ecotec swap (Page 12/98) wftb DEC 16, 10:04 AM anyway , i would like to keep this thread on topic .this is the ecotec swap thread ,not the lets argue about engines thread .there are plenty of threads that you can argue about engines on . please restrict your posts to how to suggestions and if you are doing an eco swap feel free to post all about it on this thread . i am working on the exhaust right now.i have decided to make use of my flex pipe that i have already paid for and go the up and over the tranny route .that way i can put the cat in the original location and the muffler can fit in the back ,and i can make use of at least one of the stock tips.the muffler is a single outlet ' cherry bomb ' i found at canadian tire in london ont.so if i hang both tips ,one will be for looks only.i am doing it on the cheap this way because next year i am going to turbo the motor and the exhaust will have to be changed again anyway.pics wftb DEC 16, 10:09 AM the hole in the trunk will be covered over with sheet metal and i will refit the original carpet. wftb DEC 16, 10:12 AM there will be a lot of header wrap used to protect all the wiring and hoses. wftb DEC 26, 05:34 PM i have got my latest version of exhaust system working .i ran the pipes backward to the stock fiero .the pipe to the cat goes under the cradle the it goes up and over the tranny and to the top of the engine compartment and back down into the muffler mounted near the stock location . then i hooked a stock gt tip to the muffler and it exits on the drivers side in the stock location.the centre output of the ecotec is what makes all this necessary .all the piping has been wrapped with header wrap to protect the hoses and wiring .i overlapped more than normal and the covered it with duct tape .except for the pipe that comes right off the manifold ,you can grab any pipe with your bare hand and not get burnt .i need to add some pipe insulation over the fuel lines before i drive the car . this is all a bit unorthodox , but it suits what i want until i turbo the motor and then i will get a custom stainles exhaust made .i have found a shop local to me that will make a set up ,headers and all. pics : wftb DEC 26, 05:37 PM wftb DEC 26, 05:39 PM wftb DEC 26, 05:41 PM wftb DEC 29, 04:33 PM since we are not getting snow right know ,i decided to take the car out for a spin .i had a coolant leak develop at the allen head drain plug while the car was sitting ,and it let enough air in to cause an airlock . after i fixed the leak i couldnt get rid of the airlock.i dont know how i managed to to get rid of the airlock when i first drove the car ,but i had to make an extra fill neck up at the rad to get the air out.the water jacket on the ecotec goes quite a bit higher than the 2.8 did .add to that the fact that the cooling lines come out of the engine on the wrong side of the car resulting in the coolant flow going in the bottom and out the top of the rad ,and you understand why the airlock is hard to get rid of.i was thinking of making some crossover coolant tubes ,but even on the hottest days the car does not overheat the way it is .i will post a pic of my airlock fix after this post.so the cooling system works properly know . but i had two disappointments today .my new exhaust that seemed to work fine in the garage ,runs way too hot on the road .the duct tape i put on over the header wrap is slowly melting off and i am a little worried about a fire.so its back to the drawing board ,too bad because it ran well and has a nice sound to it.i dont know how many layers of header wrap it would take to protect everything and the stuff is 80 $ a roll so i dont intend to find out.the other problem is the gas guage that seemed to be working did not move when i put more gas in today .it read 0 and moved up to 1/8 when i first put gas in after installing the cavalier pump and sending unit in the fiero tank ,but it seems to be stuck in that position . there seemed to be lots of room for the arm to go up and down ,but who knows .could be just a bad sender .i will have to run it out of gas sometime and see if it will give me a 0 indication.i am not dropping the tank again this year. as far as the exhaust goes ,i may just have to lose the bottom of the trunk and keep every thing underneath and at the back.or i might bite the bullit and try a solstice manifold ,but i still think that would still require going up and over any way and that is where the problem is. losing some of the trunk seems to be a pretty common thing after an engine swap and i will still have enogh room for my golf clubs and a small overnight bag so it wont be a big deal.not really what i wanted to do but i cant leave it the way it is. ICouldaBeenAV8 DEC 31, 07:19 PM Header wrap is always going to get hotter than duct tape can stand. I would get it off of the header (the duct tape). A better header insulation would be a bag style of wrap which is not in direct contact with the header. wftb JAN 03, 03:55 PM yes that certainly is true.anyway ,i got our two sets of golf clubs and it didnt matter how i tried i could only get one set of clubs in the stock size trunk .so that made me realize i am not losing much by cutting off the lower part of the trunk to make more room for the exhaust. this will also mean that i dont have to put the cat in the stock location . i also decided to turbocharge the car now instead of waiting till next year . it should be here on monday .it is for a subaru ,but looks easy to adapt to the cavalier manifold .with the turbo ,i hope to be able to run with a cat and no muffler .thats what they do on remote turbo camaros and they dont sound too loud .so now all the exhaust is back off of the car while i wait for my turbo.and i cut off the bottom of the trunk .pics when i get the turbo.