Engine Swap?

[Nick774]

So having to search for a new engine has got me thinking about what my options are as opposed to going stock again. I have found a few options for a stock motor and then there's this...

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/pts/3714822399.html

A Chevy 305 small block that has exhaust manifolds, TPI fuel injection, from a 1986 Chevy Camaro Z28.

Any thoughts?

[Mike C.]

Garbage motor. All the sound of a V8 with the power of a modern 4cyl.


If you are going to install a SBC into a car, do an LSx swap.

[Ryan King]

So having to search for a new engine has got me thinking about what my options are as opposed to going stock again. I have found a few options for a stock motor and then there's this...

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/pts/3714822399.html

A Chevy 305 small block that has exhaust manifolds, TPI fuel injection, from a 1986 Chevy Camaro Z28.

Any thoughts?

You have a nice early VIN. Please dont chop it up.

[thirdmanj]

You have a nice early VIN. Please dont chop it up.

[Josh]

I fully agree with mike. You will be putting a mediocre amount of power to the wheels and guzzling gas doing so. Not to mention take a step back into the world of carburetors (some may disagree with me there). If this motor interests you because it is inexpensive I would reconsider; engine swaps can be costly reguardless of the engine price. There are many supporting systems that need to be upgraded or addressed (wiring, fuel, intake, etc)

As the the vin thing... It is your car do with it as you want!

[Nick774]

Honestly, Thats good enough for me. Merely toying with the idea of a bigger motor, Its still deep in my heart as a Delorean Nut to remain stock..to a degree. I love that its an early Vin and I shouldn't chop it up.
Im glad to be apart of a community to slap some sense into me Thanks guys!!

[Josh]

The motor doesn't have to be larger displacement to put out better numbers than a PRV! I think a F/I I4 swap would be cool.

[Nicholas R]

I have always heard negative things about those engines. They're nicknamed the anchor or something arent they? Aren't they really low compression? Like 8.5 or 9:1 or something? If I recall correctly they dont even produce 200hp right? I could be wrong but thats my understanding. That was just a bad era for power output. Honestly, I would do the 4.3L vortec swap first. That motor has a lot of power potential and it fits so much better than a V8. I'm not trying to dissuade you from doing your swap but if you're going to go to the trouble, at least do it right. Also just be aware, that an engine swap is a lot of work. Like... a ridiculous amount of work. I would probably try to get some more info on that engine to see if anything else has been done to it. Good luck whatever you choose!

[Ryan King]

Honestly, Thats good enough for me. Merely toying with the idea of a bigger motor, Its still deep in my heart as a Delorean Nut to remain stock..to a degree. I love that its an early Vin and I shouldn't chop it up.
Im glad to be apart of a community to slap some sense into me Thanks guys!!

Over my years of ownership I have seen plenty of cars on Ebay where people have started a conversion, realized it was way too much work/trouble, and just dump the project. Leaving it up to someone else to figure out what the hell to do with the car. And in some cases, they get parted out.

If you do a swap, actually follow through with it (Like Nick's Corvette engine, the DeLotus, and many others). Otherwise, don't waste your time chopping up a decent early VIN car.

[Nicholas R]

Over my years of ownership I have seen plenty of cars on Ebay where people have started a conversion, realized it was way too much work/trouble, and just dump the project. Leaving it up to someone else to figure out what the hell to do with the car. And in some cases, they get parted out.

If you do a swap, actually follow through with it (Like Nick's Corvette engine, the DeLotus, and many others). Otherwise, don't waste your time chopping up a decent early VIN car.

Want to know a secret? I was terrified through most of my project that this was a possibility. So many good cars get screwed up because people bite off more than they can chew (DeLoreans and non-DeLoreans). I was always worried that I would just hit an impasse and be either royally &$^%ed (like trying to figure out the starter ); or just burn out and give up on the project. This is pretty much the main reason I kept my swap a secret until the engine was running. I updated my blog (mainly for documentation) and my facebook periodically, but didn't put anything on the forum about the project until it was essentially completed. The last thing I wanted was to tell everyone "hey I'm going to do this really cool awesome thing that might destroy my car but hopefully wont!" then have to explain later how I was in over my head and really screwed up a car in the process. The main reason that I made the swap the design project for my degree was so that I always had that motivation to finish it. If I ever wanted to stop, I just had to remember that my degree depended on finishing the project. In addition, because it was my design project, I had to actually do a very comprehensive design. I couldn't just slap something together and assume it would work. I had to design it first and prove it would work to the engineering faculty THEN actually do the swap as a final proof of concept. Definitely forced me to do the homework and not cut corners, lol.

Just so we're clear, by NO means am I trying to convince you not to do an engine swap (come on... join the dark side...), I'm merely stating what was constantly going through my head during my swap.