[fragga]

thinking a engine conversion wantimng to know what motors peoplke have put in a sierra. preferred injection i was thinking toyota 4age, or swift gti. what have people done and how much it cost?? and been happy with offroad capabilities and power.

[Fatzook]

Vitara G16B.

[fragga]

what would one of them set me back?

[want33s]

G16B: Anything from $300 to $6000 depending on what you buy and how much of the work you are willing/capable of doing.

[fragga]

yea thought that what most of these engine conversions would cost me

[Gwagensteve]

People have put all sorts of motors in sierras - all vitara motors, but also rotaries, 253 V8's, rover V8's, CA18's, SR20's, Astron 2.6's, All variants of 4A engine, 3/4/5K's, 2L Fiat twin cams, even small block chevs.

Personally, I've built a couple of 660cc Cappuccino/JDM sierra cars and a couple of EFI G16/G13BB's.

You need to start with very clear goals.

A) Do you want it to be legal? If so, you need to start with a motor that's the same age or newer than your car.

B) You need a gearbox that's going to work with the conversion. This is a major problem with 4A engine conversions in my opinion. The manuals are long (and hydraulic clutched) and there's only one RWD auto that fits and it's nowhere near strong enough for a healthy 4A (like a GZE or a 20V)

In my opinion, it's hard to go past a G16B. Easy to fit and wire, you can keep your existing gearbox (if you have a 1.3) or use a superior vitara gearbox, auto or manual - none of them are too long.

You can use a Baleno G16B motor. These are a little bit harder to fit, but the end result is very neat and the engines are quite easy to find, or find a whole cheap/rough EFI vitara. These are getting cheap enough now to buy a whole car to use as a donor - you might get a roughy for around $2K - it's nice to have everything you need.

Steve.

[abclarke]

Gwagensteve wrote:

In my opinion, it's hard to go past a G16B. Easy to fit and wire, you can keep your existing gearbox (if you have a 1.3) or use a superior vitara gearbox, auto or manual - none of them are too long.

Hey Steve this is what im thinking at the moment. Why are the Vit boxs so much better? Design, quality, reliability?

I have the 1.6 EFI auto in the Vit now and im thinking of putting both the 1.6 and auto into the sierra if i decide to go down that path. Ive have a read of your thread about having to mod the tunnel to suit a 1L, but how does it go in a 1.3L WT?

Many thanks in advance

[Fatzook]

abclarke wrote:

Gwagensteve wrote:

In my opinion, it's hard to go past a G16B. Easy to fit and wire, you can keep your existing gearbox (if you have a 1.3) or use a superior vitara gearbox, auto or manual - none of them are too long.

Hey Steve this is what im thinking at the moment. Why are the Vit boxs so much better? Design, quality, reliability?

I have the 1.6 EFI auto in the Vit now and im thinking of putting both the 1.6 and auto into the sierra if i decide to go down that path. Ive have a read of your thread about having to mod the tunnel to suit a 1L, but how does it go in a 1.3L WT?

Many thanks in advance

Well comparing apples with apples, the vit 5sp is bigger in every way than a sierra 5sp.

As for the tunnel, ALL sierras need tunnel mods to suit vitara auto OR manual. (However 3 or 4" B/L man negate the need for sheet metal work)

[Gwagensteve]

Vitaras also have a larger flywheel and clutch. That alone is a huge advantage, but that's irrelevant as you had an auto. The AW-4 auto used with the G16B is awesome.

Steve.

[abclarke]

Fatzook wrote:

abclarke wrote:

Gwagensteve wrote:

In my opinion, it's hard to go past a G16B. Easy to fit and wire, you can keep your existing gearbox (if you have a 1.3) or use a superior vitara gearbox, auto or manual - none of them are too long.

Hey Steve this is what im thinking at the moment. Why are the Vit boxs so much better? Design, quality, reliability?

I have the 1.6 EFI auto in the Vit now and im thinking of putting both the 1.6 and auto into the sierra if i decide to go down that path. Ive have a read of your thread about having to mod the tunnel to suit a 1L, but how does it go in a 1.3L WT?

Many thanks in advance

Well comparing apples with apples, the vit 5sp is bigger in every way than a sierra 5sp.

As for the tunnel, ALL sierras need tunnel mods to suit vitara auto OR manual. (However 3 or 4" B/L man negate the need for sheet metal work)

God damn apples confusing me! Im gonna need to do more reading! Everyones telling me to stick with the auto, but only having auto cars in the past and an auto work van, the manual sierra is fun imo

[abclarke]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Vitaras also have a larger flywheel and clutch. That alone is a huge advantage, but that's irrelevant as you had an auto. The AW-4 auto used with the G16B is awesome.

Steve.

