i'm performing initial research on a series 4 13b swap for my 83 GSL. right now i'm leaning towards a carb setup, and gsl-se tranny.

i understand that i'll need a 12a front cover for the OMP mounting, and a GSL-SE motor mount.

will i be able to adapt the 12a ignition system to the 13b motor (as in, i don't want to use the ecu if i don't have to)??

 

You're not going Turbo, so just use your 12A Tranny. Very little difference between it and an SE one. No ral strength difference either (just gearing)

Yep. Or a GSL-SE Front cover would work as well

Yep, just use your 12A Dizzy.

 

really? i was under the impression that the stock 12a tranny was a bit underbuilt... my goal for this swap is about 160hp.

also, if a 12a tranny will indeed be up to the task, would it bolt directly up to the 13b motor??

 

160HP? No Problem. That's what a stock port 12A has. - JUST KIDDING! Seriously, many people have about 200HP with Street/bridge port 12A's, and the stock tranny holds up fine. It's the "Intant-on" high torque of Turbos that usually make 'em break.

Bolt up with no problem. Just have use the 12A Flywheel and pressure plate for a 12A, and 13B ones for the 13B. (Actually, even a 12A cluctch would work on a 13B)

 

yeah ... the swap is pretty straightforward

you don't absolutely NEED an SE front cover, but if you can get one, then do it because the the 13B uses 4 oil metering lines, whereas the 12A provides just two - it's just something to consider, but it's not that big of a deal to remedy.

a lot of the intakes out there for the 6-port engines seem to use the lower stock manifold (Holley is the only one that I know of that does not, but there may be something that I don't know about) ... so in terms of intake you're a little more limited than if you ran a 4-port engine, but you do have choices ...

other than that, i can't think of any problems that i had.

 

as far as activating the 5th and 6th ports, have there been any solutions not involving the airpump (which is how they're activated, as far as i know). i plan on not installing one.

 

if, i'm not mistaken, i believe it was feedback from the exhaust that activated the 5th and 6th ports.

at any rate, i just took the sleeves out of them and leave them open all the time. i experimented with them once, by closing them for a while, but i honestly did not notice much of a difference.

 

i am doing a similar swap, if I premix, can I just use my existing 12a frint cover?

 

yeah ... i don't see why not, then you can just plug two of the lines and be good to go.

 

would that provide enough oil to keep the engine sufficiently lubed?

 

When you pre-mix, you have to set the ratio for high-RPM operation. The other 99% of the time, you will be running way too much oil in you gas. This will make the car feel less powerful, foul your plugs much faster, and give a nice brown oily stain/smoke coming out of your muffler onto your rear spoiler.

I like pre-mixing for ease of mind, but on a daily driven street car, keep the OMP. On my Turbo conversion I will still use the OMP (at max setting) and still run a little two-stroke in the gas. But I am just paranoid.

 

also, to ask a dumb question:

what kinda power can i expect to get out of a s4 motor, decent carb setup, and a racing beat exhaust?

 

About the same as a GSL-SE 6 port motor. Once you go carb, they are pretty much the same.

Oh, and the answer is about 180 HP on a stock port give or take a few.