elky74

I think my old Iron Duke 2.5L 4-banger is on it's last legs so I'm interested in getting the GM Performance 290 HP 350. Has anyone attempted this swap? I notice a lot of people are swapping out their v-6s but have yet to see any info on swapping a 4-banger for a small block.

Project: 85 2.8 bird

not sure on the front pass brakeline, but pretty much change "v6" to "l4" in the swap.

elky74

Will I have to change my motor mounts to install a 350?

Project: 85 2.8 bird

yes, replace & move location. check out the sticky posted vor v6-v8 swaps. will answer 90% of your queations probably.

jandl22

Hey,
If you are getting rid of your Dule soon let me know, I need a few parts from it.
lawrence

elky74

It will be awhile before I do a swap, if ever. I'm just checking out the possiblities now.

Project: 85 2.8 bird

hell, swap in one of those turbo ecotechs

elky74

What's a turbo ecotech?

Project: 85 2.8 bird

ecotec, the same engine in teh solstice & slap on a turbo. It already makes 170hp, and do appropriate turbo mods. (doesn't care about flames, but see what the 2.3l f*rd pukes are doing w/thier rides)

early speculation is an ~240 hp from teh 4banger, although GM has coaxed upwards of 1000hp from a fully prepped engine.

elky74

Well, guys, I am on the verge of doin' this swap! My crate will be arriving tomorrow, and I have a tool shed full of new swappin' parts, so I'll post my progress here instead of starting a new thread.

elky74

I forgot to mention, I removed the old 2" exhaust today. Took my sawzall out there and sliced it right off. The Duke will be ready to pull out by the end of the week, hopefully.

I have some new parts and I'll also take some off my dad's car, such as engine accessory brackets and vacuum fittings, etc...

1989karr

are you going to be posting pictures???

elky74

Occasionally, if I remember to snap some.

gta31

those gm eco turbo are making 260 at the rear so its alittle beast with there preformance packages from gm high preformance u can get real numbers with high realiably

elky74

Today I finished removing the Saginaw and the rest of the exhaust. I was going to remove the lower motor mount bolts, but I got tired and quit, getting old I guess. Plus, I was waiting for my crate engine to arrive via home delivery, but it didn't show up.
They finally called and said it would be here Friday, so I'll have to get up early and wait for it (I work nights, Thurs-Sat and alternating Wednesdays). I guess the first guy that told me it would be here today didn't know what he was talking about. Oh well, I'm far from being ready for it anyway. I'll have to store it until my car is prepped to receive it.

82 Iron Duke

iTrader: (21)

"Swap Iron Duke for crate engine "
Why would you swap me for a crate

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

I think they call that "trading up". . .

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

I hear a Sawzall works real good for that too...

elky74

As much trouble I had with the tranny, I actually considered a sawzall, but I got it out the conventional way. Sure worked good on that old exhaust!

UPDATE: Got my engine today!

stroker_SS

Good deal, try to get some pics up!

elky74

Took some clamshells off a 76 Impala over the last few days. Wasn't too bad, I used the 9/16 end of a distributor wrench to hold the bolt heads from underneath while I reached up and worked the nuts loose with a ratchet. Not sure if the distributor wrench will work on the installation phase on my Firebird, but it sure worked pretty good taking them out.

I'll let everyone know how it works and maybe this will be a new way to do it.

86camaro383

iTrader: (3)

yes but if you do a SBC, it will probally be cheaper....



otherwise on that 290 crate engine, does it have the 'weight' on the back of the crankshaft?

91_5.7_TPI

iTrader: (2)

A built/turboed EcoTech would be pretty cool in a 3rd gen, IMO. Really light and could make LS1ish power.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

It's a 2-piece rear main seal crank, for what that's worth. So, it does have the "weight" rather than a round flange.

elky74

OK, just a little update on my swap: Pulled the Duke out a week and a half ago (it now resides in a salvage yard scrap metal bin), pulled the ECM out Monday, and made a failed attempt at removing the 4 banger motor mounts yesterday. I think I need a different tool, the 9/16 distributor wrench idea would work IF they weren't metric nuts, I know I tried. Maybe if you put some tape inside the wrench...

Anyway, I also discovered that since my car had a non-working cruise control, I would have to get a longer speedo cable in order to delete it, which I planned to do all along. Does this one look ok?: http://autozone.com/R,APP558325/vehi...ductDetail.htm

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

AZ link doesn't work.

