2.6 Magna into GE

[valitank]

Yeah its probably been covered millions of times.. Although I cant seem to find anything specific about this topic, So here goes

My Understanding is that all magna 2.6 motors are narrow block.. Therefore I need a Jap narrow block gearbox to make this work.

Is it a case of unbolting the magna mounts, and bolting the sigma ones back on?

Timing cover... Is it possible to use a narrow block 2 litre one? or even one off an astron 1 2.6?

Sump... Will the magna one suffice or will this be a case of using a sigma one?

Rear waterpump hole in the block, I assume its a case of making a blanking plate and bolting it on?

Are there any advantages/disadvantages of using a magna block as apposed to a sigma one? In terms of internal strength etc

What would a stock magna motor handle in terms of boost.. And what are a must to upgrade if chasing serious power?

[A112H]

Timing cover and sump need to be swapped for GN Sigma items.
Magna timing cover has no water pump as they are run off of the back of the head.
Normal narrow block (ie 2.0) timing cover will foul on the bigger Magna oil pump but more importantly there are some bolt holes that don't line up. Magna sump has the pan at the wrong end and will sit on your cross member and drag link.
The reason GN Sigma stuff works is because they are the only model to truly share a Magna engine, they were produced in conjunction for a few months with the TN Magna.
You can pic a GN engine by the large lump on the back of the block, opposite side to the starter motor, this lump will have a welsh plug in the back of it and two theaded holes either side, this is for a water pipe fitting on a Magna.

Hope this helps


EDIT: When removing the timing cover, do not forget the two little bolts from inside the head. I have seen a few timing covers cracked over the years by impatient people who have forgotten these bolts and started using levers to get the cover free, lol

[BAD-SIG]

What he said . I've done this same conversion a couple of times now. The easiest way is to buy a donor GN Sigma and then swap all the bits over. I just finished fitting an Borg Warner auto Astron II 2.6 into my GE Sigma SE that has a Torqueflite MA904. Just swap the torque converters, bolt engine in (the engine mounts are exactly the same so no need to swap). You will need to change your wiring slightly as the later model engines have the ignition module attached to the dizzy. Otherwise you can keep the original iginition and bolt it up to the new engine, it works!

Just remember that legally you have to fit the cat converter too and have all your anti-pollution gear hooked up, but since the engines are so similar and it's been a long time since anyone has seen or worked on a GE Sigma, I find that mechanics and roadworthy inspectors usually assume the engine is stock and don't ever look for a cat converter.

[Sigmaproject]

Definitely way easier to fit a GN Sigma Astron II. Or even an Astron II from a Triton or Pajero.

None of the 1985 Astron II's had a cat, so you would have to be pretty unlucky to get picked up for not having one.

[BAD-SIG]

I think the Scorpion got the Astron II earlier than the Sigma too, not sure if it was as early as the GJ though, but the GK definately had it. I found the early model Astron II Scorp has a slightly different intake manifold which only suits Astron II heads with the smaller rear water passage, if you fit it to a larger rear water passage head, you'll find that the manifold doesn't cover the water port completely! It seems that model Scorpion also had a lot less polution gear crap than the later models did!