Hey i'm now putting a 5.0 engine into my 3rd gen but i want to push it back some.So of course im going to cut the firewall to do this.What kind of trouble am i looking at?What will need to be arranged around?Will there be enuff firewall to cutout to push the engine back say about 6 inches?

thanx

 

 

that was quite informing

 

I cut the fire wall on my S5 FC to make clearance for the engine I am putting in. I only needed a couple of inches though. I cut it using a cutting wheel on an angle grinder. Of course I removed the dash board, heater box, evaporater and blower. I plan on putting most of that stuff back and it looks like it will still fit. If you want 6" I'd forget about the heater box and A/C.

Why 6" anyway. Lots of engines have went in third gens without that much change.

By the way My project is looking good. I havent rewelded the firewall yet but I do have the engine mounted and am looking at hooking up the all the lines for a test run of the engine.

 

I wont be having a heater box or a/c.already removed.
Im putting a single turbo 5.0 engine in it.And i want as much weight behind the rack.Hell even 3-4 inches will be nice.

 

If you are dumping the Heater and A/C then that should buy you some room. Only other things to watch is the wipers (if you need those) and the steering.

I haven't seen anything on cutting the third gens firewalls. Have you tried the torquecentral forum. They have a ford section. Might find some info there.

 

All RX-7's are unibody, and I cut out a pretty small section of the fire wall, but to put a V8 6 inches back into the fire wall, your probably going to take alot of structural integrety out of the car, so unless you plan on putting a roll cage in the car. I don't think I would remove that much.

But it may not hurt the structure that much.

Anyways, I cut my fire wall, because the engine didn't fit without moveing it back, but a 5.0 is much shorter than my 7MGTE, so I really don't see a need for it. (I sound like everyone else saying that )

 

Unless you are building a track only car, I don`t think you will be able to get more than about 2-3 inches by cutting the firewall. You could certainly fit a supercharger like a Novi, Paxton or Powerdyne unit but the plumbing for a turbo might be tight. You could reverse the headers and have one bank come across the front of the motor just under and ahead of the crank pulley. Then it would be a matter of relocating some stuff to make room for the turbo. Maybe a set of Re-Amemiya headlights to make more room. I dunno, it looks too tight!

Toughguy