recon or new engine

[Burnout_bro]

i have a 91 5 speed man VN, the motor is on its way out and was wondering the cheapest/ easiest option to go with should i just get my motor recon'd and how much will it cost or could i use a second hand vs motor ( most of them are auto so id have no idea how easy it would to put on?) so what do you guys reckon

[Shortstuff]

Hozy put an Ecotec motor in his VN (i'm assuming that's the motor you're talking about from the VS?). He had a few problems along the way but sorted them all out in the end. If you went Ecotec you also get a bit more power.

Have a look at this thread for all the details.

Ecotec into VN

[Boonz]

if you want to keep your manual behind an automatic motor, a spigot housing will have to be machined or drilled into the end of the crankshaft

[Burnout_bro]

how much do you reckon to get in machined and dropped in? ive already got prices for an ecotec vs v6 but just want to know how much it will be to set her up.

[Boonz]

well it depends if an engine reconditioner or metalwork shop can setup a lathe or cutting tool perfectly straight without taking the crank out. otherwise the input shaft will be on an angle and cause bad vibrations and clutch shudder

[holden007]

Ecotec would cost a little more to fit in, I would rebuild the Buick with some upgrades, will go better then the ecotec (which is similar to our buick)

[CSL]

heaps of poeple convert auto engines to manual, you can pick up good runing buick series 2's for under 500 bucks, long

[bradcad]

What's actually wrong with it? Unless you are chasing more power which is fine, is there something that can be done to your motor now short of a rebuild?

[Burnout_bro]

im after a little more power, the engine has got 320,00 kms on it and its just shakey, old, few oil leaks and id rather have something newer whilst ive got the money. a rebuild does sound a bit easier with a few mods. what do you guys reckon are some good mods for when i get it rebuilt and how much is it roughly for a standard engine bebuild for a buick?

[Boonz]

if you want to rebuild it then go a mild cam, lifters, bit of head work, extractors if you dont have any. and a good tune

[immortality]

dropping the ecotec isn't that much of a hassle, there should already by a hole in the end of the crank for the spigot bearing/bush as i don't think the ecotec had a special crank for the manual transmissions, only the s1 buick did. you would need to fit a MAT (manifold air temp) sensor in the manifold. any workshop should be able to do that in 20mins flat and you need to make and adaptor bush to fit the VN engine temp sensor into the ecotec. other then that you ise the original buick wiring loom etc the ecotec will give you about a 17kw difference in output without any mods. with headers/exhaust/cai+high flow filter and high ratio roller rockers should be good for another 20kw. link below on what you can get out of an ecotec with exhaust/headers and high ratio rockers

ECOTEC - Are High Lift Rockers worth it ........