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So recently a friend of mine blew up the 2.5 in his 93 Sonoma. Since this is more-or-less his DD, he needed to get a new engine in as quickly as possible. A week later his brother gave him a 94 Sunbird with a rebuilt 3.1. So that's how this project came to be. Goal is to make as much reliable power as possible, maybe with a 3400 upgrade in the future. So far only around $500 has been spent.
Old duke coming out
Engine bay before and after
Just a quick tremclad roller paint job
Fiero engine to be used for a few parts, like the RWD timing cover
2.8 was pretty sludged up. Like it had never had an oil change. This engine had only 100,000 miles on a rebuild
Sunbird engine coming out
Next he picked up a Supercoupe M90 for $100
Block torn down
RWD timing cover mocked up with intakes. No drilling out of holes or plugging extra coolant passage necessary for mounting on a gen II, and only minor grinding to the upper tab on the cover were necessary
Heads off and ready for some mild porting
Heads and LIM reinstalled (LIM flipped 180*), new timing chain installed also
T5 mounted up with clearanced 2.5 bellhousing, 3.1 FWD flywheel, the old duke's clutch (still plenty of life left), and a new Sachs pressure plate
OBX S10 2.8 headers!
Lower holes slotted
OBX Y-pipe mocked up
Timing cover and water pump re-installed (I know the water pump has the wrong pulley on it right now)
Rough drawing of planned belt routing. Going to be mounting the alternator and power steering pump in the same place as on my 3500
So for the rest of the build here are the plans:
Modify the crossmember for oil pan clearance (would be helpful for future 3400 swap)
Solid motor mounts similar to the ones on my 3500
Remote mount supercharger on the passenger's side
Use TGP intercooler to aid in keeping IATs down
Old Greddy BOV from his Audi A4 1.8T
Weld a flex-pipe into the OBX Y-pipe (fitment isn't ideal anyway)
Run $12P on a 7165 with a mostly stock wiring harness or use the stock 6647 if it's compatible (pinouts are identical to the 7165). Use a 3800sc 2-bar MAP sensor for boost.
Stock VR6 injectors leftover from his VR6 A4 project
Play with pulley sizes to get the right amount of boost (anyone have experience with this?)
Obviously the gen II motor isn't ideal, but it was free and this should make boatloads of power more than the 2.5. The T5 could be a weak link but could be upgraded with a V8 WC T5 eventually. The OBX headers are actually quite nice; only snag is that the y-pipe wasn't designed very well and needs an O2 bung added. Injectors and clutch may need to be upgraded as well.
Old duke coming out
Engine bay before and after
Just a quick tremclad roller paint job
Fiero engine to be used for a few parts, like the RWD timing cover
2.8 was pretty sludged up. Like it had never had an oil change. This engine had only 100,000 miles on a rebuild
Sunbird engine coming out
Next he picked up a Supercoupe M90 for $100
Block torn down
RWD timing cover mocked up with intakes. No drilling out of holes or plugging extra coolant passage necessary for mounting on a gen II, and only minor grinding to the upper tab on the cover were necessary
Heads off and ready for some mild porting
Heads and LIM reinstalled (LIM flipped 180*), new timing chain installed also
T5 mounted up with clearanced 2.5 bellhousing, 3.1 FWD flywheel, the old duke's clutch (still plenty of life left), and a new Sachs pressure plate
OBX S10 2.8 headers!
Lower holes slotted
OBX Y-pipe mocked up
Timing cover and water pump re-installed (I know the water pump has the wrong pulley on it right now)
Rough drawing of planned belt routing. Going to be mounting the alternator and power steering pump in the same place as on my 3500
So for the rest of the build here are the plans:
Modify the crossmember for oil pan clearance (would be helpful for future 3400 swap)
Solid motor mounts similar to the ones on my 3500
Remote mount supercharger on the passenger's side
Use TGP intercooler to aid in keeping IATs down
Old Greddy BOV from his Audi A4 1.8T
Weld a flex-pipe into the OBX Y-pipe (fitment isn't ideal anyway)
Run $12P on a 7165 with a mostly stock wiring harness or use the stock 6647 if it's compatible (pinouts are identical to the 7165). Use a 3800sc 2-bar MAP sensor for boost.
Stock VR6 injectors leftover from his VR6 A4 project
Play with pulley sizes to get the right amount of boost (anyone have experience with this?)
Obviously the gen II motor isn't ideal, but it was free and this should make boatloads of power more than the 2.5. The T5 could be a weak link but could be upgraded with a V8 WC T5 eventually. The OBX headers are actually quite nice; only snag is that the y-pipe wasn't designed very well and needs an O2 bung added. Injectors and clutch may need to be upgraded as well.
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