Time for a swap!

[Brutis]

Well, after getting a diagnosis of bad valves in my '90 I have decided to swap in the '94 motor. I'm going to jumper the starter so I can check compression asap.
The motor supposedly ran strong when it was parked about 3 years ago. The first question I have is about accessories and belts. The '94 has AC and of course serpentine, while the '90 is non-ac and V-belt. Is a complete swap possible? If so what's involved?

I'm excited to do this swap. My plan is to put the '90 on a stand a build it up top to bottom over the next couple years. My only complaint is that I have to drive a 4.3 gasser until I get the swap done.

 

[Smokey73]

I'm pretty sure everything will swap over, but, for me at least, the serpintine setup is worth keeping.

 

[Brutis]

Yeah, I thought about keeping it, but I don't need the AC compressor and the other accessories are in the wrong locations. I don't really mind the v-belts, but is it possible to set up a serp with a 1990 non-AC setup?

 

[hesutton]

I've seen idler serp pullies that will replace the A/C compressor for sale before. I just saw something like that in my Summit catalog. It's used to replace the compressor when they fail/seize up, or to keep the same belt when eliminating the compressor on a competition vehicle.

Just searching their catalog, I didn't see anything specific to the IDI, but it won't hurt to call them.

Heath

 

[icanfixall]

Yes... You can go both ways with the serpentine or V belts but... You will need a differant ac low and high pressure hose going either direction. Then you will need a pulley remover to get the vacuum pump and power steering pump pulleys off and on. Serpentine belts for me are the way to go. No more working so hard adjusting belts and we all know which belt breaks first on the V belt setup...

 

[oldmisterbill]

Also it is a bolt for bolt conversion. Both engines are phisically the same externally.

 

[Brutis]

Great to know. I haven't gotten very far on the swap yet, bc its raining and even if I had a garage there's no way I can get that 10' tall beast in it anyway. I'm going to pass the time by cleaning up the turbo in the basement - is there such a thing as a rebuild kit for the Garrett T3 (or is it T4) factory turbo? I might as well replace some seals if I open it to clean .

 

[zukgod]

great find I hope you have great luck.

 

[icanfixall]

The rebuilding of any turbo is simple but... They need to be balanced to around 1 tenth of a gram. These spin upwards of 120,000 rpm... Thats 2000 rpm per second... If you rebuild it have it balanced by a pro...

 

[Brutis]

Is balancing it something that has to be done regardless, or is it only if its damaged? There really is no play in my turbo at all. Just coking issues and I thought I might as well do seals ect... while I was in there.

 

[icanfixall]

The taking off of the compressor wheel will require the balance.... No other way of rebuilding the turbo. The hot side wheel is made as part of the shaft. You can't make or buy them seperate from the hot wheel. I believe they are inconel material. A seal - rebuild kit usually costs around $180.00 so there you go but... Have it balanced...

 

[Brutis]

Tried to do a compression test today on my (hopefully) replacement 7.3. I pulled the pulled the injectors out and turned it over with a socket & breaker bar. I then reinserted the injectors and used a remote starter switch to turn it over so I could get a compression reading before committing to using the motor. First few turns sounded great, then it locked down solid. So, now I'm not sure if I have another junk motor on my hands.

 

[Brutis]

I pulled the injectors back out and still can't move it past a certain point. I can go maybe 3/4 of the way around either direction and then no move no further. Nothing came out of the injector holes when I turned it. I really was hoping not to have to pull the heads...any chance that I might not need to?

 

[icanfixall]

Pull the valve covers first. Then look for a sucked valve. If the motor sat for any long length of time you probably have a stuck valve that has hit a piston. If you can see anything wrong with the valves after the covers are off remove all the rockers but leave the pushrods in the holes till later. Make sure you keep the rockers matched to their original locations. If you need to remove the heads (probably will) make sure you keep the pushrods matched to the rockers somehow. They have a top and bottom too. The top ball is hardened and the bottom isn't. Mix that up and you will ruin the rockers in short time... New or close to new pushrods have a copper colored top ball so you know which end is up... Kinda nice of International to do that for us...