Cadillac 4.5 into '88 Grand Prix.

[no_doz]

thats why i said with lots of mods-some sealed power gapless rings, have someone make a timing chain set (you migth be able to find or adapt one), custom headers, etc... itd had plenty of potential but itd have to be all custom & have a good bit of work done to it as well as a tune-just tossing that out there cuz it does bolt up to the trans.

[pocket-rocket]

IIRC, those 3.2 24 valve engines are Honda engines. And while most Honda engines are good designs, that engine flat out fails... Do a search on Isuzu Rodeo using oil/Honda Passport using oil. You will be in for a big let down. My mom had one, and this is how I found out about those engines. Honda made ring tolerances too close on the pistons, the rings get stuck, and according to Isuzu dealers 1 quart of oil usage every 1000 miles is not excessive. There were a lot of those engines that got starved for oil because of the consumption and ended up trashing cam journals, ect. I tried to unstick the rings in my moms Rodeo with some Sea Foam because it had lost all compression and wouldn't even run. I thought timing belt because it didn't sound right while cranking like the cam timing was off. Changed the belt and it sounded a little better, but that's when I found the oil consumption deal. The Sea Foam made it where I could get it to run in the driveway, but barely, so she took it back to the dealer and they replaced the engine with a junkyard unit. It ran fine for a while, but not too much longer later, it fouled up again while still under the junkyard warranty, so they replaced it for free. I don't remember if it messed up yet again, or she didn't trust it after that and ended up trading it in on a Toyota RAV-4 S.

[no_doz]

mp man, what money do you have on hand for a car & are you able to tow it at all or will u need one that can limp home with loads of wonderful tranny slippage?

also if you are wanting power-the 3.4 quad cam LQ1 & some headers- will feed that need for speed

or if you want something rare but awesome once modified (with everything needing to be custom) you could get the 3.2L 24 valve short stroke v6 that comes in the isuzu rodeos 93-95-but i dont think anyone makes any parts for it-altho with a hella tune & some nice mods-that could be a hell of a powerplant as well.

http://desmoines.craigslist.org/cto/1367882105.html

http://desmoines.craigslist.org/cto/1362685091.html

http://desmoines.craigslist.org/pts/1388177793.html

theres a few-what other craigslists are close to you?

[2.8 Grand Prix]

Thanks for all the ideas!

Although, now I'm so confused, I don't know what to do! LOL! I'll think of something. As of now, the 2.8 is doing ok with only 5 cylinders, so I can wait untill I get a little more money. By the way, I am Iowa, about 35 miles NW of Des Moines. I check the Craigslist every day (sometimes as many as 5-6 times a day) but I may miss something that you might catch. If you want to, you can go ahead and let me know of anything you think I might want. Thanks!

[no_doz]

or you could take your money-buy a set of pistons from wot-tech, get ARP studs for the connecting rods, & better intake gaskets, as well as a tuned prom from flybynight on tgpforums.com (ben doesnt do FI chips from what ive seen-even though if he did hed probably have a lot of customers considering itd be $20-40 less than flybynights $100 pricetag-which in itself still isnt bad at all), intercooler, a set of TGP turbo manny's & a t25, boost gauge & MBC-& have a turbo.

this will net you as much power as a 3400 swap or 3100 swap w headers-but may cost as much as 700 to accomplish (then the bragging rights since no one turbos these).

or a 3.1 or 3500 crank swap & a set of 3400 heads/UIM/LIM as well as custom pushrods & a tune for it from wot-tech.

or if you really want a high hp swap-go find yourself a LQ1 3.4 DOHC (Z34 both lumina & monte carlos, cutlass supremes, grand prix GTP's)-once again a tune will be needed but ill tell you right now those engines are mean as hell (i have one in my garage right now with a GTP wrapped around it...)-a 3.4 DOHC cutlass supreme 91-96 would be a good one to look for because if im not mistaken the engine mounts may work for you with or without a little modification-but YIKES

plenty of options that dont put you through the nightmare of trying to stuff a 150hp cadillac v8 in a fwd & then trying to brag about it to people later on & having them either ridicule you or give puzzled looks because no one puts one of those v8s in just about anything for a reason- they only max at 200hp with MPFI & thats still 10 less than a stock 3.4DOHC, TGP, or $60 tuned 3400 with CAI & bigger tb, or hell even one of those stock oldschool dsm's with a fart can!

