Let's cut right to the chase.
This is what got me started and motivated. The first goal is to get the swap done and tuned, hopefully before the GM tuner bash in august. Progress will be slow, mostly because the head work is being done by a friend so I'm not rushing him. The other big hurdle will be the mounting of the external crank trigger and wheel. I have the wheel and 60* V6 mounting hardware that comes with the kit, but it doesn't work out perfectly on the eco, so some "custom" bracket is essential. I'll also need to swap an L61 oil pan, and possibly the thermo housing. Finally, I'll need to set aside time off from work to do the actual motor swap, which I'm thinking will take ~2 days to physically do the swap and at least another day of tuning.
The final goal is a reliable, daily driven build with about 300hp. A stock LE5 bottom end will be used, with the possible exception of neutral balance shafts or a balance shaft delete, and of course the external crank trigger setup.
Head/Valvetrain and Bolt-ons:
Carcustoms +1mm valves
ZZP 78lb valve springs and retainers
Comp blower grind
Mild porting/gasket matching
ARP head studs
Cometic MLS gasket, not sure on the thickness at this point,
All bolt-ons in registry
Forced Induction (later):
ZZP 2.2/2.4 s/c kit
for all the essential hoses, fasteners, gaskets, 60 lb/hr injectors, heat exchanger, intake manifold (no M62 or programming)
TVS 1320LSJ blower, starting with something like a 3.6" pulley and going smaller until I max the 60s - that should put it in the 300hp range with little effort from the TVS
Water/meth injection
HPT tuned all running on the cav's stock wiring/sensors, including the 1-bar map.
Likely upgrade to the Racetronix pump and an adjustable FMU set up, but haven't decided just yet.
Drivetrain: I need help with this one. I want to go with a lightweight flywheel and upgraded clutch, but I'm not sure which brand. I'm doing research and asking around, but right now i'm leaning towards a Fidanza flywheel and Bully clutch.
Some initial pics:
How I got her home - Thanks to Matt (evilution) for the tip - it fits there perfectly
Mid engine Jbody anyone?
Crank trigger kit from WOT TEC (also used by that guy that did the 3500 swap in the third gen forum
)
This is the mounting bracket - it's not a simple bolt on for the eco unfortunately, but I'll make it work.
Spare LE5 parts so far
As it sits now, ready to be broken down
ZZP valve springs/retainers
I wanna thank some people up front for ideas, research/information sharing, and fun drunken discussions - obviously PJ for ALL the hybrid work he's done (although i've never met him). Matt (Evilution) and Phil (Qwibby) for great discussion on boost, and Tinkles for pointing me in the right direction with the future boost set up. Also, thanks to Wayne (bluedriftcav) for letting me help on his eco swapped z24 vert for the experience. It really wasn't as hard as I thought it would be
That's all for now. Once I get it on the engine stand, I'll get lots of pics of the breakdown and go from there. C&C welcome as usual.
are you looking for any help putting it in the car? or putting it together? i don't think i'm far from you, and i could find some spare time to help you out, and learn some.
yea ryan let me know when its time to pull the old one ill do my best to help you out on it as you did me. also ill bring the truck so we lift outta yours right into the truck to head to its new home. i cant wait for the newer motor. in both yours and mine hehehe.
let me know how those springs work for you. a guy on EF had one of them snap on him with stage 1 cams.
Gotta love mid-engine J-bodies. It fits there so perfectly.
BTW, Im gonna want to take a look at that head gasket.
those springs are tinnny... then again ive never seen an eco spring before now...
Ryan I am going to work with you as best as I can, we need to prove to these Quad guy's that the ecotec isnt a joke NA
LE61T PTE6262 Powered
Looking good so far Ryan! Just let me know if you need a hand anytime!
Thanks guys! The biggest thing i'll need help on is physically swapping the engines but i'm weeks from that right now.
DaFlyinSkwirl (Pj) v2.0 wrote:let me know how those springs work for you. a guy on EF had one of them snap on him with stage 1 cams.
Yes i heard of that incident and it really turned me off to these springs. However, I had already ordered them, and ZZP runs them on all their high horsepower ecotecs - from the 11 sec stock turboed cobalt ss LNF, to the twincharged lsj, to the 500+whp s256 LNF. I really hope it was a freak thing but time will tell.
Not an eco guy, but like where this is going
I remember when I had my 3400 gagt had numerous TCE parts from the 60*v6 store, Ben was a great guy to deal with and helped me out in alot of ways. Shoulda kept that beautiful TCE billet tb and mounted it on my wall
I hate work filters. I can't see any pics?
