@papydude
Good day and welcome. Always nice to have someone new join the group.
I apologize in advance for the following, it is not a reflection on you, it is about engine swaps in general. I don’t know you, don’t know what you are capable of, what tools you own etc. The following is a realistic set of observations relative to engine swaps in general and will delve albeit briefly into some of the issues.
Three words come to mind when thinking about an engine swap: time, money and ability. Any two of these can get you through an engine swap. If you don’t have the ability to make things then it will take time and a notable amount of money to complete a swap. If you have ability then the issues are more around the time you have available to do the work which is considerable. If you have time you can slowly spend the money to accrue the tools, materials and learn the processes you will need to do the swap. If you have money then the other two items are irrelevant it just requires finding someone to do the work you want done and how much of a rush your are.
You have established you don’t have money, like most of us here. The other two I have no idea of in regards to you.
Doing an engine swap is a ton of work and requires significant invention of solutions to the problems you will find and actually create for yourself. Most engine swaps end with the car never being completed and usually the car being sold to someone else with a dream or to a junk yard because it sat in the garage for so long you have passed away
On this forum you will find a variety of engine swaps documented to a variety of degrees. There are five swaps here which have been documented very well. I will post links to each of the ones mentioned.
- First is the B series Honda swap by Biswanger who has installed a B16, B18 and finally a B20 into his X, last I knew he was going for a turbo. He created a pretty comprehensive road map of what you need to do, this is a PDF/PowerPoint and easily digestible.
- Next you will find two very well documented swaps by @lookforjoe and @Rodger (there are other excellent swap threads, I picked these two due to the comprehensive nature of the info covered) , both of these swaps were comprehensive and touched nearly every area of the car. You would do well to read every post from both of their swaps, they both started from the @Matt Brannon - Midwest Bayless bracketry and guidance. Hussien (lookforjoe) had years of skills in modifying Volvos and has a voracious ability to unravel complex systems, document, solve problems and invent solutions as well as fabricate parts and solutions very quickly. Due to his ability and interests he has created a car which in my mind surpasses anything done by nearly anyone on an X (there are a few others at a similar level but I doubt they did them themselves). His swap is one really pay attention to. Rodger’s swap is a combination of sending work out to qualified vendors, being meticulous in all details, knowing what details were important and over time he added tools and abilities such that he was able to do a lot of work on his swap and ended up with one of the most amazing ‘stock’ looking K swap Xs around. Rodger was meticulous in documentation and is a good read.
- The next swap is of the Fiat 500 turbo motor out of an Abarth but the issues are similar for any modern Fiat motor given the realities of modern wiring. This swap is by @TonyK and follows him doing a home brew Megasquirt mod on his X and a wide variety of other mods. Tony is another person who can unravel the nearly unfathomable and has the ability to resolve it. He is also an amazing machinist and craftsman who brings together his skill set to install something which was never intended into an X. He is working on his third swap, reading through what he has done and continues to innovate through to make his swaps a reality.
- Next we have installing a Fiat Stilo twin cam engine being swapped by @My1stCar , this one is quite recent and although not as carefully documented as some, it has all the clues to what is needed to put a modern engine into an old car but relies on components relatively easily available in Europe and makes it a little more difficult to do here in the US. His documentation covers a ton of the base work of making an engine fit and shows his invention and problem solving skill. Great attention to detail and I look forward to seeing more about his swap which is coming to completion.
- Finally @Bobkat is building a VW 2.5l 5 cylinder swap. He started off modifying the body on his car and has adroitly made it quite Stratos like with his digital modeling abilities and good design taste. He came here through the VW/Audi world making aftermarket parts and started the build for the VW engine a while ago and is starting build up steam. This one will be an amazing one to watch, if you have ever driven a car with this engine they sound great, pull well and are very tractable with a torque curve which is nearly flat from 2k-6k, with mods they can create a lot of power (its nearly half an Gallardo engine). I can’t wait for the next installment.
There are a variety of other swaps which have been documented to greater or lesser degrees over the last twenty plus years here. A few tragically the details of which have disappeared either due to the vagaries of the internet or by intent.
- The Fiat 124 type twin cam motor which over time appeared in the Ritmo Abarth and other platforms. This engine also appeared in the Scorpion/Monte Carlo which has much more room. This has rarely been a good fit in the X but examples of it do exist and if one looks carefully on the net you can find swap threads. Resolving the transmission issue has been the biggest issue in the US due to parts availability.
- The Fiat 158 Torque twin cam motor, same dimension block with different mountings but a relatively easy swap, a motor we never got here though there is at least one built up in the US but its whereabout are unknown.
- Toyota 4AGE has been done but is fairly rare, this engine come in a variety of tunes. I have seen videos but not one in person.
- GM Ecotec 2.2/2.4l this was featured in a well documented thread but the owner would often delete the info so this one is sadly lost. There is a nice thread on a ‘silhouette’ X race car which is using this engine but it really doesn’t apply, it is an amazing thread to read through and will be an incredible car when finished.
- There is at least one Mazda KL series V6 in a race car which is documented on the forum and is one I salivate over as I love the way the engine sounds.
There have been a few others over the years based on what was available at the time where the person lived. We have had countless discussions about the subject over the years.
The cost of a swap is a big issue, as most of what you will find in those threads shows people’s abilities. On average folks spend around 20k to complete a factory like swap. This is even accounting for these folk’s ability to make much of what was needed. You have stated the kit is too expensive. Have you started a budget list of what you think it will cost based on your ability to do what needs to be done.
I am not saying it can’t be done, obviously it can. No you don’t need to use a kit but it at least gets the most difficult part of a swap resolved and that is: how does the engine fit in the car and then how does the engine relate to the features of the car itself particularly around the engine mounts, axle etc.
The K series swap is a big undertaking as the body of the car needs to be modified pretty extensively to fit the engine. This means sheet metal fabrication and welding followed by refinishing, pretty standard car mod stuff. Then the rest of the systems have to be dealt with to meld the new to what exists for the cooling, HVAC, fuel and so on.
So, all I am trying to say is consider carefully.
In closing I will make a pitch for either rebuilding the engine you have or modifiy the engine you have or even just as itf is. The Fiat 128/138 engine is a robust engine which was very well made. Although it doesn’t make a lot of horse power given its roots lie in the 1960s, it does rev like few others, particularly with an alternative cam and a carb (or two). It really is a sweet engine which will carry 5k rpm all day without a whimper with forays up to its redline as often as you want with little care and feeding.
