1992 Olds Achieva SCX Engine Swap... Help!

I have a 92' Achieva SCX with an engine dead from abuse. For those of you who don't know... 92 SCXs are some of a few cars ever built with a W41 Quad 4 DOCH High Output 190 Horsepower General Motors racing engine...
"The W41 Achieva was built in 1992 and 1993 to legalize the car for racing. Can you say SCCA World Champion, NHRA Record Holder, and IMSA Firehawk Champion ? 1146 W41's were built in 1992, and 500 in 1993.

"The goodie list includes the 190 horsepower High Output Quad 4, Special W41 camshafts with 218 degrees of duration @.50, and 410" of lift, free flowing exhaust, a Getrag close ratio 5 speed with a .81 fifth gear, a concentric slave clutch, a modified version of the FX3 Computer Command Ride package, a large front stabilizer bar, 2 rear stabalizer bars, a wider rear axle, V rated 14" tires on alloy rims, a 140 mph speedometer, and a 7000 rpm redline tachometer. " - (http://www.geocities.com/lbsr4lif/oldsAchieva.html)

I ran the car hard low on oil and coolant at times and over the years (3 years of neglect) eventually killed it... in the end it was billowing white smoke through the two tailpipes, which I assume was coolant burning in the cylinders, caused possibly by blown headgaskets... but i'm sure there are many other problems, probably a cracked or warped block and just messed up stuff.

Ready to restore my SCX I was lucky enough to find a almost new Quad 4 DOHC "Vin A" High Output engine from an Achieva Sl with an 8th vin character "A" noting the high output quad4. Achieva's came with a SOHC, DOHC, or high output DOHC that year, the 8th vin is how you can tell... and the SCX's 8th vin is A so in theory this fresh HO Quad 4 could pop right into my SCX and things would be ok, but it wouldn't be w41. What good would an achieva scx be without a w41? By the way this "almost new" engine I bought had compression test results of 205-215 and oil preasure of 85-95, looks sparkely and quite unweatherd, probably only used for 2 or 3 years.

Obviously just HO isn't going to do it, this scx deserves w41 performance and that's what it's going to get. What I want to do is frankenstien the fresh block, pistions, rings, sensors, and any other parts from "Vin A" engine with the specialized "w41" performance pieces from my original engine... My delema is i dont know all the diferences or compatabilitys between the w41 and the standard HO quad4, or where one could find out such info. I believe alot of the diferences are in the head, the cam shaft and lobes, the valves and springs. Real quick, does anyone know what of these pieces of my w41 were likley to survive the abuse entailed above?

Does anyone know where I might run into problems doing this type of operation?
Are there any online spec sheets that would inform me of the w41 spec parts?

It will be my first time really working on a car engine so if anyone has any pointers and or URL's with basic do's and dont's those would be helpful. Any Comments on homebuild cherypickers? Any useful pages and links would be cool.

While i've got this thing all out and being rebuilt im defentally going to squeeze as much performance out of it as i can. Starting with a cold air intake and a high flow catalytic. I'll downsize the AC and Powersteering pully. Replace the valves and fuelinjectors if they need it. I believe the w41 has higher preasure fuel injectors. This page has alot of quad 4 info http://users.skynet.be/nvmygtz/ref.htm. Pop a performance chip in there and i could be looking at 210 HP kickin ass and takin names. I really don't know shit but it's fun and i'm lucky to have this SCX anyways. How fun would that be on the streets? Lowered and sporting some nice 17's this puppys gonna be a fun ride. To bad my punk ass had to kill the original w41.

Well im hoping all the w41 parts are salvagable and or replaceable and any comments or advice would be appreciated. Thanks and Aloha.

Kyle Varela

Kyle,

Want a brand new W41 motor???

see www.mantapart.com

Plans have changed a little... I realize the head on the original w41 is probably warped and or cracked, so it's good that the valves and springs on the w41 are identical to the HO, just the cams in the head are modified w41 spec. So im hoping that the head warpage and damage is minimal and that the w41 cam shafts are straight and run phatty style.

I'll Pop the w41 camshafts into the fresh HO for the extra 10 horesepower and low end.
Ill be keeping my original w41 computer(though pondering something a little more OEM)
My w41 Down-pipe and dual exhaust should stay fully intact and kick right in.

The "W41 spec" engine that Achieva SCXs and a few other 92-93 gm specialty cars came stock with is a High Output 2.3L Quad 4 (dohc) Vin A engine with three major diferences.
1.) W41 Computer control,
2.)performance valve timing and lift from w41 cam shafts and/or just cams, and
3.)(Ported or high flow?)down-pipe to dual exhaust.
And of course
4.)the "IDI" Coil mount / plug cover / engine cover painted red and Marked "W41".
As far as I know, the rest of a w41 is a Vin A Quad 4. There is also a W42 or W41#2 that i'm thinking is the 93 SCX W41 engine with even 'hotter' cams, and a better fuel air management computer, though i'd like to find more out about this.

