CA18DET into 99 S10

[ColbyC]

I was referred here to this forum....heard you guys know what your talking about, so I figured i would give it a shot. How hard would this swap be, as far as motor mounts and trans mount and all the bolt in stuff i can do that, its more the wiring that concerns me. So how hard would this swap be to pull off?

[HighwayStar22]

You can do almost anything with metal and som hockey pucks, so I wouldn't worry about mounting it in there. As long as the block and transmission measurements are close on the S10 I don't see why it wouldn't be do-able.

Now..... getting your 99 Chevy harness, a/c, and all other systems to work with a motor designed for a car a decade earlier than it is going to be a problem....

[ColbyC]

i dont wanna keep the a/c that is gonna come out so I am not worried about that...the thing that concerned me was being about to wire it up

[r34 gtr]

The CA's engine harness only needs a few wires hooked up so it will run. Fuel pump relay, main power, etc. Glad to see you are serious about this man!

[ColbyC]

ya def serious...i think it would be crazy cool even if its not crazy fast...it will be quicker than what i got right now for sure. So basically what your sayin is i need find my fuel pump relay, main power (which would be like battery right?) then ignition. From what I have gather from some people around here i been talkin to is that, i could still have all my lights and everything still wired the same. And as far as instrument cluster, i would probably need to find the wire for that as well huh?

[BACARDI_DWB]

http://forum.ratsun.net/showthread.php?t=549

you can ignore the 510 stuff and just find the chevy wires and go from there.

[ColbyC]

510 stuff? sorry i am dumb when it comes to electrical stuff. But if i understand this correctly, your saying take the s13 harness and plug it into the ca then hard wire my s10 wires to the s13 harness?

[BACARDI_DWB]

yes that is correct kinda i think. i was just giving you the wires (colors) off the CA18 ECU so you can match them to your S10. its not going to be hard to get it running. its going to be hard if you want all the amentities. but those wires listed are the REQUIRED wires needed to make that engine run.

pretty much you have everything you need on your engine if you have the wiring harness. just find the right color wires off the ecu (ca18det) that you already have and match them up with the wires coming from your extremeties (fuel pump etc...) from your S10

[OverBoosted180]

Wow!! Thought about doing this years ago in a 94 s10... Can't wait to see it when it's done! Be sure to post some pics!!

[ColbyC]

will do for sure...i think it will be pretty sweet!!!

The only real amenties that i would like to have is the gauges and radio....i could care less if it has heat or a/c, cause chances of it getting driven in the winter are highly unlikly, cause s10 handle crappy in the snow anyway lol. and maybe wipers, just in case i am out slidin sideways and it starts to rain haha. I cant think of anything else that I would really need, i am gonna remove the air bags. If you think of any other amenties that i might want let me know.

[ca18detgabby]

not a new car wiring guru so bare with me.......but being a 99 isnt it OBD2? thus making the main harness have a ton of extra connections and such? I know the OBD 2 stuff is mainly emissions and would not be an issue since you wont be using the OBD2 computer.

Im more just wondering how you will get the main cluster to work.... or if it is even possible.

nothing a few automete gauges couldnt solve of course.

if it were me I would probably megasquirt it as it being universal should make wiring much easier and forget the CA or S10 ecu..... least it makes sense in my mind.

you will need a 1 piece drive shaft made as well. not hard just something to remember.

you are going to want to wire your break lights and HLs btw too........

[float_6969]

As long as you plan on standalone and aftermarket gauges, anything is possible, and not too hard.

[ColbyC]

if i have the s13 harness, should i be able to hard wire most of my accessories into that?

[BACARDI_DWB]

if i have the s13 harness, should i be able to hard wire most of my accessories into that?

depends, on what accessories you are talking about.

most cars use the ecu to manage the cars engine alone. unless its the newer cars and the ecu does everything from the navigation to managing abs/traction control.

the 90's used switches to control most of it and those were based off relay's and the fuse panel and don't even coincide with the ecu. all the stuff off the s13 ecu only controls the engine stuff/ transmission stuff and some dash displays. so your headlights/taillights and alot of that other stuff you SHOULD not have to wire if you leave your stock s10 stuff to manage it. I have not wired up a chevy so i am not sure completely. do your research and find out what the s10 guys do when they put LS1 engines in them. those guys would have the wiring schematics hopefully.

good luck and don't get discouraged about the wiring. once you get a hang on it and see the flow it will be easy. just take your time and be patient.

