ricklovin93

iTrader: (1)

Whats the strangest powertrain combo youve seen in a thirdgen?
Has anyone seen a big block backed by like a muncie 4 speed? would it be possbile without extensive modification?

zraffz

Guy on here has a 3.8 turbo buick motor in one... that's pretty cool to see.
Another has a 500 CI caddy motor.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Saw a 455 Buick in a 3rd gen at the track. Strange because he couldn't fit the hood (at least, without a cowl, which he apparently hadn't gotten to), and strange because it ran 15's. All that work, and it wasn't any quicker than my 305.

2007xl50

There is a guy on here that has a 4.2 Inline 6 from a tailbalzer in his IROC. One guy was strating a Mopar 440 swap with a 727 trans, but not sure where he's at on it?

zbowles

GM supposedly built a big block 3rd gen if that answers your questions. No doubt someone has done it before.

Convoy25

iTrader: (3)

Did he have to do a lot of fabbing to fit it in lengthwise?

In my third gen performance book they show a big block shoehorned in ther.



Gm dabbled with the idea of a turbo 4.3 too.

And idr if it was a third gen or early fourth gen, but someone put a duramax in it.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Big block isn't too tough at all. All the parts for that are even available off the shelf. Not much of a stretch really.

3.8 turbo Buick, same deal; there's a couple of parts that aren't easy to find, but since those came in these chassis, it's not really "strange" at all.

Most of those others people talked about seeing on here, there's lots of Internet bluster and drivel about how great it's "gonna" be, and lots of "plans" all worked out in excruciating detail except for one minor point that somehow got overlooked and stalled the whole thing, and then after acoupla years it gets sold as a somewhat hacked-up roller with a basket of motor parts that don't fit it.

The 4.2 inline he might have got running, I don't recall for sure but I think so. Most of the ones that ever worked turned out to be a HUGE waste of time effort and money. You can usually tell how it's going to turn out; if it starts out something like "I can get this 58 DeSoto motor from my grandpa for free and it's HUGE will it fit in my car", and then REFUSES to listen to anyone asking about all those pesky details like exhaust accessories linkage and so on, but stays convinced that because the motor is "free" it's A Good Idea, then you can be pretty sure it's headed into the weeds.

If somebody has some fab skillz and equipment, and some EXPERIENCE, and some access to his favorite brand of parts (like he's been building Oldsmobiles or whatever for 20 years and knows what heads and what cams and all that to get and maybe even already has some, as opposed to taking the 180 HP 400 ft-lb slug out of Grandma's 40-yr-old rusted-out used-up sedan she can't drive any more), then the odds are MUCH better. But most of those guys aren't posting their "plans" on the Internet.

Smartest thing for most people to do, is to stick with the SBC. Not because it's "The Best" or "The Only" motor, but because ANYTHING ELSE will cost twice as much, take twice as long, and entail about 5 times as much risk, even assuming that it delivers whatever "benefits" the proposer proposes that it will.

UNCLE TOM

iTrader: (1)

i would not call it strange , but i have seen "cadillac northstar engines" in 3rd gens . discover the history of "hotrodding" , people have been putting all kinds of engines in ALL types of cars . some are really weird , some are great , some are not too great . anyway good thread , love to hear about different swaps .

AlkyIROC

With enough time, money and fabrication skills, you can drop just about any engine you want between the fenders.

Is it worth it though? Not usually from a performance aspect. Going to car shows to show off your Evo, Buick, Caddy, LS engine etc under the hood will usually get a lot of questions. It's more the pride in saying that "it can be done" instead of asking "can it be done".

The BBC swap is pretty straight forward. BBC and SBC share the same bellhousing bolt pattern.

The motor mounts on the side of the blocks are in the same position. The BBC with it's wider bore spacing makes for a longer block which sits more forward from where a SBC was. This makes some clearance issues between the water pump and the rad but isn't hard to overcome.

The hardest part of a BBC swap is headers. There are very few, if any, OEM exhaust manifolds that will work properly. OEM manifolds are restrictive enough already so dropping in a BBC then choking off the exhaust is counter productive. The swap headers are not cheap and are not a perfect fit but they're still cheaper than making a custom set.

