Aspire Long Block Swap

[Ray]

Okay, so I picked up a fairly nice COMPLETE engine from an Aspire. Everything is still on the engine including power steering, ac compressor, belts, wiring harness, etc. None of this matters though, because I bought the engine for the long block to swap into my Festiva. I did this because I have two bad piston rings, and I'm going through about a quart of oil every 60 miles. The engine in the Festiva has 401,550 miles.

Everything on the B3 presently in my Festiva functions. My question is this: Are there any special tools I will need to swap long blocks? Is is as simple as doing everything with a nice socket set, an intake manifold gasket, an exhaust gasket, a cherry picker and an extra day or two of spare time?

Any suggestions, tips, or quick and dirty walk-thrus?

By the way - I'm going from the EFI presently on the Aspire engine to the 2bbl in the festiva. Any help is appriciated!!

[FestYboy]

keep your festy head, you cant use the aspire head on your carby festy unless you swap the cam AND rockers. also, you can't use the festy crank pulley you have, you have to find a large snout V-groove pulley. make sure you install a NEW timing belt and cam, front and rear main seals, you'l not be wanting to do that after is goes in.

other than that, CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN!!! and you may find that you'll have to adapt your temp sending wire to mate with the aspire unit (again, only if you use the aspire head).

Oh, and put a new clutch in while you're at it, it's there and it's easy and saves you from having to do it later.

[Ray]

Thanks! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it would be easier swapping out the cam and rockers and doing a valve cover gasket, instead of doing a head gasket and having the head remaned.

Any idea where I can get ahold of the correct crank pulley? I've looked on ebay and not found anything, but hell, I could be searching for the wrong thing. :p

[Festy46]

I think the reason Festyboy is telling you to do the head and/or cam changes is because the Aspire engine's cam doesn't have a fuel pump lobe. I never messed with the Aspire engines. I went from the Festiva B3 to the B6's & 8's, but if the fuel pump lobe is the only reason, you can add an electric fuel pump that is designed for a carb. That way you don't need to change the head, cam or rockers.

You need the V-pulley from a late production '92 or any '93 Festiva. You will also need the part that goes on under the pulley which is called a "pulley boss" and the crankshaft timing gear. If you can't find any in a junk yard, try doing a WTB here although those big nose pulleys are getting scarce. Everybody uses them for their 1.8L swaps. If you can't find any used, you can get new parts from Mazda for an MX-3 1.6L engine. The only thing is the MX-3 pulley will have both the V-pulley and a serpentine pulley made into one piece. It will work for the B-3 engine, but it is too wide for the longer 1.8L blocks. Below is a picture of the 2 different pulleys. The one on the left is what you will need. Your pulley should look like the one on the right side. If by some miracle someone changed crankshafts in your old engine and your old engine pulley looks like the one on the left, you will be good to go with your old engine pulley.

[lessersivad]

Okay, so I picked up a fairly nice COMPLETE engine from an Aspire. Everything is still on the engine including power steering, ac compressor, belts, wiring harness, etc. None of this matters though, because I bought the engine for the long block to swap into my Festiva. I did this because I have two bad piston rings, and I'm going through about a quart of oil every 60 miles. The engine in the Festiva has 401,550 miles.

Everything on the B3 presently in my Festiva functions. My question is this: Are there any special tools I will need to swap long blocks? Is is as simple as doing everything with a nice socket set, an intake manifold gasket, an exhaust gasket, a cherry picker and an extra day or two of spare time?

Any suggestions, tips, or quick and dirty walk-thrus?

By the way - I'm going from the EFI presently on the Aspire engine to the 2bbl in the festiva. Any help is appriciated!!

I think the reason Festyboy is telling you to do the head and/or cam changes is because the Aspire engine's cam doesn't have a fuel pump lobe. I never messed with the Aspire engines. I went from the Festiva B3 to the B6's & 8's, but if the fuel pump lobe is the only reason, you can add an electric fuel pump that is designed for a carb. That way you don't need to change the head, cam or rockers.