I had missed your comment about the distributor wrench on the mount nuts. 3rd gen mount nuts are 15mm, larger than 9/16". But, I suppose you could buy a distributor wrench and 15mm wrench, cut the ends off, and weld the 15mm box end to the distributor wrench. Giving the job to the household teenager worked a lot better for me. . .

elky74

The AZ part number for the speedo cable is CA-3001. Yeah, I really should get my teenager out there to take a crack at it. Be good training for Auto Shop next school year.

I bought the other type of universal (wobbly?) for those mm bolts, we'll see how it goes.

Bullydawg

iTrader: (7)

Those are the bolts I spent a day to get off, just to find out they were the wrong bolts. Spent a day putting them back on also.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

The nuts were on the topside the last time ours went back together. If memory serves, it was a 15mm universal socket, extension, and lots of time.

Are you doing poly inserts while you're at it?

elky74

Man, that had to suck!


Five7, yes, I'll be putting in polys. I already have the v8 mounts ready to go in, I'm just having trouble with the L4 mounts. I did manage to get one bolt out so far, but it'll be next week before I attempt it anymore since my weekend will be over tomorrow. But I got 2 weeks vacation coming after that!

elky74

Just got the v8 clamshells installed today! Took about 1 1/2 hours with the drivers side being the easiest. All I used was a 9/16 distributor wrench, flashlight, stubby 1/2" drive ratchet with a 9/16 socket, and a torque wrench. I used the bolts from the donor vehicle and intalled them from the bottom, with the nut on top. Prothane inserts were used, which is also what the tranny mount will be.

Now, I just need to figure out how to re-install the brake line and remove the clutch linkage/pedal. Oh yeah, I'll also need to install the new speedo cable, then it's on to the SFC install!

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

I believe most SFC manufacturers recommend installation in the as-to-be-driven condition.

elky74

Do you mean with the drivetrain already installed, five7? If, so, I could wait until after I get motor/tranny installed, no problem.

I have the bolt-in variety, but I plan to have them welded later on.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

Yep, everything in and the weight of the car on the suspension. Even for bolt-in, from what I understand.

Xophertony

GM sells the proper throttle cables for cheap. i got a new one for my TPI for 30$.

elky74

I have a used carb throttle cable, just haven't swapped it in yet. Working on the tbi to mechanical fuel pump swap right now, havin' a blast .

elky74

Finally got the gas tank back in today. I haven't had much time to work on it lately due to family vacation and problems at work (lay-offs). Now I need to put all the rear-end components back where I found them then re-install the brake line I had to move for the v8 motor mounts. Hopefully I'll have this accomplished in the next 2 days or so.

I did not buy any v8 springs yet, but I think I'll check the salvage yards tomorrow. So far I've only seen one third gen in the jy and it was picked over pretty clean. Didn't check if it had springs though nor do I know if it was even a v8 car or not. Wish me luck!

parks911

Get some moog replacement springs from spohn. $125.00 plus shipping.

KrisW

iTrader: (5)

The MOOGs are 103 at Advance Auto. The TRW replacements are 57 bucks.

Your time in the junkyard is worth more than 57 bucks by the time you get them and then they are 20 years old and worn out!!

elky74

oops

elky74

Yeah, I was thinking of the Moogs. I see thepartsbin.com has them from about 70-90 bucks. I will probably replace the springs later, but not too much later. My main priority is to get my engine and tranny installed and running by this Fall. I won't be driving it too much, so hopefully I won't bottom out too many times during engine break-in and tweaking.

I got the rear suspension back in and the gas filler door re-installed better than it was before because it was missing a bolt causing it to push inward; which made it a little hard to open. I also got the brake line bolted to the V8 positons on the crossmember, no problems there, thank the General for flexible line! Now on to prepping the tranny hump for my Megashifter.

elky74

Of all the stupid things I've done in my life, this ranks close to the top: I broke the harmonic balancer installer tip off in the end of the crank. Now I'm gonna have to load the engine up in the back of my pickup and haul it down to the machine shop to have it extracted. I DO NOT trust myself to do it. My dad was helping me and when he said "now you got it" I should not have tried to turn it another 1/2 turn. What a freaking idiot. I feel so damned stupid right now. I could feel it tighten up, I don't know why I kept trying to press it on further when it was obviously on as far as it goes. Another lesson learned the hard way. For anybody new to this kind of work: When installing a harmonic balancer, if it feels like it won't turn anymore, STOP right there!!!

elky74

I got it out! Thanks to a suggestion from five7kid to "work it out" I was able to take a flat tip screwdriver and twist it out far enough to get ahold of it with needle nose pliers and unscrew it far enough out to get my fingers on it. Came out real easy, thanks to generous use of wheel bearing grease on the threads prior to install.

After taking care of that problem, I installed the pulley and the balancer bolt and torqued to specifications.