I'm sure many of you out there in Deloreanland have done engine swaps....
Is it possible to do one for under $5k??
or am I in Dreamland?
thanx in advance...
/Blair
Location: Ottawa, Ontario CANADA
Posts: 17
I'm sure many of you out there in Deloreanland have done engine swaps....
Is it possible to do one for under $5k??
or am I in Dreamland?
thanx in advance...
/Blair
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 3,385
My VIN: thirty two 'o five
Club(s): (PNDC)
Hi Blair,Originally Posted by btrottie
I'm sure many of you out there in Deloreanland have done engine swaps....
Is it possible to do one for under $5k??
or am I in Dreamland?
thanx in advance...
/Blair
Is this your opinion having driven a DeLorean?
There is a ton of information on engine swaps. Have you run a search?
There are several threads happening right now with engine swaps from a turbo VR6 (IIRC) and a vette LS1 to a buick grand national.
Engine swaps are the most common question next to "I want a cheap DeLorean" we get around here. Take a look around and enjoy yourself. You'll find what you're looking for!
On the other hand, our PRV is the 351 of Europe and is an incredibly reliable and highly modifiable engine from carburation to EFI, turbo and supercharging etc. So I'd hardly call it the achillies heel.
Welcome!
Buick
Turbo VR6
Twin Turbo PRV
Last edited by sdg3205; 03-04-2014 at 02:16 PM.
Dave
Here, somewhere.
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 694
My VIN: 1710
The "easiest" & "cheapest" swap is to replace the DeLorean's 2.8 PRV with a later Eagle 3.0 PRV. The benefits of that engine are the fact it's got more power, it's EFI (NOT mechanical K-Jet), later models have distributorless ignition, it's even fire, and it's a relatively straightforward engine swap. Not quite plug & play, but as close to that as possible with the DeLorean.
About 10-15 years ago there were several Chevrolet 4.3 v6 engine swaps done. That motor was a good fit for our cars because it was compact, reliable, parts were sourced easily, it was more powerful, and easy to modify. There was even an adapter plate available to mate the 4.3 to the DeLorean transaxle. This conversion seems to have gone the way of the dodo, though.
Modern engine swaps seem to be all over the place due to the proliferation of aftermarket EFI. Everything from a Honda/Acura V6, to a Nissan V6, a few GM small block V8s, a VW VR6, and even a Toyota Supra inline 6. The sky, your abilities, and your bank account are the limiting factors.
Louie Golden
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 3,385
My VIN: thirty two 'o five
Club(s): (PNDC)
Dave
Here, somewhere.
Location: Ottawa, Ontario CANADA
Posts: 17
I inherited a bunch of engine issues from the car I just bought. I've done a lot of research on the PRVs and haven't seen a lot of positive comments.
I was hoping that there was an easy (and well documented swap) I could do for under $5k....
I know nothing is plug-n-play but I'm looking for something straight-forward..
/Blair
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 2,405
My VIN: 01049
-Mike
My engine twists my frame.
1981 DeLorean, Carb LS4 swap completed
1999 Corvette, cam/headers/intake manifold, 400 rwhp
2005 Elise, stock
2016 Chevy Cruze
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 3,385
My VIN: thirty two 'o five
Club(s): (PNDC)
Carb it.
There. I said it.
Dave
Here, somewhere.
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 694
My VIN: 1710
I've owned 2 DeLoreans, and I definitely think the PRV is the DeLorean's Achilles Heel. K-Jet applications are very fussy/unreliable, the top ends of many PRV engines are starting to rot completely through, the PRV is very sensitive & prone to vacuum leaks, the stock DeLorean PRV sounds very nasal & wheezy, and the engine just isn't very responsive or powerful. You have to spend big bucks to get small power from the PRV, even when modified they are pretty gutless on the low end, and once the valley rots out on one, they're done for. I will stop short of calling it a terrible engine, but it's definitely not the ideal powerplant for a low slung sporty 2 seater.
Louie Golden
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 2,405
My VIN: 01049
The funny thing about K-Jet is that I've dealt with a whole lot of cars with that system, but I've only ever seen it be problematic on DeLoreans. Wonder why that is. *shrugs*
-Mike
My engine twists my frame.
1981 DeLorean, Carb LS4 swap completed
1999 Corvette, cam/headers/intake manifold, 400 rwhp
2005 Elise, stock
2016 Chevy Cruze
Location: North Bay, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 481
My VIN: 4692
OK, I know who you are now. You're on the ODOC FB page. We've talked there a bit.
Let's start here: what are these engine issues, specifically?
The chances of you being able to swap an engine for less than taking the time to actually make what you have work is unlikely, unless your engine problem is "it's missing" Dave up above had what is considered to be the simplest and cheapest advice out there if your issues are fuel related. Even still, there are things you'll be doing to make it work, and you'll be fabricating and spending over $1000 Cdn on it.
Most of ODOC is in the GTA, but there are Ottawa/Montreal owners, with varying degrees of mechanical aptitude. Maybe a shout out to them can get you some second opinions?
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