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Topic: you're going to be scratching your head at this 1.. (Read 13316 times) previous topic - next topic

you're going to be scratching your head at this 1..

i'm by no means an EFI guy, unless it's something simple like holley, F.A.S.T., etc etc.. i'm currently building my 306 to put in my buddy josh's truck(for shop rep.. and to tick off some(or most) chevy guys). the truck is a 95 S10, yep.. a chevy. kind of a slap in the face to all the people who disgrace a ford by putting a chevy motor under the hood..

anyway, for my swap question.. as far as dropping the motor in, i've got that covered.. how hard is it to wire in an explorer harness and ecu?i already realize the obvious, the gauges are going to be a pain in the a** to wire, so i'm just planning on going mechanical gauges for the time being.

The reason for wanting to go EFI is i already have the upper and lower intake and have access to the harness and ecu.. and it would be easy to have tuned for a turbo after the motor is broken in.

no smack talk please, i hear enough from the chevy guys ;)

just for fun, here are a couple pics of the motor so far and 1 of the truck it's going in

you're going to be scratching your head at this 1..

Reply #1
First off way to go! How good are your wiring skills? I got more ? than answer's now. You want efi? What tranny? That's the first few questions.
Old Grey Cat to this.88 Cat, 5.0 HO, CW mounts, mass air, CI custom cam, afr165's, Tmoss worked cobra intake, BBK shorty's,off road h pipe, magnaflow ex. T-5,spec stage 2 clutch, 8.8 373 TC trac loc, che ajustables with bullits on the rear. 11" brakes up front. +

you're going to be scratching your head at this 1..

Reply #2
i love the durability of a stock C6.. so for now, this truck will be rolling around with a stock C6 until the motor is broken in.. then the motor is getting a turbo and the trans is getting a TCI pro super rebuild kit so it can hold up to the motor..

my wiring skills are pretty good, but like most people.. I HATE WIRING! i rewired most of my first car (88 tbird sport), so i know i'm capable of doing so.

and as for EFI, yeah. i love carbs but EFI would be better suited for this setup in the long run.. i would love to get a holley commander or F.A.S.T. injection system, but it's just not going to happen right now.

i'm open to all questions.. i (usually) have answers :D

you're going to be scratching your head at this 1..

Reply #3
Really the wiring shouldn't be all that bad besides getting power to a few different spots ie constant power/ startpower/ running power other than the power the ecm really is mostly standalone expecically if you are going to run all mechanical gauges. What are you going to do as far as fuel delivery?
87 TC
HO Swap, T5 Swap, Mach Springs, CHE Upper and Lower control arms, Mach Chin spoiler, soon to be Procharged.

:evilgrin: Nitrous is like a hot chick with an STD you want to hit it but are scared of the consequences. :evilgrin:

you're going to be scratching your head at this 1..

Reply #4
fuel delivery will be an electric pump, whether it's injected or carb'd, with AN lines and fittings from front to back.. if it goes EFI, i'll use the BBK 255 in-tank pump that was in my SC.. if it goes carb, i'll use my Holley red electric with regulator and return line

the gauges will only be mechanical for the time being.. until i feel like tackling that headache. at least the gas gauge and speedo will still work.. i just have to change the plug on the speedo wires to plug into the ford speed sensor

you're going to be scratching your head at this 1..

Reply #5
Was that truck a 4.3 with the tbi? If so, you can get an adapter plate for the tbi and a hei style distributor (they make 'em for ford small blocks) and make it work. Then there would be less wiring issues. Obviously, this isn't the trick for high HP, but it would suit a daily driver.

There's tons of web sites about using tbi on ford if you are interested.
CoogarXR : 1985 Cougar XR-7

you're going to be scratching your head at this 1..

Reply #6
nah, 2.2L junk 4 banger. and it's a bit of daily driver/track truck, so whatever the setup winds up as, it'll be built to go to the track and play. i've had a lot of bad experiences with TBI anyway, but thanks for the info

as far as the HEI style distributor, i have 2 of them :D lol

you're going to be scratching your head at this 1..

