GM 3.0 Liter 4 Cylinder

RDavisinVA

Technical Excellence Contributor
Working on the GM 3.0 liter stroker engine with custom cam, early intake manifold with custom adapter for the Holley sniper 2 barrel.

Notice the large webs on the 3.0 liter crankshaft.
 

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RDavisinVA

Technical Excellence Contributor
Is it a Mercruiser engine?

No the Mercruiser engine has the manifolds on the same side of the head.
It is a 2.5 liter crossflow with the early 2 piece seal Mercruiser 140 crank and rods, custom hi-lift cam, and low compression heavy duty truck pistons.
End result is 3.0 Liters of swept volume 183 CU in with an 8.5 to 1 compression ratio.
 

RDavisinVA

Technical Excellence Contributor
Nice! 2.5 liters is what, Iron Duke or its descendant?

Yes the Iron Duke was the 2.5 151 that was later designated the Tech 4.
It started in 1975 as a non-crossflow engine with the manifolds on both sides of the head and in 1977 the crossflow version was introduced in the Pontiac Sunbird and Chevy Monza.
It was also used in AMC cars and CJ Jeeps until 1983.
In 1982, it went into the DJ-5L Postal Jeep.
In 1984, the Iron Duke was changed to have the same inverted V-pattern as the 2.8 V-6 and was used in dozens of GM, Chevy, and Pontiac vehicles.
The last year of production in a GM vehicle was the 1993 S-10.
Production stopped in 1994, although the engine is still in service by USPS in the Grumman LLV light transport truck.

I've been building a 3.0 Liter stroker version for years for use in the Serise IIA & III, but needed to keep the torque under 185 due to gearbox strength limitations.
With the Defender Style vehicles the limitation is removed.
Shooting for 150HP with 200 FTLBS of torque.
 

RDavisinVA

Technical Excellence Contributor
Up on the run in stand.
Next steps are to hook up all the wiring, fuel, oil pressure gauge, radiator and battery.
Then run it for 2 or 3 hours to break in the cam and make sure all is good before installing it in a 110.

Now the gap between the price of Diesel and regular gas is $0.83.
With a 1.4 TC am expecting 20 - 22 MPG from this engine.
 

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RDavisinVA

Technical Excellence Contributor
Couldn't buy a phenolic block for the small Holley Sniper EFI, so had to purchase a sheet and had the machine ship make a couple of spacers so the air filter housing will clear the valve cover.
 

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RDavisinVA

Technical Excellence Contributor
Mounted the Sniper,
 

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RDavisinVA

Technical Excellence Contributor
Pilot bushing on the early 4 bolt pattern engine with the 153 tooth flywheel and adapter.
Note this setup is shared with the 292.
 

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RDavisinVA

Technical Excellence Contributor
Here are pictures of the 148 tooth flywheel and adapter for the late metric V-pattern engine.
 

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RDavisinVA

Technical Excellence Contributor
Seems like a whole whole lot of work for very little gain? Why pick this engine?

We have been building a lower performance version for the Series IIA and III for over 25 years.
Little gain?

With the latest cam design:
149 HP 191 FT LBS of Torque.
Very very very quick acceleration.
Simple, accessible, easy to work on, bullet proof reliability.
The conversion can be easily completed in a weekend (bolts right in).
Good economy.
Out performs a TDI as it is much quicker.
Would love to have the time to add a low boost 6-9 PSI turbo and get about 170 HP.
 

RDavisinVA

Technical Excellence Contributor
Yes and forgot to mention how quiet and smooth this 3.0 liter gasoline engine is.
Engine has timing gears, so there is no silly timing belt to change, ever!
 

4RF RDS

Well-known member
What an excellent conversion for North American Defenders with the lame 2.5 NA Deisel lump or the 2.25 gas. Nicely done
 

RDavisinVA

Technical Excellence Contributor
Someday would love to put together some sort of average cost per HP and Torque and then everyone would know that the GM 4 cylinder and Chevy inline 6 are much much cheaper than any other conversion and much much easier to install and maintain.
 

SARTech

Well-known member
Cool project.
What was that motor originally sourced in? Maybe I misses that info in previous comments.
 

RDavisinVA

Technical Excellence Contributor
Cool project.
What was that motor originally sourced in? Maybe I misses that info in previous comments.

See post 5.
It is a 151 cu in (2.5 Liter) engine with a different crank, rods, and pistons that stroke it out to 183 cu in (3.0 Liter) displacement.
 

RDavisinVA

Technical Excellence Contributor
The conversion of this GM 3.0 Liter and the Chevy 292 are so easy, am going to pull the 292 to prototype the 3.0 Liter in our 110 and drive it a few months while we refresh the 292 and then swap the 292 back in when we install the AC.
 
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