350ti

[BLSracing]

Well, I made mention of my intentions to swap a 5.0 ford into my '95 TI when I sold the stock parts. Now I have an update on the progress. My primary goal was to build something fun, a frankenstein, but my other big goal was a CA Smog legal swap. From what I have read of the infamous LS1 swaps, they all have issues with the BAR referee inspections, as neither the stock headers/manifolds or a CA legal header exists that will fit. The ford, being somewhat narrower, and with a lower deck height, gave me some hopes that a legal exhaust would fit. This forced the engine decision, and the fact that I got a running '95 mustang GT 5spd with a badly bent nose for $750. After removing what I needed and selling off the ford and BMW stuff I didn't need, I recouped most of that money.


Engine placement isn't as tight against the firewall as I would like, but the ford's oil pump location forces either a front sump, or a dual sump. The dual sumps found on late model 5.0 mustangs allow for the best engine placement with a stock oil system, so I kept the '95 pan. As it sits, there is less than 3/16" clearance off the rack&pinion.


Engine is centered in the engine bay, although steering would have been easier if I had placed it more to the pass side, but this seemed too wrong, even for me. Engine mounts are '86 Ford F150 ($10ea from Kragen), with brackets constructed from steel plate welded to the xmember. Nothing fancy, but they are stong enough to pick the car up by, and barely leave enough room to get to the control arm nut without moving the engine.


The Stock ford accessories were retained. Only issue was the AC pump which required clearancing, and reboxing of the frame rail forward of the driverside strut tower. Steering required 3 U-joints, top and bottom from Vorshlag, and the middle a flaming river double joint, and two heims for support. The top portion of the shaft does come very close to the cyl-5 primary tube. So far it doesn't rub while revving the engine, as it torques away, but it may hit when decelerating under some engine brake. If so, I will dimple the headers. Oh, and I had to move the steering column firewall penetration 3/4" to 1" closer to the brake booster. FYI, it is easier to drill the steering column anti tamper heads off the bolts than to spin with a cold chisel. Once the head is gone, you need to find a way to spin the remaining stud out. A reverse bit would be nice, but I just took a dull bit, held it in the vice, and shattered the tip off with a hammer. This provides burrs in all directions if you are lucky. Then put it in the drill and reverse the remaining screw out. Took less than 10min including scratching my head trying to figure it out.


Headers are CA Smog Legal BBK headers that I got from Summit for around $200 as I recall. Stockers are tiny and pinched, but would have afforded more space. Some fire wall clearancing was required to clear the driverside collector flange. I just plasma cut off what I didn't want. Set the engine, made cardboard templates of what needed to be replaced, removed the engine and welded it all up. After all is said an done, this may have been achievable with a hammer.


Of course clutch and ABS plumbing had to move. Nothing new here, except the ford normally uses a cable clutch, and I converted it to a Wilwood hydraulic pull type slave. Works well so far.


Wiring is all stock ford, hacked together with the BMW. Tach isnt sorted yet, and neither is the AC control. It does start with the key and make loud noises. I need to sort the wiring as it is all temporary right now, and ugly.


Driveshaft is a stock ford driveshaft off a late 80's mustang. The '95 had too large a diameter. I used a conversion U-joint (1310 to 1330) and a conversion part from Jagsthatrun.com that allows it to bolt to the BMW diff. The only downside is removal of the DS requires either the removal of the diff, or pressing out the UJ caps and diassembling the UJ in place. Frankly, this is the easiest way.


Radiator is a cheap Ebay special for an E36 M3. Many modifications were made. An obvious one near the alternator. Looks close, but it all clears just fine.


The ford uses 4 cats, but in CA, Carsound.com (magnaflow) sells legal 4 to 2 conversion Cats. This is the only way this could have worked, as the Cats have to be Certified to the configuration of the Donor engine, not the recipient car. This also means I have to retain the Phord secondary air pump. The part in this whole project that has surprised me the most, was how helpful the State Referee was when I called Sacramento prior to starting all this. The guy who took my call had no answers, but took my information and promised a call back in two days. A day later I got a call from one of the Referees who ran through all of my potential issues, what I could change and what I could not, and even suggested the CAT solution I just mentioned, including part numbers. I have not always been pleased, to say the least, with the State's various agencies, but to give credit where it is due, this guy was awesome. However, the Proof will be in the Ref visit... Time will tell.

