Transforming my 1.5 auto lanos into a 1.6 manual

SkullWoo · Post by **SkullWoo** » Sat Aug 02, 2003 4:43 pm

Well? is it possible? I know dip-sh*t about mechanics, but, If I change the heads, and the transmission should be a simple bolt-on right? First off, how much you think it would cost? I'm in the great white north, so I don't have access to all those neat california high performance shops, but there are enough places that do this kind of work around here nonetheless. (ok, so one guy laughed at me when I asked if he could do an engine swap in my woo (a 2.0 l rebuilt turbo sunfire engine would be cool)

SkullWoo · Post by **SkullWoo** » Sat Aug 02, 2003 8:11 pm

so... no one here knows?

mocpac · Post by **mocpac** » Sun Aug 03, 2003 4:56 am

Man, I Beliave that you can, But let me be sure befor said yes or no.

SkullWoo · Post by **SkullWoo** » Sun Aug 03, 2003 10:25 pm

okidoki

Post by **PrecisionBoost** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 7:08 pm

From what I gather you can't pull a 1.6L (A16DMS) head off and throw it on a 1.5L SOHC (A15SMS) since the piston design is different.

(or at least I've never heard of anyone doing such a changeover)

You would be better off with a whole complete engine,tranny and PCM (yes the fuel management computer and wiring has to be changed)

They do make a more powerfull DOHC 1.5L (A15DMS) but you would have to import the parts from Korea and again the internals are slightly different. (going from a SOHC to a DOHC throws up a number of problems)

I orignially was going to buy a 1.6L DOHC and do it up with a turbo but then the 2.0L Turbo Sunbird swap came up on a few boards.

Given it's a direct drop in (or so I've been told) it should be relatively painless. (even so I imagine it will take a few months to get it up and running)

I'm looking for an 87 to 90 Sunbird at this very moment.... the plans are to completely rebuild it from the bottom up with high performance parts.

I'm also Canadian (Edmonton,AB) and I figure I can get an donor car for about $1200 CDN then I will part it out and hopefully recoup some money.

Did you guys know that the famous SR20DET engine is also an 86mm X 86mm bore/stroke just like this (Opel/Vauhaul/Holden/Pontiac) 2.0L Turbo ( LT3 )

I can't wait to measure the bore spacing to see if there are any compatible parts (such as pistons,cranks,con rods,cylinder heads)

I'm thinking 200 WHP to 250 WHP (not to be confused with crank HP) would be nice but it sure would be nice to make it into a low 12 second car.

Who knows....I might even drop some serious cash and get the cylinders machined and sleeved to make some real horsepower (350WHP to 500WHP would be nice....but I'd probably have to weld in a substructure to keep the unibody from bending under all that power.....plus I'd probably have to drop some serious coin on a high power tranny upgrade)

Post by **PrecisionBoost** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 7:12 pm

Another fun swap would be to take two high performance motorcycle engines and put one in front and one in back....Then you would have AWD.

You'd have to have some deep pockets to be able to afford to do something crazy like that but it definitly be a car the import magasines would want to cover....plus your redline would be like 12,000 RPM!!

Post by **PrecisionBoost** » Mon Aug 04, 2003 7:17 pm

You should go out and find a Lanos SX hatchback with the 1.6L 5spd allready in it and trade your automatic 1.5L in on it.

In the long run you would probably end up saving money and you would get all the amenities of the SX hatch.

If you modified your 1.5L you could allways bring it back to stock and drop all the mods into the SX hatch.