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Ecotec v6 transplant

Started by _ss kustomz_ , Jun 09 2012 01:53 PM

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5 replies to this topic

#1 _ss kustomz_

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Posted 09 June 2012 - 01:53 PM

I've seen a few people asking about this on here so i thought i might share my own experiences.
I'll try to break it down into seperate assemblies so i don't ramble off on a tangent as I am prone to doing.

I used the Pat Gardiner (v6 conversions) kit and fitted it mostly per his instruction manual, I say mostly as there are a lot of things not covered or inaccurate in them so I will focus on these, bear in mind I did this conversion in 2003 so I may be a little rusty on exact sizes.

Try to get your engine supplied with the front propshaft yoke, an uncut wiring loom and radiator with thermo fans attached, this makes it a much easier task. You will also need a gearbox mount from a vn-vp and an engine dipstick and tube

Engine- as part of the kit you get a sump from a pre ecotec which has had the hump moved to the other end and a new oil pickup to suit, to fit this requires fitting the engine to a stand turning it over and drilling and tapping 3 new mounting holes that differ between the motors. I used a vacumm and heaps of rag to make sure sure no swarf ended up in the engine, after this you can fit the new oil pickup, do yourself a favour and turn the motor over by hand now, my crank was hitting the oil pickup and I had to modify it to fit properly.
Because of the new sump you need the dipstick to match which also has to be shortened to suit the new sump

Radiator- I used a vs commodore unit and made some brackets to adapt the commodore mounts to the factory torana bolt holes, basically they are just two strips of 40*3 flat that run vertical with a right angle at the bottom with a hole for the commodore lower grommet and a bracket to pick up the commodore upper mount also welded to the side. Photos next time i have them out. The benefit of this is you have a factory mounted thermo fan that just needs wiring.

Fuel lines- As my motor still had the push lock efi fittings on it I went to the wreckers and got the complete fuel lines from a vs. if you straighten out the factory bend about halfway down you can rebend them to fit up under the torana floor quite neatly using the factory fuel line clips on your floor, they will come up the firewall about where the rattrap clutch bolted in and work great
return line can be plumbed into on of the tank vent lines and the feed will connect to the efi pump in the kit. I mounted the pump to one of the tank straps with a coil clamp. Just watch direction of flow on the pump......... Don't ask!!!

Neck on the fuel tank was cut off and a vn wagon filler neck fitted with the commodore rubber joiner.

Instruments- I moved my tacho to the middle and carefully drilled three holes in the instrument face for the high beam indicator and direction indicator lights, with the space this freed up by removing the speedo and moving the tach i could fit the electronic speedo into the stock tacho location and by trimming the binnacle i got the speedo to appear mostly stock behind the stock facsia panel (photos to follow)

Shifter- In order to satisfy rego requirements I used a megashifter on the floor by itself as I needed the light up gear display, its the easiest way but I don't particularly like the feel of it.

Wiring- this is a headache of a job. you need to drill a 75mm hole in the firewall below the heater box for the loom to pass through and make some sort of mount for the relays and fuses to mount to on the drivers side. I made a flat plate from some stainless sheet and put relays on one side and fuse box on the other the bolted it in where the proportioning valve bolt to. there is a power feed needed to this assembly which is not in the manual as well as fan wiring if you want auto switching, I'm not a sparky and had to get one in to sort this but it isn't too bad if you know what you're doing. reverse light wiring and neutral safety switch are also a challenge depending on your shifter choice. Computer goes in the stock commodore position in the passenger footwell in the plastic cradle from a commodore

Prop shaft- Once your motor and box are in hold your propshaft up and mark on it where the end of the gearbox is, then take your prop shaft and commodore front uni down to hardie spicer or someone similar and tell them what you need.

Exhaust- I'm using the stock commodore exhaust bact to after the convertor with a couple of mods. oxygen sensor bung on the drivers side needs to be moved around 90 degrees to clear the k frame and the pass side down pipe needs notching or bending to clear as well.

I think thats about it, please bear in mind this is what i did and not the only way, nor do i advocate blah blah legal legal legal. If i think of anything else I will post it and photos will come when I pull it apart again.

I think thats about it

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#2 A9X

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Posted 09 June 2012 - 03:20 PM

good post mate, very timely

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#3 _Quagmire_

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Posted 09 June 2012 - 05:34 PM

doing one to yours welby?
i've heard bad stories bout the vy ecotech 3.6 litres if anyone's contemplating them....

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#4 warrenm

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Posted 10 June 2012 - 08:17 AM

doing one to yours welby?
i've heard bad stories bout the vy ecotech 3.6 litres if anyone's contemplating them....

3.6 VY is Alloytech not Ecotech

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#5 A9X

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Posted 10 June 2012 - 12:09 PM

not yet, but i've got a wagon i've owned since new, 170k on the clock, well serviced and its suffered an electrical failure. I'm a big fan of the baby six since seeing them used as race engines in the old formula holden days.

In a torry, i love the weight vs HP/torque and the economy. bonus is the aircon pump and ps pump already attached.

i was keen on the conversion early, but the conversion cost and registration hoops put me off it and i've started down the path of buiding a new big block 202 with triples.

its someting i could easily be conned into.

the car is going to be my daily driver so modern aircon and sounds are a must, maybe stage 2 part of the build.

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#6 _slaaar_

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Posted 13 June 2012 - 10:39 AM

Great info on the V6 conversion. I'm really hoping that the Gardiner kit has ironed out some of the bugs in the years since you did it. I have ordered it and am just waiting for it to arrive now. Having the whole donor car (VT) to throw at the conversion might help with some of the missing bits jig-saws that you had to solve. What was your donor motor from and what differential are you using? How does the car drive these days?