Re: [DMCForum] Engine swaps / upgrades

[Marc Levy <malevy_nj@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- Ryan Wright <ryanpwright@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Thanks for the reply, Marc.

<SNIP of good explanation about ability to work on
car, and motivation for swap> 

> I could perform a swap myself. I'm a fine backyard
> mechanic. I've
> pulled my tranny twice in the last year. I've
> replaced engines in
> vehicles before. My biggest problems in swapping on
> a D is - I'd want
> to find someone who has done it, to learn from their
> experience. If I
> can get a good shopping list of parts that will work
> together in the
> car and I know what to expect, I can put them
> together and make it
> work.

Considering I have been "working on" my swap since
2001, I can tell you there is not a whole heck of a
lot out there for a DIYer looking to do a swap on a
DMC.  Duke is about the only person who has a
successful swap that has also published some detail on
how he did it..  I believe he got a lot of advice from
Daryl who had a supercharged Chevy Vortech in his DMC.

I have seen a number of swaps at the various DeLorean
car shows.  A few more well knows ones are Bob's 97
DeLorean, with the Buick V8 in it and Kyle's car with
the Chevy 350.  Both are good swaps, but neither have
much in the way of "how to" documentation that I have
seen.  I did not look that hard though, because for my
own swap I ruled out using a V8.  The NorthStar swap
was a turn-key solution being sold by a guy out in
Colorado (I think), so most of what he did was not
published at all.  You may know the guy, most of he
work was on Fiero's.  He seems to be out of business
now.

One of the goals of my project has always been to make
it easy for others to copy.  Frankly, being copied is
the best compliment someone can give.  :)

> I'm just not competent enough to select the parts
> myself and figure
> out what will fit, what will work together, etc. I
> don't know enough
> to do a custom, one-off job that nobody has tried
> before. But I could
> certainly pull off a repeat of an established
> procedure, if one
> exists.

Sounds like you underestimate your ability! Selecting
the parts only requires you to set your goals (and
limits), and then spend LOTS of time researching parts
that will fit your needs.  The research will help you
determine what works with what.

If you want to do a "repeat", then you are left to
either try and find someone who has already done a
swap that you like to help you, or wait around for
someone else to complete one (like me!) that fits your
needs.

> > If your goal here is to simply things, I'd suggest
> > dumping the K-Jet and convert your PRV to EFI.
> 
> That's not a bad idea, really. Where can I find more
> info on such a procedure?

Years back, A guy on the DML did it using a TEK-3
system.  The first iteration of his project just
dumped the K-Jet (and associated other crap) and build
his own custom fuel rail to fit the DMC.  Then just
wire of the ECU and away you go!  He later built his
own intake manifold to reduce the restrictions (and
twisties) in the stock intake.  He claimed a small
improvement with his custom intake, but without also
adding a free-flow exhaust it would not do much good
(IMHO).

If you understand EFI systems, I have always felt this
would be a HUGE improvement in reliability and
serviceability of the DeLorean.  I would also expect
to see improved performance and fuel economy.

To do EFI now (and be a real DIYer), I'd get a
MegaSquirt and set it up to run the DMC engine.  Much
less expensive than the commercial aftermarket EFI
systems, with lots of "open source" support on the
Internet for both the hardware and software.

Because I opted to do a full engine swap, I did not
spend too much time going down this path.  If you
decide to do it, I would be glad to help out however I
can.
 
<SNIP of 3 rotor conversion>
> 
> > I did see the Northstar in Memphis.  Got a few
> good
> > shots of it (if you want them, let me know).  It
> 
> I'd love them!

http://www.deloreanmidatlantic.com/scrapbook/members/levy/mark14.jpg

http://www.deloreanmidatlantic.com/scrapbook/members/levy/mark15.jpg


<SNIP>
> 
> Here's the real deal: I'm not sure I want to go half
> way in a swap. My
> Fiero had ~230-250hp. It was fast, but it wouldn't
> knock your socks
> off. If I'm doing this, I might as well go all out.
> I'd much rather
> invest the extra time and effort for 400hp.
>

Speed cost money..... blah blah blah.

I had the same initial desire.  Any of us would love
to own a 400HP DeLorean..  But, I am more practical. 
How much are you willing to spend on 400HP?  And even
if you could do it, could the rest of the car SAFELY
handle it?

Before I went for the conversion, I spent a lot of
time investigating PRV modifications and variants for
the DMC.  I found I could import a used PRV-6 from a
Venturi at a cost of about 10K, that is a USED engine.

If you have deep pockets like that, give Don a call
and tell him you want a Twin-Turbo Buck 3.8
Conversion.  He has already done a few.

<SNIP>

> > When you say "dream", you throw out anything
> > practical.. no?  :)
> 
> Of course. :)
> 

Did you read what I wrote after this??  about the
VQ35?



            
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