Looking for a carb to efi engine swap thread.

[Burnrate]

Can some on point me in the right direction. I am not finding what I need from the search.

I have an 89l 4speed carbed and I have a engine from an auto aspire(85k) and a 5speed from a manual aspire. (and both entire cars)

Need to know things like what wiring harness and computer to use.
Will an auto engine mount to a 5 speed transmission?

If anyone knows of a writeup that covers this kind of stuff please point me there. Or if anyone has done this and is willing to answer a few(lots) of questions let me know.

Thanks,
Eric

[Damkid]

as far as i know there isn't a write-up on this kind of swap because unless your upgrading to a BP, whats the point in switching over to EFI?

since i don't know too much about switching it over i can't be much help to you but an auto engine will bolt to a manual tranny, the engine blocks and heads are identical

or are you just looking to install a good motor into your carbed festiva? if that the case, why not just switch over the carbed stuff like intake mechanical fuel pump etc. onto the new motor? it would be a LOT easier

[Burnrate]

Thanks for the reply Damkid.

My block/head leaks oil internally and my carb runs like garbage(stumbles when it feels like it). I have a couple of carb guys in the family but no one can figure it out. I am getting max 36mpg (60mph interstate) on a great day and normally around 30 mpg. FI is what I was raised in with watercooled VWs. Provided it is different but close enough. I would just like a reliable system that I can at least begin to troubleshoot and maybe work some diagnostics gear into.
My goal has always been Max mpg with a balance of comfort and reliability.

I have the aspire parts--free
I can get a festy engine and body harness+computer free-$20
My dash already has been changed to the EFI dash(yep its different)

My plan:
Put in Aspire engine (85k from auto aspire).

Put in Aspire 5 speed transmission. (I know the final drive gear is slower but I am already running the Aspire brake swap and 13s)

I may just put the 4 speed (3500rpm at 70mph is ok) back in if I have problems with the 5 speed.

put in Either Aspire or Festiva engine and body harness from a manual car. ??

Put in Aspire gas tank and fuel pump/sender, or can I use the carbed gas tank and just bolt in a fuel pump/sender from the Aspire? ??

Use the computer from either the manual Aspire or get one from an EFI Festy. ??

Any axle issues? Diameter/length? I hope not as I recently put in new axles. ??


Dream phase on.....
After I am done I can rebuild both engines get the auto Aspire running (the body is in great shape). and still have a spare b3 and put a Weber on it. Sell the left over parts.
....dream phase off.

Eric

[SimonTuffGuy]

I believe it's pretty straight forward. You need to swap fuel tanks, fuel pumps, and run the lines up to the front.

The auto and manual axles are different. If you're using an automatic tranny, you need auto axles. The same for manual, but there's no difference between 4 or 5 speed.

The wiring harness should be the same between auto and manual. I can't confirm it, but I'm pretty sure there's no real differences. You would want to use the computer from a manual (FI) if you're using the manual tranny.

Good luck on your swap. Why not document the swap with pictures and post your own how-to for future members with the same question?

[nonamekid]

The aspire axles won't work in the festiva, but you can reuse your festiva axles. The aspire manual transmission uses a slightly different front transmission mount, so you will have to figure that out, and from what I understand it is really simple once you see it.

What year is your aspire? If it is 96-97, I would not use that wiring harness since it is OBD II and I don't know how easily that integrates into the rest of the festiva harness. If you can get a festiva harness and computer for cheap I would use that instead.

You will need a EFI fuel tank and pump. I do not know if the aspire one will work but I doubt it. There is a difference between the 3 door and the 5 door aspire when it comes to the fuel pump and tank and I am fairly sure the 5 door stuff won't work.

I heard that the festiva exhaust manifold flows better than the aspire one, so I would use that.

There are a few people on this board who have converted from carb to FI. I know it is time consuming, but it is well worth it.

[Burnrate]

I will document it as I go along.
I am hoping to get all the major parts in one pile before I start to minimize downtime.

Both of the aspires are 95's. Both are 3 door.

I want to use the Festiva axles.

I will pull the manual Aspire harness and look at that first. This car is trashed anyhow. I think It is going to look a lot like the festiva one. I would love to have OBD2 to hook a scangauge up to, But not a big deal. Headlight, side light and A/C connectors will be different I am sure.

Thanks for the heads up on the transmission mount! I will look at that soon.

Any ideas on pulleys. The Aspire has serpentine and the Festiva has Vbelt. I could just stick with the serpentine. Didn't the early b3s (Mine)have a smaller crank shaft? If I went with Vbelt I would have to get a newer pulley.

Anyone know if the Manual Festiva (91-93) and the Manual Aspire (95)computers are the same?

Damkid had told me the gas tank part numbers are the same in another post. I will pull the manual aspire tank and see if it looks right.

My hope is to get most of this info in one spot so others can look at it.
Then do a write up over in NA engine swaps if it can be made to work well.

[Damkid]

Damkid had told me the gas tank part numbers are the same in another post. I will pull the manual aspire tank and see if it looks right.

i kow for a fact the aspire and festy tanks are the same (EFI tanks at least) because last year when i was trying to order a brand new tank, and for the festiva it had like a 2 month back-order, we decided to look up the aspire fuel tank to see if there were any differences in part #, ordering time etc. and both were identical

i don't think there's a difference between auto to manual fuel tanks, just different between carbed to EFI

[Burnrate]

Great! I should be able to pull the tank and lines off of the manual Aspire.

[tinwhisker]

Burnrate, did you ever complete your swap?

[MONSOON]

And once again folks we have a winner!

[muscle_Car1]

This isn't the area for name calling. That area is the arena.
Yes i see your point in his actions , but i have jumped on people who are bring old threads up from the dead to raise their post count a little or as you are trying to get real info.

Burnrate was last logged on earlier today maybe they will see this post & respond.

Have you tried pm'ing them?

[tinwhisker]

No, I didn't PM them.

Muscle, I don't think I called any names -- And I don't come here to waste time in a flames forum. But I do come here to learn more and draw form people's experience,,,

and thanks to the time you have generously given, I now have some very nice escort GT seats in my festy, and they look just like factory. I appreciate the time you took in that writeup, and I have posted my appreciation before.

[Burnrate]

Hi Tinwhisker,

Thanks for asking about my progress. I have been dedicating my time to putting a 95 aspire back on the road and have got it running pretty well. This is my DD while I work on the Festy. I have slowed down a little because I got a 323 to steal the B6 out of instead of the B3 from the Aspire. Well the B6 has major compression failure and I have not gotten the engine pulled to look at it. If you are going to do the swap I would suggest you get all the electronics from a FI Festy including the engine harness. Don’t forget to get all the fuel expansion stuff behind the filler neck also. The Aspire handles the injectors a little differently and spicing the two harnesses together looks like a bit of work. I will come back and add to this thread as I make progress but it will be slow. Also the 323 hatch is in such good shape other wise, it has piqued my interest in learning how to build a BPT. And that can be very distracting. :-)

I will probably get accused of resurrecting an old thread though.
I like to use threads as a way of documenting my experience and see no reason to start multiple threads to confuse everyone. If I were going to criticize someone I would either do it in a separate thread that I started and link to the post that offends me so, or I would pm the person. I would not clog up someone else’s thread with a load of irrelevant crap. I just love seeing old well documented threads loaded up with stupid comments because someone feels they have an expiration date.

Again thanks to those who have shown interest in my thread
Eric

[MONSOON]

tinwhisker, chill out man. Its all meant in fun, not to piss anyone off. If I have done so with you then I appologize. This is actually information that I am interested in as well. And I look forward to the periodic updates Burnrate.