap, i doubt the 3.4 would give you better milage, and even if it did give you say a few more mpg's, look at the additional cost of the swap as opposed to just dropping a stock long block into it, you still end up paying more for the 3.4... its kind of like the people who pay thousands more to get a hybrid because it gets better gas milage, when in the end they don't save any money, they end up paying more to feel like they are saving money... anyways, if you do decide to move ahead with the project, make sure to keep us updated and post pictures, i would love to see this succeed just to see how it looks/works out...

 

[UGOT8UP]

If you are so confident on doing this than why are you on this site asking if it will fit?

Will it physically fit, Yes..Do you have the skill's and the resources to pull it off, I don't think so, other wise you would not be asking us...

 

[welfle18]

Alright man just trying to help good luck in getting this done or finding a different method of getting this done.

 

[easy]

here is a thread i was reading where i guy was thinking about swapping the 3kvr4 motor... http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/turbo-system-tech/206614-twin-turbo-v6-1g-eclipse.html