If I were to mention....
- Thread starter spencyg
- Start date
I don't mind domestic V8 conversions, as long as it's not carbed and everything on the car still works...
Well that's a relief. Nothing can be cheaper to both buy and build than a domestic V8. Regardless, I'll be sure to look at the 1UZ. I just picked up an '87 N/A Auto for the sole purpose of doing an engine swap. I have a Ford 302 which will be fully built for a single turbo. The plan is to back the power up with a Ford 4R70W 4 speed auto. The reason for this is two fold.
-First, the engine will undoubtedly be putting out over 400hp which severely limits the reliable manual transmission selection. The 4R70W is capable of handling over 500 ft lbs of torque in stock trim, and I'll be rebuilding one with performance in mind, so the upper end of its capability will be higher than stock.
-Second, I had a bike accident a couple years ago which resulted in back surgery. As a result, pressing on a heavy clutch pedal is a no-go. An auto is my only real option if I want to actually enjoy the car.
I'm not usually a fan of Auto transmissions, but they do really well behind a turbocharged engine, and TCI makes a nice little programmable computer (the 4R70W is an electronic shift tranny) and a wheel mounted paddle shift kit. This is going to be my plan...paddle shifts like a Ferrari, Torque like a Hemi, turbo whine, obnoxious BOV, and relative reliability through modified stock fuel injection.
The goal is 425-450hp on pump gas running around 10 lbs of boost. The car is currently being stripped for some minor rust repair and freshening up.
any links to other 5.0L conversions in a MkIII?
Thanks
SG
-First, the engine will undoubtedly be putting out over 400hp which severely limits the reliable manual transmission selection. The 4R70W is capable of handling over 500 ft lbs of torque in stock trim, and I'll be rebuilding one with performance in mind, so the upper end of its capability will be higher than stock.
-Second, I had a bike accident a couple years ago which resulted in back surgery. As a result, pressing on a heavy clutch pedal is a no-go. An auto is my only real option if I want to actually enjoy the car.
I'm not usually a fan of Auto transmissions, but they do really well behind a turbocharged engine, and TCI makes a nice little programmable computer (the 4R70W is an electronic shift tranny) and a wheel mounted paddle shift kit. This is going to be my plan...paddle shifts like a Ferrari, Torque like a Hemi, turbo whine, obnoxious BOV, and relative reliability through modified stock fuel injection.
The goal is 425-450hp on pump gas running around 10 lbs of boost. The car is currently being stripped for some minor rust repair and freshening up.
any links to other 5.0L conversions in a MkIII?
Thanks
SG
I've seen plenty of Chevy motors (handful of LS conversions) but never a Ford, although there's nothing wrong with a 302 in my book. Just make sure you can rev it to 7k and run a decent size turbo, and your power level will be cake to make, even on pump gas. I'm not that far off (assuming you're talking crank hp here) and I'm only pushing 2.5l. You start doubling that, and even a relatively (around here anyway) small turbo is going to be putting out massive power. As for the transmission issue, I like your approach (as much as I can like an auto anyway), but it's not our transmissions in these cars (they were built tough) that you'll have trouble holding power with, it's usually the clutch. A high power clutch is usually kinda expensive...
I've got just enough progress now to justify a build thread. Being from the Northeast USA, I'm dealing with rust. The first phase of the project is fixing some issues in the wheel wells out back. While I've been working out there, I removed the spare tire well to make way for a rear mounted battery and a dedicated (and easily accessed) area for the fuel pump, filter, etc. Anyway...I'll be posting a thread possibly this weekend to start highlighting the project.
I think the Ford will be a good powerplant. The distributor is mounted in the front of the block which means I can scoot the whole schebang way back. The 302 long block weighs around 440 lbs, and the 4R70W comes in around 150lbs with flexplate and TC. I'm hoping to really balance the car out with this system.
At this point, 6500 RPM is about as high as I'll be shooting for RPM wise. I'm building the motor specifically for this project, so with good aluminum heads, roller cam, and the correct intake and exhaust accomodations, I'm expecting to push the 425-450hp mark without needing a whole lot of boost. I've been shopping around for an appropriate turbo for a 10psi boost threshold, and the Holset HX40 looks like a nice economical winner in my displacement and boost range.
Thanks for the interest.
SG
I think the Ford will be a good powerplant. The distributor is mounted in the front of the block which means I can scoot the whole schebang way back. The 302 long block weighs around 440 lbs, and the 4R70W comes in around 150lbs with flexplate and TC. I'm hoping to really balance the car out with this system.
At this point, 6500 RPM is about as high as I'll be shooting for RPM wise. I'm building the motor specifically for this project, so with good aluminum heads, roller cam, and the correct intake and exhaust accomodations, I'm expecting to push the 425-450hp mark without needing a whole lot of boost. I've been shopping around for an appropriate turbo for a 10psi boost threshold, and the Holset HX40 looks like a nice economical winner in my displacement and boost range.
Thanks for the interest.
SG
I have seen a fuel injected 302 in a Supra before, I think it had a "ATO"? transmission, its the electronically controlled one and it funcitoned. They guy who had it bought it that way, but I havent heard anything from him in a long time.
Ford's earlier overdrive transmission was the AOD...a few of the later ones were electronically controlled I think. The 4R70W is just a newer version with stouter components. It is rated to a "safe" 500 ft lbs of torque in stock trim. I should be ok.
