1991 chevy beretta 3.1mpfi to 3.4sfi swap

[Codyisin]

Please move to engine swap i didnt see it when i posed!

Superdave if you read this your pm inbox is full!!


So to get started i originaly come from bstuff.com which is now down unfortunatly..

Basic info. i have a 1991 chevy beretta with a 3.1mpfi that snaped its timing chain at 206000+ mile mark... hearing these are interfierence motors i decided its not worth rebuilding the engine no mater how great it run before this happend

Possible donner car... MY dad traded his 2003 ford focus (bad move) for a 1999 pontiac grand am se with a 3.4 from day one the car overheated (my guess is notorious lim leak) he baught this blue lightning stuff? idk probly wrong name but you add it in the collant or sometihng and its suposed to fix heatgaskets? well my mom and him split and he sold the car to his sister who had it about 2 months later and one day my sister was at her house drinking and took the car for a joy ride ( yea shes stupid as a box of rocks) spun the car around and slamed the rear end into a tree pretty much totaling the car. good news its the front end is just fine.. she wants 500 for the car i figured take the motor out sell the transmission on craigslist and scrap whats left? question is it really worth buying this engine knowing it overheats?


What i really need to know is more info about the swap...

i know the front motor mount needs to be changed. do i have to get this off a beretta or could i just cut the grandams out?

what need to be done with the lower mount or is it the same?

i know for the stock tune to be used all sensors from the 3.1 must be swaped and have found a write up for that.. but im going to buy a chip for the 3.4 conversion from superdave so with that can i use the 3.4 injectors or do they still need swaped?

exhaust.. do i use the 3.1 exhaust manifolds or the 3.4? what about the downpipe hurd its different?

Thats all i can think of atm for stuff about the engine swap im consused about.

Transmission also has 206000 miles on it aswell so im not really counting on that puppy holding up to the extra power of the 3.4 its already a little funny dont slip just shifts way to soft if your easy on it and WAYY to hard if your roding on it.. unfortunatly ive got 300$ in brandnew axles with less then 10000 miles on them GRR and i dont belive they will work for a manual?

so local junk yard has a manual transmission beretta thats a 3.1l i know i need the transmission shifter cables and shifter break/clutch? and one of the wires for the autotransmission has to be grounded or something correct?

ive hurd isuzu and getrag transmissions came in the beretta's and that the getrag is the prefered transmission so thats the one id like to get anyone have any idea how to tell them apart?

[bob442]

Oh boy, where to start.... I'll start with saying, you should be able to get a 3400 motor from a yard for less than $500 just about anywhere, if the LIMG was leaking, it could have damaged bearings and possibly journals of the 3400, so unless you want to rebuild it, i suggest getting a low km motor from a yard. wiring is pretty simple, you could swap a harness from a grand am or something else to run the 3400, or just change the few small things of your MFPI harness and get a chip and go to town.
The top motor mount, you can drill it out of a newer beretta and weld it in on your beretta, it would take a little bit of time but its not bad. The lower mount, you would need to rather weld in the braket form another J-body's passenger side sub frame, or take a passenger side subframe from a sunfire, corsica, or beretta thats 93+
heres the top mount:

heres the lower welded on, its in line with between my feet

you should be able to use the exhaust manifolds if you get a motor from a grand am, alero.
Trans swap, Again to members, i'm a Auto fan for the FWD's, so i would sooner rebuild and possibly upgrade the auto trans, A stick, you will have to change trans mounts, and axels, do a bit of wiring, the chip you get for the 3400 will also have to be for a manual too, gotta get cables, shifter assembally and the clutch/brake braket assembally.
The master holes are basically center punched from factory so its straight forward, you can rob that from a cavi, sunbird or beretta at the yard...

As far as identifying the trannys, i think the best guess i have is an internal slave unit and your good to go, but someone else confirm that. Any other info i can go into far greater detail but theres no need at this very point. How ever i'm more than willing to help you out if you go forward with this.

Bob

[Codyisin]

Thanks for the help youve already givin bob with the lumina i got the fpr today and going to install in a few min hopefully it fixed that..

on to the beretta 3400... i have 2 local junk years one is called spaldings autoparts its a yard were they pull for you.. a 3400 with around 60k from them is about 600... now thers pull and save its a self surve yard so i can get a long block (fan to flywheel inake to oil pan thats there discription of encluded) for 140$ however there almost NEVER is wrecked cars there and no way to start and test the engine. idk if i would trust geting a motor from there i mean if its not wrecked either engine or transmission took a crap.
transmission will cost me 55$ 25$ for cables / pedles and 19 a pice for axles... ive always liked manuals because there just funner to drive i guess... now on the 1991 beretta i had hurd that transmission mount for auto and manual were the same?... and how far off is the low motor mount from the 3.1l motor mount? my 3.1 lower mount is right about were you show yours?