You need the V-pulley from a late production '92 or any '93 Festiva. You will also need the part that goes on under the pulley which is called a "pulley boss" and the crankshaft timing gear. If you can't find any in a junk yard, try doing a WTB here although those big nose pulleys are getting scarce. Everybody uses them for their 1.8L swaps. If you can't find any used, you can get new parts from Mazda for an MX-3 1.6L engine. The only thing is the MX-3 pulley will have both the V-pulley and a serpentine pulley made into one piece. It will work for the B-3 engine, but it is too wide for the longer 1.8L blocks. Below is a picture of the 2 different pulleys. The one on the left is what you will need. Your pulley should look like the one on the right side. If by some miracle someone changed crankshafts in your old engine and your old engine pulley looks like the one on the left, you will be good to go with your old engine pulley.

If Ray already has the pulleys on the Aspire engine, wouldn't it be possible to simply use the parts that are already on the engine? Belt and pulley wise?

If that's possible, along with the use of an electric fuel pump, swapping the intake and exhaust manifolds along with the the distributor should be the only things needed.

But, I've been wrong before.

[Ray]

I've been thinking about all of this, and I wonder... The only reason for the pulleys is to power the water pump, alternator, ac pump, and other accessories. The aspire engine already has all of this stuff with it. Would it be possible to leave the Aspire accessories attached to the engine with the current belts, and adapt the wiring of the accessories to work with that of the Festiva?

Is there any reason why I wouldn't be able to use the exhaust manifold that's already on the engine as well? The manifold has part of the exhaust pipe still on it, and I wouldn't imagine it being too hard to weld in to the existing exhaust system.

Along with that, I should be able to use an in-line fuel pump for the EFI to carburetor swap, and that should (in thereoy) take care of everything, right?

[htchbck]

If you can weld up a downpipe (or have a muffler shop to do it for you) then you can keep the exh manifold on the aspire motor. And as long as you use an inline fuel pump I see no reason to swap the head/cam/rockers. Basically bolt your intake on and go! You didn't mention whether or not you have AC on the car the motor is going into, but if not then you can just remove the AC/PS stuff from the Aspire motor and keep the main ribbed belt/pulleys that drive the water pump and alternator. I don't know how different the alternator plugs are between festiva and Aspire, but if you don't feel like switching plugs you can always just take the ribbed pulley of the aspire alt and install it on the festiva one. I think keeping the ribbed belts should be easier than hunting down a '93 v belt pulley setup. If you have AC though it may be worth it to find v belts that will work with your festiva compressor, or possible mate the festiva lines up to the Aspire compressor somehow, though that might be a real pain.

[Bert]

The Wikipedia site for "Mazda B-series engines" suggests 58 hp for carb B3s and 70 hp for later model (post Festiva) EFIs. Be curious to hear if you notice any difference with roller rockers and tube steel exhaust manifold on a carb car.

Once you pull your old engine out compare the peripherals on both engines. The thermostat housing may be different and likely a few sensors will differ and you may require a whole different lower rad hose unless you swap out those parts.

I too have a spare Aspire engine and one day will be performing a swap into an EFI Festy. I have already tried to swap alternator pulleys. The alternators look to be identical but aren't.

[Festy46]

I've been thinking about all of this, and I wonder... The only reason for the pulleys is to power the water pump, alternator, ac pump, and other accessories. The aspire engine already has all of this stuff with it. Would it be possible to leave the Aspire accessories attached to the engine with the current belts, and adapt the wiring of the accessories to work with that of the Festiva?

The only problem would be that the Festiva alternator has an extra terminal on it that feeds electric to the electric choke on your carb that the Aspire wouldn't have. If the Aspire/Festiva alternator pulleys will interchange so you can use the Festiva alternator, then you should be good to go using the serpentine belt.

Along with that, I should be able to use an in-line fuel pump for the EFI to carburetor swap, and that should (in theroy) take care of everything, right?

