1.6 litre engine conversion in a sierra

[gino&tina]

Hi all.

I am looking to do a 1.6 litre engine conversion to my 1989 Sierra as follows.

Looking to install a G16B block with a G13BA cylinder head and a rear facing sump with a matching oil pick-up. My understanding is that i will loose compression with the G13BA head which I assume will defeat the purpose of the upgrade. Supposedly the preferred match is the G13A cylinder head.

Any advice, suggestions or confirmation would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Gino
Mobile - 0400 826 353

[cj!]

Hi Gino,

The G16B block should have the 4 valve per cylinder pistons in it to suit the 16 valve cylinder head of the EFI motor and by the sounds of things you are still wanting to run an 8 valve carby setup, The preferred match would be to go to 16v efi or else you should swap the pistons to the correct 2 valve per cylinder pistons. The better 8 valve cylinder head for a 1.6 carby is the G16A head from a Vitara as it has the same size combustion chambers as the 1.3 heads but larger valves to suit the capacity increase.

[gino&tina]

hi cj

thanks for the reply.

the main reason i want to fit a 1.3 litre head is to utilise my existing inlet manifold/carby & exhaust header so as to keep the conversion simple & costs down.

im not sure whether using the G13BA head (1298 cc) as opposed to the G13A head (1324 cc) will have a major affect on the compression ratio be it for the better or worse

i bought the G16B engine today for $250 from the same person that Lloyd bought his.

centre rd wreckers has a G13BA engine complete (cost $120), however, i am sure what condition its in, im going to have a look at it tomorrow.

regards

gino

[cj!]

Gino,

I know that both the G13BA and the G16A run the same combustion chamber volume and I'm pretty sure that the G13A does too. The G13A has a different stroke and the pistons run a different comp height and have more dish which would account for the different compression ratios between the two 1.3 engines. It is highly unlikely that Suzuki would have made a different combustion chamber volume just for this variation of the 1.3 yet kept it the same for the 1.6 when it is easier for them to do things like play with pistons and gasket thicknesses but I don't have access to my parts catalogue to confirm if they are indeed the same.

[gino&tina]

Thanks for the reply Chris,

I briefly spoke to Mick @ Suziworld on Wednesday regarding the engine conversion and im sure i told him that i was looking to source the G13BA cylinder head/motor and G16B engine im certain he advised that they were compatible given that there was very little difference in capacity between the G13A and G13BA engines.

I went to Centre Rd Wreckers today with the view to purchasing the G13BA engine and unfortunately found that the rocker cover was missing and therefore, hesitated in buying it, that being the case i started to strip the engine so as to assess the conidition of the block and head but ran out of time.

The engine spun freely, i also drained the oil which was black in color it also had water in it (possibly due to the missing rocker cover), however, i dont think that it is a major concern.

There was a rocker cover nearby supposedly from a Vitara engine, which seemed to fit, therefore, I was wondering if it is suited to the 1.3 litre head.

In any case my main concern is the compatibility of the G13BA head & G16B block.

Regards

Gino

[gwagensteve]

I don't believe there is any compatibility issue between either head.

HOWEVER - IMHO one of the massive advantages of the G series motor is that it is a "free spinner" so there is no damage to the motor in the event of a timing belt failure.

A G 13A/B head on a G16B bottom end will create an interference motor and in the event the engine is mis-timed or the belt breaks you will bend valves.

I believe Lloyd has this setup though in his Drover.

Is the G 16B complete (i.e is it currently sealed up - head and bottom end together? If so, you might want to think about sourcing a TBI swift manifold (easy to find - most of the 16V swifts were TBI and pop up at pick-it-apart, and bolting your carby to the swift TBI manifold on the 16V head. At least you'd a) not have to break the motor apart b)it would still be a free spinner c) it will make more power e) you'll have less work to do when you bite the bullet and finally go EFI.

It'd only take an adapter plate from the carby to the TBI manifold (maybe?), and a set of jimny or vitara extractors.

I reckon you'd have waaay better HP with this setup than with a small valve 1.3 head on the vitara bottom end, and might be even cheaper than swapping a head.

Just an idea.

Steve.

[mightymouse]

Steve..... back in the old days ( 30+ years ago ).... timing belts were not the worlds most reliable item but IMO they have come a hell of a long way since then. The introduction of Kevlar tension members has changed things substantially as well as improvements in synthetic rubber core and facing compounds. The same goes for vee and polyvee belts IMO.

I'd certainly change the belt at the makes recommended intervals, but do Suzuki's commonly suffer from this problem ?
Its it lack of protection for the belt - oil / water / mud ingress ?

I'd certainly replace the timing belt whilst installing the motor - its dead easy then, just like I'd put in new plugs etc etc. but as a reason not to use a particular engine - not an issue for me anyway, but I haven't destroyed Suzuki motors for a good number of years.

[gwagensteve]

Mick's Critta destroyed a belt - we have no idea how old the belt was or what service history it had - but it is possible.

It just seems a bit silly to build a motor "in harms way" when its possible to get a better result and still have a free spinner.

In fact, I cant really see the point in pulling apart a 90-100hp motor and building a 70hp motor out of it at all.

Just my 2C.

In fact, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of a vitara carby fed 16V SOHC 1.6 - should be a tractable, easy to work on, powerful sierra, if you dont like the cost and (apparent) complexity of EFI.

Steve.

[gino&tina]

hi thanks for the most recent replys

@ this stage i have decided to go with the 1.3 litre head coupled with the 1.6 litre block

i will either overhaul or rebuild the engine prior to installation but im undecided whether i will do the rebuild myself or give it to somebody else to do

however, that aside, i went to centre rd wreckers today with the view to picking up the 1.3 litre engine only to find that it had been taken

i cant help but wonder why an engine that had been sitting in car unwanted for however many months all of the sudden went

for future postings i will leave out some relevant detail such as where im sourcing an item from

co-incidence but dissapointing none the less

regards

gino

[gwagensteve]

Hehehe - that's the thing with wreckers - If you want it, you have to buy it immediately. The more you want it the less chance there is of it being there when you get back.

In my opinion, most overhauled/rebuilt sierra motors seem to have a fairly short life. Rebuilding one properly would be a very expensive exercise. Had rebuilds/ valve stem seals etc seem OK but once the bottom end gets opened up they only seem to run for 30K for so then they're shot again. I really don't think these engines were designed for rebuilding.

Just my 2C.

I'd be looking for a donor engine in sound condition with low kms and leave it alone.

What do you own currently? Do you already have the 1.6 block? If not, why bother sourcing a 1.6 block and a different head? a carby 1.6 vitara motor will still accept your manifolds- you can just put the whole 1.6 on and bolt your manifolds to it.

Mick makes money out of Changeover heads and doesn't like dealing with wiring etc which is why he likes the 1.3 head onto 1.6 bottom end conversion, but if ou are sourcing your own motorI'd just get the whole thing in one hit and not bother with assembling a motor.

Steve.