[Zedsdead]

Hey team,

Been doing a bit of hunting around to see if a gen3 j20a into a gen 1 4door vitara has been done? Haven’t found a single post yet.
I haven’t been able to find the gen2 j20a yet but picked up an 05 j20 for $1000.

Can it be done?

Save the backlash as I keep reading on other posts about the j20a. I just want to start off with anyone has put the vvt j20 into a gen 1

Thank you guys

[Gwagensteve]

Anything can be done.

No, I'm not aware of anyone who has done it.

If you're not interested in more input on the conversion than that, there's your answer.

[fordem]

Are you sure that J20 has VVT? Or to ask the question another way, are you sure it's a J20a from a 2005?

As far as I know Suzuki never released a J20a with VVT, and I'm 100% certain my 2005 J20a (in a third gen) does NOT have VVT.

[Zedsdead]

Hey forded,
No I’m not 100% sure. Thought I read that the gen 3 were vvt. I must be wrong.
I have been chasing a gen2 j20a for months now and haven’t been able to find anything. Finally an 05 vitara popped up and I jumped on it. But I’m a bit worried as it will have constant 4wd, and I’m also wondering if I can swap the transfer for an earlier one with a skinny stick.

I haven’t received the car yet as it’s getting picked up this week

[Zedsdead]

Hey forded,
No I’m not 100% sure. Thought I read that the gen 3 were vvt. I must be wrong.
I have been chasing a gen2 j20a for months now and haven’t been able to find anything. Finally an 05 vitara popped up and I jumped on it. But I’m a bit worried as it will have constant 4wd, and I’m also wondering if I can swap the transfer for an earlier one with a skinny stick.

I haven’t received the car yet as it’s getting picked up this week

[Zedsdead]

Yea sorry if I came off a bit abrupt Steve,

I’ve seen a number of posts where people are asking about engine conversions and just getting heat back. Happy for all tech input. But I’ll made the decision if it’s not worth while, rather than others try to scare me out of it.

[Gwagensteve]

It’s not worthwhile.

[fordem]

My usual reaction to engine swap questions is "if you have to ask, forget about it" - I'm rarely that blunt in responding, but it is actually a realistic position to adopt.

Those who have the skills don't ask the questions, they get into it and then ask questions when they run into trouble - I'm not saying you shouldn't think it through before getting started, and asking questions is a part of thinking it through.

Let me ask you a question - what does being "constant 4WD" have to do with an engine swap? I'm not saying it's not a valid question, but up to that point I thought you wanted to do an engine swap, it's now apparent that your engine swap is actually a "power train swap." There's a big difference there.

Personally, I don't see a swapping a J20a engine in place of a G16 engine as being an insurmountable challenge, I know it's been done before, some of the US Suzuki vendors used to offer kits to do it, and it's perhaps made easier because the G16 & J20 engines share the same bellhousing pattern (or so I have been told) - the challenge becomes the engine management electronics, and whether or not you plan on retaining the OEM ECU.

It's going to be a heck of a lot easier to retain the OEM ECU if the swap is done with manual transmission vehicles, and yes, a second gen is going to be a walk in the park (if it's an early second gen), compared to a third gen, but, again, if you're dealing with manual transmissions, one option is to forget about the OEM ECU and go after market, if you can find someone to wire it and then tune it - that option however is going to push the price up considerably, and now we're getting into the question of "is it worthwhile".

I don't know what you have, I don't know what you bought - if it's automatic, and you plan on using the OEM ECU, you're going to want to swap the entire power train (including the transfer case) , you're most likely looking at a fair bit of custom fabrication to get everything located where it needs to be, quite possibly with some massaging of the sheet metal to clear everything, there will be a ton of electronics to get sorted, (right down to the brakes, because the third gen will have ABS) and the various control modules "talk" to one another.

Is an after market ECU an option with automatics? I don't know, I don't know enough about the newer electronically shifted automatics to answer that, I don't know if there are after market transmission controllers, but we're again getting into the question of "is it worthwhile".

Just to give you a hint of my back ground, I do a lot of my own work, I'm not into fabrication, my last engine swap was done in the early '80's when vehicle electronics were radios & eight track decks (things were a lot easier back then), I own, and am quite familiar with, both second & third gen Grand Vitaras with the J20a engines, and I've spent more time than I care to remember troubleshooting intermittent shift problems with the four speed automatics used on the second gens.

I am not in favor of paying someone else to do an engine swap, six months or a year down the road, when something breaks will you know what vehicle that part came off of? If the engine quits on you out bush, where will the man who knows how this thing has been wired be? If it's your own work, you'll at least be familiar with it.

Now, I don't know if you consider this "giving you heat", I'm just trying to paint a realistic picture for you, and I'll be the first to admit, it's not a pretty picture.

[Zedsdead]

Appreciate the response,

In thinking the j20a swap as I plan on adding a bit of weight so power upgrade. Also the g16 I have with the gen1 I bought is tired and won’t likely last long so planning ahead.
The gen 1 I have is auto and I would prefer to be manual.
Now you are right about the same bell house as the j20a but you also need a 1.8 flywheel (due to bolt patterns) and machine up a spigot bush, which isn’t so bad as I have the machinery to make a new one ( this is due to the shaft being shorter.
This was what I had planned on doing if I had a gen 2 j20a no questions would have been asked, but I could only find a gen 3 j20 now I have to work out the differences.

So the gen3 I got has a manual so I planned on taking the manual engine, look and ecu. Thinking this would be easier and I get the manual I want.

So I read this on Wikipedia:The Grand Vitara is available in both rear-wheel drive only models (for the Australian market) or with full-time 4WD.
Now that I read it again the full time 4wd must have been overseas model.

I have done a number of engine conversions and modifications, the last was making my own inlet manifold so I’m handy on the tools. But I am new to the Suzuki scene so learning about them as we speak. I like to plan as much as I can before I tackle a project so it doesn’t sit in the shed for a year or two. Hence i was looking for someone who has put one of these in before, to work out problems they had.

I am comfortable fabricating and sheet metal, but when it comes to technology and electrics I suck and rely on my auto Lecky.

I think I may have covered most of your post, and appreciate your feedback.
Owning gen3 do you foresee any electrical problems you foresee? I should be able to get the abs turned off by my engine tuner, amd using a factory ecu and loom I am hoping to make it easier (well for my auto Lecky at least)

Oh and do you know if you can swap out transfer cases with other models? Gen2 maybe?