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V8 engine swaps


bthomas40
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Has anybody ever considered a v8 engine swap into a gen 1 w body? Maybe a 4.0 and 4t80 from an olds aurora, or even a caddy engine, seeing as how they are ff layouts too? I've been reading a lot about w bodys and performance upgrades in interest of my own, I've got a 91 lumina with the LHO 3.1 and even with forced induction the biggest number I've seen doesn't even crest 300 hp, and to be honest that's dismal to me. Any thots or support?

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I hate to break it to you, but being your first post, I doubt this will ever happen. It can be done but its going to take a few thousand dollars and a few years worth of work. Might as well buy something newer with a bigger engine for that kinda money.

 

 

 

*Thoughts

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I hate to break it to you, but being your first post, I doubt this will ever happen. It can be done but its going to take a few thousand dollars and a few years worth of work. Might as well buy something newer with a bigger engine for that kinda money.

 

 

 

*Thoughts

 

I've got to agree with you. Sounds like he should be working with a different platform. And 300hp is nothing to laugh at.

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I mean if you have the knowledge, tools, time, money, energy, and patience, then I'm all for it, but I've seen it too many times to know that it's just not going to happen. I think I've seen maybe 2 V8 swaps in the last 8 years or so since I've been in the world of W bodies.

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It's probably been considered but ultimately determined to be cost prohibitive. What you're talking about doesn't seem too radical, not like the MG Midget with a hemi shoehorned in it that I saw online once.

 

The amount of money and time needed to do a V8 swap would make most people ask "why?".

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Gm did a 305 swap into a lumina, idk what trans they used but I know they did it, they called it a lumina z50, and the article I read said that no large modification was required. I by no means claim to be an expert but common sense dictates to me that a 4.0 swap wudnt be any harder than a 3800 swap from a newer vehicle with obd 2, but idk if mounts will mount right up, if it will fit, if there are driveshafts compatible even for the swap. I don't plan on doin this myself but I was putting the idea forth curious if it was ever thot of.

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The only feasable FWD V8 swap worth doing is the northstar (I know theres the LS4, but the electronics involved with that swap is overwhelming.)

 

A good community to watch is the Fiero guys. If a swap is possibly, they are doing it.

 

very few guys do 3.1 Turbos

 

Some guys do 3400's

 

Some guys do 4.9's

 

A few more do 3.4 DOHC's and Northstars

 

but most of them do 3800 SC's for the simple, bang for the buck swap

 

The are kits that allow them to put LS1's and the like in fieros, but FWD LS1 isn't the same as mid engine rear drive LS1

 

 

In all honesty, buy a super cheap j/y 3.4 DOHC for a couple hundred bucks and jam it in there. 200 hp vs 135 hp for your 3.1

 

Or a series 2 3800, even an N/A one and top swap it or turbo it later.

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Swap in a 3800 and Turbo it.....or if u simply want bang for the Buck go 3800sc......you exhaust note will be asstastic but you will be somewhat quick

 

This. For simplicity of swap, modability, and power. Or you could go the 60* route and turbo one for similar results. IMO any fwd v8 isn't worth the swap...

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  • 4 weeks later...

Anyone know the dimensions of those FWD v8`s they dropped in the Old Toronodoes or Cadillacs? probably be too heavy for realistic use

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There used to be a company that would take old caddy 4.9s and open them up to 5.0 and install them. company was called ASG if I remember. Why they picked one of the more boring slow caddy v8s I'll never know though.

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Has anybody ever considered a v8 engine swap into a gen 1 w body? Maybe a 4.0 and 4t80 from an olds aurora, or even a caddy engine, seeing as how they are ff layouts too? I've been reading a lot about w bodys and performance upgrades in interest of my own, I've got a 91 lumina with the LHO 3.1 and even with forced induction the biggest number I've seen doesn't even crest 300 hp, and to be honest that's dismal to me. Any thots or support?

 

Lots of people have considered it, as stated. There are many reasons that they are not done more often. As with any engine swap into a car that didn't come with one (or one based off the same block) there will be issues.

 

- 3.4L, 3400, 3500 V6 swaps are done because those motors either came in the w-body, or they decend from a motor that did.

- 3800 NA and S/C swaps are done because the motor is inexpensive, has a large aftermarket, and many people have done the swap, so it is easier and cheaper to do now.

- 4.9LV8 swaps are not done much cause you don't get much power out of it compared to the above swaps. Also almost no aftermarket

- 4.0L Northstar V8 swaps are not done much cause they are expensive to work on, have some major issues (head gaskets) and don't really have an aftermarket.