I'd be interested to hear more about that guy's conversion. I have no idea what sort of "issues" I'll be running into. The plan is to make custom mounts for the stock toyota alternator, PS pump, and possibly the A/C compressor....haven't totally decided whether I want to keep A/C or not yet. The oil pan is a complete unknown, as is the fitment of the transmission in the stock tunnel. I'll be running a custom 1 pc steel driveshaft into my STOCK N/A 4.30 LSD. I'm actually trying to find some 3.70 gears for it. If anybody has a 3.70 LSD rear end they want to trade for a 4.30 LSD 4 pinion rear end, let me know!
SG
I'd be interested to hear more about that guy's conversion. I have no idea what sort of "issues" I'll be running into. The plan is to make custom mounts for the stock toyota alternator, PS pump, and possibly the A/C compressor....haven't totally decided whether I want to keep A/C or not yet. The oil pan is a complete unknown, as is the fitment of the transmission in the stock tunnel. I'll be running a custom 1 pc steel driveshaft into my STOCK N/A 4.30 LSD. I'm actually trying to find some 3.70 gears for it. If anybody has a 3.70 LSD rear end they want to trade for a 4.30 LSD 4 pinion rear end, let me know!
SG
6.0L LS Chev+T04z+Built Auto even at 3psi was an amazing beast 
Only downside to the Ford engine I can see is the weight but as it's shorter it's still either going to be an improvement over the I-6 handling wise or level peg with it, the lighter LS sharpened up my well sorted chassis and made turn in much better.
If anyone here were to give you shit about the swap that didn't have some technical merit they'd be getting a time out to reflect on what they've done, I like to think we're grown up here and can embrace all aspects of the hobbie.
Only downside to the Ford engine I can see is the weight but as it's shorter it's still either going to be an improvement over the I-6 handling wise or level peg with it, the lighter LS sharpened up my well sorted chassis and made turn in much better.
If anyone here were to give you shit about the swap that didn't have some technical merit they'd be getting a time out to reflect on what they've done, I like to think we're grown up here and can embrace all aspects of the hobbie.
northwestsupra;1633615 said:
nope lol thats how i found the guy lol he was selling a CF hood. he said it didnt clear his motor. i was like what freakin motor you got in it???
Poodles;1633890 said:
My sentiment exactly
The Ford motor with aluminum heads will weight less than the 7M-GE currently under the hood. The stock 5.0L with iron heads weighs around 480 lbs. I'm going with aluminum heads, so I'm figuring my long block will weight very close to the stock I-6.
IJ.;1633618 said:6.0L LS Chev+T04z+Built Auto even at 3psi was an amazing beast
Damn you IJ, I have a 2001 SS with the T56 sitting in it, that I don't like the car. A good friend of mine has an 87 or 89 (I forget) that he's pulling the 7m to put in a new car. YOU sir, are giving me bad ideas.
spencyg;1628688 said:
I'm insulted. Lol, jk. We appreciate good cars, that's why we like supras so much. It's not exactly what I would do, but I'll be following your build thread and in for the vids.
A brief little update:
Still doing rust repair work in the rear quarters, but the plans for the drivetrain are still being tweaked. I have a 302 shortblock which needs to get torn down and sent out for some cleaning and a hone. I've changed the expectations for "Stage 1" a bit, especially since the 302 block isn't reliable past 450hp. I see no point in dumping effort into a turbo system at this stage when I can get to 400 FWHP with bolt ons. So stage 1 will involve 10.5 compression, Airflow Research aluminum heads, roller cam, and posisbly some forged rods. I'm going to do abandon the Ford fuel injection computer in favor of a Megasquirt 2 unit, primarily because I really really really want to do independent throttle bodies in N/A trim. DIYautotune makes a plug and play unit for 87-93 5.0 harnesses, so this is a no-brainer. I'm still going to go with a paddle shifted 4R70W electronic transmission, and will keep the stock 4.30 LSD rear end for now as well.
Stage 2 will involve changing motors to a 351W block, possibly stroked to 408. I'll probably do the same N/A setup on that for awhile until 500+hp seems too tame. Only then will forced induction come into play. With this level of displacement, I shouldn't need to start cramming air into the motor until I need a sub-10.5 sec car.
Back to welding.
Still doing rust repair work in the rear quarters, but the plans for the drivetrain are still being tweaked. I have a 302 shortblock which needs to get torn down and sent out for some cleaning and a hone. I've changed the expectations for "Stage 1" a bit, especially since the 302 block isn't reliable past 450hp. I see no point in dumping effort into a turbo system at this stage when I can get to 400 FWHP with bolt ons. So stage 1 will involve 10.5 compression, Airflow Research aluminum heads, roller cam, and posisbly some forged rods. I'm going to do abandon the Ford fuel injection computer in favor of a Megasquirt 2 unit, primarily because I really really really want to do independent throttle bodies in N/A trim. DIYautotune makes a plug and play unit for 87-93 5.0 harnesses, so this is a no-brainer. I'm still going to go with a paddle shifted 4R70W electronic transmission, and will keep the stock 4.30 LSD rear end for now as well.
Stage 2 will involve changing motors to a 351W block, possibly stroked to 408. I'll probably do the same N/A setup on that for awhile until 500+hp seems too tame. Only then will forced induction come into play. With this level of displacement, I shouldn't need to start cramming air into the motor until I need a sub-10.5 sec car.
Back to welding.
hell, if I could throw in a 454 with a gigantic SC poking out the hood of my Supra I'd do it..
i'd probably kill myself on the first turn but it'd be worth it..
I think there was a guy on here with a 302 Supra, not sure, I do know there's a guy with a fox-body and a 7MGTE though..
i'd probably kill myself on the first turn but it'd be worth it..
I think there was a guy on here with a 302 Supra, not sure, I do know there's a guy with a fox-body and a 7MGTE though..