Cracking!

[sturbitt]

Firstly Hello - this is my first time posting and I am hoping that you Suzuki experts will be able to help me.

I have a 1994 Vitara with a 1.6 8v manual engine. I have owned it for almost a year now and it has never been a very happy little car - it has never really run quite right . The car has also used a fair amount of water.

This weekend I decided that I needed to find out what was up with the wee girl. To cut a long dismantling story short I stripped the engine down to the head gasket - I was hoping to find this at fault but I have discovered a nice crack between pistons 3 & 4 .

I have now decided that engine replacement is the only way forward . I have also decided that I will take the girl off road and trailer her around to off-roading events.

So Why am I posting ? Well Any helpfully advice about engine replacement would be good - also I may look to put in a reconditioned one in if anyone can suggest a good place in the UK. But what I really need help with is I am thinking of putting a V6 in if I can sort it out. But do I need to change the gear box and diffs as well? Or are all of these compatible?

Sorry for the long post but its been a long weekend and I am looking for some good news about replacing the engine from someone!

Thanks for any help!

Cheers

Steven

[volfan4]

RePower your Suzuki Samurai with a V6 or V8 Engin e Conversion from Suzuki Lightning Conversions
This is a place out of Florida that sells engine conversion kits for the General Motors 4.3 Vortec V6 swap into a Sidekick/Tracker or Samari. Most of the people here like turbos and nitrous kits. Me personally, I like the Idea of this swap. Mostly because, if you Like off-roading, It is in my opinion that you need torque most of all. Most of the people on this forum like the idea of larger horsepower 4 cylinder swap. This may be the option for you because I don't know how popular the 4.3 V6 is in the UK, or even if it is available.

[sturbitt]

Wow! 4.3 V6 - You Americans have all the best toys!

I think the biggest available in the UK is 2.0 V6 - And I thought that was huge for my little car!

Do you have smaller engines avalailable as well? I currently have a straight 4 1.6 8V. Do you know if the running gear (gearbox diffs etc) vary between models in the US? - and are they the same diffs availabale in the UK?

I do like the sound of the 4.3 V6 - I may see if I can find a supplier in the UK for them!

Thanks for your help!

Steven

[Shconer]

I don't know anything about engine swaps but I had the exact same problem on mine. Also generally fewer pistons for a given displacement usually yields more torque. The best motors in my opinion for off road are diesels. Suzuki offered a turbo diesel from the factory in some country's.

[nascarmaniac]

I was going to say the same thing also. You just never know how much someone wants to spend.

[volfan4]

I guess i just like to squeeze the most engine you can into an engine compartment. Beside that usually large displacement 4 cylinders are pretty long and thats a problem. And Diesels are the best for off-roading, but i don't know a damn thing about them, not a popular thing down here in the south unless you own a 1 ton or 3/4 ton truck.

[sturbitt]

Thanks for the help guys! I agree a diesel would probably best for off-raoding (due to lack of complicated electronics) but I am begining to think that it may be best to try to keep the engine as close to the one I have at the moment (with out the crack! ) so the swap will be as easy as possible.

The UK have just almost doubled the tax on cars over 1.6 - so having a look on ebay has shown that a lot of people are selling at the moment and the prices have drop a lot! I think I might just keep an eye out for the same 1.6 8v (or 16v) and do a straight swap. Not unless anyone knows any problems with these engines.

I suspect that you guys over there have never seen such a small engine!

Do you know if all your Vitaras (sorry I know you call them somthing different) use the same running gear (gearbox diffs etc)?

[sturbitt]

Just in case you guys are interested here are the photos of me taking the head off my Vit.

http://www.turbitt.co.uk/pics/pictur.../\pink%20suzi/

The crack is two small to see on the photos but it is between pistons 3 & 4.

Cheers

Steven