Ecotec LSJ for Aveo (supercharged 2.0L engine swap)

[Z34guy]

subscribed. I love superchargers. I'll take a nicely tuned Supercharged engine over a turbocharged engine any day.

[thehotrodguy]

In the attached pics you can see the finished suspension, the spindles are from a 2006 cobalt and so are the struts. The struts have been modified with a Ground Control coil over kit and the A-arms have been modified to accept a cobalt ball joint to allow me to mount the spindles. After I mounted the spindles I found that the Aveo tie rod ends would not work and I had to use tie rods from a Cobalt. This created another problem, not only are the Cobalt tie rods two inches too short the thread size is different 14MM for the Aveo and 16MM for the Cobalt. So after some resource I found that as set from a 96 Hyundai would work perfectly. This setup allowed me to use axles from a Suzukit


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This setup will allowed me to use axle shafts from a Suzuki Forenza, I will be running this setup with the current 2.0 turbo setup that I have. This is all in preparation for the LSJ install, the hub splines are different between the Avoe and the cobalt. The spline for the Cobalt and the Forenza are the same so this setup will allow me to run the Suzuki shafts now and later the shafts from the Cobalt. As for the the brakes I will be running the Wilwood's that I had previously installed I just have to fab up a custom bracket before I can get the brakes back on. I will be upgrading to the Brembo’s latter on as the project progresses, this will require 17 inch rims.


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[Ratchet104]

Any new info on this?

[AveoGirl]

It looks to be a nice project, I'm excited to hear the updates about the Brembo's brake setup custom fitment in the Aveo.

[reddemonx92]

I have a question though why is it so necessary to change the suspension? Never did a swap so dont really understand why

[petrified.rabbit]

he was doing it for the spindles, to match the engine, and to have the bigger cv joints.

It might not be necessary, a lot of people dont do it, but he is taking the preemptive approach, instead of building the car snapping 20 axles then fixing it.

[thehotrodguy]

Petrified.rabbit is correct about taking the preemptive approach, but it goes beyond breaking axles. The spine count between the Aveo and the Cobalt spindles is different so one could have very expensive axles made or go this route. There is a big advantage to going this route, you can use Cobalt parts that can be brought cheaply. And the Brembo upgrade becomes a bolt on option transplanted from a Cobalt. I will soon have an update on the project, I was waiting on getting some $$ together to be able to continue with the project. I have a stage II clutch coming in from Clutch Masters and as soon as it comes in I will mate the trans to the engine and start the install process. I have mapped out all of the wiring between the Aveo and Cobalt ECM and after a ECM re-flash to get rid of the VATS settings I think that it should not take too much to get the engine started.

[reddemonx92]

That must be alot of parts. You have suspension from a cobalt/forenza and engine/trans and cobalt ecu?

[thehotrodguy]

The project is moving along I needed to complete two very important task to allow me to go forward with the engine swap. First I needed to relocate the battery in the trunk to give me the additional space that will be needed for the LSJ intake, this is what I came up with. I made a custom panel that I put in the location where the spare tire used to be and come up with some custom hold downs for the Optima batter. The panel was then covered it some head liner material and the hold downs powder coated red.

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The next thing in the list of things to do was to upgrade the fuel system by adding a high output fuel pump. I did not go with a Walbro because most of these pumps are design to work with a fuel system with a return. Also the Walbro fuel pumps are not designed to work the fluctuating voltage of the return-less style fuel systems. The pump would not last very long and would go bad. I also wanted to keep the fuel system simple and not have to deal with setting up a return line. Listed below are pictures of the OEM fuel pump and the pump assembly.


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I ended up using a TRE-Performance fuel pump for a 1998-2011 Ford Mustang, part number (TRE-345). I had to make some mods to the fuel pump for it to fit but it was not a big deal. I had to cut about 1/8 off of the end of the outlet tip for the pump to go all of the way into the assemble. The new fuel pump is now in the car and working perfectly, I will be running the car for a bit with the fuel pump just to make sure continues to work properly. I did not take any pictures of the whole reassembly procedure it is strait forward. Attached below is a picture of the TRE fuel pump.

[johnneh]

Nice project and good progress man, keep us updated... PLEASE! ;D