What does the trigger wheel do? I keep seeing these more and more but am unsure what the purpose is.
~2014 New Z under the knife, same heart different body~
______________________
WHITECAVY no more
2012 numbers - 4SPD AUTOMATIC!!
328 HP
306 TQ
WHITECAVY(the bash falln one) wrote:What does the trigger wheel do?
It allows the LE5 bottom end to play nicely with the stock ECU.
Gotcha, thx
~2014 New Z under the knife, same heart different body~
______________________
WHITECAVY no more
2012 numbers - 4SPD AUTOMATIC!!
328 HP
306 TQ
Looks like it will be a cool build.
First of its kind for sure, hopefully this will get more people thinking of hybrid swaps, as external crank triggers are really quite an easy set-up to run.
I'll be watching this for sure.
Well, first of it's kind in a cavalier.
There's a LE5/L61 hybrid fiero out there running on a stand alone. To me, though, running it effectively on the Jbody ECU is the biggest pro.
That trigger-wheel uses the same notch spacing as the LN2, it seems. If they could make a bolt-on version for the Iron-Duke, and it was combined with the '92-'95 MPI management (Don't forget to burn the chip!) & the commercial/marine stroker crank that brings the "Duke" upto 3.0L (Stock's 2.5L)...
That would make for a
killer unassuming 4-cyl under the hood of something RWD. Even if it was turbo'd & in a 3rd-gen F-body!
Go beyond the "bolt-on".
oldskool wrote:Thanks guys! The biggest thing i'll need help on is physically swapping the engines but i'm weeks from that right now.
DaFlyinSkwirl (Pj) v2.0 wrote:let me know how those springs work for you. a guy on EF had one of them snap on him with stage 1 cams.
Yes i heard of that incident and it really turned me off to these springs. However, I had already ordered them, and ZZP runs them on all their high horsepower ecotecs - from the 11 sec stock turboed cobalt ss LNF, to the twincharged lsj, to the 500+whp s256 LNF. I really hope it was a freak thing but time will tell.
yea but are those cars running stock cams? the LNF I bet aren't due to the VVT, the twincharged LSJ is up in the air but I'm willing to bet its on stock cams.
I'm really interested to see how this combination works. The fiero was having problems hitting a 'wall' in terms of power, not sure what the deal is with that.
Qwibby {T3H Old QBE} wrote: we need to prove to these Quad guy's that the ecotec isnt a joke NA
who said that it is? only people i see saying that are people like yourself.
i think Ben Wenzel (whatever his name is) and PJ proved that it is a beast NA
Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
Nice project. Keep us posted!
Bill Hahn Jr.
Hahn RaceCraft
World's Quickest and Fastest Street J-Bodies
Turbocharging GM FWD's since 1988
www.turbosystem.com
Time will tell what's up with the zzp springs. I thought they were a bit on the puny side until i got a good look at the stock springs
. Ecofiero's build uses a stock head/valve train. The results he describes are not unexpected with the loss of VVT. I'm hoping the additional flow from the head work, OS valves and cams will make it a worth while n/a endeavor, but that's only until i can afford to boost it the way that i want to
I forgot to mention, I'm keeping track of everything i spend on this to the penny lol, and also what i recoup from sale of spare parts and eventually the spare L61. I'm hoping it comes down to less than the cost to build a forged bottom end L61 capable of 400hp (including all machining), but we'll see!!
Tare down - if anyone wants pics of something specific, let me know. Here's what i got during the process:
Valve train
Cam phasers
Timing side
Beheaded
Spare parts bin is getting full lol. Can anyone spot the beer?
Well, now I'm pretty much waiting on the L61 head to be finished (i was told within two weeks), and another pay check to get parts. Next up would be studs, HG, misc gaskets as needed for assembly. It will also be easier if i could switch to the L61 thermostat housing - so i guess a trip to the yard is in order since i also need an oil pan without a sheered off dipstick tube. Cams are ordered. As we disassembled it i stared at the balance shafts trying to decide what to do there lol. Now is the time, but is it worth it? ZZP's neutral kit is
The trigger wheel somewhat disappointed me - i was hoping it would bolt on, but the diameter of the bolt is different. This is not unexpected though as it wasn't made for this application. I will still be able to use it, either by machining the bore, or by loping off the bore/keyway completely and phyically bolting it to the crank pulley via the service holes. I'm leaning towards the latter because it will look cleaner and make the whole assembly stick out less toward the frame rails. As i said previously, if a bolt on wheel is ever made for the eco, this swap will be cake.
wooooooo looking good i cant wait the closer u get the closer i get to the younger motor
