A
Anonymous
Guest
Apologies for the length, but I figure most of this is useful if I'm to solicit proper feedback on this project.
I've had one I6 before.. a 200 in an '81 Capri. I was always rather fond of that car, but I had to get rid of it because the T-tops leaked badly and one door was screwed up pretty badly. Traded it in for a brand new '92 Dodge Daytona IROC w/ V6, then 2 years later traded that in for a '94 Escort LX Sport.. and I've been stuck in the land of 4-bangers ever since..
Until last month, that is.. when I traded that Escort for an '86 T-bird (the last year of the 4-headlight "aero-Bird") w/ the 232/3.8 V6+AOD and also got a carbed 351 Windsor in the deal. Obviously, the first plan was to swap in the 351W. (I had planned to convert it to SEFI) But now I'm getting the itch..
At first I gave serious consideration to trying to shoe-horn an EFI 300 I6 into this car. However, the more I poke into it, the more it sounds like it's too big to run without major mods to the car. So lately my research has been shifting toward the 250, IF I can find one around here. (SW Florida)
My ultimate goals with this car are to:
1) Make something that, barring major damage, should have no problem surviving for another 10 years.. I'm rather used to owning the same car for long periods of time now. I want something that runs like the proverbial sewing machine.. kinda how I remember my 200 I6 from 12+ years ago.
2) Make the "ultimate road-trip car", as I intend this car to replace my future wife's yearly (and possibly multiple trips every year) flights to Chicago and back. Even getting to another state from where I live requires around 300 miles' worth of driving.. so just up and visiting another state is far from trivial. (there may also be business reasons in the near future, which may require more trips similar to the Chicago run)
How do I plan to make the "ultimate road trip car"? Well, for one, I intend to line the entire interior with Dynamat and Dynaliner.. and put it on a diet in other places (hood, tubular A-arms, etc.) to make it quieter but pretty much the same weight if possible. For another, my plans revolve around a curious little unit from Gear Vendors that can add overdrive to most Ford transmissions.. and in the case of my (soon to be beefed-up) AOD, a double-overdrive. What it means for my car is that with my current tire diameter and rear-end gear, (3.27.. may also move to the 3.55-ish range if I get an 8.8" rear end) and the double overdrive (around .55:1 coming off the AOD+GV unit) activated, I'm looking at right around 1700-1800 RPM at 75 MPH.. (I rarely exceed 5 MPH over the rural Interstate speed limit here in FL.. I did all my speeding a decade ago) but with all the acceleration of the 3.27/3.5# gears intact otherwise. That's the part that brought me to choosing between the 351W I have (one in the hand, and all that..) and tracking down an I6.
(there are other plans, such as upgrading brakes and cooling capacity, but I cover much of the info less relevant to the engine swap over at CoolCats, a site devoted to mostly Fox-body T-bird/Cougars. I've cross-posted about this project between here, there, and Ford-Fox.org)
I don't seek a car that can do 0-60 in 4 seconds, although I do want acceleration between 45 and 75 to be as crisp as possible. I don't even care what quarter-mile time the car would be able to run. I have zero intention of racing anyone else with this car. What I seek is a respectable increase in power but with an emphasis on fuel economy. I'd even like it to be reasonably low on emissions, but I won't go overboard to get it there. We don't have emissions inspections down here right now.. but I'm not opposed to tossing in a high-flow aftermarket catalytic somewhere along the line. (I'm looking to stay single-exhaust, but will gladly move up to a large-diameter pipe.. was planning on a 3.5" single with the 351W, which is sufficient for applications up to 350 HP)
I also hope to keep some form of fuel injection. Right now I have CFI/TBI on my V6. I'd have gone SEFI with the 351W, (and still might have to, if I can't make this plan work) and would prefer a SEFI setup for this plan.. but could retain CFI/TBI, if needed.
OK, you made it this far.. apologies again for the length of this, and thanks for sticking with me. Must be a slow day at work if you've made it this far.
What am I looking for here? Any feedback on making this work with the I6 as opposed to the Windsor. I've read up on the Aussie heads as much as I could find, except how to actually purchase an Aussie EFI setup. (I see the 2V on FordSixParts, and the coming soon stuff on Clifford.. but not much about EFI other than the aftermarket kits) I have a couple people I've talked to on ICQ for years that happen to live in Australia, but neither of them knows much about cars.. so I think asking them to ship me something like that might be awkward, if even possible (for them) at all.
A note about my level of experience: I've done car work before.. even worked in a junk yard for awhile.. but keep in mind that I've been away from modifying cars (except simple stuff) for over 12 years. The one and only complete engine swap I've done was 13+ years ago, a 4-banger from a Fairmont into a 4-banger '80 Capri. Needless to say I'm rusty. (bad pun?) I have friends who can help, including one friend who runs a repair shop about a mile and a half away from the house, so things aren't completely hopeless. I'm also doing hours and hours of reading every day on Fox-bodies, Ford EFI, and anything else relevant to either contingency of the project.. so I'm getting back up to speed as quickly as possible. But please forgive me if some (or all) of my questions are a little bit out there at first.
Well, thanks for reading this all the way through. At least I should have a very small chance of getting the same replies here that I have received when asking this same stuff on other relevant sites: "You should just use a 302". They have no idea how much that answer annoys me.
