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It's official Chevy 4.2ltr into a 70 Z Car! Need help Guys!


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Guys:

 

If you go to chevy's website and try to "Build your own" options for 2007 or 2008 you can not get the I5 in a Manual Transmission! May be in Fleet format it may be offered not sure!

 

I saw the Parts.com deal and wonder if it's not just a Catch all and 80% of those 5 speeds listed for sale are 2.9?

 

Kevin

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Guys:

 

If you go to chevy's website and try to "Build your own" options for 2007 or 2008 you can not get the I5 in a Manual Transmission! May be in Fleet format it may be offered not sure!

 

I saw the Parts.com deal and wonder if it's not just a Catch all and 80% of those 5 speeds listed for sale are 2.9?

 

Kevin

True, the auto trans is / was standard on all 3.5 tucks but I swear I have seen some older

But then again I saw some listed with V6's :icon56:

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It's looking like the Engine is the economical part, the Trans adaption is the Costly part!

 

The Bell Housing's from the Dealer are not cheap at all! Just happen to have a R154 in the shop!

 

Wondering if the W58's with the Steel Bearing plates would be a better option maybe? Anyone? Their were lots more of those Transmissions made than the R154!

 

Kevin

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It's looking like the Engine is the economical part, the Trans adaption is the Costly part!

 

The Bell Housing's from the Dealer are not cheap at all! Just happen to have a R154 in the shop!

 

Wondering if the W58's with the Steel Bearing plates would be a better option maybe? Anyone? Their were lots more of those Transmissions made than the R154!

 

Kevin

 

The R154 will bolt to the Colorado bell with no mods. The W58 is less strong and won't fit any bell. You'd have to fab up something. Another option is to fab up an adapter plate like the Austin Healey guy did. The 4200 has the dowels for bellhousing alignment centered to withing .004" of the stock Chevy bell. If you put the Chevy bell up to the back of the 4200 using the dowels, you can fab up a plate to make it work.

 

Greg

vortec_install0031_thumb.jpg

vortec_install0051_thumb.jpg

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My only hangup would be the overall height of this motor. So far the only info I have is from a 3rd Gen Camaro site.

 

"Here's a little information about swapping the new 4200 Vortec inline six that I pulled from Hot Rod (August 2002)

The height of this block is 32.62", which will probably require some sort of custom hood.

Length is 32.86", making it roughly 3 inches longer than a V8. The 3 inches would probably not pose too big of a problem."

 

What the heck does "height of block" mean?

The front of the valve looks real tall and our S30's hood slopes downward toward the front... allot.

 

I6

a6.jpg

 

I5

ai5.jpg

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I know Kevin mentioned this and if I were doing this swap that whole plastic intake manifold business would go bye-bye. That should knock off several inches from the height.

 

EDIT: I also didnt realize that the I5 is rear sump while the I6 is front, hmm. I wonder if dropping in an I5 would be easier? Its still a minimum of 3.5liters . . . If we could get a set of motor mounts that you could use to bolt in the 4,5,6cyl versions of this Atlas motor that would be awesome.

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I know Kevin mentioned this and if I were doing this swap that whole plastic intake manifold business would go bye-bye. That should knock off several inches from the height.

 

EDIT: I also didnt realize that the I5 is rear sump while the I6 is front, hmm. I wonder if dropping in an I5 would be easier? Its still a minimum of 3.5liters . . . If we could get a set of motor mounts that you could use to bolt in the 4,5,6cyl versions of this Atlas motor that would be awesome.

Even better, the 2007 + I5's are 3.7 liters (bigger bore)

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My friend who manages a autobody shop just called me from work and said they got a trailblazer come in with the 4.2 I6. He pulled some tape on it:

 

From the front of the water pump pulley to the front of the bell housing 32 inches

Widest part of the engine with the power steering pump 27 inches

Top of the front of the valve cover to the bottom of the crank pulley 24 inches

Top of the front of the valve cover to the bottom of the oil pan 30 inches.

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From the front of the water pump pulley to the front of the bell housing 32 inches

Widest part of the engine with the power steering pump 27 inches

Top of the front of the valve cover to the bottom of the crank pulley 24 inches

Top of the front of the valve cover to the bottom of the oil pan 30 inches.

 

Sweet Dan!

 

I ran a tape on an L6 for comparison...

 

Front of water pump pulley to bell house, 30"

Top front of valve cover to CENTER of crank pulley, 17.5" Depending on the pulley, to the BOTTOM would be about 20.25"

Top front of valve cover to bottom of pan, 25.25"

 

So... L is nearly 6" shorter in overall height and roughly 2" shorter in overall length. Sounds like a tight fit.

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Sweet Dan!

 

I ran a tape on an L6 for comparison...

 

Front of water pump pulley to bell house, 30"

Top front of valve cover to CENTER of crank pulley, 17.5" Depending on the pulley, to the BOTTOM would be about 20.25"

Top front of valve cover to bottom of pan, 25.25"

 

So... L is nearly 6" shorter in overall height and roughly 2" shorter in overall length. Sounds like a tight fit.

Cool Ron, thanks.

Yup, custom hood for sure or move the engine back a few inches or for the brave lower the engine or a combination of all.

Oh, and new crossmember for sure! :icon52:

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hmm, the height thing does seem to be a bit of a challenge.

 

On another note what do you guys think about how undersquare this motor is? The displacement is great but with a 93mm bore and a 102mm stroke what do you think this would be best suited for in a Z? Also how do you think that would play into a boosted application?

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hmm, the height thing does seem to be a bit of a challenge.

 

On another note what do you guys think about how undersquare this motor is? The displacement is great but with a 93mm bore and a 102mm stroke what do you think this would be best suited for in a Z? Also how do you think that would play into a boosted application?

I was wondering the same thing, also if you read this technical overview http://media.gm.com/division/powertrain/news/4200_Tech.pdf they talk about metal powder forged rods... are these strong?

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I was wondering the same thing, also if you read this technical overview http://media.gm.com/division/powertrain/news/4200_Tech.pdf they talk about metal powder forged rods... are these strong?

 

awesome info. After reading that I really want to turbocharge one! they've really tried hard to reduce detonation in this motor. I mean you can run 87 octane in it with 10:1 CR! Also curious if a "short 3mm ringland" could be one deficit when trying to boost it. As far as the metal powder cast rods . . .heres what I found:

 

A company that makes metal powder forged rods, Metaldyne. They have some info on the process.

 

http://www.metaldyne.com/metaldyne/sections/powdermetal/connectingRods.asp

 

Here are two bullet points that caught my eye:

• Meets or exceeds the ultimate tensile and yield strength of forged steel

• Requires less machining, reducing OEM cost

 

Check out the videos at the bottom of the page . . .

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