V6 or V4 swap?

Hello, first post here.  

I searched around, but couldn't find any info.

I have a 87 944s.  the engine is toast.   Has anyone ever swap in a v6 or v4?  I'm not looking to make a speed demon with tons of horses, I'm looking to take out the engine and putting in a more reliable (and cheaper to fix) one.   I was thinking it might be cheaper also because i wouldn't need all the beefy upgrades people talk about.

thank you,

David

The stock engine is quite reliable, when regularly maintained. It is likely cheaper to repair than a swap.

the biggest factor is your fab skills. all the parts for a v8 swap are available so little fab work is required. i have seen a shop doing audi 1.8t swaps, however im not sure if you can buy a kit to do it or what. if you wanted to do a v6 swap the simplest would be a 4.3l v6 as much of the v8 swap parts can be used, although the 4.3 is a dog, gets terrible mileage, and is heavy. a 4.3l, unless modded, will be slower than your stock engine.

you can do a v8 swap without having to go with the "beefy upgrades". really the most common thing people go with is a turbo transaxle. if you start with a 4.8l you wouldnt really need to run a turbo transaxle. thats really all most do for drivetrain upgrades when doing a v8 swap.

reliable was a poor choice of words.  I was meaning, less expensive to fix.  I was doing some looking around and it seems many the parts for the OG engine are 5,6,7x more than the plain chevy, ford etc..  my concern is since i know I'm going to have to yank it out anyway, should i fix whatever it is, and hope all goes well from there or just put in a different engine altogether.   I do not know the history of the car, for all i know the timing belt jumped and there could be lingering cascade effect.    All speculation of course until i get it out and open.

i agree, the stock engines are costly to fix. however, to do a swap properly you can expect to spend $5-10k. if you go the ls route just the deluxe kit with all the specific parts for the swap is $2800. then add your engine, accessory drive, if you start with a truck motor you need an ls1 manifold/rails/injectors, brake conversion (gotta go manual or hydroboost), fuel lines, etc etc.

i did go the custom route and did my own conversion with a gm ecotec engine, about the cheapest engine you can buy used. now i already owned a well built ecotec that was built for boost, and it still cost me somewhere about $10k to complete my swap, and i did it all myself. granted, that includes a new turbo, intercooler and plumbing, and a stand alone engine management, however the cost of the engine management is pretty close to what getting an oem ecm, having it tuned, and a swap harness for it.

the biggest problem for any swap is dealing with bolting the engine to the torque tube. with the install kit for the ls the works already done, and most of that stuff could be used with the 4.3l v6 like i mentioned above, but past that, your on your own. i ended up using an aftermarket bellhousing and making an adapter to the torque tube, however there is a lot of math, some cad drawing and a water jet table involved in to make it happened. this is the most critical part of the swaps, any misalignment and you will end up with vibrations, kill pilot bearings and torque tube bearings, heck, you can even break the torque tube. motor mounts arent too bad to fab up with some plate and tubing. pretty well any swap is going to require either a modified oil pan or a complete custom one. past that its not too much different than a custom swap in other cars, just headers and exhaust, fuel lines, rad hoses, power steering hoses, working in hydroboost brakes (or manual), wiring, etc.

im not trying to talk you out of doing a swap, but if your doing it to save money (now and in the future) your doing it for the wrong reasons. doing a custom swap really depends greatly on your fab skills and equipment you have access to.

Well my reasons are, its hard to drop 5K+ on my fun occasional weekend car. Will never race it and high horses aren't al that important. I just love the car. I just want to be able to enjoy it and if something breaks, know that its only going be a couple hundred to get her back on the road. I was thinking a V6 or V4 would be the less expensive way to go, but I'm starting to catch on that thats not the case just because no one makes parts. But thats why we ask questions

I found a pretty ragged interior donor in the mean time I'm thinking i might have better luck with (it starts and runs) so since i HAVE to yank out the broken one anyway, I'm going to do that first and see whats what with mine, and if its real bad, ill yank out the donor, do some basic rebuild things, timing belt, etc.. and drop it in.