4 Banger in a G Wagon

Have any of you guys considered putting a fuel efficient, yet powerful engine into your vans? I was thinking something like the Quad 4 or Ecotec, they're both plentiful and yet powerful and I believe they'll fit between the seats.

Quad 4's can have upto 180hp and the crate motor ecotec has 272hp. I believe the Quad-4 is only 22in wide.

investigate water pump removal or replacement on either of these engines.
what you will find out should detour you from this idea.
I would pick a diesel motor first from an Isuzu box truck

I recall someone put a Toyota 20R with an auto trans in an early as an attempt to get better gas mileage. I remember him saying it was quite slow but managed about 20 mpg

a guy in Canada put a 4 cylinder diesel in his and was getting 30+ mpg. think his name is Zach?

panelmanrd wrote:investigate water pump removal or replacement on either of these engines.
what you will find out should detour you from this idea.
I would pick a diesel motor first from an Isuzu box truck

Checked the water pump removal, it is difficult but it seems the difficulty mostly comes from the orientation of the motor on those vehicles as it's firewall side, it's certainly difficult but water pumps don't go out often, perhaps every 200k, your more likely to be killed in a front end collision then to change the water pump.  Isuzu Diesel, loud, clackety, heavy, expensive, hard to source, etc.

kookykrispy wrote:I recall someone put a Toyota 20R with an auto trans in an early as an attempt to get better gas mileage.  I remember him saying it was quite slow but managed about 20 mpg

 They "upgraded" from a 60's motor to a 70's motor, I know all about 20r engines they have a huge mess of vacuum lines, I bet the guy didn't bother with any of it and simply bypassed it and even the EGR valve, this would reduce fuel economy as the EGR valve pumps in unburnt gas,  Also this is a carbureted motor, not as efficient as a fuel injected motor.   There's alot of factors that weigh on economy from the motor, to gearing, you gotta get it right or you waste energy.

These motors are wildly cheap, plentiful and used in all sorts of applications from VW's, Sandrails etc.

Some are trying out a 1.4l ecotec turbo from the Sonic a 3000lb car, it makes 140hp yet only weighs 250lb fully dressed.

I think a hot setup would be an intercooled mitsubishi 4g63t with a 4 speed/overdrive auto trans from a '86-89 starion/conquest

Or how about a ford 2.3L turbo and auto trans from a 80's t-bird turbo coupe?

The fuel savings might simply not be worth the loss of simplicity (and the cost) My 66 van regularly got 17-18 mpg with the 230 and three speed..... How much better might the mpg get after the swap?

kooky the g van witha 20r toyota was leadfoot

My 69/90 gets 19 mpg hwy, with a 5.7 throttle body injected and a 700r4,
Towing a 2900 lb pop up it comes down to 15 hwy, if I need better gas mileage I get on my goldwing.
If I were to go with a 4 banger it would not be anything Mitsubishi
I would do the 2.3 ford. Mitsubishi and 75,000 miles = oil leaks.
Work on them for a living and you will understand.

I specifically suggested the 4g63T because it is a proven performance engine with good aftermarket support too.  I had one in a '97 eclipse turbo spyder and it was a great engine.  Very fast and powerful.  I never experienced oil leaks with that engine, and had over 100k on it.

Basically the same engine was used in the earlier Starions, but those were RWD. If you could find a wrecked Starion with an Auto trans, that would be fun in a van I think.

Although the fuel injected 350 would be easier and make more sense. We are just throwing ideas around here though.

The 2.3L with Auto trans from a 80s turbo t-bird would probably be easier to find. That would be a really neat swap into an econoline

panelmanrd wrote:My 69/90 gets 19 mpg hwy, with a 5.7 throttle body injected and a 700r4,
Towing a 2900 lb pop up it comes down to 15 hwy, if I need better gas mileage I get on my goldwing.

I'm putting at TBI 305/700r4/323posi out of a 91 Olds Custom Cruiser (Caprice) wagon.... I'll be tickled pink to get anything over 14mpg, as that is the best my daily driver OCC wagon is ever capable of......
My Harley Deuce only gets 30-35 mpg, so I guess I buy gas as my penalty for driving cool simple stuff....

I've been tossing around the idea of putting a 3800 super charger v6 with all the rack and pinion and suspension out of a late 90s early 2000s Buick regal lol

I just can't imagine driving my van enough to worry about gas consumtion.

If you wanted a "mitsubishi" why get an old Chevy? I got an old van cuz thats what I wanted. Its your potato head do what you want, But I say at least leave it all American.
~GK.