so here's the story.. i got a '84 gsl-se about 10 months ago with 215k mi on the original engine. the coolant was brown, so i assumed it would only be a matter of time before it stopped running.

i was right. cause of death: coolant seal failure.

after it died, i looked around for a replacement engine out of a GSL-SE. no dice. these things are rare as hell on the used-but-running market. so i decided to adjust my focus a bit and look for *any* 6-port 13b to drop in. eventually a found a decent deal on a S4 6-port with 130k mi and all the intake, wiring, and computer.

the plan is to run the S4 engine with S4 intake system, but with the GSL-SE injection, computer, and ignition.

last sunday, i finally got around to working on the swap. the first day was spent unhooking the engine from all the electronics and hoisting it out. that took about 5 hours all-in-all. that's when we called it a day.

the next sunday (the 13th, yesterday at the time of writing this), i picked up the new engine from where i was storing it, brought it over and spent most of my time chiseling gasket from the front cover so i could put my new front cover on the s4 engine (y'know, so it will mount up to the S3 body), and cleaning off the nasty oily S3 13b oil pan. y'see, the old engien was a leaky old sumbitch, and it had built up a nice 2mm thick coating of sludge down on the bottom half of the engine.

at this point, i have the engine prepped for the intake system and exhaust manifold to be installed. just have to determine what all i can block off. and which vaccum lines i can just plug up. still going back and forth in my head on the omp vs. premix debate. it looks like OMP is winning, since it's such a simple system, and all the lines are already ready to go.

what's that you say? a picture is worth 1000 words? ok. how about several pictures?

http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engi...p001.sized.jpg fresh from the tow across town.
http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engi...p003.sized.jpg pry pry i'm actually not entirely sure what's coming off here; i think it may be the smog pump.
http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engi...p006.sized.jpg such a nasty old engine.
http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engi...p007.sized.jpg ...it just feels right
http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engi...p011.sized.jpg GRIME!
http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engi...p012.sized.jpg the fan clutch works really well, i suspect it was replaced within the past couple years.
http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engi...p016.sized.jpg hooked up. the only bolts holding it to the car are the front mount bolts.
http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engi...p018.sized.jpg up and out. behold 215k mi worth of nastiness
http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engineswap/DSC01109.jpg (BIG!) inspecting the oil cooler. lo and behold. hairline fractures in the fitting. perhaps that would explain the abundance of oil all over it.
http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engi...1110.sized.jpg new engine w/o front cover or oil pan.
http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engi...1113.sized.jpg another angle of the same thing. removing gasket from around the dowels was a serious chore.
http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engi...1115.sized.jpg engine, act clutch, car
http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engi...1116.sized.jpg another shot of the engine. the whole thing was very clean for its age. no leaks.
http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engi...1117.sized.jpg where the new engine goes

(oh if you happen to want to look at a full size 3megapixel version of the pictures, just remove ".sized" from the filename and you're golden)

so anyhoo. that's my project so far. i'm hoping to get it in the car next weekend, and perhaps even started. i will definately report back on that. special thanks to 13bpower and x605p747R1 for lending a hand with this project.

 

nice work...

 

Looking good. Your patience will pay off.

 

yeah. if the engine actually runs (hey it makes even poofs when i turn it by hand), i'm really excited to get her on the road.

also, thanks to everyone who has answered my dumbass questions regarding this swap.

 

it's always good to see someone's project coming together. good luck and make sure to post the results when you're done.

 

Brad do you think your old engine is rebuildable? I might get rid of it for you.

 

i dunno. joe xp609blahblah said he'd pick it up sometime, so i figure he has first dibbs. i told him it looks really grim. i took the plugs of rotor 2 and they were all rusted to ****. if you really want it you can fight him for it but i really don't think it's worth dragging away.

 

Use the spray brake cleaner to take the oil off with. That stuff eats right through it.

 

Just to let you know- what you're doing should work just fine. I picked up a GSL-SE with a leaking water seal some time ago, and it turned out to actually have a S4 13B in it. Funny thing is that it was running the GSL-SE intake! Obviously EGR didn't work, since the ports for that don't match up (they're under the end ports on the S4, in the middle on the SE), but the SE intake just barely covered the S4 EGR ports, so there weren't any exhaust leaks. Ran OK, other than it overheated after about 20 minutes or so.
BTW, I've mapped out where all the vacuum ports on the SE and the S4 intake plenum go. The drawing I made of it might be of some use to you, since you intend to use the S4 intake (as I do, once I grab another S4 short block): http://www.wankel.net/~krwright/files/SE_FCvacports.pdf

 

looks like u got lots of work to do... i'm bout to be putting an SE engine in my GSL... hopefully will have it done within a week, still waiting on the radiator...

 

if i were to estimate my progress, i'd say i'm about halfway done. unfortunately i think i'm going to have to wait for some parts to show up... like my oil cooler :|

 

yeah i'm lucky that my oil coolers in good shape... when i got it flushed they were like this things pretty clean... but my radiator is clogged... so i got a new one on the way

 

Any progress? I'm about to begin this swap too... within 2 days. gonna go with the s4 intake and se injection.. hopefully won't run into too many problems..

 

careful not to break bolts off in the engine!

 

so yeah here's the bolt that broke off: http://www.redhavana.net/files/bolt.jpg

finally got it out. project is on hold until ups delivers my egr and ac/cv block-off plates.

 

thank goodness you got it out.
lemmie know when you're going to be wrenching on it again. And give me a call and come help out.

 

hopefully i'll be getting my call today to come pick my motor up so i can start this weekend..

 

UPDATE:

i spent a couple hours today installing the clutch, water pump, amd OMP. i also removed the aux port actuators and prepped the associated holes in the intake manifold for bolts to plug it up.

 

killer, i've been working on cleaning up my parts since i have to wait till next tuesday to get my radiator... i didn't get **** done today tho, cause of the rain... pissing down rain all day, was gonna paint my water pump and polish my alternator and rotor housings, hopefully tomorrow clears up

edit checking the weather, looks like it will be rainy tomorrow

 

i'm workin' in a heated garage

 

must be nice... i have a cover thing that maybe goes 10 feet from the house, but today definately isn't the right day for painting, and i don't wanna mess with polishing, not to mention its friggin cold out lol

 

http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engi...8073.sized.jpg
http://www.redhavana.net/albums/engi...8076.sized.jpg

i put the engine in the car today. once the wiring is hooked up, all shall be gravy.

remove ".sized" from the url for big pics.

 

i crunk mine up yesterday, runs good. I'll try to get pics up soon.

I'm having a slight problem with ticking on deacceleration though, most likely a tranny thing..

 

did you use the SE computer or the S4's?

 

s3. even kept the rat's nest.