Lumina APV

[McLin]

Hi,

Im new here and come from Germany.
I bought a 1990 Lumina APV with 3.1L engine.

The guy where I bought the Lumina fucked me, and the engine have cranked, all the cooling water rund direct in the engine.
So I think about the engine swap, and my plan was I put an 2.8L engine from a 1989 Buick Century in the Lumina.
Can anybody help me what I must change?
I have a 3T40 transmission. What else engines can fit in this car?
Thx for replies...

[weba]

It should drop right in(?) but if you do have emission testing, the 3.1 memcal may not run perfect on smaller engine..

I'd fix the 3.1 tho.

EDIT: Ignore that, i stand corrected, van engine is TBI iron head, so they do not just swap over.

[IsaacHayes]

Should swap over just fine. Just re-use whatever 3.1 accessories that are different. Not sure if the knock sensor will be different, or what to do with that since if you use the 3.1 it won't be the same harmonics as the 2.8, but the memcal needs to match the knock sensor as well... hmm.

[LeftVentricle]

Yeah, there'll be difficulties computer-wise, since the van engine is throttle-body injection, whereas the Century uses port fuel injection. You'll also need to get a fuel pump for the Century, since TBI runs much lower pressure; the stock one won't be able to keep up.

On the plus side, you'll be moving sideways in power output—3.1 TBI is rated for 120 hp, 2.8 MFI at 125; think torque is about equal too. You could also rebuild the 2.8 with crank, rods and pistons from a 3.1 MFI to effectively make it a 3.1, keeping the displacement the same as the stock engine while adding 15 hp and 20 tq with a likely wash in fuel economy.

Transmission will be fine, it was used with the 3.1 in other cars without issue. It uses the "small block" bellhousing pattern, so pretty much any FWD engine can bolt up to it. Later vans (92+) came with the 90 degree 3800 and (96 only) 60 degree 3400.

I'd fix the 3.1 tho.

It has iron heads that don't really flow all that well compared to the aluminum heads used on the MFI engines. It's not really worth the effort, imo.

[Superdave]

2.8 MPFI from an 89 Centry is a Gen2 aluminium head engine the Lumina APV's 3.1 is an iron headded 3.1..

None of the accessories will bolt up easially, If you swap the 3.1 iron heads onto the 2.8 MPFI the compression will be very low and the engine probably won't run...

Those Lumina APV engines were kind of a weird setup so unless you want to do a ton of other work to make the 2.8 fit it would probably take less time and money just to fix the 3.1.

[1994KlrWhaleOlds]

The U vans over there also could have had a Quad 4 and a 5 speed........I really would love to have a 5 speed set up for my next U van project...

[McLin]

ok, thx for replies, but what would you do?
I read a lot about the problems with 3.1 TBI enginges from gm. They all have gasket problems, sometime is it the heads, somtetime the intake manifold...
I wont do repair the enginge and 1 or 2 years later the problems come back.
I read for few minutes that the 2.2L engine is better? Its from a Beretta.

[IsaacHayes]

ah I didn't know the van had the gen1 iron headed engine.'

The 2.0 and 2.2 I4 engines go through headgaskets sometimes. But that's easy to repair on a 4 banger. Not sure how often they blow them.

[McLin]

Ok, what are about the bolts? Is ther big deal to fix the 2.8L engine in the APV?
There are much rust in my cylinderheady, the only thing what I can do with the Heads, is, put it in trash.
I dont know what the preowner done with the car.
I saw today a Cadillac STS with Northstar V8 engine, I read that the engine fit with the tranny. But its only a thought.

[pocket-rocket]

If the heads are bad, take them in for scrap metal. I don't know what the price is in Germany, but over here in the states, scrap metal is way up right now.

[McLin]

I think its totaly destroyed because the water ist moving direct in the engine without waiting time, I put it in the radiator and is in 1-2 seconds in the engine, I dont think I can rescue the heads...

[McLin]

I think I have a problem, I mixed up the Pistons and I dont know the right old order...
How can I clean the inside of the engine? There is a lot of oil mud under the intake manifold.