I did send a PM when the thread dissapeared, but here's the text of my first response.
Welcome along Hamblock.
Firstly, you need to know the legal status of the vehicle. A G13B requires statutory approval in all states of Australia. Lots of people will argue the point about this, but the G13B wasn't a factory optional engine and the significant increase in power over the G13BA originally fitted means the conversion requires approval. Make sure before you start spending money on it you can transfer ownership with the G13B in the car, don't assume it's legal because both engine numbers start with G13. There's also some complication as the G13B is older than the car, especially so if it's a mark I motor. This can make some engineers baulk at the idea of approval even if there's no good reason to.
It's not possible to diagnose what could be wrong with the car from the information you have provided. There's some "chicken and egg" going on here and a lot of "mights"- . The radiator might have split because the head gasket failed and pressurised the cooling system. The head gasket might have failed due to poor cooling system setup. Alternatively, the radiator might have failed and that dropped coolant, cooked the coolant and failed the head gasket.
I keep saying head gasket because head cracks aren't common in the G13B, it's much more likely to be the head gasket.
Personally, if you have little to no mechanical knowledge, this might not be the project for you. I'd start by locating a factory workshop manual for a swift GTi and going through the steps of head gasket replacement. (and more importantly, re assembly) - if that's logical, makes sense, and you can access the right tools, then pulling the head off to investigate is probably worth it. G13B's are tough motors and a gasket swap alone shouldn't be too problematic. However, if the head is cracked, my guess is the cost of a head repair and rebuild or a replacement head might be an issue.
Sourcing a replacement engine is possible but G13B's are sought after and now all quite old. Also, there's a number of generations and they vary in distributor drive so the specifics of your current conversion might not work with whatever engine you can get hold of.
And that's also a key point - you have a conversion. Whilst some things will be as per the GTi and other things as per the SJ80 sierra, there's plenty of grey in the middle when it comes to wiring, ECU, distributor drive, fuel system, VSS, check engine light, diagnostics etc. You'll be working through someone else's decisions and workmanship and that always put you behind the 8 ball - you have to work out how someone chose to do something before you can work out what's wrong. This complicates even basic jobs a lot.
Assuming you can fix/replace the G13B,
I don't know what radiator is in the car. Standard SJ80's had a plastic tanked, aluminium finned radiator that isn't repairable, and in my opinion has no place in a 4WD. Depending on what is in your car now repair is unlikely.
I would be setting up a GTi motor with a RWD water pump which has a fan hub, vitara viscous fan, stock Sierra fan shroud and an early model brass Sierra radiator. This is a reliable setup that has proven to cool well. It's also field fixable. Again it's a conversion so how the fan situation has been set up will depend on the preferences of the person who built the car. Normally GTi's get a thermo slapped on them, and these are rarely adequate.
Now to this: "doesn't start at the moment and has a cracked cylinder head"
The AND is important. It sounds like you're saying there is some other problem with it. Does it crank over? Can you bar the engine over with a spanner on the crank bolt? Does the distributor spin? is there water in a cylinder? does the fuel pump prime? is it getting spark when cranked?
There's lots to unpack.
and some clarification from hamblock via PM
Quote:
Mate has had the G13b checked and it is legal to have in the car but yeah required an engineer to sign off on it, which I'm fairly sure it has.
Engineers reports generally require the car to remain registered. If registration lapses, the report is void. This may vary somewhat by state.
Quote:
Oh yea when I say doesn't start it just doesn't turn over as a result of it having a cracked head and just sitting in a driveway for a few years.
it rolls, it cranks (when the battery is charged), no water in the cylinders, fuel pump primes.
So here's my take on it:
The starter motor cranks the engine over and the engine is physically spinning, so it's not seized
The engine apparently has fuel - confirm there's fuel getting up to the rail.
the ECU is operating - otherwise the fuel pump won't prime.
If the engine has spark when cranking and the injectors are firing there is no reason it won't start, cracked head/failed head gasket or not. That might mean one cylinder or more cylinders are down on compression, but it should still start. an engine doesn't need oil pressure, coolant, or really any of the EFI sensors hooked up - it will generally fire up, it's what happens after that that's up to the computer etc.
It isn't really important how long the engine has been sitting.
