Engine Swap

[Street_Carnage]

I was curious about the easiest way to swap out engine and tranny in an 89' Pontiac Sunbird. Mine currently has a 2.0 4cyl TBI engine with a 3speed auto tranny. Im looking to place a 1.8 or 2.0 4cyl fuel injected with a 5 speed tranny. I know that i would have to get the wiring harness+computer and swap it as well for the new engine, but would it be easier to just drop those in through the hood or is there an easier way to do it?

thanks

[MagicRat]

Welcome to AF!

EDIT: The body of my post refers to swaps from 5-speed-equipped J-cars, (Sunbird, Cavaliers). Swapping in other drivelines, especially non-GM ones would be quite difficult to do, since they would require substantial amounts of expert engineering and fabrication to get them to work. The costs and effort involved definitely would not justify the relatively modest improvement you would gain.


The second - easiest way is, after disconnecting all wiring, plumbing, linkages, etc..... is to disconnect the steering rack, front struts and brake line, then unbolt the front subframe from the body.
Then the body is lifted up (difficult to do without a hoist). The entire front subframe is then wheeled out of the way.

You may find that a parts dismantler will do the same for the new engine and trans. I suspect (but am not sure) that the 5-speed drive axles and engine mounts may be different. Rather than spend time to hunt down all the miscellaneous parts, just buy the new engine, trans etc already attached to their subframe. That way, you will be swapping entire subframe assemblies

Remember you will need the 5 speed shifter assembly, console (if applicable) and clutch/brake pedal assembly.

The easiest (and imho, best and most practical way) is to sell your existing car and use the money to buy a 5-spd Sunbird, or another, similar car. This swap you propose is a lot of work, effort and some money, yet you will end up with a car that is nothing special.

All your effort and money would be worthwhile if you were building a really neat custom car or super-fast hot-rod, but, instead, you propose to spend a lot of effort to duplicate a car that can be bought relatively inexpensively. So why not just save your time and money and buy the car you want?

Just my

[wafrederick]

That 2.0 is not a good engine and parts for that engine are about obsolete.It is a Brazilian made engine,the worst engine GM came out with and are known for headgaskets.The easier way is to buy one with a manual transmission.