Easy B Series Motor Swap
swapman
08-02-2006, 04:24 PM
I come across these forums from time to time looking for info. There's always people asking what motor they can swap and how much work it would be... Just wanted to put in my 2 cents from my experience.
I owned a '87 B2000 when I was in the army with about 100k miles on it and motor was going south. Guy I knew had his car stolen and it was wrecked and totalled. It was a '76 sunbird with 30k original miles on it, 3.8 Buick V-6 and 5 speed with overdrive. We took it down to one of the on-base shops where you rent a stall and tools and we pulled the motor from his car and my truck and proceeded fitting the Buick 3.8 into my truck.
Most of the removal of misc. vacuum lines and wires from the original 2.0 was handled with a pair of side cutters. Took the original Mazda motor mounts, cut them down the middle and bent them out and they bolt to the Buick 3.8, the trans fit fine with dropping the crossmember with some spacers and a steel plate to adapt the trans to the crosmember. Shifter even lined up in the same hole in the floor. Had a driveline shop put a new yoke on the drive shaft to fit the trans and a muffler shop run all new exhaust. Used the Sunbird radiator with some radiator mounts I found in the junk yard. Used a big piece of angle iron bolted to the block and bolted the Mazda AC compressor bracket to that. Also, the Mazda alternator fit fine in the brackets on the Buick motor. My truck didn't have power steering, so I didn't have to worry about that. Just run a fuel line to the carb, and a hot wire to the distributor, and you're in business.
The truck was a sleeper to say the least. I installed an edlbrock cam, intake, and 4 barrel carb on it. Had trouble finding a thin enough air filter so I could close the hood (fit fine with the stock 2 barrel carb and air filter) since I didn't want to cut a hole. Biggest issue was the clutch linkage. Mazda had hydraulic and the Sunbird had a cable. The hydraulic slave didn't have enough travel, and there's no way to mount a cable under the dash and make it stay. I ended up putting in an automatic trans (THM250 I think) which cut performance, but made it a really smooth driver. I used an aftermarket shifter with some flat iron brackets to adapt it to the original shifter location and original shifter boot.
Overall, it was a fairly easy project - probably the easiest motor swap I've done on anything. Maybe I can find the pictures so I can scan and post them.
Some advice I have for anywone considering an engine swap is make sure you do your research and make sure you're not doing it to something you have to depend on. It takes time to work with it and work out all the kinks. It also takes money to do these things. Expect to have to pay a machine shop to make custom parts for you. Also, expect trouble if you need to keep the vehicle emmissions legal.
I owned a '87 B2000 when I was in the army with about 100k miles on it and motor was going south. Guy I knew had his car stolen and it was wrecked and totalled. It was a '76 sunbird with 30k original miles on it, 3.8 Buick V-6 and 5 speed with overdrive. We took it down to one of the on-base shops where you rent a stall and tools and we pulled the motor from his car and my truck and proceeded fitting the Buick 3.8 into my truck.
Most of the removal of misc. vacuum lines and wires from the original 2.0 was handled with a pair of side cutters. Took the original Mazda motor mounts, cut them down the middle and bent them out and they bolt to the Buick 3.8, the trans fit fine with dropping the crossmember with some spacers and a steel plate to adapt the trans to the crosmember. Shifter even lined up in the same hole in the floor. Had a driveline shop put a new yoke on the drive shaft to fit the trans and a muffler shop run all new exhaust. Used the Sunbird radiator with some radiator mounts I found in the junk yard. Used a big piece of angle iron bolted to the block and bolted the Mazda AC compressor bracket to that. Also, the Mazda alternator fit fine in the brackets on the Buick motor. My truck didn't have power steering, so I didn't have to worry about that. Just run a fuel line to the carb, and a hot wire to the distributor, and you're in business.
The truck was a sleeper to say the least. I installed an edlbrock cam, intake, and 4 barrel carb on it. Had trouble finding a thin enough air filter so I could close the hood (fit fine with the stock 2 barrel carb and air filter) since I didn't want to cut a hole. Biggest issue was the clutch linkage. Mazda had hydraulic and the Sunbird had a cable. The hydraulic slave didn't have enough travel, and there's no way to mount a cable under the dash and make it stay. I ended up putting in an automatic trans (THM250 I think) which cut performance, but made it a really smooth driver. I used an aftermarket shifter with some flat iron brackets to adapt it to the original shifter location and original shifter boot.
Overall, it was a fairly easy project - probably the easiest motor swap I've done on anything. Maybe I can find the pictures so I can scan and post them.
Some advice I have for anywone considering an engine swap is make sure you do your research and make sure you're not doing it to something you have to depend on. It takes time to work with it and work out all the kinks. It also takes money to do these things. Expect to have to pay a machine shop to make custom parts for you. Also, expect trouble if you need to keep the vehicle emmissions legal.
Automotive Network, Inc., Copyright ©2024