zeitgeist57 Posted September 25, 2017 Report Share Posted September 25, 2017 In conjunction with my recent thread about a free 1994 F-150 I may be picking up, I've pretty much decided that I want to V8-swap my 1995 BMW 318. It's a 4-cyl with 140k miles that I DD, and aside from dancing around overheating issues it's been a very fun car to own and drive. For only being 138hp and 3100lbs, it's the car my 2 kids love the most (even over the V and the Lincoln) and I do have a blast tearing around C'Bus as a 10/10ths-throttle car. I need to get the truck first, but may look at doing this swap over the winter or early in 2018. Why V8 swap it? 1) If I got rid of my BMW, I would only want another 4-seater, RWD, stick-shift convertible with more power to replace it. Why spend a chunk of coin for a new ride when I can just keep the BMW and throw another 100-200hp on a great chassis? 2) Still looks BMW-cool, which I'll sheepishly admit helps around UA. :gabe: 3) Adds USA-power and ease-of-maintenance to a proven platform already riddled with a rich aftermarket for parts. 4) My BMW already has an LSD rear diff with 4.11 gears from the factory. Thanks pre-OBDII "cold weather kit"! :thumbup: No LSX? 1) Engine and ECU will be an easy $1-2k minimum. T56 will be $1500+ on the cheap end. 2) Swap kits are 'SPENSIVE. Vorschlag is $3500? 3) 400hp+ is not the point of my BMW. If I can get sexxxy V8 brapping and 250-300hp for cheap I'll be a happy man. LESS PARTS TO BREAK. Ford 5.0 = 1) Free engine/ECU from friends' dead-dad's F-150. 2) $250-$500 1999-2004 Mustang V6 T5 trans good for 350ft/lb, can be rebuilt with hand tools for cheap. 3) Swap kit is engine mount brackets and trans crossmember for $300. Exhaust work and ECU rewiring will be the toughest parts. 4) LSx rules (I own an LS3 CTS-V) but Ford 5.0 will still have aftermarket support until the death of the internal combustion engine. Anyone still familiar with EFI 5.0 modifications for cheap? What works, best bang for the buck? I'm hearing aluminum heads are the way to go. What cams, intakes? Just looking to start the CR discussion now so I have a good resource later to look back on with local folks. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwashmycar Posted September 25, 2017 Report Share Posted September 25, 2017 HCI can be like 2-4 grand. That said, you gotta at least do a cam. Truck cam 5L are not as friendly to a street car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeitgeist57 Posted September 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2017 Ford Motorsports E303 cam seems to be a good power stick. Anything that lopes at idle but still very streetable is good for me with this car. If I get the tee-ruk in the next couple of months, I'll also be looking to pick up used parts for the build as well, gents... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toph6888 Posted September 25, 2017 Report Share Posted September 25, 2017 FYI the v6 and 5.0 bellhousings are slightly different, so make sure you find a 5.0 bellhousing for the trans. The 3.8L use a 163 tooth flywheel and the 5.0's use a 157, so the starter location is slighlty different on the two bellhousings. Other than that, they are pretty easy to swap out. Nice thing about the ford ecu stuff is they are usually "standalone" ish, as in the engine ecu doesen't have to talk to anything else. So long as you get it fuel/power, it will be good to go on the stock ECU. That being said, its still easier to start with a manual trans ecu as they don't have some of the auto trans stuff in them. You can program them out of it (at least in my generation mustang you can, not 100% sure on foxbody stuff). A lot of guys get GT40 heads for the 5.0's from I think the marauders or expeditions of that era? so thats a pretty low buck option. A basic intake system is fine and then cam of your choice. The anemic 5.0 picks up quite a bit with just HCI. Or you could just get the better 5.0 instead of that pushrod life :gabe: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeto67 Posted September 25, 2017 Report Share Posted September 25, 2017 you've heard my opinion on this many times... You want aluminum heads, and as much aluminum anything else as you can get. your e36 vert has a 49.8/ 50.2 front/rear weight distribution (rear bias because of the vert top), and dropping an iron block v-8 into the nose of it is going to destroy the balance of the car and make it drive differently. Shipping weight on a 5.0 long block is about 460lbs (from summit) as compared to the 220lbs your M42 supposedly weighs assembled. All in your are probably adding 300+ lbs to the nose of the car all in so you want to make that number as small as possible, Alloy parts do that. You should also budget for new springs/shocks - probably m3 spec as the S50 engine is closer in weight to the 5.0 than the M42. And since your car is lowered as it is, you'll have to do all 4 corners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ackbar00 Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 Truck cam is a different firing order as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS69 Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 Should be interesting, I like the idea and my wife's e46 is out the question for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POS VETT Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 It's "Vorshlag" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE-O Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 n54-n55 swap instead??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKilbourne Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 The stock cam, intake, and heads on a pushrod 5.0 aren't all that great. A cam with stock heads and intake will sound cool, but won't increase power too much. Pullies and bumping timing are cheap ways of freeing up hp and torque. