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Topic: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post) (Read 16563 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post)

Reply #45
I may have some old info on the 3.8 rocker arms...I do believe they're 1.7 from the factory. Will double check.

Re: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post)

Reply #46
Any news on that, Eric?

Re: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post)

Reply #47
So far as the head design is concerned....you might place a call to Esslinger Engineering, as they have made aluminum drag race heads for the 300-6 in the past...there was one listed in the Ford Motorsport catalog just a year ago...they might have a street version available..

Re: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post)

Reply #48
There's a discussion about the Motorsport head over in FTE's forums right now, I think.. in the inline 6 section, under a thread with a name like "dreaming of a new head for the 300". Did not know about the Esslinger head, though. (if it got mentioned over at FTE, I haven't seen it yet.. but I usually come here before going anywhere else, in the morning)

Re: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post)

Reply #49
This thread is coming back from the dead!

Now that there's the prospect of gainful employment on the horizon for one or both of us, I can start thinking a little more definitely about doing something with this car.

I think, for the short term, that the '86 might get my carbed 351 once the V6 s out. I just can't justify spending money to resurrect the V6 (bad rear main seal, now also blowing a little more white smoke, etc.) when I have that sitting around.

But WTF, I'm sure someone's thinking.. why pull the V6 and put in the 351, just to turn around a year or two later and pull the 351 in favor of a py ol' inline 6? Because, frankly, I have my mind set on putting a 300 into that car. (the one that's likely to become a sedan delivery if I can ever get that project off the ground) It'll be truly unique, as far as I'm concerned. Besides, I have another place I'd like to see that 351 go to someday.

So why bother resurrecting this when it's all just speculation? Because I view these threads as sort of an online planner/journal for these projects.

I've also considered another interesting wrinkle to this.. using a T56 with the stock Viper gearset. The 300 shares bellhousings with the 5.0/5.8/etc. (just needs a neutral balance flywheel, if I recall) so I'm thinking any of the conversion hardware out there SHOULD make this possible. (Summit advertises a T56 for 5.0/5.8 Mustang use, but it has the aftermarket 5th and 6th gears.. numerically higher OD ratios) The 6th gear/2nd OD is .5:1.. so snagging a 3.73 TC rear end and using the tires I'd be likely to use (around 26.6" dia.) the calculators spit out a number of 1767 RPM at 75 mph in 6th gear. (2615 RPM @ 75 mph in the .74:1 5th gear/1st OD, just for reference.. I love this gearing shiznit, can't ya tell?)

While I'm on the subject of the long-term project: If any of you are willing to do a really good photochop, I could really use some help making this sedan delivery idea take shape. You'll get credit for the design, as I make no false claims of having any good editing abilities beyond the simple crops and resizes you see me do from time to time. Please let me know if you're interested. I can provide quite a few pictures, and take more if needed.

Re: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post)

Reply #50
just let us know. I brought it up (minus the turbo/super) before you did so I am interested. I would like to see progress? If not I really dont mind the threads that you post anyways. Really informative and spiffy.
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

Re: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post)

Reply #51
Heh.. we're a minority here, I think. Besides you, me, Carmen, and a few other people.. it seems like it would be more interesting to more people if the swap were about a less common V8 like a Cleveland or FE or something, instead of a big I6. We don't even hear much from people who are interested in unusual swaps just for the sake of being uncommon. Guess the ol' 300 is just too boring. :D Not that this matters much, really. Just an observation.. it doesn't bother me in the least.

Hey, maybe we can turn this into some kinda cult (on the board) thing. "Cult of the Boring Six-Bangers". :p

BTW, people like Shawn and Crystal.. you're welcome to try to talk me out of the positive-displacement supercharger thing and back into a turbo. :p

I don't have any real progress to post right now.. and probably won't until I can snag an EFI 300 to work with. Then I can clean it up, take extensive measurements, figure out what needs to be custom-fabbed to make it work, (I'm guessing a custom dry-sump oil setup is in my future, for starters) etc. But I hope to have every researchable detail worked out before even one little piece is removed to begin the actual swap.. so if I keep flogging this old thread now and again with little bits to keep it going, that's why.

Re: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post)

Reply #52
cant remember what magazine it was in,but 10 or so years ago,i seen a story about a rail running an inline 6.not sure if it was a 250 or 300 either,but it had a pair of aluminum cleavland heads cut and welded to fit.trippin.
sounds like a great ideal.show everyone it can be done.what type of fuelinjection do those newer 300's run.mass air?speed density?

Re: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post)

Reply #53
Yeah, I've seen occasional info about people racing I6s.. don't think I have any of it bookmarked/saved, though.

Cutting up heads is also something I've heard mentioned before, but if I recall it was about cutting up 3.8 V6 heads like that. It's something I might explore someday if the 300 head turns out to be too much of a dog.. but really, I'm not looking to race this car at all, so I sorta see wildly custom head work as something beyond the point of doing. I'm thinking more along the lines of port/polish/3-angle/gasket-match/etc. on a stock head.. along with whatever modifications the supercharger/turbo (whichever I settle on) setup requires.

As for the EFI.. all I distinctly remember from it is being bank-fire and having horrible (like 12#) injectors. Not sure about speed density vs. mass air.. but if I end up having to run some custom/hacked up setup, I would think I could choose which one I wanted. I think someone mentioned earlier in the thread about adapting an EEC from a SuperCoupe.. I'd have to look into that and then go from there.. or perhaps build an entirely custom EFI setup or something. That's all in the details I need to nail down.

