Ford or chevy? I am a ford man by genetics i guess, and no motor sounds better than a nicely modded 5.0, but i have read that the chevy swap is a bit easier, and done more times... I plan on using the car as a part time street terror, but mostly for auto x.. Either way i will need it to pass emmisions here. so a fuel injected engine is were i'll be going..

Anyone who has done a EFI V8 swap into a first gen speak up! I guess going chevy won't be TOO bad.

Unless i can get classic tags on my car, i will need to pass emmisions for three years.. so any suggestions will be appreciated

 

http://www.torquecentral.com/forumdisplay.php?f=11

302 EFI has been done, 351W has been done, LT1s has been done... LS1s...

 

I built a carbureted car, but if I had it to do over, I would go with the fuel injection. Indeed, if I had it to do over, I would buy a wrecked Mustang, so that I would have everything I need. You will spend a lot of time chasing down the parts you need otherwise, and then even more time tryiing to make it all work together. I highly recommend a complete donor car if you can do it. I also recommend you spend some time reading Grannys web site. Brad Bergholdt, an auto shop teacher, made a conversion using a 5.0 and has some very helpful writeups, especially the wiring details. One of Grant's 1st gen kits could save you some time. I built mine before he started doing Fords, so I fabbed everything myself.

http://www.grannysspeedshop.com/

Chevy sells a crate motor for street rods, comes with the fuel injection computer, complete package ready to bolt in. It is not cheap.

Light weight and good handling are more important than brute power for autocross - any V-8 will give you plenty of acceleration. The Ford 5.0/302 weighs 75 pounds less than a 350 Chev. Either one can be made lighter with aluminum heads, water pump, radiator, and light weight headers. The tradeoff is that more parts and cheaper parts are available for the chevy. The Chev also has the advantage that there is better interchangeability of parts from year to year.

As for the sound of a cammy V8- I agree. I am always entertained by all the car alarms that go off whenever I drive into a parking garage!

I also recommend an automatic for autocrossing - you will probably want to keep both hands on the steering wheel! The overdrive automatics for the Chev are easier to set up. You will definitely want an overdrive if you are driving on the freeway at all. I am turning 2400 at 60 mph IN OVERDRIVE with mine, and using the stock 3.9 diff.

I ran autocross for two seasons in a previous life, using a 67 Cortina - probably before you were born.

Some details of my V8 swap are here: www.cardomain.com/ride/646433

 

I knew it was just a matter of time Newman


Personally, for your car I'd recommend a 5.0 swap. It's what I'd do with an FB. I've long considered doing a 351W swap and building an 8 second rocket with one. But for street use and autocross time, I think a stock 5.0 setup (which has double the hp and triple the torque of your motor) would be sweet.

www.grannysspeedshop.com has some good info for FB and FC swaps. It's undecided whether the FD stuff will work (or work well) but there have been no problems with the earlier stuff that I'm aware of. I used granny's FC cradle for my 350 swap and had no problems at all. www.torquecentral.com has the V8 RX7 section with more info than you can digest, so read up.

And if you're gonna make the Fuddrucker's meet next weekend I should be there. Bring your list of questions and I'll help where I can. If you want to lend me a hand in the garage, I can lend a hand with your swap as well

 

Good deal joey, But an auto for auto-x? Hmm takes the sportiness out of a sportscar, plus eventually i plan on some road courses. after i get some time driving.. Are the courses that tight in autox??

And granny's also mentions that the ford has to sit higher and further forward to clear the oil pump.. will this offset the weight balance too much? maybe i'll just stick with the rotary for this seasons events.. if i can get it running..

 

I'd prefer a manual myself, and you can use either. There's not as much posted on first gens but I doubt your weight balance will be that much of a problem. In 2nd and 3rd gen cars it's about even or less depending on how you set the car up.

If you get the motor going, by all means run it and get used to the car. Then you have something to compare it to. I'll take you for a ride in mine, and you can find out what you're missing

 

Hard to belive a chevy dude "joe" would recommend a ford.. i guess a custom motor mount not from granny's could solve the higher and more forward mounting position of the ford. and still other motors are still an option, most notably the ford 2.3 turbo from a tbird or svo.. depends what i can find cheaply to rebuild. any situation kinda requiares a full donor car, so that all the peices for the swap are obtained. Where can i find wrecked salvage cars?? i saw a salvage auction online but i can't remember where.. anyway this project is on hold until next fall, if i can get the new fb running, if not i think it's time for pistons and valves..

 

I know more about Chevy's but I've always loved 5.0's too. I had a 90 Mustang LX that would stomp the **** out of the IROC I had.

Not sure of the best place to get a Ford donor car without looking around, but a friend of mine owns a shop and gets good prices on most things, I can ask him when you're ready to start looking.

 

sweet, i did one of the salvage search websites and got a few offers around 500, but i think i can find one cheaper at a pick and pull..

 

If I were to do my FB from scratch with a V8 agian, I'd go the EFI ford 5.0 route too. Someone mentioned cost of parts are a little higher for a ford, but that is offset by the fact you can go to a junkyard any day and find FI 5.0's. The only FI chevy V8's your going to find in a 'yard are the old throttle body units which, IMO, are only good for cruising. Also I find that "good" used performance ford parts are much easier to find too, my friend got a set of "motorsports" headers for ~$38 at crazy rays... they were on an old LTD of all things and just happened to spot them.

So in short, if you want "cost efective" FI V8, I'd go with a Ford
If cost isn't a concern, I'd go with a LS1.

I still want to do an LS1 swap in mine, but the demise of my DD and the horrors of a car payment are now upon me. So I may just FI the engine I have now and throw in the T-56 I have in the garage and call it done... after paint.

 

I'm doing a built EFI 5.0 for my E Mod auto-x car. Still under construction, but I can't wait til it's done. I'm using the granny's kit.

 

with the granny's kit, is there anything you have to do to the car above/beyond what's on the website?

 

Bump to this question in regards to the 5.0/T5 conversion.

I will be taking on this task soon.

Mike

 

No. From what I can tell, just need to follow instructions.

 

its been a long time since, i put my 5.0 into my FB. there are just a couple little things that need to be done(but are prolly mentioned on grannies site).

1. bang the firewall in a little bit to clear the back of the heads and the transmission dipstick tube.

2. regarding the T5, you need to buy a larger clutch slave(?? i think, i went AOD)

3. lots of elbow grease and crisco to help slide the motor in. lol jk


~Steve

 

this is what i want to know. I need the balance to be normal b/c i this is going to be my drift car... Anyone car to chime in?