Help me choose new motor for 78 Chevy malibu

3 speed auto or manual?

I would also need a clutch, hydraulics, etc...

The judges already think the car is a bit of a cheater car.

However, the manual would help gas mileage and the starter issues I have been having.

This might be the way to go.

GRMers Find me some manual trannies!

Rob R.

wvumtnbkr wrote: 3 speed auto or manual? I would also need a clutch, hydraulics, etc... The judges already think the car is a bit of a cheater car. However, the manual would help gas mileage and the starter issues I have been having. This might be the way to go. GRMers Find me some manual trannies! Rob R.

It was a manual. They can be found for cheap and they'll easily last for an endurance race behind a stockish 350. I would still stay away from the small block, though. Not weird enough. You could spend 2k on an alfa V6 before they'd question it, but if your sbc has new valve covers you'll get huge issues.

Search for saginaw if you're interested in the transmissions.

How much does a complete engine and factory wiring normally run? I have been searching c-list and can't find one of these cars for sale.

Well, it would probably be more expensive to try and piece a setup together than it would be to buy a donor car and then recycle everything you dont use. Depending on how high scrap is, you can almost break even doing that. During the summer scrap got up to $12.5/ 100 lbs, so a turbo k-car minus engine and electrics would sell for ~$250, plus the cat would be around $40-50, and if it had aluminum wheels another $40-50 there.

Scrap's going down now but i still recommend a donor car.

Unfortunately it is hard to search for them because there were SO MANY turbo dodge models. I think they sold 28 nameplates on the basic k-car chassis and at least half of them could be had turbo'd.

So the easiest thing to do, and what i do, is just search Dodge, chrysler, and plymouth in craigslist (3 searches..) and then sift through the results. If you are looking for a parts car you should probably limit the max price to $700 (which can usuallly be talked down to 500) and you shouldnt have TOO many results to sift through.

Any turbo motor from 84-92 will do what you need. However, if you want to run the factory electronics i'd limit your search to 86-89 cars. Those are the most supported. The other years CAN be modified but take more work.

Also, 2.5 turbos only existed from 89-92. turbo 2.2s existed in various forms from 84-93.

Can you swing a 2JZGTE? http://www.ebay.com/itm/JDM-Toyota-Aristo-Supra-Lexus-GS300-IS300-2JZ-GTE-VVT-i-Engine-Auto-2JZGTE-/260870357805?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item3cbd15c32d

I have dreams of one being put into a Chevy II with a pro-touring suspension.

i don't know what they go for these days, but i used to stumble across Saginaw 4 speeds out of mid 70's Monzas and Camaros for $50 and the bellhousings to go along with it for another $20..of course, that was almost 20 years ago.. might be cheaper and easier to find a mid 80's V8 Camaro with a T5 in it and make all that stuff work in your car, and buy a few spare T5's just because.

Svrex has a DOHC turbo (T3) for sale. 224hp out of the box. Includes the car. Hit him up via PM for the details.

TIGMOTORSPORTS wrote: 3800 V6 and 5 speed from a 96-02 camaro or firebird 200hp stock, good gas mileage, and tough

Sounds like a good idea to me too. Tons of 3800 engines pulling big fwd gm cars around for years without much trouble.

novaderrik wrote: ... might be cheaper and easier to find a mid 80's V8 Camaro with a T5 in it and make all that stuff work in your car, and buy a few spare T5's just because.

This.

When I was researching a manual swap for my buddy's '79 Bu, it looks like it's not too hard to adapt the 3rd gen F-body pedal setup to a G-body. He never got around to doing the swap so I don't have first hand experience with it.

Also from what I remember the F-bodies rotated the T-5 in the tunnel a few degrees for better clearance. Another bell housing might work better for the Malibu. Maybe a truck one?

But wait... I'm not up to date on all the Mopars out there.. is the 2.5 also available from other fwd cars vs. just the Dakota, or is it the 2.4 that is only fwd based? How does one mount the 2.4 (if it was just fwd sourced) for rwd.. just drill into the motor block? Is there enough meat for that? I have a '55 Dodge pickup .. a turbo four (Mopar too!) sounds like it would be fun.. and more mpg too!

desial pickup motor? then run on refried grease that will cost anything....and then offer to see food and make money from everyone getting hungry when your car drives past....... subby boxer motor? motor out of a porsha?

4Msfam wrote: But wait... I'm not up to date on all the Mopars out there.. is the 2.5 also available from other fwd cars vs. just the Dakota, or is it the 2.4 that is only fwd based? How does one mount the 2.4 (if it was just fwd sourced) for rwd.. just drill into the motor block? Is there enough meat for that? I have a '55 Dodge pickup .. a turbo four (Mopar too!) sounds like it would be fun.. and more mpg too!

The 2.2/2.5 is the same block after 89. 2.5 was available in a special "tall block" from 86-on. Externally they all look essentially the same.

2.2/2.5 block is seriously strong. Designed by the same engineer that worked on the 318.

As for RWD, the Chrysler 2.5 was available in the 1st gen Dakota. 2nd Gen used a Jeep/GM 2.5. Two different transmissions were used. Neither is strong enough for anything over stock power. The bellhousings can be used with stronger transmissions (R-154/W-58).

On the 2.4 side, they were designed/built by the truck group. They are a stronger block than the 2.0 while sharing heads and some external mounting points.

For RWD, they were used in the Jeep Liberty and were available with a 6-speed manual.

Interesting tidbits, the 2.5/2.4 share cylinder head mounting locations and bore spacing along with bellhousing patterns (except for one bolt hole)

Lots of info on the turbo Mopar forums for specific part/make/model info and cross pollination.

GM Atlas I-5 or I-6. Both have over 200hp and are fairly weird to see in a car.

Nitroracer wrote:

TIGMOTORSPORTS wrote: 3800 V6 and 5 speed from a 96-02 camaro or firebird 200hp stock, good gas mileage, and tough

Sounds like a good idea to me too. Tons of 3800 engines pulling big fwd gm cars around for years without much trouble.

good luck finding an F body 3800.. as far as i know, that was the only North American rwd application for that engine and they didn't build a whole lot of them.. i had the idea of getting one to put in my 86 Camaro a few months back, and a nationwide search on www.car-part.com didn't show too many of them and the ones they did show were in the several thousand dollar range just for a running engine with 100,000+ miles on it.

but it is possible to swing a fwd 3800 sideways and mount it in a rwd car- you can buy complete running Bonnevilles with a supercharged engine for well under $1000 and bolt it up to a T5 with a bellhousing from a 2.8/3.1 powered S10 and a new flywheel for a 5 speed 3.8 powered Camaro or Firebird. the throttle body will be up against the firewall, but that's a minor thing to overcome..

3.8 fbodys aren't rare in California junkyards, 5 speed 3rd gens are though. Could you run a truck tranny? You could get one for $100 pretty easily I would think. Btw an Alfa v6 doesn't swap into non Alfa rwd cars easily, they are made to use a rear transaxle so bolting a transmission to one takes a bit of fabrication, and they have a giant rectangular oil pan with no provision for crossmember clearance.