how about a 3ac head on a 4afe block?

[tfrugal]

hello all,
i have been searching the archives and getting some good info (and a bit of head spin!) about what fits what.
here is is my situation--
i have an 85 sr-5 with a toasted motor. it had a head gasket problem and my lovely brother drove it home from pushing snow and ran it dry trying to get out of a nasty set of drifts to get home. it ended up getting towed out of the drifts after things settled down the next day.
it had no compression, and would not start-- the rings are seized in the pistons, and i figure the head HAS to be shot.
so, its sat all summer, and i have been looking for a way to get it back together...
best price i have found is 400 bucks for a 3ac. pretty much would spend more than that rebuilding it...
now i do have a beater car i am driving right now-- geo prizm with a 4afe in it-- and it runs great!

in reading the archives, it looks to me to be a real pain in the butt to put that 4afe in my tercel, cutting holes in the firewall, and i dont know what you do for intake and exhaust... i would like the fuel injection though.
one of the guys on this site has a 3ac with all the stuff to put it together for 200 bucks, but he is in cali, and i am in indiana.
he wont ship it, and i cant really blame him. i started wondering if i could use the 4afe block and put his new 3ac head on my 4afe?? what issues does that run into? i would still have the 8 verses 6 bolt problem on the flywheel right?
i am open to suggestions, maybe even some sort of swap of my 4afe with a 3ac....

thanks for any advice!!

[tfrugal]

now i know i have read a lot of complaints about how slow and primitive the 3ac head is. my focus is low dough, not to spend big bucks on a rice racer.
i hope the stuff i read in the archives about adding a few holes in the head gasket will help me with longevity, and i might play a bit of port matching games too.
maybe somebody in the midwest has a 3ac in the garage they want to sell?

[Petros]

The 4afe has the same flywheel bolt pattern as the Tercel 3ac. We had a '90 corolla all-trac and when I had the trany out for a clutch job and to change the rear seal I tried a spare Tercel flywheel on it to make sure.

I think it should bolt on okay, and yes, although the 4afe engine is a much better engine, it will save you a lot of trouble to fit the 3ac head on that block. You will want to swap over the water pump housing and heater tubes, etc., the pan, and a few other items too. You can also look for a 4ac, it is a direct bolt-in with minimal messing with it.

Good luck.

[tfrugal]

thanks petros. its always good to get some heads up!!