The LeMans(ter)

Here it is in all her glory, a 1989 Pontiac LeMans 1.6 auto. Plan is a budget autocross build, its my friends first car and he has no plans of getting rid of it and its been sitting for over a year now so I made the suggestion of race car. I've been doing quit a bit of research on this car and found out its based on the mk2 Vauxhall Astra and is almost identica mechanically to the Daewoo Lanos built from 98 thru 03. GM F series transmissions bolt in as well as all the older L series sohc engines from J bodies etc, all the way up too the dohc GM sources engines in the Daewoos and Suzuki sedans. So we will see what the future holds. I've found H&R lowering springs as well as kyb gr2 struts/shocks that will fit as well, sadly the car has no rear sway bar and I haven't found anything else that will fit yet. So if anyone has any information it would be appreciated otherwise enjoy the shenanigans!

This looks like a good idea.

chandlerGTi wrote: This looks like a good idea.

+1

I haven't seen one in years.

It's been 28 years and a red LeMans still reminds me of the San Fransisco earthquake in '89. How's that for a legacy?

Wall-e wrote: I haven't seen one in years.

I wonder how hard it would be to find the parts to convert the front to the Opel stuff? It looks way better.

Update: Interior is fully stripped except for dash at the moment because I want to label everything beforehand but more pics coming soon...after doing some more research and junkyard searching its proving to be difficult to find the GM L series 2.0 sohc engine and 5 SPD trans than I originally hoped and honestly sticking with the original series engine just lacks potential. We are now considering alternate engine swap candidates and am looking for some suggestions from you guys! Been thinking maybe B series, 4g63, ecotec, srt4??? But its all up in the air for the moment. So throw some suggestions my way and in the mean time I'm going to grab some engine bay dimensions and figure out the spline count on the hubs etc to figure out what will fit easier and cheaper.

After a bit more research we are gonna go with one of two options. Swap a 5 speed in with the original 1.6 build the head and maybe individual carbs, header etc or get an aveo donor car with the 1.6 dohc 5 speed and that should damn near drop in.

Yes, this car is a Vauxhall Astra in every aspect. The Saab 9 series engines and even the entire front cradles can be fitted into these cars. What I've seen just from internet searching the Aveo 1.4 and 1.6 engines are from the same series (GM Family 1) aka E-tec and the cradle, suspension are looking very similar as well. A 2.0 version was put in the Suzuki Forenza and according to the Aveo forums it drops right in those. So hopefully I can find a few Aveos and Forenzas in some junkyards.

So let's see, this car wears an American badge but was also sold as a British badge and a German badge but is of Korean origin and is named after a racetrack in France?

Are you sure about this Saab front cradle swap? I think this is a completely different platform. Anything can be done with a big enough hammer, but... And if it is true, that this would be an easy swap, I would go that route and forget anything about Aveo's or similar cars. Turbo Saab 2.3 vs GM 1.6 seems like a no brainer.

I've seen a few of the Saab swaps done in the UK and a few other countries over that way but none done state side. (GM owns saab and rebadged them as vauxhalls) The info I did find were posts from forums about ten years old with dead links to sites and a handful of working pics lol. But people seem to swap front and rear cradles and entire suspensions, apperantly the Saab's won't run without a bunch of sensors for abs, and speed etc it was noted the wiring of this swap is a nightmare. Its been an idea on my list but the reason I am an interested in the Aveo is because it literally is the exact same engine from the LeMans but 15 years newer with a dohc head attached.

In search of a 1998 to 2002 Saab 9-3

HackJob wrote: Yes, this car is a Vauxhall Astra in every aspect. The Saab 9 series engines and even the entire front cradles can be fitted into these cars. What I've seen just from internet searching the Aveo 1.4 and 1.6 engines are from the same series (GM Family 1) aka E-tec and the cradle, suspension are looking very similar as well. A 2.0 version was put in the Suzuki Forenza and according to the Aveo forums it drops right in those. So hopefully I can find a few Aveos and Forenzas in some junkyards.

I recommend against this. The e techs breath like pooh, have no states side support and like to shove all the oil into the cylinder head under sustained hard use.

I did this very swap on my Nubira and decided I'd be better off with something else almost immediately.

I'd imagine the Saab version is better and I know there was a killer Vauxhall version, but anything with Chevrolet, Daewoo or Suzuki on the valve cover is crappy.

I was looking into Hyundai beta swaps, for what it's worth. (Note that I live in South Korea.)