on further thought i would shoot for the LQ1-headers-crank scraper-dual exhaust-more free flowing intake-& a tune/bigger tb if you get one made 95+ -with all of that you very well might be pushing 275-280hp (10 hp less than an evo, LS1, 300zx Twin Turbo, or vortec 454). & that will be with less pain in the ass than a 4.5 by FAR-so it really comes down to which would you rather have-10hp less than a 3100 fwd car or 10 less than most 90's big blocks/v8 sports cars?

just a thought

[no_doz]

dont worry-i used to be the "changing his mind every day" guy-&
take it from someone thats done a lot of research & asked a lot of questions about swapping all kinds of engines into all kinds of vehicles-this swap is absolutely not worth attempting if you intend to drive this on the road, & im not just saying that because itll be a bitch to put in-but the fact that it has less power right off the bat-than a stock 3100 or 3400 (155hp in 88 & 89 for the 4.5-while 3100-3400's made 96+ make 160-185 stock) there is loads of info on swapping these 3x00's in & they are cheap to find (i personally like the 3100 for the great mpg & my experiences with them, but most people say screw it & go for the big bore-aka 3400 :P) as well as the swap is not all that difficult if you have a donor car & the tools to swap the engines.

what you need to do is keep your eyes out for a 1996+ cutlass/cutlass supreme/lumina/malibu/3.4 trans sport van (for the 3400) with a trashed transmission. these are usually pretty easy to find for $200-300 for the entire car that starts & runs good (it wont drive mind you :P).

also the 150k mile thing-doesnt really matter with these cars as long as the head/intake gaskets havent taken a shit-if you do the swap i wouldnt worry about having 160-175k on the donor car as long as it runs smoothly & there is no water in the oil-just make sure you replace those intake gaskets with good felpro ones because they are a major weak point.

what city & state are you located in? i can keep my eye out on craigslist in your area & im sure i can find you a sufficient donor car in 1 week for 300 or less. you will need to keep in mind that if you want to do an engine swap-you will need the money for it. if your engine swap budget is $250-you are going to be waiting quite a while to find a $150 donor car & you will also need to consider the change in tune that will be needed for it not to run like S&%! which will cost around $60 from wot-tech.

id say you should account for 400-500 for this swap, you may spend less but it sucks tearing into something & getting screwed 3/4 the way in because your out of money & need something small. good luck

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

i always thought it would be cool to get a Lumina APV and turn it into a Lumina APZ34

[asylummotorsports]

https://www.car-parts.com

Shouldn't be hard to find an engine that would do the job.

[LeftVentricle]

Little bit of clarification on the Caddy motors. The 4.1/4.5/4.9 were all aluminum block and iron head. There were a couple of year-to-year difference in power, and differences depending on application. The 1990 4.5 is port fuel injection, as opposed to the '89 TBI, and as such makes more power—180 hp and 245 ft-lbs. The 4.5 used in the Allante had a different intake and made about the same power as the 4.9 that replaced the pedestrian 4.5 starting in '91—200 hp, 275 ft-lbs.

I'll contest the "boat anchor" comment, since Fiero guys have reported little to no change in weight distribution after swapping from their stock iron head 2.8. True, they're a little underpowered for their size, but not much else makes that power stock-for-stock except for the oft-maligned L67.

I would go ahead and get the 4.5 and its transmission, since it's such a low price. I would then acquire a crank, rods and pistons for a 4.9, since the 4.9 is a stroked 4.5, and rebuild it.

EDIT: The '96 U-vans had the 3400 as their sole engine choice, the first car to get one.

[2.8 Grand Prix]

Ooops! Oh well.

Alright, I'll keep that in mind.

[SappySE107]

Those are iron head 3.1s as well. The minivans have a bigger issue with the rear head since the van retains more heat in the engine bay. The 97-99 have the worst manifolds too but that is nothing considering you are replacing a 2.8.

[robertisaar]

Not just an idea, that's a great idea. Nice one!

The '91-96 Lumina APV, and Pontiac Transport had the 3.1/3.4, and the '97-05 had the 3.4/3.8, so I think there are a lot of options. Thanks man!

91-96 had 3.1/3.8 and the 97-up were 3400s...

but at least you were close.

[2.8 Grand Prix]

Not just an idea, that's a great idea. Nice one!

The '91-96 Lumina APV, and Pontiac Transport had the 3.1/3.4, and the '97-05 had the 3.4/3.8, so I think there are a lot of options. Thanks man!

[Raffaelli]

Heres a tip,

Look for engines in minivans (eg Chevy Venture). Nobody wants minivan parts, and Junkyards know this. They may be cheaper. But are a pain to pull.

Just an idea.

[robertisaar]

clubgp or w-body.com

thats kinda harsh, mentioning w-body and clubGP in the same sentence...