Sorry for the disappointment.

Thanks! People haven't been too vocal as of yet, even though I'm sure there are a few reading with contempt...

I can appreciate the dedication to the Rotary, but there are times when this loyalty is taken too far, in my opinion. I can never understand how someone can be so unwavering about it, as if a block in perspective is created.

The way I see it, keeping these cars on the road and keeping them fast will do the most benefit.

 

Exactly.. Ill even admit myself I was a little saddened to see the change, but anyone who cant appreciate a well put together car, regardless of make, manufacturer or drive-train choice is a bit of a tool themselves.

 

Getting a little closer, now wrapping up a few smaller details and getting parts like fuel lines and the driveshaft ordered.



I had the 8.8 Cobra differential fully rebuilt with new Ford Racing 3.73 gears.



Front subframe:



Going in from under the car for a test fit:





Headers mounted... I had my Advans rewrapped in 265 A048 tires, which you can spot in the background.



Mmmm... Gold...

 

Getting even closer.

Here is the custom length aluminum driveshaft with a CV joint from Driveshaft Shop:



I wanted to overkill the fuel system's plumbing. The majority of it will consist of a -6AN stainless steel hardline that runs underneath the chassis and parallels the rear brake's hardline. The "connecting" lines needed to be flexible.

In comes the teflon lined Kevlar HS-79 hoses:


Hardline to the fuel filter/FPR:



Marcus made this bracket to hold the bulkhead connector for the long section of the hardline.



At the other end on the engine bay’s firewall, there is another bracket that holds together the fuel hardline and hardline for the rear brakes.



The goal is to remove redundant wires and relays from the engine bay to have a clean, tucked install. A great deal of effort is obviously required for this portion.



It was also determined that the spot-welded brackets which used to hold the stock radiator’s crossmember needed to be removed from the frame rails.



Engine mounted in its new home:





A look at the front subframe from below:



Header clearances:

 

Awesome work. Has to be the cleanest FD underside I've seen .

 

This build is awesome! I have been going back and forth on what to do when the inevitable happens and the 13b takes a crap... I have been leaning towards LS2 or 2JZ. The only thing that would make this build better would be boost!

AWESOME BUILD!

 

this is the cleanest car ever.



i REALLY want to re-do my fuel lines and clean up the bottom side of my FD.

i have some pretty bad looking rust/corrosion on my fuel lines and brake lines in the diff area.

 

2jz doesn't fit (not even close) without doing stupid stuff to make it fit: 1. lowering the steering rack and fixing the steering offset, or 2. getting a hood with a big bulge in it.

really not worth it. 1jz is closer, but still doesn't fit.

 

Thanks guys. I never really noticed how clean the under chassis was until a few people, like my alignment shop, started pointing it out.

I chose to go the LSx route not only for the engine, but also for the overall packaging. Everything bolts right in with very minimal modification... no hood cutting, no banging out the transmission tunnel, etc.

Like Jacob noted, swapping in a 2JZ that sits high and requires a bulging hood to fit is far from ideal, in my opinion.

Secondly, the Samberg mounting stuff is very well made and high quality. I can't speak on the mounting equipment for alternative engine swaps, but it would feel wrong to install parts of questionable construction and design.

The ease of fitment and the existence of Samberg's parts is what made going V8 a no brainer for me.


On another note, here is the new titanium shift **** I had made

 

clean work!

 

My bad, I have no idea why I said 2jz... I have a RB25 I was thinking about putting in, but you run into similar issues. I'll ether stick with the 2 rotor or go LSX.

 

Sick shift **** Eric! where'd you have it made? On a side note I think I need your alternator if you still have it! pm's welcomed!

Clean build man! This may be me in the distant future but I hope not lol! Just got done talking to the wifey about smogging the 13b not a good talk lol!

 

Super clean as always. I'm surprised your racing beat swaybar mount fit, mine hit the steering rack.

 

I had it made by Chris from WC Lathe Werks. The exact specifications and dimensions of the shift **** are listed on my website

You could always look into an E-Rod motor and then BAR'ing your car as an option around smog

Thanks! What part of the steering rack did your mount hit?

 

I can't tell if you are using heavy duty swaybar mounts or stock but on stockers the mounting tabs were catching on the hold-down brackets for the rack.

It's possible it was alignment issues on my part. I was planning on beefing it up slightly differently in the future.

 

so awesome , please keep up the updates

 

Engine and differential are installed, now work is turning towards the smaller items on the list. These are all detail-oritented and take the most time...

Plugging up unnecessary nipples on the t-stat housing:



AN fittings were welded onto the valve covers for a crankcase ventilation sub-project.





An AN fitting and redirected extension was also welded onto a crossover tube at the front of the engine to clean up the line routing.





The proportioning valve had to be moved upwards with new lines due to clearance issues with the LS3.



Samberg radiator setup:

 

This as so much win all over it! I would be curious to know all said and done what the cost was.

 

Significant... I'm well over 20k for swap specific parts and labor if you want a ballpark figure. I feel like half of the car has been rebuilt and changed out with this swap.

V8 swaps can be done in a budget friendly manner, i.e. using a LS1 from a pullout and throwing it in. When you use newer engines and require a high attention to detail, more so than "just make it run", things can get exponentially more expensive.

 

I have played with the idea of using a LQ9 and swapping LS heads and intake on to it for cost savings. Ether way the swap itself is costly (Figure it would be 10k plus) and time consuming. I dont know much at all when it comes to domestic engines so thats another draw back... That and I would have to boost it to make it worth it.

 

there are many ways to tackle the v8 build...

5.3 + turbo cheapest! $6000-$10000

5.7 all motor $10k-15k

Erics build just by looking at the parts alone = $20k already.... labor maybe in the 7000-10k lol...

i've seen my good share of v8 swapped cars already, Erics build is probably among the top 5 v8 swaps.

welcome to the world of V8!!

some questions about your swap.

i might have missed it but what did you do about the power steering and reverse solenoid?

 

^Good breakdown of the costs

For the power steering, I installed a Chips Motorsport manual steering rack a while back during the single turbo days. Power steering pump was removed and a new idler pulley was fabricated.

The standalone engine harness has a provision for the reverse solenoid and the PCM should have been set accordingly for it.

 

Do you plan on wrapping the headers?

Great work btw, it's turning out really well done.

 

You have more space on the side of your headers than with the 13b in there, especially with the stock twins. That's crazy!

 

Not at the moment, the headers are already ceramic coated so I plan on leaving them as is

The V8 fits in the bay very well. Nothing to the chassis had to be modified or touched at all to make it fit, everything bolted right in. The headers even clear the bottom of the firewall perfectly, without having to dent anything.