Back in 1996, I bought a V8 kit from a shop in Canada called Ron's Mechanical something or other. It cost $600 and turned out to be a copy of Archie's plate and mounts, only in steel.

It weighs a TON.

The quality was unbelievably poor, and Ron(?) and his shop vanished from the net and the earth shortly after I bought it.

Does anyone have any info on this kit? This guy? It came with a video detailing the poor quality buildup of a Lambo kit he was selling.

Anyway, I managed to get the engine in the car with the kit, but I didn't finish the project. I was just wondering if anyone else out there had any experiences with this kit.

I also want to know if anyone has any info on the old Corson or Zumalt kits (I think they were one in the same). Those kits shoved the engine to the left 2" and required different axles. Does anyone know anything about these? Did any FWD car come with axles that could be used in place of the custom axles?

Since I have most of the parts I need for the swap already, I was going to look at possibly combining the best (or easiest) features of these two kits into a semi "home brew" V8 swap.

Or maybe I'll just trash the whole mess and give Archie a call like I should have done in the first place...

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Timothy E. Smith
1986 SE V6
1984 Coupe

[This message has been edited by tesmith66 (edited 12-19-2001).]

Sounds like it could be a Hi Tech Development Kit. their located in Toronto Ontario. They now offer a copy of a Zumwalt kit , but perhaps the same guy has decided to diversify his product.

Someone here have the Link to HTD?

Do you have rons last name?

JM

No. And from the looks of his product, I don't blame him for not giving it!

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Timothy E. Smith
1986 SE V6
1984 Coupe

Geez, I remember that steel version.
When I worked at Fiero Specialties/Whitehorse Co., Rich had a steel adapter there collecting dust for some reason. That was heavy chunk of metal.

I'd get the aluminum(?) one from Archie.

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Its never going to be finished...

[This message has been edited by Joe Torma (edited 12-19-2001).]

The Corson kit IS the high tech kit, they bought the rights for it...
there webpage is http://www.hi-techdev.com/

they have a pictuure of a white countach replica on the front page of their site, so it could be them who made it.

HTD's website:
http://www.hi-techdev.com/default.htm

Oh, adrift beat me to it!

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Timothy E. Smith
1986 SE V6
1984 Coupe

[This message has been edited by tesmith66 (edited 12-19-2001).]

[This message has been edited by tesmith66 (edited 12-19-2001).]

[This message has been edited by tesmith66 (edited 12-19-2001).]

The splined axle shafts are custom for the HTD kit...no known FWD direct swap parts. It also appears their kit is pretty much a direct "knock off" of the Zumalt Kit.

I'm running the Zumalt Kit and using Mark Williams Racing splined shafts with stock CV joints. The spined shafts aren't cheap ($700), but real strong, depends on how much horse, and torque you want to put out.

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You can also get custom cut shafts from http://www.moserengineering.com I had custom shafts done for my 440t4 OD automatic tranny for about $60 each. That is, of course, if you really want to try finishing the kit you've got. Good Luck.

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Did you have your existing axles cut and resplined? I could do that with the short (LH) one, but the long (RH) would have to be replaced with one 2" longer.

Does anyone have any axle specs? I might be able to get a parts store to let me look at their axle books. Most of those books have an appendix that lists the dimensions for all of the part numbers they carry, don't they?

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Timothy E. Smith
1986 SE V6
1984 Coupe

I am looking for a CHEAP sbc to fiero tranny plate for a 4.3 swap I want to do all I need is the plate in allmost any condition I can alwayes get my machine shop to make a copy as long as its cheap but I need a plate to start with my machinist said he could make me a copy from aluminum If I can give him a plate to start with .
I am a welder and will make the rest of the mounts/brackets

Thanks for the help
Ps used would be fine

this is an interesting post.

the adaptor plate is easy to copy,as are the mounting brackets, but has anyone put much consideration as to what or which flywheel to use in any of these combinations.

Any additional details would be helpful.

Hey I don't want to distract anyone's thread, but something's been bugging me - I know what a "Zumalt" kit is. What the heck is a "Zumwalt" kit? I've seen this referenced a couple of times now. Just curious.

Thanks,
Hartz

I used a 153 tooth flywheel from a 1986 Camaro and had the new holes drilled and tapped for the pressure plate, then I put a 1/4" x 45 degree chamfer on the edge opposite the ring gear for bellhousing clearance. I then had to clean up the casting flash on the inside of the bellhousing. I have two of these flywheels, one for the 2 piece rear main SBC and one for the 1986 and up 1 piece rear man SBC.

Like Earl, I am considering a 4.3 as well. I have a couple of 350s and an older 4.3 that I could use.

