(new to thread) EXELLENT IDEA!! really easy setup i would think, lots of room to fool with.

 

Any progress on this swap?

All I see over the last many pages is just a pissing match whether the ecotec will be driveable, or make power, or be fuel efficient, etc...

 

I decided to give up on the pissing match. I have better things to do.

I might post this project on this forum, again, when the car is finished.

Until then, if you'd like to check out my progress, go to either of these links:

http://www.ecotecforum.com/forums/sh...to-a-90-Camaro

http://www.gmsportcompact.net/forums...3rd-Gen-Camaro

Cheers.

 

Don't give up, thats lame.

 

I can see where he's coming from though. I'm one of those guys that don't think anything less than a V8 should be under the hood of any GM sports car, but I think it's darn interesting that he wants to put an ecotech in there just for the heck of it. Personally, I wouldn't buy a camaro with a I4 in it, but I would love to see the build thread and how it all turns out.

I've noticed some of the senior members here seem pretty set in their ways and won't hear of anything else, which IMO is just ridiculous, darn annoying, and just turns people off from building (and sharing) a sweet car. If you ain't got nothin' nice to say - stuff it.

 

Never said I was giving up, guys.

Just trying to be the bigger guy here.

Thanks for your support, though, gents.

 

My buddy has a slobalt and I obviously have a thirdgen. Its definitely strange to think about our cars being combined but I'd love to see it.

Seems like everyone commenting is either complaining that it shouldn't be done or complaining that he isn't doing it fast enough.

Give us another chance Fallen. The people that are really interested aren't the ones commenting, but rather quietly reading from the back of the room. I am lazy and don't want to go join another forum just to follow this! lol

 

^ what he said.

Work faster. Buy more shiny and expensive parts. Post updates more frequently and with more pics. That's all I ask, and I don't really think its all that much to ask if you

 

Subscribed! read your other thread. Doing some good work.

The ecotecs are bad engines, in a stripped 3rd gen it would be very cool!

I want to build a vega with one!

 

Agreed! Don't keep us in the dark!

 

I never advocated buying more shiny / expensive parts, in fact, I say quite the opposite. But I'm obviously not the only person expecting you to actually progress on your project. You stop sharing, you just prove me right. You progress and prove the progress, you give yourself a peg-leg to stand on.

 

I like to spend other people's money lol. I know this project is on a budget, both in money and time

 

LOL! Okay, I'll come back. Thanks for all the kind words.

It took me a while to get my head around the idea of doing this swap, too. I'd been a pretty staunch V8 guy till I actually had some turbocharged 4-cylinder experiences. I'll give this another chance, and I'll try harder to not let the doubters and nay-sayers to drag me down.

LOL! That's always what I've wanted to be able to do with this project. If I could do all those things, I would, without hesitation.

Thanks, man. I'm hoping the build will turn out the way I'm guessing it will. And, I would love to do and Ecotec swap into a Vega. It's on my list...

I won't, and I'm sorry for bitching out for a while.

Most parts I've gotten, and will get, have been used or second-hand at great prices. Other parts have, and will be, new and expensive. Here's me trying to fit my peg-leg on.

LOL! I love spending other people's money, too. Budgets suck...


I'll be posting up pictures of all the parts I've been collecting so far this winter, some of the modifications I've been making to parts to work for this project, and some of the fabrication work that I've had done so far.

 

Glad your back. It's a great little engine.

 

Thanks, man. What can I say? I'm a fan of Ecotec's, too.

 

glad your sticking with it I passed on mine because i would have had to cut and make modifications that I didnt want to make and I got a amazing CASH offer on the dmax and third I had a LS3 and turbo kit just sitting in the garage so im building that up now LS3 T78 Holley dominator standalone 8 pt cage 4l80e Ill see 9s for sure

 

I was sad to see your Duramax swap go away. I understand why you stopped though. Life, and physics, happen.

 

I wasnt doing it because i wanted to either i was doing it to just do it (wrong reason) I wanted a 6.0 turbo and now I have it

 

As long as your happy with what you've got, what else matters? NOTHING.

 

Well, since I'm back, let's start off with some of booty I've been acquiring lately...

The Black Friday deals that Spohn offered gave me a decent break on these:

Front coil-over kit...



Tubular A-arms to work with the coil-over's...



And, the rear coil-over kit...



Got a great deal on a used under-drive ATI SuperDamper harmonic balancer for the crankshaft. High RPM's coming up...



I'd been worried from the beginning if a stock/4th-Gen rear-end would hold up to even the 350WHP I was planning on. Then, someone reminded me that the Borg-Warner 9-bolt would be a great option. So, I found one...



Been working on the cylinder-head. Here's the stock/"before" pictures:





The triangular protrusion, which is the EGR, and the protrusion on the left, which is the mounting point for the cam-driven power-steering pump, had to go away or be whittled down a bit. So, here's what a hack-saw, a dremel tool, some files, and sand-paper have done so far. It still needs some work, but it's coming along nicely.

 

Here's the first phase of the mounting-bar. It attaches to the stock engine-mount from most FWD GM cars that come with an Ecotec.











Here is the extra piece that I'll have attached to the mounting-bar permanently after I do a tiny bit more grinding.





And, here are the brackets that will get welded to the sub-frame/wheel-wells.





Lastly, I have another little gem that I scrounged a fantastic deal on. It should arrive at my door sometime next week. Pictures will follow shortly thereafter...

 

Lovely update! Is that engine back far enough to be considered a mid-engine camaro?

 

LOL! If you're going by the technical definition of mid-engine, that the engine is between the rear axle and the front wheel spindles, then it's pretty damn close.

Even if it did meet that technicality, I'm not sure I'd feel right calling the car mid-engine.

