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Hi all. I have been lurking here for about a year now and decided to finally post my project. The board has been very helpful in the past year. I am a few weeks away from finishing my '76 Cosworth. It will be powered by a 2.4 liter Ecotec from a Pontiac Solstice. The trans is from a '07 Colorado. Most everything else is stock, but everything has been restored. Looking forward to getting this on the road soon. If the engine looks crooked to you...it is. The engine in the Solstice is tilted 10 degrees to the passenger side. I kept this tilt to keep the shifter in the right place.

57todd

looks pretty sweet,like the rims they look great!!cant wait to here how it goes with the new motor.craig

Expect an avalanche of questions, there is a lot of interest in this swap.
I'll start it with this: Why did you use the Colorado trans? Size? Shifter placement?
Do you have a picture of the engine and trans assembly before you stuffed them into the car?

Ken

very cool

Very nice....do you have pictures of the build early on until now? If so, please post. I love it!!!!

I would like more info on the hydraulic clutch master you are using. Are you using a later originally pull type clutch pedal without the wheel and what modifications did you make to the pedal and firewall.

Good questions.

- I used the Colorado trans because the Solstice trans puts the shifter way too far back in the car and it uses a goofy driveshaft connection. Both transmissions are made by Aisin and are identical (including ratios) except for the tailshaft/shifter setup. The photos of the engine out of the car show the Solstice trans. The photo of the trans hump is the Colorado trans. The Colorado shifter hits right where the stock 4-speed was. No cutting.

- The front view engine photo shows the stock Solstice Ecotec engine. The AC compressor is on the driver's side lower. It had to go as it hit the steering box. The PS pump was on the passenger side lower. It is gone now too. The yellow hammer handle shows vertical while the engine is in it's 10 degree tilt.

- The Colorado uses a hydraulic throw-out bearing. I used a Wilwood clutch master cylinder that matched the fluid volume of the Colorado throw-out bearing. I calculated a spot on the stock clutch pedal (below the pivot) that provided the necessary stroke for the master cylinder and drilled a hole. I then located the master cylinder on a matching place on the firewall. It is very close to the brake master cylinder, but works OK.

Will the heater box go back in unmodified and is the proportioning valve for the brakes an aftermarket piece such as Master Power, etc?

Here are some more transmission photos. The trans at the top is from the Solstice the bottom one is from the Colorado. The Solstice bell housing will bolt onto the Colorado transmission. You can see the factory hydraulic throw out bearing in the second photo.

Wizeguy, the stock heater box will work, but the heater core had to be flipped.

Now that is a great looking car. Love your work

cool project! Postup more build pics if you can.

Bill

I got my cam cover back from Jet-Hot this week and also got my rebuilt heater core back. Both are now installed. Progress feels good!

i wanted to do this but my empty pockets wouldn't quite allow it, should be a rocket as the factory 110hp was fun 120 with out the cat and restrictive air box,, but 200 yeah baby, Timmy

I love this idea. Really cool build.

that looks great! I thought about doing it with the 5 cyl but know I see this it probably would not fit.

Bill