[Trypt]

Thinking about getting a new heart for the tin top.
Now i like the sound of a swift gti motor (no adaptor, efi, good top end, no engineering)
Are the rad hose locations the same as the g13ba and can i keep my standard air box and RHS snorkel.

Ulitmately, how much will it cost?
i really dont want to know anything about wiring unless i can buy a pre made loom.
So what are my options? Get a workshop to do the whole lot? do the transplant myself and take it to an auto leccy magician?
Buy a pre made loom?

[matty_wall]

Pretty sure kustom cables do plug and play gti wiring $400 comes to mind.
For the air box, I reckon you can use the standard one but I went for a Jimmy one in the front corner.

Gti has the outlet on the back of the motor. Some piping and a thermostat housing from a g13ba swift motor fixes that problem fairly easily

My conversion cost about 1500 from memory

[Trypt]

1500 sounds very reasonable.

Any more info for kustom cables? i cant find anything

[Aaron]

search for killa kustom cables on facebook.

[matty_wall]

That 1500 doesn't include the kills kustom wiring. I did the whole conversion myself. Not sure if I made that clear in my first post.

[rwt65]

Hi Trypt
Have done a GTi conversion recently to my SJ80,
some of the costs
$1500 Reco GTi engine
$500 to wire in
$250 Extractors to suit GTi conversion
$100 Intank fuel pump
There are numerous other costs, depending on the sort of Gti engine, Angle Drive for the dizzy (MK1) or Mazda Cap and Rotor adaptor for MKII or MKIII dizzy, thermostat cover, how you run your cooling line back to the radiator etc.
If I was to do it again, I would buy a GTi Car Complete and flog of what I didnt use. The seats are a great easy upgrade for a Leafy too.
PM me if you want to have a look. I live just up the coast.

[Trypt]

Yeah that was clear thanks matt.

rwt65 wrote:

Hi Trypt
Have done a GTi conversion recently to my SJ80,
some of the costs
$1500 Reco GTi engine
$500 to wire in
$250 Extractors to suit GTi conversion
$100 Intank fuel pump
There are numerous other costs, depending on the sort of Gti engine, Angle Drive for the dizzy (MK1) or Mazda Cap and Rotor adaptor for MKII or MKIII dizzy, thermostat cover, how you run your cooling line back to the radiator etc.
If I was to do it again, I would buy a GTi Car Complete and flog of what I didnt use. The seats are a great easy upgrade for a Leafy too.
PM me if you want to have a look. I live just up the coast.

So if i budget around 3k should get me there.

[seank]

just a side note, am thinking of the same conversion can you use any swift motor
or only mk 1 ?

[matty_wall]

SeanK

You can use any of the gti motors. the only difference is how you go about modding the distributor.
MK1 uses a right angle drive dizzy
MK2-3 uses the modded mazda dizzy cap + rotor button.

[Trypt]

How about Boosting the gti? Worth while, will i be able to gain more usable torque down low with a turboed gti?

[Tyron]

Depends of what you define as "worthwhile"
I can't imagine the turbo being cheaper than the entire engine conversion.

[Trypt]

I guess i should drive a gti sierra before i go thinking about turboing.

[Fatzook]

I can't see a turbo adding any low down torque. Supercharger would, but being such a small motor with a long rev range, your turbo probably won;t be at full boost til after 3000rpm.

[Trypt]

not even soomething really small?

[weedkilla]

If you used a small enough turbo you would rob any top end out of the engine. A turbo small enough to spool at low revs on a 1.3 will just be a restriction at high revs.
So, essentially, its possible. Its just not a great idea.

[Trypt]

Point takin. im learning... slowly

[shakes]

Trypt wrote:

So if i budget around 3k should get me there.

Having done several conversions myself - And been involved with many many more.

If you think it's going to cost you 3k - Double it.

$6000 will be closer to the mark once you sort out all the finer details. few $$ for some nice neat hoseclamps, maybe some new hoses and belts. Another couple hunj down the track to clean out your radiator when you find it's not up to the task. new TRE's that you notice are worn, etc etc. a 2nd clutch when you find out you didnt install the original properly or burn it out enjoying the extra power, a flush of fluids to keep your new motor running nice.... The big ticket items are the easy bits.

[Gwagensteve]

Trypt wrote:

How about Boosting the gti? Worth while, will i be able to gain more usable torque down low with a turboed gti?

Quite apart from the truly obscene cost of building a reliable, drivable, off-road turbo conversion, surely adding a turbo defeats the "legality" of bolting in a GTI and having efi and 100hp?

Otherwise shakes is on the money.

