Last night at JDM UPs I was about to race a red eclipse. Just a random car that I got paired up with. I think whatevs. It looks stock so I don't care. I do my burn out. Then I hear what sounds like a huge turbo spooling and followed by the tires squealing. My facial expression --> o________o Then something happened and he had to back up and I did a solo run. Well that kind of impressed my dad. He can get an eclipse for cheap right now with a bad engine, and this got him thinking that he kind of wants to build up a drag car out of it. So I want to know what engines are out there as a common swap? What numbers can you get out of them? And is it really worth it? +rep for any useful posts.

 

Only thing I'll tell you is get a gst or try and find a gsx, do bolt ons and if not happy, do some serious work and be very very happy

I can't speak from exprience but that's what I heard when I said I got a 420 lol

Simple tho, get a gst
I'm sure more will agree

 

Find a gsx for sure. Id say 1g which means like 91-94 but make sure you get a 6bolt.

 

or get a 2g gsx in auto...

 

There are plenty of options. I would try sticking with eclipse gsts or gsx and talon tsi's. All came factory turbo except the 1G (90-94) non-turbo 4G63. 1G eclipse and talons yrs 90-94 came with 6 bolt cranks, late 93 and 94s as well as 2G (95-99)s came with 7 bolt cranks. The 7 bolt cranks are commonly swapped out for 6 bolts because they are more prone to have the crankwalk issue (thrust bearing wear which allows the crank to move side to side extremely). 1G eclipses and talons are lighter than 2Gs so if you go w those, its a good choice, but like rairai said, make sure its a 6 bolt crank. There are plenty of bolt-ons and all you really have to do is some research. Here's what cars came with what motors.

90-94 eclipse, talons
GSX-All Wheel Drive
GST-Front Wheel Drive
TSi- AWD and FWD
1.8L SOHC non-turbos
4G63 2.0L DOHC turbo and non-turbos

95-99 years
Same drive train list as 1Gs (90-94)
Mitsu 4G63 2.0L DOHC turbo
Mitsu 4G64 2.4L SOHC non-turbo
Chrysler 420a 2.0L DOHC non-turbo

Hope this helps.

 

well now to be honest the crank walk issue isnt really as common as people make it out to be from what I understand from reading on tuners is that it was more common in the early 7 bolts (2g never heard of a 1g 7 bolt gettin crank walk but then again never really looked) but the 95-96s were more prone an also I havent heard of autos getting crank walk either just the 5 spds (that were proly beat to all hell lol due to kids beating the piss out of them) lol but 1g shells are goin for cheap as hell these days.. clean 90 awd shell for only 500.. just to give an example lol

I love my 1g's

 

Well, my dad already has a 95-99 with a bad engine. It's NA, so what would be a straight forward Turbo engine swap for that, or would we be better off buying a replacement NA engine, then rebuilding it and boosting it.

 

<---7 bolt

 

So is the 4g63 a good swap?

 

Is it possible to swap a 4g63 into a factory 420a car? Yes. Is it generally feasible? No.

Transmission is on the opposite side, motor mounts are completely different. Wiring harness is completely different.

It is relatively easy to boost a stock 420a, provided you stick with a low-boost application. If you were to use a 16g, you wouldn't want any more than 8PSI, or you risk serious engine damage. Now, if you're willing to drop $1500 on forged internals, and Megasquirt; The engine should be able to handle anything you can throw at it.

Now, if you are hell-bent on an engine swap, you may wish to look into a 2.4L from one of the cloud cars "Stratus, Cirrus, etc..." Some SRT components can be used to make it "boost ready/friendly."