- LS4 swaps as stated are a wiring nightmare and still very expensive compared to the others.

- LS1/350/305/etc swaps are not really done because while you can use some of the aftermarket for the motors, you still have to do custom mounts and exhaust routing, and even if you do get over 300hp, you'll be swapping transmissions every couple burn outs, or dropping some coin on a built trans.

 

And that is actually one of the biggest reasons that you don't see much over 300hp in a FWD GM car is that to get the power from the motor to the wheels, you have a lot of parts that were never designed for that HP that like to break that you would have to fix constantly, or find upgraded (read as Expensive) replacement parts, and even those are not bulletproof. I have a friend who had a 300+ HP bonneville with a 3800SC and he went through 4-5 built transmissions before deciding to part the car.

 

Gm did a 305 swap into a lumina, idk what trans they used but I know they did it, they called it a lumina z50, and the article I read said that no large modification was required. I by no means claim to be an expert but common sense dictates to me that a 4.0 swap wudnt be any harder than a 3800 swap from a newer vehicle with obd 2, but idk if mounts will mount right up, if it will fit, if there are driveshafts compatible even for the swap. I don't plan on doin this myself but I was putting the idea forth curious if it was ever thot of.

 

There is a difference between no large modification to GM and no large modification to a backyard mechanic. GM made a RWD bonneville powered by an LT1 for the hell of it. in the end it consisted of parts from 4-5 cars, all of which they had access to.

 

Also, if you read the article on the Z50 (HERE) you will see that there were no modifications to the body, but they "came up with a special short water pump and reduced the back of the motor" to get it to work. It was also a 4 door, 5 speed AWD car.

 

The only feasable FWD V8 swap worth doing is the northstar (I know theres the LS4, but the electronics involved with that swap is overwhelming.)

 

A good community to watch is the Fiero guys. If a swap is possibly, they are doing it.

 

very few guys do 3.1 Turbos

 

Some guys do 3400's

 

Some guys do 4.9's

 

A few more do 3.4 DOHC's and Northstars

 

but most of them do 3800 SC's for the simple, bang for the buck swap

 

The are kits that allow them to put LS1's and the like in fieros, but FWD LS1 isn't the same as mid engine rear drive LS1

 

 

In all honesty, buy a super cheap j/y 3.4 DOHC for a couple hundred bucks and jam it in there. 200 hp vs 135 hp for your 3.1

 

Or a series 2 3800, even an N/A one and top swap it or turbo it later.

 

Yeah, the fiero guys are a good resource for some of the stuff, like getting it to work with certain transmission, but mounting it in the car will be w specific.

 

Anyone know the dimensions of those FWD v8`s they dropped in the Old Toronodoes or Cadillacs? probably be too heavy for realistic use

 

 

I believe these are measured in couches. They were fairly large monstrosities that mounted the motor longitudinally, but powered the front wheels. They were also hooked up to Olds 455ci V8, which is a big block. And lastly, if you ever though the 4t40 trans was weak, wait til you see one of these. They were not very reliable and did not like increased HP at all. There's a reason Leno put his toronado on a Corvetter chassis to make it RWD.

 

 

With all that being said, if you are serious about doing it, go for it. We will help in any way if we can.

 

 

Oh, and here is a V8 swap on crack: http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71662&page=1

Edited by jimmyfloyd
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  • 4 months later...

What's the deal with that Z50 that was never made. I have a car that I tore aprt to look at the frame nd want to put it back together. I was going to use a different manufacturer drive train to make it AWD, but if I know what setup they were going to use than I'll make my own Z50.. Any info on the tranny or awd setup would be greatly appreciated.

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5.3 from a Gp gxp= easy enough of a swap

 

Define "easy enough." Every time you come in here, you talk about this or that being easy, but when asked how or why, you disappear.

 

Sent from my HTC Awesome using Tapatalk

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Define "easy enough." Every time you come in here, you talk about this or that being easy, but when asked how or why, you disappear.

 

Sent from my HTC Awesome using Tapatalk

 

you can swap this without crazy amounts of fabrication, ie, it came in a w-body already

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you can swap this without crazy amounts of fabrication, ie, it came in a w-body already

 

Right, but not in a 1st or 2nd gen. Getting the engine to bolt up is not the hard part. Its the wiring and electronics.

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I would imagine that most of the LS4 harness is stand alone like an LS1. Hook up power, grounds, and gauges, and program the pcm. Still a good amount of work, but doable.

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