GM Ecotec in a 40

[downey62]

I have been looking into a 4 cylinder GM ecotec. I know someone who has put one in a jeepster (sorry for cusing). Anyone on this forum done a conversion with this type of motor. I thought it could be a possible transplant for my 76. Any thoughts on this. Thank for your input. Happy Wheelin Alan

 

[Cdaniel]

It's a very popular budget engine in sand car circles. So there's plenty of aftermarket support for it.

don't know if it would have the torque for 4 wheelin, but anything can be made to work with the right gearing.

 

[NorCal]

What would be great is to see Fords new Ecotec V6 in an FJ40. This is the new motor that has more torque and horsepower than a V8 and is going in the new F-150's. Great gas mileage as well. Would be great to see Ford make that easy to swap in as they do now with their Mustang motors and the available control pack harness.

 

[effjay76]

I know ICON uses ecotec in their cj that they make. They have a spec sheet here: CJ | Specs | ICON It would be a cool setup, super reliable, great mileage, and 210 hp...not bad.

 

[Fast Eddy]

Find yourself a torque curve and see what it's like at low rpm, like 1000 and lower. It's not enough motor for '40, IMO.

A jeepster and an Icon cj3 weigh considerably less than a loaded '40.

If you want a 4-banger, look into a 3b.

 

[alaska60]

If you want a 4-banger, look into a 3b.

ahhhhhhh......deisel....

 

[Dbradford04]

The ONLY way to go IMO.

 

[effjay76]

well here are two torque curves released by GM. I am assuming this is on an engine dyno and not a chassis dyno. One is from a 2006 saturn ion and is supercharged, the other one is from a g6, which I would imagine is more readily available than the supercharged variant. Ill try to find some stock 1f torque curves for comparison.

 

[Fast Eddy]

Ill try to find some stock 1f torque curves for comparison.

I'll pencil in my wild-ass guess:

 

[ST8ROCKS]

Ford ecotec in a Toyota... today is a sad day my friends

 

[bikersmurf]

Find yourself a torque curve and see what it's like at low rpm, like 1000 and lower. It's not enough motor for '40, IMO.

A jeepster and an Icon cj3 weigh considerably less than a loaded '40.

If you want a 4-banger, look into a 3b.

3B... Good fuel economy, great off road, add OD and Turbo, and you're all set.

Easy to find and affordable in these parts.

 

[cruiserbrett]

If you found the variable valve timing 2.4L with an aftermarket ECU and no smog, I bet youd forget about the 2F pretty quick. Maybe not bumping over logs and other slow wheeling stuff, but for around town, those motors would be great.

They get the crap beat out of them in stock(internals) form in alot of classes of SCORE and other desert racing, and last least a season or so at least, so you know they are tough.

 

[Fast Eddy]

If you found the variable valve timing 2.4L with an aftermarket ECU and no smog, I bet youd forget about the 2F pretty quick. Maybe not bumping over logs and other slow wheeling stuff, but for around town, those motors would be great.

They get the crap beat out of them in stock(internals) form in alot of classes of SCORE and other desert racing, and last least a season or so at least, so you know they are tough.

I agree. It would be a great motor for a 2wd minitruck, but in my cruiser I need to be able to bump over logs.

My daily driver is a 250hp 2.0t Audi. It's a rocketship, but I wouldn't want that motor in my '40. At low RPM it can barely get up a driveway in 1st gear. No way in 2nd gear.

The majority of desert racing is high rpm. You don't see a lot of 40s out there.

 

[effjay76]

I'm gonna have to agree with the diesel crowd. A 3b would be way better, probably get better mileage, plus diesels are cool, so is low end torque. Unless you just want to do something unique instead of another cookie cutter engine swap.

 

[FJsnoozer]

VW tdi 2.0 t

 

[Rusty]

Find yourself a torque curve and see what it's like at low rpm, like 1000 and lower. It's not enough motor for '40, IMO.

A jeepster and an Icon cj3 weigh considerably less than a loaded '40.

If you want a 4-banger, look into a 3b.

Ford ecotec in a Toyota... today is a sad day my friends

I agree with both of these comments especially the second one!

The Ford ecotec sounds interesting, but I would let someone else work out the bugs for a while before I put that engine in anything.

The words Land Cruiser and eco-four-cylinder-anything don't go together. Oodles of low reving torque is what you need. The dead F engine in my '72 is soon to make way for a non-VVTi 4.7L 2UZ-FE out of an '02 Tundra, coupled to an H55F. I'm sure it won't get good fuel economy, but that should be a long way down your list of expectations in a Cruiser, they have the strength, weight and aerodynamics of a concrete block.

 

[ken_79-fj40]

A few years back cruiser solutions did a cosmetic restoration and aluminum tub install in a 40 that had a 22R and a minitruck trans/transfercase and rear diff. I spoke to Ted (the owner of cruiser solutions) about it briefly. He said it worked OK but certainly wasn't very quick. And that's a motor meant for a truck. I think the 2.7 with variable valve timing from my last 05 tacoma would be a decent donor engine for a 40 like mine with an aluminum tub and no hardtop. It's as light as they get. A few years back I spent a fortune building a balanced and cammed 2F for it. It runs great and has plenty of power. But it still gets 12MPG. I kind of wish I had gone diesel but I don't ever intend on selling the rig so maybe someday I will.