Hello! I have an 81 B2000 truck that I'm considering swapping a 6 port motor into, but since I live in California, I need to get a little info about the motor and the smog equipment to make sure it's feasible.

The space is pretty tight, I've got maybe four inches between the bellhousing and the framerail to route the exhaust. Is that going to be sufficent for the stock routing of a 6 port?

Does the motor have an airpump or just an EGR?

Will the REPU front plate bolt on to the 6 port to let me use the simpler mount? Is there any reason to even bother with rubber mounts for the motor?

Is there a place to source JDM low mile n/a rotaries or am I stuck with a high-mile domestic motor?

Thanks guys, I know this is the 2nd gen area, but I figure you guys know more about this particular motor than the board population at large. I'll try and keep other aspects of the maybe swap to another thread.

 

there were no NA jdm fc's..., the 6 port fc's do have air pumps, i dont know about any of the other questions

 

no n/a FC huh? looks like I'l be learning to rebuild a 13B if I go this route I'd rather not use a turbo II, I have no idea how I would swap the thing in such a way that CARB would give it's blessing. The centerline on the trans sits right between the framerails and fitting a turbo would be... akward.

 

Definitely possible and it's been done before.

If you're looking for a low mileage block, I've got one for sale. PM me if interested.

 

you need to swap a newer motor with ALL the smog equip. that was on that year of motor, so with a 6 port you would need 3 cats to pass the Ref.

check around on here for some more info

http://www.arb.ca.gov/homepage.htm

 

unless its a series 5 (89-91) motor, then you only need 2 cats.

 

Thanks for the link! I'm sadly aware of what a PITA it is to own a car in California. It's why I am trying to do all of my research well before buying parts. I don't want to be thousands of bucks in on parts and farbrication only to find my truck will never be legal halfway through the swap. If I wanted to bribe the smog guy to drive it I'd just fab a camden 5" blower on the stock motor and call it a day

I found the pdf of the FSM for an '88 on here, and it was very helpful. Looks like the exhaust manifold may require some "massaging" of the frame rail, but should be ok. The double (or triple) cat is no big deal. I have plenty of space under the cab and I can always add more thermal insulation if needed. Likewise, the rest of the smog equipment looks pretty straightforward to swap over, so the swap looks good there.

So here's what I'm left with:

-Will the early 13B front plate bolt on to let me use a simple front mount?

-Any potential trouble ahead swapping the s5 harness? Wierd sensors or other oddness that is going to make stripping it difficult? I've only heard about the RX8 having half the car tied into the ECU and want to make sure the FC didn't roll like that.

 

yes, you want a gsl-se front cover. its a direct swap if you start with an 86-88 engine.

s5 harness isnt too bad, there are a few things that move and or get different connectors, but if you can get the s4 engine running in the truck, then swapping to s5 is easy.

thinking about doing a similar swap, the engine will look lost and lonley in the truck

 

lol, I can only hope so. Truth to tell, this model has a pretty small engine bay, which is why I'm so concerned about fitting all the smog pumps around the frame rails. Most of the swaps I've seen are on the 86+ truck which is much bigger. At the firewall I've only got 20" between the rails, and about 30" from firewall to radiator core. On top of that, the front suspendion is double wishbone with big intrusive towers. The motor may be pretty comfy with the sheetmetal of the bay.

I'm hoping the 13b swap should move the CG nice and low while still letting me keep some ground clearance. The hope is that I can build something akin to an fb that can also go soft-roading and carry 700-900lbs in the bed. The truck is going to get a motor swap and a major suspension makeover (leaf springs suck) before it's all said and done. Not sure which of those two weld-a-thons is happening first. For right now I'm waiting until Sept. when I have to smog the truck. If it passes, I attack the chassis first. If it doesn't, it's swap time

Thanks to all for the info! This forum is great!

 

+1 on the GSL-SE front cover

The S5 and S4 was wired differently so you will want to use the correct series harness.