Contemplating something wild..... December 04, 2004, 11:18:59 PM Ok, after 4 years of Turbo-Chicken ownership, I still am not impressed with the whole 4-cyl turbo "performance" (do I really dare put those words together? Turbo-4 & performance?) Anyway....I love my T-Bird; near mint body, spotless interior, nice stereo, upgraded to 5-lug & 4-wheel disks on an 8.8" rear, etc etc. What I am thinking about is swapping out the 2.3 for something a little more unique. I recently aquired a 3.0 Taurus SHO V6 (all aluminum motor made in a joint venture with Yamaha) that is rated at 220 hp stock. Its a little known fact that there are a couple of ways of turning this motor 90-degrees and powering the correct wheels in something better than a 4-door sedan. I had thought about doing a 5.0 swap, but its been done. I thought about a newer MN-12 SC'd 3.8 but finding one has proven to be very difficult!! I guess what I'm getting at is it sounds like theres going to be one weird motor swap being started soon!! I'll keep everyone posted when/if anything good OR bad happens!!!! Wish me luck?? RAY Quote Selected
Re: Contemplating something wild..... Reply #1 – December 04, 2004, 11:30:57 PM Good to hear that you're thinking of trying something out of the ordinary. You know, of course, that we'll need lots of pics if you succeed.. or if you fail spectacularly. (I'll be pulling for the former) Quote Selected
Re: Contemplating something wild..... Reply #2 – December 05, 2004, 12:05:37 AM I wish you goooooooooood Luck !!!And dont forget the pics of the progress ! Quote Selected
Re: Contemplating something wild..... Reply #3 – December 05, 2004, 12:09:14 AM awesome man...good luck. ive heard of them being dropped into ford tempos....i didnt know there was a rwd tranny that would work with that bad boy...very cool....anyway...i hope it realy comes together for ya.... Quote Selected
Re: Contemplating something wild..... Reply #4 – December 05, 2004, 11:15:21 AM I think Chuck is working on that swap in one of his cars. I haven't heard much about it though. Sounds like an awesome project! I love wierd engine swaps. Quote Selected
Re: Contemplating something wild..... Reply #5 – December 05, 2004, 12:07:35 PM I wish you good luck Quote Selected
Re: Contemplating something wild..... Reply #6 – December 05, 2004, 12:19:34 PM Wouldn't the 4-cyl T5 bolt up? I always thought the FWD Vv6 had the same bolt pattern as the 4-cyl and 60-degree V6 RWD engines Quote Selected
Re: Contemplating something wild..... Reply #7 – December 05, 2004, 05:10:16 PM that would definately be a project....ive seen it done on a festiva but engine placed in the rear!!! Quote Selected
Re: Contemplating something wild..... Reply #8 – December 05, 2004, 06:26:46 PM Quote from: Blownbirdthat would definately be a project....ive seen it done on a festiva but engine placed in the rear!!!THat project also just used the entire front subframe and installed it as a unit. Quote Selected
Re: Contemplating something wild..... Reply #9 – December 06, 2004, 09:02:03 PM Well, thanks for the words of encouragement guys!!! (and girls?) Anyway, I've been doing some research and found that not only did Ford make a 3.0 V6 5-speed thats a direct swap onto this motor, there is also an adaptor plate that will mate a 2.8 V6 to a T-5. Thankfully the 2.8 & this 3.0 have the exact same bellhousing bolt pattern...meaning I should be able to just leave my tranny in place as is and build things forward to fit the engine into the bay without serious modifications!! The only "problem" is that you have to convert the clutch system over to hydrualic instead of cable...that may take some planning, but otherwise it sounds like it should be a fairly easy swap until I get to the EFI system. The good news is that I am getting the ENTIRE front clip of the Taurus so I will have ALL wiring, hoses, tubing, clips, etc, etc, etc, to use at least as reference if nothing else. I promise I'll keep everyone posted (with pictures if possible) as the project goes along. It will probably be a few monthes before things really get rolling since i want to fresehn up the motor and detail it before I pull the Bird apart completely. So, anyone interested in a good 2.3T/T5?? Just let me know!!! Later, RAY Quote Selected
Re: Contemplating something wild..... Reply #10 – December 06, 2004, 09:27:21 PM Does the Ford 3.0 V6 share the bellhousing pattern with the Yamaha 3.0 V6? Quote Selected
Re: Contemplating something wild..... Reply #11 – December 06, 2004, 09:46:17 PM Yes, the Vulcan 3.0 shares the bell-housing pattern....but there aren't too many good options that way.Wanting the availability of good clutches and transmissions I'm going the route to adapt the 5.0 bellhousing to mine. I may have to do a custom flywheel, but I'd rather have that than a cobbled together clutch set-up. I've got the patterns laid out and a preliminary CAD drawing of the basis for the adapter plate, but I need to get my hands on some material to do up a sample to make sure the holes are in the right spot and then work on sorting the flywheel and starter issues out.Where did you find the adapter for the 2.8 to T-5? Did they use the old 2.8 4spd bell and adapt it that way? Which T-5 are they using? I know the SROD 4 spds behind the 2.8's had a longer input shaft than those they used with the 5.0s, so perhaps they used the T-5 from the 94-95 Mustangs. You'll have a harder time finding a decent clutch for the Colonge engines I would imagine. Quote Selected
Re: Contemplating something wild..... Reply #12 – December 07, 2004, 04:22:15 AM IMO, I'd say DO IT!! I've always been one for one off swaps, that's one of the soul reasons I'm swapping a Chevy 305 TPI for my 2.5L in my Jeep Comanche. Quote Selected
Re: Contemplating something wild..... Reply #13 – December 08, 2004, 01:09:41 PM SHO bird? I am looking forward to this! :) Quote Selected
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