 

I can honestly say I Never thought I would see someone else have this same idea. I considered doing this with a rear mounted turbo and air to water intercooler and water tank in the deep part of the trunk to help get even closer to a 50/50 weight distribution.

Get that car to have amazing handing on the track and people will Have to respect the swap.

 

I doubt awesome handling will be an issue with this set-up. There's a guy with a C4 Corvette who's doing an Ecotec swap for similar reasons to mine.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...build-log.html

 

Good to see you back at it! I'm interested to see how it turns out. I'm open minded enough to appreciate anything that makes power.

I gave up on the ej20 idea after taking some measurements and have a 5.3, t56, and a gt45 turbo sitting here waiting for me to find time to put it together.

 

I got a renewed interest in your project after going to the Tampa Auto Show a month or so ago. I got to see the new Turbo Buicks with 6 speed standard shift. The Verano had a 250 horse Ecotec and the GS had a 290 horse model.

I am really interested to see your "real world" test data on how our platform accepts this engine from a daily driver status.

Don't give up!

 

Yeah, the idea of an EJ20 swap was very enticing in many ways, but it just didn't seem like it would fit.

It sounds like you have a great set-up in the works, though. Should provide plenty of smiles.

Damn...they're up to a 290HP Buick Regal GS? A lot of go out of 2.0L...

There will be a lot of testing and measuring after this build is through. My predictions, estimates, and guesstimates can only go so far. Real numbers and results are what I'm looking for.

I'm to stubborn, or maybe psycho, to give up.

 

Sorry, that's 270 HP with 295 lb/ft torque. I must have drank too many beers today hehehhe. Still respectable though, and plenty of stick shift flywheels available from GM too!

 

LOL! That happens sometimes.

 

Jesus that motor is going to look so small in that engine bay,lol. Keep up the good work man. Atleast you're going with a GM powerplant lol.

 

Yeah, someone mentioned I'll have enough room to stuff a midget mechanic into the engine bay with the motor in there. That way, according to him, I can have a self-repairing car.

I just couldn't bring myself to swap in a different manufacturer's motor. One of my little eccentricities, I guess.

 

Well, that little gem I mentioned I'd scrounged last week arrived in the mail today!

A Borg-Warner Bullseye S252 Extended-Tip Turbocharger. I got it for about half of what they go for new. It is used, but it was on a show car for only about 5,000 miles, and it never saw above 14psi of boost. These turbos are efficient all the way up to 30+psi of boost and this turbo has no shaft-play whatsoever. These turbochargers are a favorite of Cobalt/Ion owners. They have great spool on 2.0L engines. I'll be running 2.3L of displacement, so it should spool even better. And, these turbos are great for 400-450WHP. It has a 0.55 A/R stainless-steel turbine housing with both 5-bolt and 4-bolt flange patterns. I'm contemplating having a V-band flange welded on, but I haven't decided for sure, yet.

 

I do powder coating and there is a new product from prismatic powders called cerakote its a ceramic high temp coating that doesnt require a high temp cure just time (48 hours to full cure) might save you alot by coating all your own parts I havent used it yet but will soon I have to do all of my hot side the whole cold side is getting powdercoated

 

Hmmm...I'd be very interested to hear what you think about that stuff. Would love to have some ceramic-coating that will hold up and not cost me my *********.

 

Since your turbine housing looks cast, I wouldn't try to get that done. What you absolutely CAN do though, is get a v-band flange that just bolts on to your turbo. I got myself a used GN turndown flange because I wanted the wastegate too, but I'm sure you'll do something different with that as well.

Something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-BOLT-T3-X-...10d7d4&vxp=mtr

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the turbine housing is a milled out of a big chunk of cast stainless-steel, and I'm starting to doubt that a weld would get enough penetration into the housing.

Actually, that flange is really looking right for what I want to do. Thanks, man!

 

I know that castings can be welded, I've seen it done. I've even welded cracked chevy manifolds before myself. It requires an oven for pre-heating and post treatment. The problem is that if you did pre-heat, weld, and post treat your turbine housing, I think it would distort some and then would need to be re-machined to make sure that the shaft and turbine were true.

For the money and time involved, it doesn't make sense. That turbo flange is thick and cheap.

 

My roommate has been telling me the same thing the last few days, and the more research I do on the subject, the more I agree with you.

Regular flange it is.

 

Back at it! Thats what I like to see bro.

 

that turbine housing could be tig welded no problem, ive actually welded on those stainless turbine housings before to install wastegate vbands directly onto the turbine housing like the stainless tial housings u can buy.

but as mentioned u can buy 4 and 5 bolt to vband adaters on ebay cheap

 

Thanks, man.

DAMN...that does not sound like a fun project with that kind of housing. I'm sure it's doable, but it just sounds like a pretty big pain in the ***.

 

welding it is easy i the machines i have at work are 400 amp tig machines, now machinging/drilling the hole in the turbine housing for the wastegate was a royal pain in the ***

 

I can only imagine...

 

Acquired a used ETS intercooler, originally intended for a 2G DSM application, at a good price.

 

looking good , and i dont understand what all the bitching is about , it took me about 2-3 years to collect all the parts and build my very first turbo v6 car .not one person complianed back then when it took me that long .then again that was damn near 12 years ago. seems like everyone wants r right now or this instant these days. sheesh

 

I don't understand it, either. I thought patience was a virtue...or something.

 

keep up the awesome work man. I want to see this completed so bad!

 

Why's there so many washers on that bolt? Could you use a shorter bolt?

 

Thanks, man, and I feel the same way you do about completion.

Oh, that was just to help position the reinforcement plate onto the back of the mounting bar under the mounting tab. That's not how it's going to attach to the engine. I have properly sized Grade 8 bolts to attach the entire complete mount to the engine block.