Engine Swap Complete - 2.0 SOHC into Eclipse
#1
07-16-2007, 11:07 AM
Engine Swap Complete - 2.0 SOHC into Eclipse
Some of you may have been following my post under the topic, "Eclipse: Swapping 2.0 for 1.8: Interchange & Swap Info Needed". The answer to that thread is that there is no help or tech assistance to be found regarding these cars...
The swap is finally complete, and the project is a success: The '92 2.0 SOHC Gallant engine is installed in the '90 Eclipse in place of the old 1.8 SOHC. Results are very good: Power is significantly better, and the car has excellent drivability.
The problems I encountered were that the 2.0 SOHC engine, although visually almost identical to the 1.8 SOHC, shares no features: None of the accessories, accessory brackets, pulleys, belts or engine mounts would interchange, making the swap seem impossible.
To make the swap, I ended up using the driver's side engine mounts and engine mount bracket off of a 1992 Gallant 2.0 SOHC. The front and rear engine mounts are from a '92 2.0 DOHC Eclipse. All of the accessories (alternator, power steering pump and A/C compressor) along with the accessory brackets are off of a '92 2.0 DOHC Eclipse, but the pulleys from the Gallant 2.0 SOHC were retained. I used a Moroso Upper Radiator Hose Cap Adapter to mount a radiator cap into the upper hose right adjacent to the thermostat housing. Injectors, ox sensor, temp sensors, throttle body and all ECM-interface components were moved from the 1.8 SOHC onto the 2.0 SOHC. The 1.8 SOHC distributor was modified with a lower o-ring groove machined into the body so it would interface with the 2.0 SOHC head, allowing use of the same distributor for ECM interface. The 1.8 uses 2 oil pressure sensors, whereas the 2.0 only has 1, so I pulled one of the machining plugs out of the 2.0 oil filter adapter and used a pipe sleeve to adapt the 2nd oil pressure unit to the 2.0 housing.
The engine was installed with the tranny still in the chassis. It's a tight fit, and you have to remove the crankshaft pulley/harmonic balancer to get it to drop in. But it went in with no problem. A little wiggling to get the pulley back on the crank after installation. The engine fired right up and a quick check of ignition timing even showed the timing to be dead on without any need for adjustment. No leaks, drips or problems. The 2.0 has much better bottom-end torque, and overall performance is very nice. The installation, with everything hooked up and cleaned up, looks very stock.
Total effort was a couple of hours to pull the 1.8 out, 4 hours in a junkyard to pull accessories and brackets,3 hours to dissassemble & re-assemblethe 2.0 for installation of valve stem seals, oil pan gasket, rear main, head gasket, timing belts & water pump, and 6 hours to transplant all the accessories/brackets onto the 2.0 and install the engine into the car. Total cost came to about $600, which included the new water pump, engine gasket kit, new timing belts, fluids, radiator cap adapter, the 2.0 engine and a couple of cans of R12 freon to re-charge the A/C.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...1/2.0Front.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...71/2.0Side.jpg
The swap is finally complete, and the project is a success: The '92 2.0 SOHC Gallant engine is installed in the '90 Eclipse in place of the old 1.8 SOHC. Results are very good: Power is significantly better, and the car has excellent drivability.
The problems I encountered were that the 2.0 SOHC engine, although visually almost identical to the 1.8 SOHC, shares no features: None of the accessories, accessory brackets, pulleys, belts or engine mounts would interchange, making the swap seem impossible.
To make the swap, I ended up using the driver's side engine mounts and engine mount bracket off of a 1992 Gallant 2.0 SOHC. The front and rear engine mounts are from a '92 2.0 DOHC Eclipse. All of the accessories (alternator, power steering pump and A/C compressor) along with the accessory brackets are off of a '92 2.0 DOHC Eclipse, but the pulleys from the Gallant 2.0 SOHC were retained. I used a Moroso Upper Radiator Hose Cap Adapter to mount a radiator cap into the upper hose right adjacent to the thermostat housing. Injectors, ox sensor, temp sensors, throttle body and all ECM-interface components were moved from the 1.8 SOHC onto the 2.0 SOHC. The 1.8 SOHC distributor was modified with a lower o-ring groove machined into the body so it would interface with the 2.0 SOHC head, allowing use of the same distributor for ECM interface. The 1.8 uses 2 oil pressure sensors, whereas the 2.0 only has 1, so I pulled one of the machining plugs out of the 2.0 oil filter adapter and used a pipe sleeve to adapt the 2nd oil pressure unit to the 2.0 housing.
The engine was installed with the tranny still in the chassis. It's a tight fit, and you have to remove the crankshaft pulley/harmonic balancer to get it to drop in. But it went in with no problem. A little wiggling to get the pulley back on the crank after installation. The engine fired right up and a quick check of ignition timing even showed the timing to be dead on without any need for adjustment. No leaks, drips or problems. The 2.0 has much better bottom-end torque, and overall performance is very nice. The installation, with everything hooked up and cleaned up, looks very stock.
Total effort was a couple of hours to pull the 1.8 out, 4 hours in a junkyard to pull accessories and brackets,3 hours to dissassemble & re-assemblethe 2.0 for installation of valve stem seals, oil pan gasket, rear main, head gasket, timing belts & water pump, and 6 hours to transplant all the accessories/brackets onto the 2.0 and install the engine into the car. Total cost came to about $600, which included the new water pump, engine gasket kit, new timing belts, fluids, radiator cap adapter, the 2.0 engine and a couple of cans of R12 freon to re-charge the A/C.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...1/2.0Front.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x...71/2.0Side.jpg
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