My BBC race engine is still a 9.8" short deck block but nothing about it is from the factory. Displacement is currently 588 CID. It could be increased to a 605 but I'd switch to a 10.2" tall deck block if I wanted more cubic inches.

SBC and BBC parts are plentiful and inexpensive. You could swap in any engine you want but you'll also be paying more for aftermarket parts.

zbowles

Would you mind sharing the pictures with the rest of the class?

zbowles

I heard that the reason you couldn't get a 'Vette with a W-series is because Duntov thought, all things considered, it already had the best engine Chevy had to offer. It was the lightest v8 of GM, easy to produce, made good power, was small and compact, and still had potential for more in any form that it left the factory as. And back in the day, they made some pretty good numbers. IMO, why mess with "perfection"? Stick in a 350, 302, or 400 sbc warmed over a little and you've got yourself the best setup available. IMO, a 200 is the best choice for an OD transmisson as long as you have a 2k or less rpm stall speed.

Just my thoughts on engine swaps.

morrow

hey tom, do you know where i can find info on the northstar swap? pics maybe?

UNCLE TOM

iTrader: (1)

sorry no I do not . the one I saw was a couple of years ago . it was at a cruise nite in key largo , fl. . a young S/sgt. from homestead A.F.B. had done the swap . I was with a group of friends & we had a designated driver so I had to leave with them . it did look good , owner said he had a few glitches to work out . big one was keeping traction . others have done it , maybe they will chime in . good luck .

Johnny Blaze

iTrader: (15)

How bout the bonneville 3rd gen with the old GMC inline six!


As stated most of these odd combos equal nothing but time and effort with fisapointj g results.

AutoRoc

iTrader: (1)

My inline swap is documented in the engine swap forum. It's been awesome, 6 track outings, 6000+ miles.. I'm impressed. Roughly 600hp at 15psi, junkyard used parts, 25mpg.

.. I have about $1700 into getting it running. Another $2000 to get the intercooled, meth injected turbo running. $2000 into the new converter/trans rebuild..

Almost all of my parts are bought used also.. I call them "proven".. Not used..

Johnny Blaze

iTrader: (15)

^ very kewl!

monkoskimike

Some one on here, not to long ago, had a modern eco tec four cylinder turboed

Atilla the Fun

Chevrolet themselves did many of the better swaps; In no particular order, there was the single-turbo 4.3 into a navy '85, there was the 454H.O. into the red '88 with silver GFX, there was a ZZX 350 into a white 'maro with a T5, which led to the ZZ3 in the silver '87 'maro, There was the LT5 into the white / purple / yellow 'maro, there was the LT1 swap into the white '91 Z28, there was a 502/509 into a red '91 or '92 Z28 with rear window louvers, and there were rumors of a Twin Dual Cam 3.4 in a third-gen as an engineering evaluation.
Strangest of all may well have been the few factory-built 2.5L 4-cylinder versions sold to the general public in '82-'85. The 4.2L inline six is running with a turbo, there's an Ecotec 4-cylinder being wrapped up, several people claimed to have started Viper V10 swaps. Supposedly a few Ford V8s have been started, including the old 5.0 and a 460, dunno if any got completed.
One guy did start a DuraMax turbodiesel, I myself have installed a Detroit 6.2L diesel, and I was among the first to tackle the Chevy 4.3L V6. I even posted pics of the 4.3 install and the 6.2 diesel install.
If you have a good Muncie 4-speed sitting around, you should be able to sell it for enough to get a used LT1-spec T56 to go behind your big block Chevy.
Once you get the engine and transmission, then you still have to redo the radiator, front springs, rear axle, entire exhaust system, and probably a big brake kit.

Johnny Blaze

iTrader: (15)

^ I remember that, it was far from being finished last I saw, wonder if he got it done?

Atilla the Fun

The Duramax got abandoned for an LSx swap. I felt disappointed.

rusty vango

theres a guy around my area with a 84 SC with a 64 409 and a power glide

midias

One guy here has a 426 twin turbo SBF with a powerglide that puts down over 1000 whp.

eightTfourTA

iTrader: (3)

Years ago, a fellow car club member picked up an '86 TA at an auction that for whatever reason, had a 289 with a T-10 swapped in place of the LB9/700r4. Rather unremarkable, it got parted out later.