3.0 V6 Conversion

[punky]

Ok, its time to come clean and spill the beans

time to let the cat out of the bag and put it firmly amongst the pidgeons

Alright I'll cut the crap and get on with it and tell you what I've been up to beavering away in the

garage since last summer, when my engine decided to let me know that it was time for a rebuild and threw all its piston rings out of its pram

The idea of this project has been bubbling away inside me since originally buying the car cheap, as it had

been neglected and required some work to get it back on the road. so after a few weeks elbow deep in oil

and a few

Edited February 13, 2007 by punky

[DanR]

Nice. Look like they were made for each other. Are these the same as as Mazda V6's and what's in the Noble?

Have you weighed it yet?

[punky]

Nice. Look like they were made for each other. Are these the same as as Mazda V6's and what's in the Noble?

Have you weighed it yet?

yes it is.

Haven't weighed it though unfortunatly as I dont have any scales.

[DanR]

Putting it on a plank between two bath scales should be accurate. I did that last week and the dry S4 motor with manifolds, plenum and brackets, but no accessories, weighed 143kgs.

Edited January 31, 2007 by DanR1201

[punky]

Putting it on a plank between two bath scales should be accurate. I did that last week and the dry S4 motor with manifolds, plenum and brackets, but no accessories, weighed 143kgs.

Yeh I saw the post I thought that was quite cool but I dont even have bathroom scales.Maybe I should try and get some some, I definitely would like to find out before I put it in.

[DanR]

Yeah I'd like you to find out too so that's your next mission

[Bibs]

Ford 3.0/V6 Duratec: 165 kg (363 lb)

From here... http://www.caranddriver.com/idealbb/view.a...4541&num=20

I think that Noble's used a twin turbo one and didn't the Focus RS have a turbo on this lump too?

[hilly]

Good stuff.

I knew as soon as the 'Project & Restoration' Room was started a few conversions would start coming out of the woodwork.

Your engine/transaxle certainly look cool all painted up, I'll have to clean mine now before final fitting

Be careful about shortening the throttle bodies to reduce the height as you will destroy the low end torque from the engine due to messing up the inlet resonances. You really need as long as you can get, 18" ish from inlet valve to end of trumpet is a good starting point.

Have a look here at good a basic inlet length calculator.

http://www.bgsoflex.com/auto.html

What are you going to do about a starter as the old position is now blocked by a cylinder bank ???????

Hilly

Edited January 31, 2007 by hilly

[DanR]

Ford 3.0/V6 Duratec: 165 kg (363 lb)

From here... http://www.caranddriver.com/idealbb/view.a...4541&num=20

I think that Noble's used a twin turbo one and didn't the Focus RS have a turbo on this lump too?

They have a 25 kgs difference between the 2.5 and the 3 litre! Those engine weight charts on the net don't detail how the engines were configured when weighed. IE wet/dry, with flywheel and clutch assemblies, starter, alternator etc etc. EG http://www.bacomatic.org/~dw/txt/engfyi.htm Note the big difference between the Mazda and Ford albeit fully dressed for the Ford. Also the Lotus came in at 275lbs with starter and alternator but no clutch. I weighed it at 315lbs with clutch but no starter or alternator which may negate each other but did they have the maniflods on or off?

That chart has the Mazda at 225lbs which may have been totally bare.

Edited January 31, 2007 by DanR1201

[punky]

Here's another pic with the exhaust manifolds in place.The throttle bodies are off a motor bike but are very much still under construction, they are a little too tall so will have to be machined down a bit first and then the linkages and adapter plates made up for them.

I will probably fit the upper inlet manifold from a Mondeo to begin with as it has quite a low profile, but I will first widen the throttle opening out and fit a 72mm throttle body from a Landrover both of which were aquired from ebay

The engine is quite short and compact so will modify the gearbox mountings and make the engine mounting brackets to allow me to push the whole assembly forward an inch or two.

Next job was to clean up the engine bay and replace the leaky petrol tank with a larger capacity V8 one I got from Stonleigh.First I scrubbed all the flaky factory paint off, treated it with metal ready and two coats of POR 15,then coated the bottom of the tank and the new peice of closed cell foam with Isoflex liquid rubber and used it to bond the two together.Last of all painted all the welded seams with isoflex.

That should keep the rust at bay

Then I cleaned up the engine bay painted the frame up, sprayed the side panels and parts and reasembled it all.

So thats where I am at the moment.

I was hoping to get this ready for the Donington show but I dont think its going to be finished in time.I have most of the parts to complete but as I'm not the fastest engineer in the world I am enjoying taking my time and getting it right.

some things left to complete are:-

Engine and gearbox mounts (as soon as I have the finished adapter plate)

solution for clutch release bearing

Induction system and exhaust

fuel system

engine management (megasquirt) and wiring.

I will post updates as they happen so watch this space.

Punky.

Edited February 13, 2007 by punky

[punky]

Ford 3.0/V6 Duratec: 165 kg (363 lb)

From here... http://www.caranddriver.com/idealbb/view.a...4541&num=20

I think that Noble's used a twin turbo one and didn't the Focus RS have a turbo on this lump too?

Its the same basic lump as the noble but without the turbo mods.