[bob442]

well you might already have the lower mount bracket, the lower is rather there or it isnt. as far as getting the motor at the yard, heres my personal recepie, eeck hmm:
Look for a car owned by a old lady, or someone that takes care of there car, clean interior, doesnt smell like a dump, second, check maintinence, clean oil? pull the front valve cover, is there any oil sludge build up? it should almost look like clean metal where oil isnt pooled, so basically a fairly dry area of the head, next have other things been done like plugs, check them, make sure they are nice and brown and dry, look for new wires, air filter, look for a fairly clean oil filter exterior wise, then unbolt the tourqe converter and spin the flywheel by hand, wiggle it back and fourth, you shouldnt really feel any play, you will feel some from the rings moving on the pistons, but you shouldnt hear anything else, and with all the plugs in you will be able to turn it over enough times to feel and hear good compression, last you have to drain the fluids, so anything else hiding will be in the oil, which will probably be nothing. also looking for bad oil leaks will indicate neglect.you will want something at or under 120km, odviously the lower the better, but i wouldnt buy anything over that, also coolant level aswell

Hope the lumina runs good after you replace the FPR, let me know.

Bob

[Codyisin]

Well unfortunatly state law requires all junkyards to have all fluids properly disposed of prior to being placed in a yard.. they drain the oil drain radiators cut radiator hoses drain automatic transmissions usualy by puting a hole in the pan and cuting cooling lines put holes in the gastankes its kinda rediculous how many parts they trash.. and also cut the ac lines to remove the freon. so inspecting any fluid in the motor will be sort of hard...

also the owner of pull and save ownes spaldings so all never rigs go to spaldings and the old crap goes to pull and save to it will be hard pressed to find a 3400 with under 140000 there

yep ive really got slim pickens lol



Just replaced the fpr ill know in about an hour once the motor cools if its fixed or not also baught a new fuel filter and some carb cleaner for the throtal body.

[bob442]

be carefull of using the carb clean on MAF sensors, use it to clean the IAC passage and thats about it, if its throttle body cleaner it will be more safe to use on sensors. You might be able to find a motor if you start scouting every weekend, but its clearly up to you and your budget.

I forgot to mention, you can use a 2.4 cobalt (F23 or F35) manual trans, with the option of a Quaife Positive traction diff, it seems worth it for all the extra work. and down the line, Quaife also makes a 6 speed kit for that transmission aswell. For power handling, i remember reading someone is pushing upwards of 300FT/TQ in a cavalier right now, with some being sceptical of its power handling. Its rated at only 20 or 40 hsp less than the F40 6 speed, which came bolted to the 3500 and 3900 G6's, and they are pretty much Bomb proof so far...

Bob

[Codyisin]

probly wont bolt to the exhisting mounts eh?

[bob442]

The motor us a drop in deal, what else do you want lol. How did the limininina turn out?

[Codyisin]

lol bob you have to realise im 19 and the most endevored project ive ever done is a transmission swap on a 1992 pontiac grand prix... before that would probly be well thats really only difficult thing ive ever done.. replace cv axles waterpumps numerious waterpumps radiators ect... got to were i could replace beretta cv axle in about 15 min i had to do it so many times... Napa kept giving my wrong axles and they would last about a week! went thru about 7 one a week napa hated me but its there fault

So anyways easyer is better since im taking a journy down a new road just swaping the motor!

and the lumina i made a post in its thread it got moved to off topic. but it did help alot but the fpr didnt completly fix it. See when you drive it then give it time to semi cool down (2-3 hours) is when it usualy happens or it RARLY will if its completly cold like first start of the morning but never if you shut it down and start it back up fairly soon.. but you have to keep it over 2k rpm for about 30 sec and it idles just fine after.. replaceing the fpr took care of the having to keep it at fpm for a wile but it still has its fussyness with starting were you have to have foot on the gas while cranking so its halfway there i guess?

[bob442]

I'm not gonna look for the thread, did u change the fuel filter? You could have a vacuum leak or maybe even a limg leak. Hard to say, check the vacuum at idle when you try to start it and it dies. Be 19 doesn't mean anything. Im only 22 haha. You will have to make mints for the cobalt trans but it won't be hard if you can get what will unbolt from a cobat, and from there it's only a bit of fab work, you will have to measure cv length before you get involved. I would hope the cobalt is the same wheel width hub to hub. If it's the same you could make a hybrid cv or swap wheel bearing all around for a real trick beretta with cobalt rims... Oops, did I say that out loud?

[Codyisin]

tomorrow is my day off so im going to change the fuel filter and clean the intake and hopefully it will take care of the issue... also still has ac delco wires at 140000 which kinda worries me lol!! probly should giver her a tuneup!

[Codyisin]

So i replaced the fule filter today and ran into some issues.. the lumina's are all listed as having a filter with one quick dissconeect and one bolt side.. however this one has both sides quick dissconnect. i also had this problem with my 1991 beretta and ended up telling htem to pull me a filter form a 1990 chevy beretta.. im hopeing this really is the correct part for the car.

[Codyisin]

Back to the real topic here the engine swap i went thru some of my tools today and realised i really dont have half of whats needed to complete the job so off to harbor freight i went.. and purchased this kit with 301 tools for $179



that should help out alot... only complaint i have is theres not many wrenches only 10 and pretty small sizes

now all i need is a sledge hammer and a pickel fork for the ball joints

[bob442]

dont use a ball joint splitter, just hit the outside of the knuckle where the ball joint goes in it. othwise, you eill damage the ball joint. I do it on a regulat basis every day at work, its easy, and fun. Your also missing a 3ft 1/2" extension bar for the back 18mm nut for the engine to transmission. Also, for tool sets, i would highly suggest a full set of gear wrenchs stubby and long, metric and standard. metric first.

[Codyisin]

When i did the rear bolt on the 1993 grand prix i just used a soccet with a 3" extention and a universal talk about a pain was even harder to get back together..