Engine Swap - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

07-28-2003, 23:59

My 1981 3.3L I6 has finally kicked the bucket and I'm researching swapping to a Carburated302(Afraid of the wiring) Is this more of a headache than it's worth? Does anyone know/has anyone done this sort of a swap? Just doing a little research, any help would be appreciated. Thanks

mongrelEB · 07-30-2003, 04:52

Carburated?
WHAT wiring?? Hehe try working on an injected motor sometime, those old carbies are simple as hey :)
You might need to lengthen wires such as alternator, temp. gauge, etc. depending on the position on the new motor. Other than that, I doubt very much that you will have to add more than one or two wires overall.
The gearbox and the engine/radiator mounts will be your biggest headache IMO. Tailshafts may be too long or short, requiring either searching out one that will fit or more likely, having a v8 shaft cut down to fit.
Also I dunno how long the old diff will last

AndrewsXR8 · 07-30-2003, 05:07

Yeah, theres bugger all to a carby engine. If its got powersteer, then you will need a v8 pump.
You need V8 engine base plates, will have to use a c-10, c-4, FMX, if its auto, or single-rail, toploader for manual.
The best way to do a conversion like this is to buy a smashed v8 car and wreck it into yours. Its cheap and easy this way, but costs start to add up if you have to buy extractors, Y-pieces for the exhuast, base plates, heavier springs for the front, and all the little bits and pieces that you don't think of.

07-30-2003, 11:42

Sorry, what I meant was I was afraid of the wiring in something fuel injected. Could a guy take most everything he needs out of an old LTD? I'm very new to this and any ideas are good ideas.

mongrelEB · 07-30-2003, 16:23

You can get everything you need out of a wreck. I am planning to put an injected 302 or 351 into an EA when I get a bit of cash.
You will probably need to do something funky with the engine mounts unless you get a V8 car with the same chassis. Same goes for exhaust pipes. I am not very familiar with the older bodies, but basically if you can find a rusted-out or crashed V8 of a similar model it should be a straight swap, probably the easiest way to do it.
If you did want to go fuel injection, the easiest way would be to get a fuel injected car and do the same thing - get one the same or similar, bolt everything in. For fuel injection, this would include the whole-car wiring loom and dash. That way there shouldn't be anything fancy you have to do. I am unsure, but I believe there were fuel injected V8s in the X-series cars? If so they would most likely be the Fairlanes, LTDs, etc.....

AndrewsXR8 · 08-02-2003, 03:08

The clevelands never came out factory injected. The wires that make the 6-cyl run will do the same for the V8. The V8 and 6cyl mounts are different, but from XR through to XE they are interchangable between models.
So you could buy a XY, and wreck it into an XD, or buy an XD, and wreck it into an XY, and the only thing that would change engine wise is pollution. So If your only new to the game, then your best bet is to buy a V8 version of what you've got, and swap everything over.

mongrelEB · 08-03-2003, 03:42

And game it is....