As an aside, look at the price that rough/cheap LWB auto vitaras are selling for. They're dirt cheap and make for a fantastic donor. Whilst they aren't the bolt-in "legal" option, I think they make for a pretty good conversion donor, especially when you add in 5.12;s, a floater-buildable Vitara rear, EFI tank, power steer, and an AW-4.

If you think you might want to boost a GTi for bottom end, why not start with a better spread of gears and much more torque from the outset?

Just puttin' it out there.

Steve.

[Fatzook]

shakes wrote:

Trypt wrote:

So if i budget around 3k should get me there.

Having done several conversions myself - And been involved with many many more.

If you think it's going to cost you 3k - Double it.

$6000 will be closer to the mark once you sort out all the finer details. few $$ for some nice neat hoseclamps, maybe some new hoses and belts. Another couple hunj down the track to clean out your radiator when you find it's not up to the task. new TRE's that you notice are worn, etc etc. a 2nd clutch when you find out you didnt install the original properly or burn it out enjoying the extra power, a flush of fluids to keep your new motor running nice.... The big ticket items are the easy bits.

Normally I would agree with you here, but given that the GTI motor is such an easy swap into a sierra I reckon $3K or less should get the job done. And the more work he can do himself, the cheaper it will be.

[Trypt]

Thanks for all the advice.

Steve no offece at all but I just really don't like auto's they just don't feel right to me.
In regards to the extra little bits, that's not so much of a problem. Its just big lump sum that I wanted an idea of.

And yes I would like to do as much work as possible, I enjoy it and to me my labour is free.

[Gwagensteve]

Same comments are true for a manual, if that floats your boat. Much better to use a clutch/ flywheel and gearbox already designed for 100hp/130Nm than a gearbox setup for 67hp/100nm and then try to push big numbers through it, especially when you add in all the other stuff a vitara donor nets you.

Steve.

[Fatzook]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Same comments are true for a manual, if that floats your boat. Much better to use a clutch/ flywheel and gearbox already designed for 100hp/130Nm than a gearbox setup for 67hp/100nm and then try to push big numbers through it, especially when you add in all the other stuff a vitara donor nets you.

Steve.

You're not suggesting that the sierra 5sp won't handle the power are you?

I get abuse and hate mail every time I say the sierra box is a piece of shit. You?

[Gwagensteve]

How hard is it to find a good one.... And how many vitaras are sitting in wreckers with perfectly good gearboxes in them? I have no idea why people buy an adapter for a 1.6 to a Sierra gearbox. It's madness. It would cost less to buy a vitara manual from pick-a-part than a 1.6 conversion plate.

I have two junk Sierra 5speeds sitting in my shed.

[joeblow]

I agree with Fatzook, Sierra boxes are shit.

Lets see what Gwagen said.

He doesn't know why people spend the money on adaptor plates for Sierra 5 speeds rather than just getting a Vit box.

Lets remove ourselves from Gwagens own little 'do things my way' world for a moment.

A vit box needs some massaging to get in. It should have a new crossmember. It also needs a shorter jackshaft. This should be made correctly.

It's all well for some, who may have some good skills in fab and have the resources to complete these conversions but many people do not. Hence the need for adaptor plates etc.

[Fatzook]

Yeah adapter and sierra box is the easy way. Vit 5sp is the right way

[Trypt]

Maybe one day when i can afford to buy a second car as a daily i will take the sierra off the and build an off road only truck.
But for now the gti seems to be my best option.

So i understand that sierra boxes are shit but whats the likelihood of it giving up when its bolted up to a g13b, i like to think that im pretty mechanically sympathatic and treat gearboxes pretty well but will it stand up to the extra power.

[BlueSuzy]

Back on the sierra gearbox wagon i see

G13b will be fine with your G13a gearbox. My G16b was fine with the old gearbox and it was daily driven from shopping malls to rock.

[Fatzook]

sierra box will be fine. But it doesn't hurt to have a spare.

[zukmeista]

Fatzook wrote:

You're not suggesting that the sierra 5sp won't handle the power are you?

I get abuse and hate mail every time I say the sierra box is a piece of shit. You?

You're full of shit. If you put nearly twice the power through it that it was originally designed for and it fails, how does that make the gearbox shit?

[Fatzook]

zukmeista wrote:

Fatzook wrote:

You're not suggesting that the sierra 5sp won't handle the power are you?

I get abuse and hate mail every time I say the sierra box is a piece of shit. You?

You're full of shit. If you put nearly twice the power through it that it was originally designed for and it fails, how does that make the gearbox shit?

Add you to the list then hey?

If I had a $1NZ for every time a mate had a sierra 5sp fail in their stock sierra I'd have half what I would in Aussie dollars.