I've had one I6 before.. a 200 in an '81 Capri. I was always rather fond of that car, but I had to get rid of it because the T-tops leaked badly and one door was screwed up pretty badly. Traded it in for a brand new '92 Dodge Daytona IROC w/ V6, then 2 years later traded that in for a '94 Escort LX Sport.. and I've been stuck in the land of 4-bangers ever since..
Until last month, that is.. when I traded that Escort for an '86 T-bird (the last year of the 4-headlight "aero-Bird") w/ the 232/3.8 V6+AOD and also got a carbed 351 Windsor in the deal. Obviously, the first plan was to swap in the 351W. (I had planned to convert it to SEFI) But now I'm getting the itch..
At first I gave serious consideration to trying to shoe-horn an EFI 300 I6 into this car. However, the more I poke into it, the more it sounds like it's too big to run without major mods to the car. So lately my research has been shifting toward the 250, IF I can find one around here. (SW Florida)
My ultimate goals with this car are to:
1) Make something that, barring major damage, should have no problem surviving for another 10 years.. I'm rather used to owning the same car for long periods of time now. I want something that runs like the proverbial sewing machine.. kinda how I remember my 200 I6 from 12+ years ago.
2) Make the "ultimate road-trip car", as I intend this car to replace my future wife's yearly (and possibly multiple trips every year) flights to Chicago and back. Even getting to another state from where I live requires around 300 miles' worth of driving.. so just up and visiting another state is far from trivial. (there may also be business reasons in the near future, which may require more trips similar to the Chicago run)
How do I plan to make the "ultimate road trip car"? Well, for one, I intend to line the entire interior with Dynamat and Dynaliner.. and put it on a diet in other places (hood, tubular A-arms, etc.) to make it quieter but pretty much the same weight if possible. For another, my plans revolve around a curious little unit from Gear Vendors that can add overdrive to most Ford transmissions.. and in the case of my (soon to be beefed-up) AOD, a double-overdrive. What it means for my car is that with my current tire diameter and rear-end gear, (3.27.. may also move to the 3.55-ish range if I get an 8.8" rear end) and the double overdrive (around .55:1 coming off the AOD+GV unit) activated, I'm looking at right around 1700-1800 RPM at 75 MPH.. (I rarely exceed 5 MPH over the rural Interstate speed limit here in FL.. I did all my speeding a decade ago) but with all the acceleration of the 3.27/3.5# gears intact otherwise. That's the part that brought me to choosing between the 351W I have (one in the hand, and all that..) and tracking down an I6.
(there are other plans, such as upgrading brakes and cooling capacity, but I cover much of the info less relevant to the engine swap over at CoolCats, a site devoted to mostly Fox-body T-bird/Cougars. I've cross-posted about this project between here, there, and Ford-Fox.org)
I don't seek a car that can do 0-60 in 4 seconds, although I do want acceleration between 45 and 75 to be as crisp as possible. I don't even care what quarter-mile time the car would be able to run. I have zero intention of racing anyone else with this car. What I seek is a respectable increase in power but with an emphasis on fuel economy. I'd even like it to be reasonably low on emissions, but I won't go overboard to get it there. We don't have emissions inspections down here right now.. but I'm not opposed to tossing in a high-flow aftermarket catalytic somewhere along the line. (I'm looking to stay single-exhaust, but will gladly move up to a large-diameter pipe.. was planning on a 3.5" single with the 351W, which is sufficient for applications up to 350 HP)
I also hope to keep some form of fuel injection. Right now I have CFI/TBI on my V6. I'd have gone SEFI with the 351W, (and still might have to, if I can't make this plan work) and would prefer a SEFI setup for this plan.. but could retain CFI/TBI, if needed.
OK, you made it this far.. apologies again for the length of this, and thanks for sticking with me. Must be a slow day at work if you've made it this far.
What am I looking for here? Any feedback on making this work with the I6 as opposed to the Windsor. I've read up on the Aussie heads as much as I could find, except how to actually purchase an Aussie EFI setup. (I see the 2V on FordSixParts, and the coming soon stuff on Clifford.. but not much about EFI other than the aftermarket kits) I have a couple people I've talked to on ICQ for years that happen to live in Australia, but neither of them knows much about cars.. so I think asking them to ship me something like that might be awkward, if even possible (for them) at all.
A note about my level of experience: I've done car work before.. even worked in a junk yard for awhile.. but keep in mind that I've been away from modifying cars (except simple stuff) for over 12 years. The one and only complete engine swap I've done was 13+ years ago, a 4-banger from a Fairmont into a 4-banger '80 Capri. Needless to say I'm rusty. (bad pun?) I have friends who can help, including one friend who runs a repair shop about a mile and a half away from the house, so things aren't completely hopeless. I'm also doing hours and hours of reading every day on Fox-bodies, Ford EFI, and anything else relevant to either contingency of the project.. so I'm getting back up to speed as quickly as possible. But please forgive me if some (or all) of my questions are a little bit out there at first.
Well, thanks for reading this all the way through. At least I should have a very small chance of getting the same replies here that I have received when asking this same stuff on other relevant sites: "You should just use a 302". They have no idea how much that answer annoys me.