The 318ti swaybar would hit the ford pan, but a swap to M3 struts, springs and swaybar solved that. The M3 has more droop in the middle of the sway bar than the stock 318ti sport bar.

Well, thats enough for now. Much left to do, including test drive and sorting the bugs that will be made known at that time.

Cheers,
matt-

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[cooljess76]

Hey there Matt, lookin good. I'm sure you remember me, I was with David when he bought your engine and I helped you unload it at his house. Anyway, I need to get some info from you about the state referee. HuGo mentioned something about them closing down and it scared the hell outta me because I'm halfway done with my swap. Maybe I could swing by and check your project out sometime next week if you don't mind.

[BLSracing]

I heard the same thing, it was shut down due to budget crisis. A CHP friend told me two weeks ago that it was now back up an running. Who knows what we will face when it comes time. I have not made an appointment yet, as I have a lot left to do, and my registration is good to Sept '09.

This week works better than next. Give me a call.

matt-

[zoner]

Dig the radiator overflow setup!

Originally Posted by cooljess76

I'll be down in LA all weekend working at a ski convention.

I'll be there on Saturday for sure, but might try Thursday evening to snag some deals!

[M332TI]

im kind of curious... how will this handle? weight distribution of the car will be too much at front... how do you compensate for the rear?

[jordanmc]

Originally Posted by M332TI

im kind of curious... how will this handle? weight distribution of the car will be too much at front... how do you compensate for the rear?

nice tires lol

[tiFreak]

well, this is very unique, and I'm glad you could pull it all together so nicely but are you using the stock ti diff? they have a tendency to blow up when hooked up to a 2.5 I6, I doubt it will last very long with a V8, might want to get a diff from a Z3 or E30

[BLSracing]

All good points.

Regarding the weight: It should suffer from the same weight penalty the M50 conversions must deal wit. The 5.0 is nearly identical to the M50 when you compare the fully dressed weights. By some accounts the 5.0 may even be a couple pounds less. Not having a dressed M50 handy, nor a fish scale large enough to weigh either engine, I can not confirm this first hand.

One weight reference I found over on Bimmerforums is http://www.241computers.com/ford/Con...s20-30-38.html
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1090617

Regardless, it is close to that of the Iron block I-6. Maybe a little more, maybe a little less, but not by much. I know the 4cyl springs will suck, so I'm swapping to M3 bits up front. Actually I was forced to anyway, due to sway bar interference. Once I drive this in anger, and see how she behaves, I'll have a better idea where to proceed with the suspension.

Regarding the Diff: What component usually breaks? What is the failure mode? All under heavy shock loads I presume? I have heard of them being weak, but I would like to know more specifics. As I look at it, I would expect the half shafts or CVs to fail 1st, not the diff. I haven't researched this much yet. Again, time will tell..

For wheels and tires, I have wheels off a 330i with Conti Sports 245-40-17 in the rear. Got a good deal on a used set, so I'll run these for now.

matt-

[tiFreak]

well, never having done an engine swap and destroying a diff myself, I couldn't tell you, but I am pretty sure that the diff's internals have failed because of the added power

[BLSracing]

I am not discounting the notion that it may be too weak. I'd just like to know more before I start swapping even more parts. Dumping the clutch, and any interrupted torque (wheel hop) will uncover a weak link very quickly.

But even with a weak diff, it should last a long time if I avoid such behavior (hard for me to do) and just enjoy the big torque curve as I drive to work, or over a favorite mountain road.

[roadrash]

Originally Posted by BLSracing

Once I drive this in anger, and see how she behaves

I don't have anything constructive to add here, just "dang, that was funny!" LOL

Good luck with your project!!

[Bluebimma]

Im just gonna throw it out there, but you should get something aftermarket like koni/eibach with a high spring rate. The m3 springs and struts are cool and all, but dont do the ti justice at all with the swap.

[BLSracing]

What I have is a set of bilsteins, with aftermarket coils of an (as of now) unknown rate, and a stock M3 sway off a '96 as I recall. I'll play with this for now. I imagine I will go the coilover route eventually like you suggest.

[runnr548]

Could you stuff a good ole 9" underneath it? I wasn't ever able to break one, and I can break most anything. :-) hehe....

PS - Awesome job!!!