I really like the idea of the 4200 in an early 50's Chevy. Adding a turbo would be super cool but probably not necessary. How much power do you really want/need? Not sure how big the aftermarket for the 4200 is. I got the impression that the Altas engines were a bit of an orphan, however still extremely cool. I once had a dream of putting the 5 cyl (LLR) in a '27 Track-T.
chiodos wrote:Driven5 wrote: Opinion.Completely unrelated rant.
LOL
i sold a 29k mile 4200 because at the time there was zero support for swapping them into anything. as far as i could tell at the time one guy was working on one thing, and their downfall is the giant front sump cast aluminum oil pan. i'm guessing that's either been solved by now, or people like tig welding their own oil pans.
this is in the "lets see if this could work" phase right now. i'm just kinda sick of popping the hood on almost anything and seeing carbed small block. i definitely do not want to be slower, the car is just about perfect right now but i get bored, and it's been in current state for 10-11 years now. LS stuff is wonderful and i'm on that bandwagon, i swapped my impala SS 5 years ago, both of my work trucks have 5.3's, my wife has a 4.8, but at least around me the days of $200 4.8's are gone by the wayside ever since hot rod did that "we made 1000hp on stock bottom end with a monster turbo" article.
i have another vote for the atlas 4.2, I think they are a super underrated engine, kinda tall but i wouldnt doubt they would fit in your application. 270 hp out of the box and from what it looks like they do well under boost.
for inspiration, a turbo 4.2 in a mk3 supra:
Go with the rb25!
Parts aren't even hard to find. It shares sensors and electrical components with the z32 Z. Hell the transmission internals are the same as the z32 as well. The rb specific parts are easy to get. There's a few rb specific online stores that are American based. And a Nissan dealer here in California who gets rb parts. It isn't an expensive motor unless you want an rb26 lol.
They're good for power. And easy to swap. You can go on a Nissan forum and see that they have lots of tuning options.
Appleseed wrote: Imma jus leave this here... https://www.youtube.com/embed/m0n0R50MX9o
patgizz wrote: i sold a 29k mile 4200 because at the time there was zero support for swapping them into anything....heir downfall is the giant front sump cast aluminum oil pan. i'm guessing that's either been solved by now, or people like tig welding their own oil pans.
hmmm...this is a big problem? Ive been interested in casting aluminum oil pans...I have a casting setup, and an oilpan would be a unique project. Is there anywhere online that would provide some detail on this issue?
you could go over to inliners.org and see if anyone figured it out yet. i need to look at my car again when spring comes along and measure things. i know the 4200 will fit, presumably with a customized oil pan, as a couple guys have done it.
the most important dimension is length on anything. i've got a small block with a short pump and just have room for an electric puller behind the radiator, and it's moved as far forward as it can be. with an inline engine i can set the bellhousing back farther than the v8, back into the little nook in the firewall where the original inliner went to.
i need to build an engine testing stand so i can get standalone stuff wired and running so that i can just drop a running plug and play swap into something since i do so much different stuff. it would save me so much time versus installing then trying to wire.
that's what i'm working with underneath. the crossmember can get notched slightly but mostly it'll have to be making the oil pan fit the chassis.
this is my steering shaft, which may want to occupy the same space as the turbo. i might need to get my hands on an engine and measure things, but i do not want to buy one without a home for it. i can always buy another vehicle, but i'm way too deep fleet wise to just start buying more toys. it looks like my corvette is sold, and that's something i NEVER thought i would get rid of.
wonder if i can find someone local that'll let me measure their engine.
the nice thing about the 4.2 is the exhaust is on the opposite side of the steering.
i just found a deer hit 2wd 06 envoy for a grand but it has 160k, too many miles there unless i could use all the parts then source a low mile longblock.
Yeah, I think that it's a dumb idea. You already have a motor in there that's well-matched to the vehicle. Why mess with a good thing? If you really want to do a swap, find another vehicle with a crappy motor and put it in there.
As far as the 4200 goes, I love it, but it seems fated to the dustbin of history. However, The guy behind DIYautotune built a turbo 4200 running on Megasquirt (of course), so it's well documented from that standpoint.
Kreb wrote: Yeah, I think that it's a dumb idea. You already have a motor in there that's well-matched to the vehicle. Why mess with a good thing? If you really want to do a swap, find another vehicle with a crappy motor and put it in there. As far as the 4200 goes, I love it, but it seems fated to the dustbin of history. However, The guy behind DIYautotune built a turbo 4200 running on Megasquirt (of course), so it's well documented from that standpoint.
I hate the Atlas 4200 simply because I associate it with the Trailblazer, one of the biggest pieces of junk that GM has ever tried to foist off on the American public.
There was a guy with a (Twin?) turbocharged 4200 in an early Nova wagon making 800+hp that run real fast but any tech on it was lost. The guy showed up to the first Drag Week, attempted to cheat and trailer it between checkpoints, got caught and got banned from all Hot Rod events. Sometime after that it got swapped to a small block Chevy with twins and got sold.
Kreb wrote: Yeah, I think that it's a dumb idea. You already have a motor in there that's well-matched to the vehicle. Why mess with a good thing?
sooooo - save up and find a skyline and get it shipped over?
In reply to patgizz:
I'm thinking more along the lines of a 260z or some such.
already have an S30 Z car that is done and race ready
maybe i just forget everything and buy a caddy with a 500 and cruise around slow.
patgizz wrote: already have an S30 Z car that is done and race ready maybe i just forget everything and buy a caddy with a 500 and cruise around slow.
Or put a Caddy 500 in the Chevy. Seriously, they're real good engines once you address the rods and rocker arms. Spectre ran their streamliners at 400+mph on stock Caddy 500 blocks and cranks.
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