Stock 3.8 in a delorean

[DeloreanDan]

Hey guys, my name is danny silvia, i have a 81 delorean, an want do a motor swap. I have been hanging out on turbobuicks.com, and started an thread over there


I have learned allot, but right now my problem is the gear ratio in the transaxle..

I was planning on bolting up the 3.8 to a porsche 915 tranny, come to find out many sand rails have done this swap. which i cant find any info about!! the guys on the buick forum say the gear ratios in the porsche tranny are way off, with the 3.8 making max power at 4grand, the gear ratio in the 915 is built for high reving motors

I was just wondering if anyone on here has done a 5spd buick, or knows anyone who has done a sand rail /dune buggy with a 3.8 an transaxle...

I really want this to happen, but it seems like allot of people arent for it. just looking for some help, any info would be highly appreciated thanks guys!!

danny

 

[charlief1]

Hey Danny. I thought you were going with the aftermarket bell out of England? There have been several porsche tranny kits over the years but none of them use the turbo motor and that's the problem. An alternitive for you is to use a 4.1 block and a short throw crank like the 3.0 Buick. It would allow you to spin it higher and not loose to much displacement.

 

[dr_frankenstein]

Hey guys, my name is danny silvia, i have a 81 delorean, an want do a motor swap. I have been hanging out on turbobuicks.com, and started an thread over there


I have learned allot, but right now my problem is the gear ratio in the transaxle..

I was planning on bolting up the 3.8 to a porsche 915 tranny, come to find out many sand rails have done this swap. which i cant find any info about!! the guys on the buick forum say the gear ratios in the porsche tranny are way off, with the 3.8 making max power at 4grand, the gear ratio in the 915 is built for high reving motors

I was just wondering if anyone on here has done a 5spd buick, or knows anyone who has done a sand rail /dune buggy with a 3.8 an transaxle...

I really want this to happen, but it seems like allot of people arent for it. just looking for some help, any info would be highly appreciated thanks guys!!

danny

I have done both, a turbo buick motor on a sand rail, using a kennedy adapter and a 67 swing arm rear. I had no issues with gear ratio on the VW trans, as its a good match, but strength is an issue if using a stock vw unit. what would you like to know? my first piece of advice is braces from the engine to the trans as buick torque can rip a bell off. for the porsche unit, I would just swap the diff gears ... move to a higher ratio for better highway use.

I have also done a GM T5 using both a 4cyl trans and a v8 trans swap on a turbo buick and it was great as well, I adjusted the ratios thru the rear axle to hellp with the gearing in the trans.

:biggrin: A.j.

 

[DeloreanDan]

wow thanks guys for the friendly input! yes i was going to use a bell housing with a chevy bolt pattern because the bottom 4 bolts are the same, i would just have to drill the 2 pop.

BUT on the delorean forum dmctalk.com they seem to like the bolt in the 915, with the chevy 4.3 vortec

come to find out kennedy inc, has an adapter for the 915 to 3.8. going this route is allot cheaper believe it or not, to switch the gears in the stock delorean tranny ( UN1 ) rather then switch the porsche.

I just dont know what kind of gear ratio to go with, i know the stock GN ratios, i am on a hunt to find gears for the 915, to see if i can switch them to something closer to the porsches...

I also looked into the VW tranny, but they dont have any 5spd versions, well that i would find....if i could find a 5 speed, that would be another option

i dont plan on beating on the car, or racing, i just want to be able to go to the local summer car cruisers, an pop my engine bay open having a 3.8 turbo in it...

I think i got everything covered besides the gearing now...still cracking at it

i was also told to do a stage 2 motor, because the thrust bearings are weak, an doing a search come to find out theres allot of thrust bearing issues, I was hoping just dropping a bone stock motor in, with a tune an be done with it, do you guys think i am going to have serious problems with it? an should change it? is there any aftermarket bearings that are stronger??

thanks for your advice!!

danny

 

[turbobob924]

I know a guy named Rich who has a hot air GN motor is his delorean. I helped him tune it and work out some of the kinks.

It was at DMC here in Chicago getting some other work done at the the time about 2 years ago.

He has a stock manual transmission.
I have not seen or heard from him in a while..

I have a GN in my Porsche 924 with the Porsche transaxle..

 

[turbobob924]

FYI i have not had any thrust bearing issue sin my hybrid!

 

[turbobob924]

I may still have some pictures of Rich's delorean with the hot air setup.