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Timothy E. Smith
1986 SE V6
1984 Coupe

i heard one of those kits that shoved the whole assembly off 2 inches "we use racing axels the right one is 2 inches longer and the left is 2 inches shorter then the stock ones" well cant you just swap the stock ones then? left to right?

No. On the manual trannys, the right axle is twice as long as the left.

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Timothy E. Smith
1986 SE V6
1984 Coupe

The third thread I've found on this topic. I program CNC machines and have access to such. I'm looking for the dimensions for dowel to crank centers myself to make a sbc adapter plate for my 85GT. I have yet to have any luck but can probably drop a 2.8 and a 350 block on a CNC mill and have it find the centers-seems like there might be some interest in this-I could provide a CAD drawing of such if i did this, let me know who's interested........

I am very interested. I have been looking for that information as well, but so far no luck. I am a design engineer and use lots of 3D solid modeling software, so naturally I am interested. My little plan is to put the engine compartment and cradle in 3D, and then start modeling engines and trannies to research new combinations and/or make improvements to existing ones.

It sounds like a very geeky thing to do, and I'm just geeky enough to try it!

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Timothy E. Smith
1986 SE V6
1984 Coupe
1996 Ford Probe GT
1999 Chevrolet Silverado Z71
1975 Chevrolet ElCamino SS

Well I'm starting to think maybe its worth hauling the 2 blocks to the shop and doing it myself since there seems to be at least marginal interest in this. I suppose I could charge $5-$10 or something for a CAD drawing to make it worth my while without breaking anyone's bank. I've not been too impressed with some of the kits I've seen up close(no offense to anyone)in terms of cost to make/cost(mind you not everyone has the ability or access to machines that I do) I haven't seen all the kits out there either. The kit mentioned in this post from HTD didn't impress me much at all and I've been to the shop in Toronto. There are only 4 dowels that need to line up(2 on each side) so its not alot to measure with the machine(just those 4 holes and the crank centers) I'd use transfer punches for the bolt holes as mentioned in another one of my posts as these aren't critical. The front mount is easy and I have what I think is a unique idea for the waterpump drive but I think the only one who could tell me its a good one or a bad one is Archie(he seems to know the most about the swaps from experince). A pic of the waterpump on a 'laterally unshifted' V8 Fiero from directly above the motor(looking down the pulley mounting face) would help me decide this for myself(with motor in the car of course). If anyone is partially through a V8 project and can post a pic or email me one that would be great. I'm still interested in hearing more opinions about this though.........

I seem to remember seeing in one of my Chevy Power books a drawing with dimensions on it, have to look when I get home. Same book has the dimensions (in mm not in) for the v6. Would those be the dimensions your looking for? I think they are referenced off the crank centerline in at least the small block v8. If it is the dimensions you want, I (or someone)could do a scan of the page and send it as an attachment.

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Yellow Formula
(soon to be 3.4 DOHC)

take it from me, please(!) been there, done all of this ! i to had the same feelings as you guys about making my own kit. i have a old zulmat adapter plate and mounts that used as a guide to cnc all my own "kit". it all worked to my design but it wasnt worth the time i invested. shortly after i did my v8 swap i started having starter problems. to make a long story short, i now have mostly archie kit in my fiero. i can not say enough about the archie kit. bite the bullet and spend the $1000.00(?) on the basic kit.
spend all the extra time that you would have spent on making the kit on engine design or supension upgrades or destorying punk kids in mustangs.
just my advice to you.

Hey 'Joe (isn't that a song.....) I'd really appreciate that scan if the dimensions are present. The Chevy power book I have, volume 5 I believe, does not have them. I thought it did at first but be careful, some of the bellhousing views show the centerlines of the head dowels. I only really need the trans dowel to crank centers for both motors as these are the critical ones but if the bolt holes are there as well even better. Where can one buy the book, GM dealer?? Someone gave me the version I have.
I figure the cost for me to make the adapter plate myself is about $150 cnd,(about $100 us) so the price difference here isn't minor. I've fabricated lots of brackets for alternators etc on my big block jetboat so if the only other problem people would caution me on is the starter lining up I'm still not convinced......... no disrespect to Archie or anyone else making kits but not everyone has the ability to engineer it themselves or access to the necessary equiptment. In fact the more I read this forum the more respect I have for Archie. I've been to his web page quite a few times and he seems like a very up front type of guy.

HAHA! jackpot! I finally got my hands on a newer version of the Chevy Power book. Its from 1994 and has all the info one would need to fabricate you adapter plates. It has dimensions for both small block and 60 degree v6 in it. It also has some useful information about flywheels and their dimensions etc. I'm hoping to have a mockup adapter plate made by the end of the week at work-I'll do the first few in MDF since its cheap but hard enough to check for fit and clearances. If anyone is interested PM me and I'll try to photocopy/scan the drawings for you.