1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body? - Performance Forum

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1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Saturday, September 21, 2013 10:21 PM
So this has been a dream of mine ever since I leased my eco cruze and gave up my jbodys, or at least thought I did. Now the lease is finishing up and am back to jbodys for numerous reasons, but dont want to give up the amazing mpgs of my cruze. To make this a real dream I have found a wrecked cruze with a 1.4L ecotec and 6spd manual trans with eco gear, ecm and all. From those of you who have done swaps such as the 3400 or 3800 or others what would be your recommendations on something like this? I have an extra 04 frame that could be a testing/experiment platform. I realize it is not a plug and play, and lots of fab work would have to be done. Ready, set, brainstorm.


...you want a pic, then help me build something worth taking a pic of....

Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Saturday, September 21, 2013 11:13 PM
I had a 1.4 turbo cruze and I loved it! If you could do it I would love to see it!! Would be a great swap!!



Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Sunday, September 22, 2013 7:28 AM
I think you should try it out. I was just thinking the same thing yesterday.



Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Sunday, September 22, 2013 11:07 AM
Forgot to include some of the numbers, I can get the full engine, trans, shift linkage, computer, whole forty yards for $1000 bucks, has 10K on the whole thing. The only draw back is the harness is cut, so wiring would be a little bit more of a nightmare.


...you want a pic, then help me build something worth taking a pic of....
Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Sunday, September 22, 2013 2:19 PM
skinnyman wrote:Forgot to include some of the numbers, I can get the full engine, trans, shift linkage, computer, whole forty yards for $1000 bucks, has 10K on the whole thing. The only draw back is the harness is cut, so wiring would be a little bit more of a nightmare.


Awesome deal right there! It's still worth trying out, just a little bump in the road with the harness problem.



Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Sunday, September 22, 2013 3:52 PM
yea you can always get a new one. check out some JY's.



Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Sunday, September 22, 2013 6:11 PM
That PCM will not communicate with the j body BCM, period. You would need the PCM, BCM, probably the cluster, and ALL associate wires from the cruze. You could either hack the cluster in or hide it somewhere and run your own custom gauge set. You could always attempt a standalone but I'm not sure how you would deal with the VVT. You'd also have to figure out what fuel system upgrades are needed for the direct injection setup.

After all that, I'll tell you that my 05 cav with a supercharged eco consistently got 34-35 mph with 6 cases of beer in the trunk. Way faster, and way more fun for around the same mpg.



"In Oldskool we trust"
Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Wednesday, October 09, 2013 4:20 PM
The 1.4t is port fuel injection.

But other than that, yea, it'd be WAY more work than it's practically worth. If someone does it for novelties sake, props to them, but there would be tremendous work in getting the swap off the ground. One example from experience (I own a 1.4t cruze): the car has a fuel pump control module, which although independent of the PCM, but can still trigger DTC P-codes. When I was trying to deal with eliminating the active grill shutters on my car, I found at least 5 different part numbers for the module across years and sub models. Haha and this is just trying to eliminate a code within a sub model. Imagine trying to deal with the nightmares that would occur with a swap.

It's truly one of those cases where you would need a full donor car sitting right next to your swap car as you did the work.



Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Friday, October 11, 2013 3:23 PM
oldskool wrote:It's truly one of those cases where you would need a full donor car sitting right next to your swap car as you did the work.


Yup, this. You would basically be looking at gutting all the electronics and related hardware from the Cruze end to end, and stuffing it all into the j-body shell.






Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Friday, October 11, 2013 4:28 PM
good god why? they are so balls slow.



RIP silver car. You will be missed.
Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Friday, October 11, 2013 4:48 PM
-Z Yaaaa- wrote:good god why? they are so balls slow.


40 mpg ftw!


- Your not-so-local, untrained, uncertified, backyard mechanic. But my @!#$ runs

Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Monday, November 04, 2013 6:27 PM
Oedwards
get that out of a 2200 5spd for alot less money

not worth the time and money to swap that engine in for the money you would save in fuel would never pay back

now swappin gthe new cruze desiel motor would be neat just to say you have a desiel cavalier but that would be it



JBO since July 30, 2001
Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Monday, November 04, 2013 11:14 PM
if you really want to do it, the glaring problem I see is...

what are you doing about PS?


the cruze has an electric assist motor built into the rack, so no external PS pump... how are you going to solve that one?


if you have a solution for that, I say go for it. I highly doubt the new ecos are anything similar to the old ones other than namesake, so custom mounts will be in order
and take EVERYTHING electrical from the cruze into the jbody.

EVERYTHING.

also, it'll pay to look into how many teeth are on the axles so the cruze's ABS/ traction control system won't be pissed off with the Jbody...

those are the only issues I can think of.





Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Wednesday, November 13, 2013 6:16 PM
mayybe put the engine in a go kart? honestly 40 mpg was done with tons of cars in the 0's and 90's the smaller engine won't be worth it. i second the diesel swap though.



Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Wednesday, November 13, 2013 8:12 PM
just make a braket and use a standard power steering pump that is belt driven or you can use a Malibu electronic power steering pump. If fieros can do it I am sure it can be done in a jbody.




On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.
Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Tuesday, December 24, 2013 7:42 AM
Would be a cool swap for sure. But fellas its not 40MPG HWy, its 40 MPG city with harsh driving. I own a curze eco and drive the @!#$ out of it. I get 38mpg city all day long. If I am doing 70 on the HWy i get close to 60. Its a bad ass motor. I also dynoed my cruze and get 170 to the wheels, its a fantastic motor

Mark


http://www.overkillengineeringmotorsports.com/
Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Sunday, December 29, 2013 5:04 PM
It was always for the novelty of it, and the fact I do not see gm producing another decent two door coupe in the foreseeable future. I just happened to have a straight 04 coupe shell lying around (and still do) and some time on my hands and see what ideas were out there, lots of great input though.


...you want a pic, then help me build something worth taking a pic of....
Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Tuesday, December 31, 2013 11:45 AM
Sounds like a lot of work, getting the engine in and fabbing new brackets would be the easy part but like said already, the hardest would be all the wiring, and pretty much everything you will need off the cruze, almost need a whole donor car. If you do, all the props to you, but I can see it being a lot of work and I don't thinks its ever been done, If you run into problems, not too many people can help. If you were doing a 3800 swap or something, there will be a few guys that can help you out but, with the 1.4, you will be kind of on your own, some people may be able to offer advice but thats about it. If the harness is cut, I'd try to find a wiring diagram first, then maybe you can splice into the jbody harness, still dont know if that will work, probably still need everything out of the cruze or aftermarket?


2000 Cavalier Z24 5spd - Intake, Dynomax muffler, Hawk Pads, Powerslot rotors, Sportlines/Koni reds, Neon Coil, MSD 8.5 Wires
2005 Mazda 3 GS Auto- Wifes car
2006 Cobalt SS/SC - Intake, 2.5" Exhaust, GMPP Brakes, Solid Mounts, Ported S/C - Sold
1991 GMC Sierra - Lifted on 38.5" Swampers, Too much to list off. For Sale
Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Sunday, January 05, 2014 11:29 AM
New cruiz diesel motor swap
Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Monday, January 06, 2014 7:41 PM
Diesel FTW!!
Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Tuesday, January 07, 2014 8:09 AM
not the type of build/swap most people here do. but this swap with the Vtuner GT turbo swap, or the the other turbo swap thats out there for the cruze MIGHT make the cavalier/sunfire a pretty fun peppy but still good milage car.




Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Tuesday, January 07, 2014 8:18 AM
EvoFire wrote:not the type of build/swap most people here do. but this swap with the Vtuner GT turbo swap, or the the other turbo swap thats out there for the cruze MIGHT make the cavalier/sunfire a pretty fun peppy but still good milage car.
It's funny you mention that - Vtuner has the first domestic turbo swap for these, and i hear rumor of a GT2560 swap coming from DDM works. The real fun though, is in the overnight parts from Europe . A company called Regal Auto Sport in England, for example, has totally bolt on upgrades for the Gen 0 ecotecs (mostly marketed at 1.6t). They have apparently partnered with a german company that makes the integrated manifold\turbine housing, then they stuff bigger wheels in it. I intend to email them about a K04 upgrade
Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Tuesday, January 07, 2014 8:39 AM
oldskool wrote:
EvoFire wrote:not the type of build/swap most people here do. but this swap with the Vtuner GT turbo swap, or the the other turbo swap thats out there for the cruze MIGHT make the cavalier/sunfire a pretty fun peppy but still good milage car.
It's funny you mention that - Vtuner has the first domestic turbo swap for these, and i hear rumor of a GT2560 swap coming from DDM works. The real fun though, is in the overnight parts from Europe . A company called Regal Auto Sport in England, for example, has totally bolt on upgrades for the Gen 0 ecotecs (mostly marketed at 1.6t). They have apparently partnered with a german company that makes the integrated manifold\turbine housing, then they stuff bigger wheels in it. I intend to email them about a K04 upgrade


i pmed you some time ago on cruzetalk....did you get it. I am gonna wait til my 3year/36k mile warranty is up before playing with the cruze..



Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Tuesday, January 07, 2014 2:42 PM
I never got it, strange. Are you going VTuner at the end of the warranty? Do you have any final goals in mind?

Man I hate to derail this thread, but it's kind of related. In terms of cost/benefit, the true bolt on options from Europe are going to rock...if it wasn't for international shipping and exchange rates. That K04 upgrade on the 1.6t motor made 280whp on a measly 15psi and stupid rich afrs. I'm sure it would make a tad less per psi on the 1.4t, but anything in the low 200s is winning.
Re: 1.4L Cruze Ecotec in a J-Body?
Wednesday, January 08, 2014 8:40 PM
i wanna finish the fire first...then go from there...lol the cruze is DD status right now.



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