I think the Focus RS is a 2.0L duratec

What are you going to do about a starter as the old position is now blocked by a cylinder bank ???????

Hilly

The starter on the Jag is on the same side but lower down,the adapter plate will house it in the right place but I will have to take a small piece out of the bell housing to clear the end of the starter.

[nigel cowell]

Its good to see it at last, it must be a relief to get all that of your chest .

Try to get an st 200 manifold and throttle body if you can as it will give you a bit more bhp.

As for the starter motor as you no i put it on the bell housing the other way round as mondeo

fit it, a bit more tricky but it resolved my problem at the time.

[Simon350S]

To think all this has been going on just around the corner from me!!!

Gonna have to pop over and take a look at the project, like to see things as they progress....

Keep us posted...

Simon

[punky]

Its good to see it at last, it must be a relief to get all that of your chest .

Try to get an st 200 manifold and throttle body if you can as it will give you a bit more bhp.

As for the starter motor as you no i put it on the bell housing the other way round as mondeo

fit it, a bit more tricky but it resolved my problem at the time.

Hi Nigel

Yeah it does feel good.I've finaly came out of the closet,well tool cupboard

I have been looking at the st 200 manifolds but they are going for crazy money on ebay at the moment,so I decided to modify a standard one for the time being. It wont be perfect but I picked them up pretty cheap and they will do for the time being untill I decide what to do with the independant throttle bodies.

Jenvey do a setup for the engine,but for the inlet manifold, t/b's and velocity stacks they are asking about

[punky]

To think all this has been going on just around the corner from me!!!

Gonna have to pop over and take a look at the project, like to see things as they progress....

Keep us posted...

Simon

Yeah no problem pop round it would good to see you again,Quite bizaar how we managed to walk past each other all day during the sale

Edited January 31, 2007 by punky

[silverfrost]

Andy,

fits like a glove and looks fantastic, cant wait to se the finished result looks very well put togher

regards danny

[DanR]

The bike ones cost me about

[M Blur]

Gr8 stuff..

I love the bike TB's - I'd try and get those to work as the throttle response will be great and it'll give the engine a more exotic edge.. I'd also have the poke out the engine hatch and then have a small carbon formula ram box fitted on top so you can force air but keep water out.. I know a man in Wales who can fab this for you for a good price..

[DanR]

Its good to see it at last, it must be a relief to get all that of your chest .

Try to get an st 200 manifold and throttle body if you can as it will give you a bit more bhp.

As for the starter motor as you no i put it on the bell housing the other way round as mondeo

fit it, a bit more tricky but it resolved my problem at the time.

Have you got a photo of how you fitted the starter?

[punky]

Andy,

fits like a glove and looks fantastic, cant wait to se the finished result looks very well put togher

regards danny

Cheers Danny.

I can't wait either, in fact I miss driving it so much sometimes I just sit in it and make "broom broom" noises

Really like what you're doing here. What bike are the throttle bodies off?

They are off a Triumph Daytona but I think there are a few different models of Triumph with these fitted,and are generaly referred to as "Triumph Triples" although that might be a reference to the engines.

Gr8 stuff..

I love the bike TB's - I'd try and get those to work as the throttle response will be great and it'll give the engine a more exotic edge.. I'd also have the poke out the engine hatch and then have a small carbon formula ram box fitted on top so you can force air but keep water out.. I know a man in Wales who can fab this for you for a good price..

Thanks I'll bear that in mind.

I would like to get these fitted as well, but I know for a fact that they wont fit under the engine cover as they are. They might fit under the rear hatch though if I leave the engine cover off but won't know for sure untill I get the finished adapter plate back from the machine shop ang get the engine into its final position.

I also fancy the idea of possibly fitting a glassback rear hatch from an SE and modding the hatch so you can see the engine through the rear glass.This would give me as much room as I like,allow the intake access to fresh air, and also help keep the rain off the engine.

Here's some more pics of them.

Edited February 13, 2007 by punky

[M Blur]

that could def work - if you use poly for lightness then you could also then mod a clear naca duct for airflow.. best of both worlds.. I know a coy that do excellent work to OEM and above standard and also fab the ducts etc... and at amazingly good prices...

Jon

[Malc Holmes]

Andy,

If you do go for the SE Glass back style hatch PLEASE buy the one I got at the sale (thinking it was an NA type). It's new and its only

[M Blur]

testament to the Esprit's potential seeing so many different engine/trans combinations being used..

[nigel cowell]

Have you got a photo of how you fitted the starter?

Sorry Danny i have not, but i think i will have to replace my starter motor soon so will tack some then.

The reason i put the starter motor in modeo fashion was because there wasn't much room along side the sump as it was never designed to tack one there. Punky my no different as he i using a JAG starter.

There was a lot of head scratching as to how and wear to fit it but the end solution was very simple.

I just cut the section out of the mondeo bell housing with the starter mounting brackets but also retained to of the bell housing to engine bolt holes. so all i had to do was bolt it through the conversion plate and into the engine block witch gives you perfect lineup.

As you will imagine a piece will have to be cut out the lotus bell housing and the new part welded in , but ones done looks quite good.

[USAndretti42]

Am I the only one who gets a page not found message when I try to look at the pictures?

Shame as I would really like to see your good work.