1.6 Engine Swap

I have tried a shearch but didnt find much....

Just want to know which Vit engine i will need for a 98 Jimny?

Also what parts will i need to buy/adjust for it all to work

And is it worth the hassle?

I have found this... is it accurate?

The write up below is for putting a Baleno Engine into a Jimny. But with the comments below it should be clear about fitting the Vit / Grand Vit 1.6 engine as well.

You can use the Vitara 1.6 16v, Grand Vitara 1.6 16v or the Baleno 1.6 16v engines. It's best to go for the distributorless engine like the Jimny is - 2 coils on the cam cover. I used the Baleno engine as it was all I could find at the time.

If you use the Vitara / Grand Vitara there is a very good chance you wont need to swap the sump / mod the pickup pipe like I had to as the Baleno has the sump pot at the front not the back. Just look at the engine you buy and you'll be able to work out if it'll fit.
Also if using the Vitara / Grand Vitara engine you shouldn't need to replace the waterpump inlet pipe and the use the blanking plate on the cylinder head like you do with the Baleno engine as they should already be there.

OK from the bottom up Baleno 1.6 into a Jimny....
Sump:
I used the Jimny Sump and modded the Jimny Pickup pipe. The pickup pipe where it goes into the oil pump is wider on the 1.6, so I cut the end of the baleno pipe 1" down from where it goes into the pump, did the same thing with the Jimny Pipe and and welded the Jimny pickup to the baleno pump inlet pipe.
Also remember you need to drill and 6mm tap No. 4 main bearing cap with a blind hole for the mounting of the pickup pipe as well.
If your Jimny is a hard top then there's a good chance it doesn't have a crank sensor. Mine didn't. So you may will also have to address the issue that the baleno engine might have had. This could leave a hole that goes directly into the sump below the timing belt pulley.
Conversely if it's a soft top you may need the crank sensor so you'll need to make sure the baleno engine does have one!
Solution: Belzona!

Flywheel / Clutch:
Jimny one - Put a new clutch in while you're there.

Bell housing:
Either re-drill the block or buy an adapter plate. Same as the SJ conversion write up on here.
Note: If buying an adapter plate buy one that has the full ring around the bottom of the bellhousing. Every adapter plate I have seen was for an SJ and didn't accommodate for revised clutch cable on the Jimny. So we simply cut that bit of the plate out so that the clutch cable entry mount fitted snugly. You will also need to drill the top 2 gearbox bolt holes out to 12mm from 10mm so you'll need the bellhousing bolts from the Baleno as well if you can pinch them.
Also the countersunk bolts to mount the plate... They'll probably be 1.25mm pitch thread. The Jimny box is 1mm pitch. Most just graunch the bolts in. I re-threaded them to 1mm.

Starter motor.
The Jimny "fat" starter will not fit. You can either grind the block a bit OR get get the Skinny bosch starter fitted to some vitaras. I use the skinny starter.

Engine Mounts:
Driver's side engine mount will be about 30mm as the engine mount castings on the block are set about 30mm back from the G13BB ones. I went completely freestyle on this and made made my own mount from 6mm steel plate. I have read of people redrilling the bottom of the mount to accommodate for this move backwards so it's a case of have a look and decide how you want to proceed. Passenger side is a bolt on replacement.

Water pump inlet pipe.
Remove the Baleno one and chuck it! It's no use whatsoever.
Use the jimny one. You will need to make up a small flat bar mounting bracket to fit it to the block as the 1.6 engine the castings are about 30mm towards the back of the block. When you see it you'll understand. I also found the jimny pipe was a loose fit into the hole so I fitted a slightly oversized o-ring.


Baleno Thermostat on rear of the head:
Remove it and put on the blanking plate on from the back of the Jimny head.

Camshaft. If you have a Hardtop Jimny then it probably wont have a crank sensor. If it doesn't and the Baleno engine does then please pull the cam sensor off the back of the cam on the baleno engine. if you are lucky there'll be 11 pickup lugs on the end of the cam. if there's 2 then you need to use the jimny cam - I had to use the Jimny cam it just doesn't rev as hard (6000 + rpm) as the baleno.

Inlet manifold / Injectors. Use the Jimny manifold in it's entirety apart from you NEED the green injectors from the Baleno. It'll run on the orange jimny ones but it runs like a bag of poo! Also no need to change the ECU. The standard Jimny one works very well.

Exhaust Manifold.
Use the Jimny one complete with sensor but you'll need to put a dent in the exhaust pipe to make it clear the bottom of the block where the old gearbox bolt holes were.

I know the above may seem a bit daunting, but it is worth it.
You could always go down the 16V Grand Vitara 1.6 engine route and save yourself the mucking about with the sumps / pickup pipes and crank sensors as that should all fit nicely.

all sounds right apart from the exhaust part ive fitted a baleno engine in a jimny & did not need to dent the exhaust for it to fit

I will be putting a engine out of a 16v vit in a jinny soon too so will see how that goes but should be less work than the baleno engine

I will make a full SS system while i am there anyway...

Would any Vit/Grand Vit engine do?

JerseyJimny wrote: I will make a full SS system while i am there anyway...

Would any Vit/Grand Vit engine do?

as long as its a 16v

Brilliant cheers!