Thank you for the welcome. 😃 You won't see me use smilies very often!
The Z22SE engine is under consideration as I've been impressed by it on my son's car. I'm looking for a replacement for the Lancia Beta twin cam engine currently fitted in the rear of my car - it's getting harder to source parts for this engine and although capable of making good power if worked over enough, it's very expensive and right at the limit for road use much above 170 bhp even though race versions have been pushed somewhat over 200.
Most owners have replaced the ageing Beta twin cam with the Alfa Romeo 3.0 V6 in one of its variants: this is a well-trodden path and so has much to commend it. I'm not convinced that a lighter unit that can be made to deliver similar power to the 2.4 litre V6 of the originals (190 bhp) might not be a better solution. The Z22SE is plentiful, not silly money and there's loads of expertise with them out there and on here. It also makes sense to pool knowledge, tools, parts etc with my son.
The GM unit does have some attractive features: inlet and exhaust on the "right" sides for me, what looks to be mainly a good layout, low weight and what appears to be fairly compact dimensions though it's hard to tell with the engine in the boy's VX220 as I can't see so very much of it. I hope it's not too tall though - the Lancia engine is inclined at around 15 degrees and this works well. Not worried about breaking cam chains - the boy's VX has already done that! Due to the age of my car, I can expect to run my new engine without cats and the existing exhaust will need modification, not replacement. I'm hoping that I can set it up for Dellorto DHLA carburettors if I so chose (only for vintage appeal you understand, not for accuracy of fuelling) or at least a cable-operated throttle body.
On the debit side, the water pump position may be awkward for me. The unequal length driveshafts that push into the diff require will need more sorting out than FIAT/Alfa solutions that employ a third intermediate driveshaft and flanges to bolt the outer drive shafts to so there may well be knock-on effects on the rear wheel bearings/uprights and hubs. It would be nice to find an engine variant with a block mounted intermediate shaft bearing. Finally a four-pot will never really sound right for the car.
I'm on a steep learning curve as to what fits what. I've no idea where the alternator, air con pump and especially the engine mountings are, what all the gearbox codes are etc, etc but looking forward to finding out. And to think that once I thought FIATs and Alfas were confusing - there are so many more GM engines and boxes. Expect me to ask some seriously daft questions.
Finally, are there parts CD/DVDs available? Same applies to workshop manuals or must I be saddled with Haynes?
I've gone on long enough...