Starting Base conversion ???

I bought a 92 VR-4 that was hit in the back. There is nothing wrong with the engine(only 80K miles), transmission, or the transfer case. Still not sure about the rear diff. and axles yet. I think this has never been done before-- I am going to swap this motor into my base 97 3K-- The trick is I have an automatic. This tranny has been beefed up because the OD went out about 4 months ago. My question -- will the VR-4 motor bolt up to the AT transmission? Any help would be appreciated. But from the research I have done so far- the bolt pattern is the same. I think I will just need to change the forward motor mount -- looks like the front turbo will hit the base 3k motor mount. Also I have pics of what's done so far-- i can e-mail them on request--ThankX

Today the wire harness from the VR-4 is out. The trick is almost all the wires are still attached to the motor- the ones that had to be removed from the firewall are labaled with letters for easy install. so far the hardest part was removing some of the connectors without tearing anything up. I pulled the entire dash- but I only needed to remove the center console to get to the (ECU)computer behind the radio-- and remove the glove box-- then pull the bolts on the blower motor ( not all the way out) just enough to move it forward some.Remove the plate covering the wire harness on the floor- Disconnect connectors (5 inside if I remember right). remove the firwall plug and carfully feed then pull- till it's out-- And your still all connected to the motor!!!!

Later today we will be removing the front bumper so it is easier to get to the radiator and intercoolers (If the weather permits-- It's cold today!!!!)

you crazy bastrd, lol

I would stick with the vr4 transmision, and just dont hook the t-case up. The VCU will fry in couple minutes of driving, but who gives a shit, you only want FWD anyways.