[ColbyC]

Anybody know of any good companys to have a custom driveshaft made? cause I am gonna have my s10 rear end posied. But i am gonna need a driveshaft that will bolt up to my rear end but slide on to the end of the transmission yoke. I want it to be a sold driveshaft with no carrier barring cause it wil be stronger that way. And as far as rear supsension goes its pretty stiff right now but I was thinkin bout customizing a rear sway bar in case i decide that I wanna get it sideways from time to time. let me know what you think.

[ca18detgabby]

shaftermasters is a sponsor of nico....

[yourmomsrps13]

http://www.driveshaftshop.com is the only place i would go, they have made a bunch of driveshafts for us for many different motors in cars they werent meant for and all have been awsome.

[ColbyC]

what do you guys think about using the independent rear suspension from the g-body cars, i was thinking it wouldnt be to hard cause my front suspension is exactly the same as the g-bodies. But wasnt sure about the rear suspension set up, however if you have any ideas as far as using the leaf springs I am open to that too. let me know what you think

[BACARDI_DWB]

as the IRS is concerned. what are you going to do? drag, drift, SCCA, or street.

IRS is good for SCCA and street, but stucks at drag racing.

4 link is a good all around suspension especially in a truck. not typical for SCCA, but neither are trucks.

IRS systems ride alot nicer on the street than some 4 links. (SOME 4 links, not all)

figure out what you want to do with the truck and then go that way with it

[ColbyC]

mostly drift......some drag but not often

[BACARDI_DWB]

mostly drift......some drag but not often

do a 4 link and you can set it up where you can have plenty of adjustability, the only thing you won't have adjustability with is camber being that it is a solid rear axle. but there have been plenty of cars with solid rear axles doing drift. you will have a hard time keeping your rear end out there with no weight in the back. i would place a fuel cell in the back behind your axle to keep some weight back there to help you hold some traction, along with your battery. just some advice

[dash]

don't see where an IRS conversion would be worth the hassle in this case. Adds complexity an weight too.

IRS is good for SCCA and street, but stucks at drag racing.

sounds like some "rule of thumb"... "urban myth"... etc..Near stock/mildly moded S-chasis suspensions have produced some ridiculously quick ETs for a street car.Over 10 years ago, I witnessed a stock suspension street rx7 turbo II click off several 9.6-9.8 ETs, unbolt his slicks and drove home from Moroso (13B + spray).How much better does it get, for 'puny motor' performance ?

[BACARDI_DWB]

don't see where an IRS conversion would be worth the hassle in this case. Adds complexity an weight too.

sounds like some "rule of thumb"... "urban myth"... etc..Near stock/mildly moded S-chasis suspensions have produced some ridiculously quick ETs for a street car.Over 10 years ago, I witnessed a stock suspension street rx7 turbo II click off several 9.6-9.8 ETs, unbolt his slicks and drove home from Moroso (13B + spray).How much better does it get, for 'puny motor' performance ?

ok, maybe it does not suck. there are some very fast irs setups, but as you said they add weight, complexity, and they are harder to get the power to the ground since as soon as you squat, you instantly go into camber and loose contact patch. where as a 4 link, when you squat you do not create any camber and your contact patch is at its best.

not saying it cant be done but as a general rule of thumb, why deal with it. yes that rx-7 may have had stock suspension, but i doubt they were stock halfshafts, those things are hard to get to handle lots of power. (halfshafts that is)

i was not doubting irs capability, but for his needs why put the added complexity of IRS into his setup. i was making generalized statements, sorry.

at the end of the day as long as you want to go fast either in a straight line or sideways. your cool by me.

[ca18datsun510]

lets back the train up a few feet.

g-bodies dont have independent rear.

they have a multilink setup.

and if you really are going to do this, i recomend shaftmaster for driveshaft also.

i have dealt with driveshaftshop and shaftmasters, and shaftmasters blows them away on all accounts, customer service, price, product, shipping, etc.