Drop me a PM if interested.

 

[notacarlo]

Also call Jason Cramer of RJC Racing. He has a sandrail with the LC2 transverse mount.

 

[DeloreanDan]

I may still have some pictures of Rich's delorean with the hot air setup.

Drop me a PM if interested.

yes rich has dissappeared off this planet!!! i have studied his car only from online, any knowledge you could share with me would be historical!!

i have come across this stuff

67-72 VW gear ratios

1 3.80

2 2.06
3 1.26
4 0.89

72 915 gear ratio

1 3.18
2 1.83
3 1.26
4 .962
5 .759

delorean gear ratio

1 3.36
2 2.05
3 1.38
4 1.05
5 .820

i think i am going to do this with the stock 915 trans axle, then see if i have to change out the ratios, if u have any pictures could u please send them to me? i'll PM u

is ur porsche trans axle stock?

danny

thanks!!

 

[charlief1]

Got one more idea for you but it is kinda pricey. Have you ever heard of a Hewland transaxle? They have a quick change gear set so you can tear them apart in a few minutes and go from a 4 speed to a 6 speed. The front half of the case is based on the VW rhino case and it's machined from there for racing. It would take the Kennedy adaptor as well and since it's old technology you might be able to find one fairly cheap. We used to use them in the FF cortina cars and I know they used them with bigger racing engins as well.:biggrin:

 

[DeloreanDan]

i guess u cant really tell until i put the motor in an try it right?

im just wondering if i can get the support to help with this project

tuning it is the hardest part now, making sure the fuel curves can be adjusted for the 5 speed

anyone know of a cheap 3.8 motor for sale?

 

[charlief1]

i guess u cant really tell until i put the motor in an try it right?

im just wondering if i can get the support to help with this project

tuning it is the hardest part now, making sure the fuel curves can be adjusted for the 5 speed

anyone know of a cheap 3.8 motor for sale?

Check the for sale section for an engine Danny. As far as support go to your user controls and add some info like location to see if someone's near you.

 

[turbobob924]

I have a manual switch that tricks the ECM into thinking the car is in 3/4th gear for fuel mapping purposes.

I pretty much leave it that way all the time. Car makes plenty of power!

 

[1dollardog]

Not sure if you have decided to stay with the DMC trans or go to the 915 but I picked up the Kennedy kit a few years ago on ebay thinking that someday I would do a Porsche/GN hybrid but that never happened probably never will. If you are interested, I have the flywheel balanced for the even fire 3.8, flywheel bolts, adapter plate to mate the 3.8 to the porsche trans, and pilot bearing. Let me know if you can use it and I will make you a deal.
Thanks,
Steve

 

[Turbo-J]

I also looked into the VW tranny, but they dont have any 5spd versions, well that i would find....if i could find a 5 speed, that would be another option

Hi Dan, nice to see another Delorean owner on here (I have an 81" my self). Check out the Mendeola transaxles, there very nice but upfront cost is pricy, but can handle anyhting you throw at them & are alot less expensive to fix, than a Porsche transaxle, if stuff were to break. I few of my friends are using them in there 700+hp turbo LS1 sandrails. The issue you might run into with the some of the Porsche transaxles is, you would have to flip the the ring & notch the case for rear engine application. Otherwise a VW Bus trans like a 091 should work fine & handle your power output. Kennedy adaptors, can make any adaptor plates for any applications that you might run into. Hope that steers you in the right direction.

 

[DeloreanDan]

guys thanks so much for the replies! now after hearing this its sounding better an better

i am over on the delorean forum now an getting ready to take the plunge i think this is really going to happen

just need to get a 915 tranny ( going with a cable shifter), an 3.8 an the fun begins...anyone make a complete engine harness for the GN?

how much should i pay for a high mileage motor? ( i am going to rebuild it)

what should i stay away from? there is a ttype for sale a city over from me, its in HARD HARD shape he wants 2k for it, but honestly i cant see paying 800 for the thing its that bad...but i dont think he'd let it go for that much lol

if i do get the ttype motor can i get the upper intake an bolt that onto the 85 block?

i am going to be fabbing up my own exhaust so im not too worried about that, just wondering if the intakes are interchangable?

 

[chopped39]

John spina from caspers makes an engine harness its a little pricy but the quality is unreal. as for the intake I thought the heads were all the same. I would find a complete car and swap the drivetrain.Can you put the automatic trans or is that not an option.That is a cool looking car.