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Brian Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 Man please do this, and invite me to watch the install. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unfunnyryan Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 Man please do this, and invite me to watch the install. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssFo Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 I had bought pretty much everything to swap an Explorer 5.Oh in my Conquest. Motor, trans, misc and I might have had $1K in parts. Def cheap swap. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ackbar00 Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 Another thing. The F-150 5.0's have dished pistons, so it will be pretty low compression. At bear minimum, you will need a Mustang cam, Mustang oil pan and distributor. My old Ghetto Fab combo made 396/486 at 7.5 psi. (Stock engine, mustang cam, heads, trickflow intake and 64mm turbo) Gesh, it was 10 years ago I built that..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miller Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 5.0 is one of the greatest sounding motors of all time. That will never, ever change. And working on them is so easy. I think you should do it. Bump up spring rate in the front and dump it in there. It's not like you're a hardcore racer or something. With an e-cam and set of 1k aluminum heads we could get that thing pulling like a freight train. Look what Demeter did with a snail on his. And that car became a cr doobskin, everyone wanted a turn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeesammy Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 V8 swaps are getting played out. Would be much cooler to see an NA 2JZ with a W58. It would at least keep and inline engine in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spankis Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 V8 swaps are getting played out. Would be much cooler to see an NA 2JZ with a W58. It would at least keep and inline engine in it. Budget + Simplicity + 5.0 Exhaust noise + parts availability win out over whether or not it's played out. 2JZ, even as NA sounds like a lot less direct path, and a less fun end product. Maybe played out because it's the most logical 7.23/10 times? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Beard Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 Nothing that hasnt already been said, aluminum heads for weight or t40 heads for low budget, E303 cam, tweaking the timing, little porting/polishing, better injectors, and exhaust it will be quite peppy for what it is. Add a low budget turbo and It will be even better. As others have suggested though, you will want the mustang oil pan (the truck is a single sump pan, mustang is a dual sump style that is lower profile for the cross member. The truck intake is a bit taller than the mustang one. It may cause a clearance issue with the hood. Correct me if I am wrong, but in my older body style truck (1990 efi), it was a multi port firing order for the fuel injection, the newer mustang 5.0L (1994/1995) are sequential. This may cause some issues if you are trying to use an older or the truck ecu to run the engine. Again may not be such an issue being yours is a 1994, but when I swapped a new 95 block and intake in my older truck, it ran fat as hell, would actually die if you tried to hammer it from idle. Took forever to figure out why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeitgeist57 Posted September 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 I'm glad I made this thread, because it's starting to sound like an F-150 - even at 40k miles - may not be a good 5.0L/EFI/ECU swap candidate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miller Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 Nope. It's not. And I don't see why you couldn't purchase this powertrain for less than $500. I was picking up assembled mustang bottom ends for like $250 a few years back. Market hasn't changed has it? I'm asking for real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergwheel1647545492 Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 I really don't mean to thread shit, but have you considered an LS swap instead? just as easy and you get way more power and the engine would be way lighter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeitgeist57 Posted September 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 I really haven't seriously looked at sourcing/pricing parts for a 5.0L swap since I bought my BMW 3-4 years ago. I'll take a look at car-part.com Although, if I'm not getting a 5.0L out of an F-150 for free to use in the BMW, should I just look at buying a donor Mustang (for EFI, headers, maybe a T5 tranny already)? Right off the bat, I'm going to need cam and aluminum heads...all day long that's $1000 right there...I may as well try to find a wrecked Mustang with parts I can use... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miller Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 I really don't mean to thread shit, but have you considered an LS swap instead? just as easy and you get way more power and the engine would be way lighter. WTF Greg his post literally says why he's not LSxing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeitgeist57 Posted September 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 I really don't mean to thread shit, but have you considered an LS swap instead? just as easy and you get way more power and the engine would be way lighter. Yeah, grrg...I was enticed to do the project if the free F-150 motor/ECU could be used. If I'm going to spend a few thousand, I may go back to a $3500 VOHRSCHLOHNG kit and a take-out 4.8/5.3 w ECU.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Sweet Posted September 26, 2017 Report Share Posted September 26, 2017 VOHRSCHLOHNG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.