hello all, new to this forum and to this platform, but not to cars, or tuning. i am in the process of rebuilding a blown turbo'ed 06 LSJ. cracked cylinder wall (and the sleeve). i am not going to go into details on how this happened, the story is too long, and would only clutter up the post. i have been doing some research online and found that this family of motors has had quite the history abroad...

simply asking if anyone here on this forum (or any others that you may frequent), has had any success of using the C20LET's block on a built LSJ?

for what i can find it is the last engine in the family to use a cast iron block. it has an 86mm bore (same as the LSJ) and all info i have found is that most all motors in the same displacment in the family should be interchangable... but i am not able to find any example of people swapping this block in on an LSJ..

please help me out, and point me in the right direction. either proof that it does work, (and with what modifications plz) or with proof that it does NOT work (and with supporting info for why it does not)

thank you in advance..

 

No idea on that block. But an LNF block has way thicker sleeves, without the added weight of a cast iron block...

 

Is the car stock?

 

I doubt that other motors will be able to be swapped in do to a lot of reasons

 

@ OP;
I'd think that sourcing a 2.2 block would be easiest to find;
or a replacement LSJ (2.0) block would be the simplest...

iirc ZZP (or the like) offer solutions to this issue you're experiencing...

sorry, but that's all I can think of to help.

 

Ever check out ZZP's girdled block? they tested it to 898whp with no failure!
- ZZP Girdled Block #
Ryan's ZZP LSJ Cobalt Dynos 891 WHP - YouTube

 

lsj and lnf use the same 0.060 thick sleeve the difference is in the block

 

andjpoll's post is what I was thinking...

 

get a zzp block call it good

 

the c20let is not the same ecotec family. that engine family has it routes in the 80s and 90s pontiac sunbird 2.0l ohc motors. this engine family is whats in the aveo and optra. its a european design and it was named ecotec, but shares nothing with the ecotec we know and love.

so short answer, no it wont work.

 

actualy the ecotec has been around since the 70s

 

The first year for our Ecotec family was 2004. It actually came out in the 2005 Cobalt and Sunfire. The ones before that were the old iron block engines which were completely different

 

opel is the originator of the familyII (aka the ecotec) in the 1970s
GM Family II engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The C20LET (or the newer Z20LET) is like you said a cast iron block and to my knowledge mostly used here in Europe by Opel/Vauxhall. The Z20LET was branded "Ecotec", but it's not really related to the later alloy LSJ family. Can withstand some serious abuse though. ;-)
The block is completely different from your alloy LSJ and you will need different engine mounts and a different gearbox (starter postion) to begin with. Different head to, so forget swapping your manifolds. Not to mention the ecu sensors etc...

So... Buy a new alloy Ecotec block, preferably a ZZP reinforced one. :-)

 

Its older than that. Was in europe for a bit before it showed up in the 2000 saturn l100.

Am L61 block will not have oil squirters but everything else is the same.

 

WOW guys thank you very much for the quick responces.. definatly not a dead forum here (i have come across a few in my time of doing research for a wide range of projects)...

i am of same mind when it comes to the zzp block but was looking for a more economical solution... knowing that many manufactors used cast iron/steal blocks in the 80's and as far as mid to late 90's, got me lookin into options from yester-year.

it was after seeing the wiki on the GM family II motor sieries, (the same one linked by mrbelvedere) that my attention was drawn to the C20LET..

but alas the information that Speedytec provided was exactly what i was looking for. the type of info that i could not find by simply using any "search" function..

i did forget to mention that the car is not my own, i am simply taking care of the rebuild for a friend who is over-seas.

once again, thank you all for your prompt responce, and not just outright flamming me.. it is indeed a welcome change to the treatment that i have gotten from a first post question, on other forums..

i am going to investigate the ZZP girdle-block option.

 

Just to clear this up, the L61 Ecotec was first avalible in a Cavalier and Sunfire halfway through the 02' model year. Half of the Z24/GT's in 02' have the old 2.4 Twin Cam, half have the Ecotec.

In 03' it was the only engine avalible for the two models, no matter of trim line.

It however, was avalible previous to the 02' J-bodies in the Saturn S-Series sedans like Leafy mentioned.


OP: Unless you plan on making big power, just get another LSJ block. If your looking for something stronger you can get a 2.4 LE5 or 2.2 LAP bottom end (they are the Gen 2 blocks which have increased sleeve support), which would increase the displacement as well. Only problem you run into here is I think the crank sensors varry between the models, so you will have to find a solution to that, easiest being just run an external crank trigger and relocate the sensor.

 

newt, I wish the ecotec was available in the s series saturn, I'd have one of those instead of the cavy, its the best small fwd chassis GM has made handling wise. It was the L series with the eco.

And only canadian 2002 z24's had ecos in 02 it was the ls sport that got it, MAYBE some super late z24's.

 

So all in all Saturn laid the groundwork for you ******

 

Well technically it was opel, since the L series is just a re-baged opel.