quick question on engine swaps...
- Thread starter evomind
- Start date
MTGTS
Enthusiast
Can you do it? Yes. But, it is much easier to build a Gen 2 motor and put it in. I just went through this decision, all the mechanicals work and are pretty straight forward. Wiring and electronics are where things get tricky.
you can do anything if you have money sonny- why not just buy a gen 3 or 4- its alot of money for the transplant, more than you know what kind of bag of worms you will be getting into, then it will be a over invested pile of metal
ive actually had a couple of gen 3s and a gen 4.
i have a gen 2 now and i know its thousands and thousands of dollars to do anything with the engine, just doing head work and cam you can almost just buy a used engine. "almost." heck, most folks would pull the motor to do heads and cam anyway.
why is the wiring such a can of worms?
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i know its time consuming, im assuming no one has come out with a universal wiring harness for the vipers.
still unclear on specifically why its economically ill advised. i understand its time consuming, so are most engine swaps from one gen to another but i would think the wiring would be easier going gen 3 motor to gen 2.
i dont know, i admit im a bit naive to some of the nuances of a viper. in the past ive supercharged a mustang and had to get a wiring harness, makes the job much easier. ive put together a superformance gt40, again the wiring wasnt all that hard. not saying its easy, but certainly not a deal breaker. as long as the motor bolts up to the original mounting points i cant see where this is such a mount everest of a project to drop in a gen 3 motor ecu and all.
i suppose if i was gonna do all that id probably clean the heads up and swap cams anyway.
FWIW, I have a Gen 3 intake on a Gen 2 engine and found that the torque builds more gradually and the top end power is slightly higher than with the Gen 2 intake. I don't have a strict apples-to-apples comparison because other minor stuff was changed at the same time the Gen 3 intake swap happened but I believe the long runners on the Gen 2 do sponsor a big torque-blast at lower rpms.
If its a street car and you like the torque blast, keep the Gen 2 manifold...if you prefer slightly more power above 5000, the Gen 3 swap may be the ticket.
If its a street car and you like the torque blast, keep the Gen 2 manifold...if you prefer slightly more power above 5000, the Gen 3 swap may be the ticket.
in that case i think ill skip swapping out manifolds. i like how torquey the gen 2 is i just think it needs a little more top end.
