I am sure this has been done before however I have a chance to pick up a Motor, Trans,Intercooler,all harness',digital dash,coolers out of a Grand National and I was thinking of picking it up for my 65 Nova wagon.Would love the power of the turbo and the drivability of the fuel injection. The price is very fair however, I would like to know what issues I might run into of if there is something that just wont work before I pay for this package. Any help would be great or if anybody has any threads they can direct me to that would work also. Thanks,Scott
3.8 Turbo Grand National engine swap???
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9,801 Posts
I always thought that would be an excellent swap. If that combo can move a tank like a full size Buick, it'd scream in a nice early Nova.
My father had an '87 GN, it had phenomenal pickup, but he still got 28 MPG or so with it on the highway.
Do it!
My father had an '87 GN, it had phenomenal pickup, but he still got 28 MPG or so with it on the highway.
Do it!
shouldn't present any problems you wouldn't encounter putting any fuel injected motor in. DO IT!!!
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482 Posts
I built a few back in the day. the motor that everyone wants are 86 and 87. they are basically the same motor. a few mods in the chip but thats about it.
when I built mine in the 90's there was a guy that put a 87 motor in a 65 nova. I forget his site but he was on the turbo regal site. I remember his car running in the 12's with basic mods. the turbo regal site is a awesome site. their performance recipes really work. check em out.
when I built mine in the 90's there was a guy that put a 87 motor in a 65 nova. I forget his site but he was on the turbo regal site. I remember his car running in the 12's with basic mods. the turbo regal site is a awesome site. their performance recipes really work. check em out.
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15,966 Posts
Ok!
My brother did this swap back in the 80's with a Datsun 620 Pickup
it was a carbrureted Turbo, not inter-cooled or EFI.
i will try find and scan some old pics.
He installed a S-10 rear end with a 2.?? gear.
He got 30 plus MPG on the high way.
And it was a bracket racer killer, it would crawl off the line and only run 9's in the 1/8 mile! At 100mph!
Would fool the living crap out of anyone next to it! they would let off thinking they had him covered! And wham!
The engine never over heated, it was no issue with cooling.
There was issue with heat in the cab! The exhaust heat was brutal !!!
In the summer he would take the hood off!
he drove that truck for years!
Al
My brother did this swap back in the 80's with a Datsun 620 Pickup
it was a carbrureted Turbo, not inter-cooled or EFI.
i will try find and scan some old pics.
He installed a S-10 rear end with a 2.?? gear.
He got 30 plus MPG on the high way.
And it was a bracket racer killer, it would crawl off the line and only run 9's in the 1/8 mile! At 100mph!
Would fool the living crap out of anyone next to it! they would let off thinking they had him covered! And wham!
The engine never over heated, it was no issue with cooling.
There was issue with heat in the cab! The exhaust heat was brutal !!!
In the summer he would take the hood off!
he drove that truck for years!
Al
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2,146 Posts
My buddy Dave Bowman built a 63 nova with a GN motor and a th350 back in the late 90's. He had to put a rack and pinion in and fab up mounts but he said a pretty good swap. He figured out which wires he needed and which ones he didn't off the factory computer and got it all working. Car ran [email protected] on a 26x8.5 slick, engine was pretty much all stock gave it alittle more boost.
Cool! At least there are a lot of people out there that would love to do a swap like this. I can pretty much pick all of the stuff I need for a stupid price and he has additional parts that go with it. I will have to ask him about the year I know it only has 24,000 miles on the whole set up and the transmission is supposed to have a shift kit in it and a different convertor. We will see....
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20 Posts
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/hybrids/271862-66-nova-hybrid.html
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/hybrids/------- (use the search for nova)
good stuff on this site.
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/hybrids/------- (use the search for nova)
good stuff on this site.
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8,405 Posts
We had a thread on the very subject with pictures a while back. Might be worth searching to see if it's still here.
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14 Posts
i just got a 62 acadian with a gn 3.8/ 200r4, 4 link, tube front end etc.., i didnt build it so i dont know what, but i can give you pics if you want.
Sooo I have pretty much commited myself to make this swap happen and I will be going over to the guys house this weekend to inspect and confirm that everything is there, After I hand over the $1000.00 bucks I will somehow try to find time to make it happen! I figure I wont be able to go through my transmission and rebearing my 350 for that amount of money. Does anybody know why the 86-87 motors are the one to get? This was out of a 87 with 24,000 original miles on it. We will see what happens Sat afternoon.... Till then.....
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14 Posts
I remember that car:yes: total sleeper
FFFFF me this car is going to FFFFNNN bad:yes::yes:I happen to know somebody on here that's been doing one for a few years now. He's just been too busy restoring a 65 SS and putting a big block in his 63 to work on his wife's project.
You need to get back to work on it Eric!
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1,724 Posts
that looks bad a#@ more details please :yes:
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14 Posts
dont have much for details, im using this car for parts to build a pro touring 63 wagon i bought on this board, gonna slam it with 18 and 19's, and all the other normal tube front end, 4 link, big brakes etc etc... should be done by 2013.
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1,724 Posts
wow nice car wish my car looked that good and thats your part car! lol good luck with the build
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