While I'm mentioning details, I should point out that I would like to try to have all the creature comforts in this. Power steering, A/C, etc.. but I have to wonder if things like cruise control could be made to work on such a different setup. I'm not even clear if I could make it work if and when I have to put the carbed 351 in there to keep the car usable.

Re: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post)

Reply #54
Quote from: Bird351

I've also considered another interesting wrinkle to this.. using a T56 with the stock Viper gearset. The 300 shares bellhousings with the 5.0/5.8/etc. (just needs a neutral balance flywheel, if I recall) so I'm thinking any of the conversion hardware out there SHOULD make this possible.

A viper-spec T56 goes for $2999 on DDperformance.com. Link. The non-viper T56 is $2099. I don't know what is required to swap gearsets. You'd also need a new crossmember ($=?) and a shortened driveshaft. It is a very expensive proposition.

Re: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post)

Reply #55
The gear splitter idea would've cost around 2 grand just for the splitter, plus any custom work that may have needed doing.. so either way, it's going to cost.

Basically now I just want the gearset that gives me the .5:1 OD.. but, if it works better to get the wide ratio gearset and a numerically-lower rear gear to get the same general result, that's possible too. I can just whip out the spreadsheet and start plugging in numbers again. (and if I ever find a display of the proper engine RPM formula instead of just using FordMuscle's calculator, we may design that into it too)

I am aware that I've put forth a lot of really expensive things in this thread. I could easily end up dumping ten grand or more into the project before it's done. But it'll leave me with one car done very much the way I'd want to do one unique car.. and one or two mostly mundane cars since I won't want to duplicate this level of work 2 more times.

Again it comes back to the old argument of whether it's worth it to dump that kind of money into an older car or just buy a new one. Well frankly, I've been looking at car prices lately, in case I have to pick up an econo-shiznitbox for delivery/courier work sometime in the next year or so.. just about all those cars (new ones anyway) are in the $15,000+ range when reasonably equipped.. and they still wouldn't be unique or built the way I'd want them. Who knows.. both might happen. (econo-shiznitbox and custom T-bird) Can't say where I/we will be in six months, once we've both found work and all that.

Re: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post)

Reply #56
Quote from: Bird351

Again it comes back to the old argument of whether it's worth it to dump that kind of money into an older car or just buy a new one.


Im always bewildered by that comment as it makes me wonder what on earth would cause me to purchase the parts and labor involved on my cougar that would end up being equal to the cost of a new car. 
i say its always smarter to dump as much cash as you could into a car with a great chassis.  Frankly, the chassis is what you hope will hold the parts you are buying. 
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.

im always lost when i hear those words...... "its not worth dumping all that money  into and old car"

acutally i think people are really saying "its time to get something newer"

Your dumping money into a project wont ever come near what a new car would cost you.  going out into the land of a creative mod like this might be uncharted ground but the cost still should not warrent the plans to be filed under "t".

just my opinion but the thread is interesting and im with you all the way on the potential of the I6,, they have always been the long endurance machine with very little expense.

Re: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post)

Reply #57
Early, rough figures estimated for some of the things I want to do to this one project:

- Kenne Bell supercharger, adapted to work with a Ford 300: At LEAST $2000.. $3000+ is probably a much more reasonable starting figure. Goes up from there.
- T56 transmission, proper crossmember, custom driveshaft: Probably around $3700, based on that site Jeremy linked to. Could easily be more.
- Ford 4.9L EFI plus a rebuild, some head work, and whatever it takes to beef it up for forced induction: I'm guessing $1000 is the extreme minimum on this.. also expecting to pay more.
- A once-in-a-lifetime set of AutoMeter gauges, (they're too expensive to do otherwise) at least $1022 for the stuff I want

For the stuff I have no idea on what it will cost:
- TC or Mark VII rear axle, w/ 3.73s or 4.10s and a PowerTrax locker
- Probably a 5-lug conversion and brake upgrade all around
- Tires and wheels to match
- The usual desired structural/suspension work.. SFCs, CC plates, strut tower brace if I can fit one over the 300, torque box reinforcement, loads of front end work, CHE adjustables out back, etc.
- The custom structural and interior work of making a sedan delivery out of an '86 T-bird
- A pair of replacement doors since mine are rusted out at the bottoms
- Various cleanup body work
- A fresh paint job after all the body work (nothing spectacular.. thinking either trying to get the original regatta blue, or using '05 Mustang Windveil Blue.. or a long shot would be the Sonic Blue from the SVT Ranger concept truck)

I'm sure I left some stuff off that list.. but if you add that up in your head, (and  is it intimidating now that I wrote it all down.. but hey, I expected that one big car project could last me several years) and compare it to your average compact car's price, I think I probably beat that. I think the Toyota Echo starts around $10-11 grand.. and the Focuses I looked at on our local dealer's online inventory list were all around $15-16k (after $2500 back in incentives) reasonably loaded. So yeah, it is possible (and in my case, likely) to spend new car money on a used car. But, I'll be getting something done exactly how I want it. (depending on what work I go into, I may also be trying to pick up one of the aforementioned economy cars as well)

Re: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post)

Reply #58
Whoa, you want a car for the Autobahn test.... cruising at 240 km/h and surprising some Porsches, Mercedes and Bmw´s on the road.

1985 Mercury Cougar V6
1989 F-200 V8
1996 Explorer V6
2001 F-150

Re: EFI 300 I6 plus forced induction (long post)

Reply #59
Quote
- The custom structural and interior work of making a sedan delivery out of an '86 T-bird
  :bowdown:

I would love to see that done. Was always a fan of sedan deliverys.
85 Tbird 5.0
78 F150 351w
13 F150 4x4 3.5 Ecoboost