Im still considering AC / PowerSteering pulley replacement for the Quad but am hesitant though, i've heard the gains are minimal. Cool air intake seems like a grand idea though i'll have to make one.

Future Considerations:
Suspension/Tires/Rims/Ride.
Windows/Color/GroundFX/Graphics/Details/Spoilers
Cats
Subsiquent points of attention.

If anyone's got any thing to say please say something at least, . ,ha! I've found highly qualified quad4 type of mechanic to perform this engine swap and who is going to be quite a resourse while tightening down my baby. I found him using, the force. Stay tuned, but thats pretty much it for now, Take Care.

Kyle Varela

No other makes of cars ever got a W41 spec motor, no Chevys, Pontiacs etc.... Look at the IDI cover. It's says "Exclusively For Oldsmobile". The W41s were only available in Oldsmobiles.

There was never a W42 or W41#2 engine availalable in the SCX. There were however a set of W41+ or #2 camshafts that were available from GMPP. They added a little more lift and or duration over the W41 cams. I don't have the specs available or I would post them for you.

The 93 SCX engines were actually the worst of the W41s. They were detuned down to 185HP for a miriad of reasons, emissions, idle quality, etc...

Cold air intake will help. So will the +2/-2 camshaft sprockets if you can find them.

HTHs,

Cool dude just go away no one likes knowit-alls around here. Wait, just messin! Right corrections, Sweet.

I've been around W41s for almost 14 years now. In case you missed it in my signature I own #142 of the 204 produced in 1991. I'm also one of the founding members of the Quadfourm. If you want to encounter alot, I mean ALOT more knowledgeable people than myself about Q4s, I'd suggest going to yahoogroups.com and subscribing to the Quadfourm. It's a very active email list, 800+ members, of Quad4 powered car owners.

I know some of the details on what came from the factory. These guys know what it takes to make them go alot faster!

Good Luck!

Gracias! I'll be heading over to that forum for the tuning and tweaking! Later guys, i'll post how the engine install goes.

I also have a 92 SCX, but a mechanic killed it. It starts, but knocks really loud. I read your posts about replacing your engine with a HO, and I wanted to tell you that I would be interested in any parts that you do not use from the W41 or the HO. I have never worked on an engine before, but I don't really know what is wrong with my W41. But if you are only going to use the cams from your old W41, I'd be interested in buying everything else, hope fully it will be the parts I need. You can email me at castro_4_life@hotmail.com if you are intersted. Hope to hear from you.

Hey, CD Smalley, I've been to your site, got some nice cars. ANother good Quad4 site is www.quad4forums.com

BTW, GM still sells +/- 4 cam sprockets.

I see you have visited Daryl's homepage. If you use information that another man has researched and recieved, the best you could do is change the wording around. "Can you say blah, blah, blah" This is to SCXyamotion!

SCXyamotion,
you can always get a regular HO Quad 4 and
drop in a set of W41 cams. Also, note that
Competition Cams makes a 224 @ .050s cam
set from their own billet. Aslo sealed power
makes a set of lifters for that engine that
can be brought at Summit Racing for 200 bucks
The only thing that you would need are the
W41 valve springs for the engine.

also,
check out the links section for the air intake
system on www.quad4fourms.com. There is
an air intake housing that could work well with
a custom ram system.

Well I was thinking it over and that spec for Oil Press is WAY to high. 75 PSI and above you start to erode the Bearing Material away. Like what a big rain storm does to the ground on hills.

Thank the great god of google spider that when searching for my name something I can put a link to my nonsence geopage into is returned, so now for expiramental purposes mostly, visit http://www.geocities.com/sounds2bored/ and see if you can find the secret link I hope google spider someday finds. Good day, and for a little relevent information reguarding the engine swap you may be intersted to know there is a shop in Reno Nevada called Precision Automotive at which the driver of the 00 Achieva SCX for the GM team is the head mechanic. I can't remember his name at the moment i'm ashamed to admit(the distraction of futurama is ever gripping even as background noise), but, damn it i feel bad for that, anyways, he did a damned good job swapping the engines this post is about and I highly recomend him to those in need accurate SCX repair work. Ah, yes, his name's Jim, cool ass dude. Yes well the car ran great, great right into a parked truck, and that's the end of that for me until another SCX with a manta part w41 can be afforded. Damn I need a job. Good night and good driving!

Wow, i can't believe I mentioned replacing the 14" alloy SCX rims and lowering... god, palm to forehead, palm to forehead; excuse me I'm constantly maturing. ehha i sound like a 14 year old in that post, haha yea cruzin on the rims.