This is what im confused about, everyone says it is but no one says why

[Fatzook]

abclarke wrote:

Gwagensteve wrote:

Vitaras also have a larger flywheel and clutch. That alone is a huge advantage, but that's irrelevant as you had an auto. The AW-4 auto used with the G16B is awesome.

Steve.

This is what im confused about, everyone says it is but no one says why

Its a good, sturdy, reliable gearbox. Outside of that, its no different to any other auto.

If you prefer a manual, then why are you considering fitting an auto?

[abclarke]

Fatzook wrote:

abclarke wrote:

Gwagensteve wrote:

Vitaras also have a larger flywheel and clutch. That alone is a huge advantage, but that's irrelevant as you had an auto. The AW-4 auto used with the G16B is awesome.

Steve.

This is what im confused about, everyone says it is but no one says why

Its a good, sturdy, reliable gearbox. Outside of that, its no different to any other auto.

If you prefer a manual, then why are you considering fitting an auto?

Just curious because everyones been saying its a good idea. If it is that much better than the sierra manual i guess it couldnt hurt

[Fatzook]

The vit 5sp is better too.

[Gwagensteve]

abclarke wrote:

Gwagensteve wrote:

Vitaras also have a larger flywheel and clutch. That alone is a huge advantage, but that's irrelevant as you had an auto. The AW-4 auto used with the G16B is awesome.

Steve.

This is what im confused about, everyone says it is but no one says why

I'll play.

Firstly, do some research on autos off road. They are just massively better to drive in the bush.

However, the AW-4 is especially ell suited to off road use. It has a very low 1st gear (2.95:1) a deep converter ratio (2.4:1, compared to 1.8:1 for a trimatic) and a very tall overdrive. As a result. you can run deep diff and transfer gears, tall tyres, cruise on the highway comfortably, test still have crazy low gears for crawling.

Most step hills I descend in 2nd low, I don't need 1st, yet I can still cruise at 100km/h at 3700rpm.

AW-4 FTW.

Steve.

[suzi-fan-22]

But say if I wanted to crawl in first could I just chuck it in gear 1 and it will crawl without any damage?

[abclarke]

Gwagensteve wrote:

abclarke wrote:

Gwagensteve wrote:

Vitaras also have a larger flywheel and clutch. That alone is a huge advantage, but that's irrelevant as you had an auto. The AW-4 auto used with the G16B is awesome.

Steve.

This is what im confused about, everyone says it is but no one says why

I'll play.

Firstly, do some research on autos off road. They are just massively better to drive in the bush.

However, the AW-4 is especially ell suited to off road use. It has a very low 1st gear (2.95:1) a deep converter ratio (2.4:1, compared to 1.8:1 for a trimatic) and a very tall overdrive. As a result. you can run deep diff and transfer gears, tall tyres, cruise on the highway comfortably, test still have crazy low gears for crawling.

Most step hills I descend in 2nd low, I don't need 1st, yet I can still cruise at 100km/h at 3700rpm.

AW-4 FTW.

Steve.

Many thanks Steve! Exactly what i was after!

To the search page i go!

[Gwagensteve]

suzi-fan-22 wrote:

But say if I wanted to crawl in first could I just chuck it in gear 1 and it will crawl without any damage?

I assume you are asking about an auto? Yes. you can hold the auto in 1st and crawl all day if you want. The key with autos is that they get hot when the are heavily loaded. You can't generally heavily load an auto in 1st low because of the transfer reduction "after" it. Put it in 1st high and crawl it on hills and the temperature of the auto will climb very quickly.

My AW-4 runs cooler off road than it does when driving at speed on fast dirt.

It's important to remember though that any auto when used off road requires a temperature gauge at the very least, and plenty of cooling capacity. An aftermaket water temperature gauge is fine to use as an auto temp gauge - that's what I'm using.

The general guide would be to ensure the auto never exceeds 110˚C. Damage is likely to occur over 120˚C from the reading I have done. I rarely see over 95˚ with my AW-4, but my car is very deeply geared. with taller gearing and lots of left foot braking it is possible to get an auto this hot reasonably quickly, but that's not the same as just crawling around.

The only downside of an auto off road is you can't bump start the car if you have problems with the starting system. Other than that, it's all win.

I am aware that some people prefer manuals. I prefer manuals for open road driving and fast dirt, where they are more playful and responsive, but on obstacles an auto is superior.

Steve.

[zooky08]

i no what a trimatic auto is but whats is the difference between one and a AW-4 aside the ratio.
and what year model had the trimatic and the AW-4 in.

[ajsr]

from the factory
the carby g16's had the 3 speed trimatic.
injected motors had the 4 speed.
my car runs the 3 speed behind an injected motor , so you can mix an match a little.