The inline fuel pump will work. You might want to consider also adding a pressure regulator to avoid overflowing the carb if the pump pressure is too high. Also add a normally open pressure switch that operates off oil pressure from the engine. That way the only time the fuel pump will run is when the engine is running and producing oil pressure. This is a safety measure in case you would ever get in an accident. If the ignition switch was left on after an accident and a fuel line was broken, the fuel pump would continue to pump gas out of the broken line unless you had the pressure switch which would shut off the pump as soon as the engine stopped.

[Ray]

If you can weld up a downpipe (or have a muffler shop to do it for you) then you can keep the exh manifold on the aspire motor. And as long as you use an inline fuel pump I see no reason to swap the head/cam/rockers. Basically bolt your intake on and go! You didn't mention whether or not you have AC on the car the motor is going into, but if not then you can just remove the AC/PS stuff from the Aspire motor and keep the main ribbed belt/pulleys that drive the water pump and alternator. I don't know how different the alternator plugs are between festiva and Aspire, but if you don't feel like switching plugs you can always just take the ribbed pulley of the aspire alt and install it on the festiva one. I think keeping the ribbed belts should be easier than hunting down a '93 v belt pulley setup. If you have AC though it may be worth it to find v belts that will work with your festiva compressor, or possible mate the festiva lines up to the Aspire compressor somehow, though that might be a real pain.

This is good news! Yes, the car presently has AC, but I've been having problems with it, so I never use it. The clutch will only engage for maybe 10 or 15 minutes at a time - and the AC gages I have show a good, healthy 134a charge.... Odd. Eh, I can live without it Sometime down the road, it might be worth fixing. Next spring maybe. For now, I'll just be happy to get the new engine running.

The Wikipedia site for "Mazda B-series engines" suggests 58 hp for carb B3s and 70 hp for later model (post Festiva) EFIs. Be curious to hear if you notice any difference with roller rockers and tube steel exhaust manifold on a carb car.

Once you pull your old engine out compare the peripherals on both engines. The thermostat housing may be different and likely a few sensors will differ and you may require a whole different lower rad hose unless you swap out those parts.

I too have a spare Aspire engine and one day will be performing a swap into an EFI Festy. I have already tried to swap alternator pulleys. The alternators look to be identical but aren't.

Interesting. With the 401k on the old engine along with the broken piston rings, I have no doubt that there will be a huge noticable difference in power.

Sensors might be a little different, but I should be able to strip wires and figure everything out, with a good multimeter.

The only problem would be that the Festiva alternator has an extra terminal on it that feeds electric to the electric choke on your carb that the Aspire wouldn't have. If the Aspire/Festiva alternator pulleys will interchange so you can use the Festiva alternator, then you should be good to go using the serpentine belt.



The inline fuel pump will work. You might want to consider also adding a pressure regulator to avoid overflowing the carb if the pump pressure is too high. Also add a normally open pressure switch that operates off oil pressure from the engine. That way the only time the fuel pump will run is when the engine is running and producing oil pressure. This is a safety measure in case you would ever get in an accident. If the ignition switch was left on after an accident and a fuel line was broken, the fuel pump would continue to pump gas out of the broken line unless you had the pressure switch which would shut off the pump as soon as the engine stopped.

You know, I've actually thought about it, and I wouldn't mind NOT having a choke on the carb (heh heh, that eliminates teh problem ). Does anyone have any idea how hard the choke blade is to remove? Or can the extra wire be grounded or hooked to a 12v line to force it to stay open? If I make sure the choke blade is open, and turn off the car, would I be able to simply snip the wire and expect the butterfly to stay open?

That's a cool idea about the pressure regulator. I'll have to think on that.

[Festy46]

You can remove the whole choke assembly. That's the way we do our race cars. You could also install a manual choke cable (with a little fabrication). The only problem you're going to have with no choke is in the winter. We've been next door to your house in Bristol for the March NASCAR race and it can get cold there in TN. With no choke, you will have to pump the crap out of the accelerator to get the engine to run in the winter.