[Wellzy]

Looking to possibly do a motor conversion but will depend on what is around.

What motors have people fitted into their sierras and what else was needed to complete it. eg ( if motor was straight bolt on or a gearbox is needed etc)

Cheers

[bumstein]

Hi Wellzy

G16B motor from a Coil pack Baleno is the norm (make sure it’s not a model with a dizzy as this would poke straight through your firewall.”).

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=6423

You need an adaptor plate available from BenT

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=15009

There’s plenty of info on converting to other motors such as Vitara 1.6’s. Search function or peruse through the ‘good tech’ section and you should find what your after.

[Wellzy]

So g16b motor from baleno just bolts straight in and you can use the 1.3L gearbox radiator etc? Or is there more you need from the baleno?
Sorry if I sound dumb I’m new to all this

[bumstein]

Perfectly fine to ask questions!! However I suggest you read and understand the items discussed in the link I provided above first. Will help you fine tune your questions and perhaps answer a few before you knew you had them [emoji3]

Nearly.. you need the adaptor kit from BenT to bolt the motor to the 1.3 Sierra gearbox.

Yes, Sierra gearbox and radiator. However you need to adapt the cooling system as the thermostat is in a different place. Brian at Suzistore in midland make a good adaptor for this, he makes them to order (ie it’s not a stock item) for around 220 clams and can post it to you if required.

The engine mounts require adaptors made up or ??? VL commodore mounts?? I’m not sure of this but all that info should be discussed in the thread I linked to above.

Yes you also need the wiring harness. Now this is important, you need the wiring harness from a manual Baleno!! Auto harness is not the same. MrRocky may have some made up ready to install so if you haven’t got your own harness to splice or the skills I suggest you ask his advice before getting birds-nested in wiring. He’s done plenty of the conversions, he know his shit and he’s a top bloke to boot!!

You also need the instrument cluster to splice. Again, the thread linked here gives you some clues there.

Now the sump needs to be a 1.3 sump but modified to suit the crank angle sensor. That involves cutting a section of the 1.3 sump out and welding in a section of the Baleno sump. Not easy work!! I’m an advocate of doing shit yourself but as Mr Rocky points out even the most skilled of welders struggle to do this welding. They are oil soaked bits of steel and are bloody hard to weld, they will likely leak/seep oil. There is another option that MrRocky will no doubt explain or point you to a recent thread where this was discussed.

Oh, and EFI tank. Usually from a coil sprung Sierra but there’s other solutions. Again MrRocky is the guy to ask.

Advice: be patient, seek advice from the right people (no Facebook threads on the topic are seldom helpful) and take your time! Many of these conversions have been done badly!!

[Wellzy]

What about other engines though cause it all depends on what is around

[bumstein]

I’ll let others chime in on other conversions, I’m no authority. However it comes down to personal preference!!

There’s a heap of carby and efi 1.6’s out there. Scour the build threads and good tech, these will all give you ideas!!

I’ve seen rotary conversions and no doubt there’s a heap of other funky conversions out there. This my friend is entirely up to you to decide

Also depends on how patient you are to find the motor you want vs jump on the first motor that pops up.

Good luck and let us know what you decide!!

[Gwagensteve]

Pretty much any motor you could imagine from motorbike motors to small block chev V8’s have been put in Sierras. The G16b swap comes recommended for good reason.

The most important part of the engine conversion in a Sierra isn’t the engine, it’s the gearbox. Many engine conversions require a gearbox that’s too long to work with the Sierra transfer case. This then makes the whole conversion a huge mess.

The worst conversions of all are the ones that are started because “I had this motor lying around”

[Wellzy]

To make it easier what motors can use the 1.3L gearbox?

[MrRocky]

G16a, g16b, g13bb, g13b, g13ba

[MrRocky]

You will need the ben-t adaptor kit for any of the g16 motors, also right angle dizzy kit for g13b (gti) motor

[Gwagensteve]

There are other suitable gearboxes- both three and four speed vitara automatics can be made to fit a Sierra well, as can the vitara manual gearbox (in all cases by removing the vitara transfer case)

I don’t have anything against using an adapter plate but I much prefer automatic transmissions off road, so for me that removes the need for the adapter.

There are three variants of g13b and only the mark 1 GTI motor has a right angle drive. The other variants require the use of a Mazda familia GTX distributor cap. Other than not requiring the gearbox adapter plate, the GTi swap is fiddly and poorly suited in an off-road car. Eventually these motors will all have been blown up by people turboing them and we can stop trying to dissuade every 18yo from wanting to put one in their Sierra because hektik GTi, yo.

[Stehbo02]

does anyone know where to get a right angled dizzy for a beleno conversion into a Sierra?