Reply #7
alright.. the first configuration(mainly just for break-in time) is set in stone because of a time issue.. i can only have the truck for 3 days, fri-sun, because my buddy josh's wife works all week except those days every other week.

the motor mounts will be fabbed on my 88 S10 frame with a stock 302 short block i have. i just have to put the front half of my cab back on and block it up to where it should sit. i already had my 306 block with oil pan and filter in the frame of my 88 to get an idea for motor mounts. i'll attach a pic of that, just so you can see how well it fits in the frame rails. just to give you a basic idea of the mounts, they will bolt to the block in the usual location and down to the stock GM mounts. as for the trans mount, i'm not 100% sure yet, i have to wait until i get my block and trans in the frame to figure that out.. but either way, i have to modify the crossmember because the GM trans mount is a single stud and the C6 obviously has a double stud mount.

as for the motor setup, i'm just going to use my HEI style distributor with a 2 barrel carb and intake i have laying in my shed with a mechanical pump to make it simple and fast once the motor is in. main reason for doing that is, josh's wife has a lead foot. i can richen the carb up a little to keep the power down and keep her from beating on it hard.

i'm in no way ruling out doing the EFI, that will just have to come on another weekend that she's off for those 3 days. also, in the time the motor is running a carb, i can assemble the top end on my stock, empty block, bolt my EFI setup on top, modify my mid-lengths and build my turbo setup. that, again, will have to wait for yet another 3 day weekend so i can bolt everything up, run all the oil/cooling lines and take it to get dyno tuned.

anyway.. if you read this far.. here are a couple pics of my block in my 88 frame and a pic of 1 of my painted GT40 heads that i just did. the block sitting in the frame where it's sitting is a bit low, it would need to sit 3/4-1" higher.

you're going to be scratching your head at this 1..

Reply #8
UPS must know it's my birthday.. these just came in the mail.. the timing gears and head bolts are for a customers motor. the cam and roller rockers are for mine.

you're going to be scratching your head at this 1..

Reply #9
well, since the weather today sucks and i can't work on my truck and there's no power in the shop for me to work on my capri, i decided to clean up my block and pulleys and lay some paint on them. the block is going chevy orange and a good deal of the other under-hood parts are being painted silver or getting polished. note to self, rustolium aluminum paint is TERRIBLE, it looks just like that nasty 'chrome' paint and leaves a chalk-like residue on top, too. but anyway, this is what i've got done so far..

you're going to be scratching your head at this 1..

Reply #10
I like the idea of a ford in a chevy, but you would be alot better off with a chevy motor.
Quote from: jcassity
I honestly dont think you could exceed the cost of a new car buy installing new *stock* parts everywhere in your coug our tbird. Its just plain impossible. You could revamp the entire drivetrain/engine/suspenstion and still come out ahead.
Hooligans! 
1988 Crown Vic wagon. 120K California car. Wifes grocery getter. (junked)
1987 Ford Thunderbird LX. 5.0. s.o., sn-95 t-5 and an f-150 clutch. Driven daily and going strong.
1986 cougar.
lilsammywasapunkrocker@yahoo.com

you're going to be scratching your head at this 1..

Reply #11
nah, everyone does a sbc in an S10.. if i was to put anything else in it, it would be a BBC, but i have this motor and a couple other SBF's, so it is what it is lol plus a BBC swap is something i can't tackle in 3 days, start to finish and drive it out. not on my own at least

you're going to be scratching your head at this 1..

Reply #12
more boredem during lousy weather pics.. still waiting on my timing chain, gasket set and head studs to finish the longblock

you're going to be scratching your head at this 1..

Reply #13
i want to do the same thing, except i want to do it with a first gen extended cab s10...

as for EFI, why not use a simplified 89-93 mustang harness and ECU? would be a lot simpler than the coil pack setup on an explorer...not to mention a lot cleaner looking...you could run all of the wires in one loom straight through a hole (grommeted of course) in the firewall directly behind the engine and hide the majority of the ones for running the engine under the intake and fuel rails...

i foresee plumbing the power steering being the most time comsuming part of this swap...

and i LOVE ford engines in chevy's, i have a 56 chevy truck thats BEGGING me to put a 400m/c6 setup in it...and i happen to know where that setup is, and it's cheap to boot.
Currently Birdless but never Foxless

86 Mustang GT

you're going to be scratching your head at this 1..

Reply #14
I have a Zenith about identical to that one there...it's only 17 years old, still works like new.

Oh, hard to look at that 5.0 block painted Junk Orange....but I to confess to driving a shiznitrolet for a daily...can't knock your project-least yours has the heart of Ford going for it lol.

More pics as progress...well, progresses, lol.
'84 Mustang
'98 Explorer 5.0
'03 Focus, dropped a valve seat. yay. freakin' split port engines...
'06 Explorer EB 4.6