1949 Busy Coupe Update

[falconvan]

Ok, I made it about three weeks with the flathead before I broke out the wrenches. It runs really smooth and it's a nice looking setup but tooling down the interstate at 60 MPH while everything blows by like I'm standing still is just not for me. So the flathead went on Ebay and it's time for an upgrade before we put paint on the car.

First thought was a small block Mopar; either a 318 or 360 with a 5 speed and an 8.8 just like I had my 51 set up. But last weekeknd I took the car up to one of our local shows and the guy a few spaces down from me had a 46 Chevy street rod with a really cool looking drivetrain setup. He had a 3.2 Taurus SHO motor turned front ways with a Ranger 5 speed behind it. Very slick looking, sounded great, and the guy loved it. It got me thinking, I have the same motor sitting in my garage that I was going to use for another project. Why not try it in the 49? Lo and behold, there's another one in September's Street Rodder, this one in a 36 Ford.

So here I've got the motor, wiring harness, computer, fuel tank, and basically everything to make the swap work except for the 8.8 and a Ranger 5 speed. What the heck, I'm going for it. I think this will make a pretty cool little highway cruiser. Sorry for the Ford in a Mopar thing; I know that's not for everyone.

[Robert Horne]

I will be watching your project, for sure.        What kind of Ford 5 speed will be used?

 

I bought my Mom a 98 Taurus, 8 years ago, has the DOHC 3.0.       My Mom is 87 next month,

 

does not drive anymore.        You think a 5 speed would bolt up to this engine?.

 

I am thinking, my 37 Coupe body/ Ranger frame, engine-trans open for debate...

Edited July 23, 2013 by Robert Horne

[GlennCraven]

Is your flathead already sold on eBay? ... I just went to look for it out of curiosity and either I didn't search correctly or it wasn't there.

 

Good luck with the project. I've wanted to do some similar things from time to time -- like a latter-day Northstar in a big Packard or something -- but that takes a lot of expertise.

[falconvan]

Yeah, the flattie sold this morning. I was pretty happy with what it brought; should be enough to complete the swap or close to it.

 

Robert, i did some checking with a few Taurus SHO clubs and the RWD five speed that is a direct bolt up is the late 90s/early 2000 one from behind a 3.0 V6. The one from the 4.0 V6 has a different bellhousing pattern and will not work. You can also use the bellhousing from a late 80s Aerostar 3.0 and bolt a T5 to it with an adapter plate, but Im going with the Ranger one. There's several guys out there with these motors in RWD applications using that trans or the auto version of it. These 3.0 and 3.2 SHO motors are impressive little mills and they have quite a loyal following.

[falconvan]

My son and I got the motor pulled out of the Taurus today; what a PIA! It looked like a car bomb hit the garage by the time we got it out. Once this huge mess is cleaned up and the junk hauled off Ill pull the front clip and start sizing things up.

[Robert Horne]

I just changed the oil in my Mom's Taurus.     The 3.0 DOHC has 123,000 miles on it now.

 

It has alot more power than any 3.0 or 4.0 Ranger I have ever driven.

 

I wonder if a Ranger 3.0 automatic trans would fit to the DOHC?     I really like my

 

5 speed in my Coupe but would like to go automatic with my next project, my 37.......

[Robert Horne]

Hey Falcon, found this info.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_SHO_V6_engine

 

on your engine, looks to be a 1989 to 1995, 220 bhp...

 

220 Hp is alot more than my 82HP......

[falconvan]

Thanks, Robert! The standard 3.0 from the Taurus and Ranger, plus the 3.0 and 3.2 SHO all share the same bellhousing pattern. Mine is a 94 3.2. I'll bet you moms 3.0 Taurus motor would make a good swap and there are plenty of Ranger automatics out there. I just went and picked up a 5 speed yesterday for mine.

 

Good score at the boneyard today; I got my 8.8 disc brake posi rear from a Mercury mountaineer and a pedal assembly from a Jeep Cherokee. I came home and pulled the front clip and hopefully will be able to bolt the motor and trans together next weekend for a trial fit.

The guy I got this car from, Dennis from Mentor, Ohio, did an awesome job on this car. There’s so many cool updates that I won’t have to do plus everything is super clean with all new bolts. It sure beats pulling apart a car with 50 years of rust and crud.

 

 

 

 

[falconvan]

Did a little teardown on the engine tonight and pulled out the front seat and carpet to get ready to trial fit the drivetrain this weekend.

[falconvan]

Lots done today. I got the rest of the stuff Im not using stripped off the motor. The plan is to go without A/C or PS. It looks like it will work fine, I'm just going to have to make a bracket for the alternator that will adjust the belt. The belt tensioner was part of the PS bracket so no good there. I had to grind a litte notch on the inside of the five speed bellhousing so that it would bolt up to the motor but it was a piece of cake after that. So I've got it sitting between the rails and its got a few issues to work with but nothing too drastic. It's going to need a little firewall surgery so that the motor will go back a few more inches. Right now the oil filter will hit the steering box. I may try to come up with something to relocate the filter altogether; got to do some thinking on how to accomplish that. Shifter placement looks good, np problems there. The tie rod is dead center on the oil pan so the pan may need some notching, and it looks like custom headers will have to be built. Im going to try and alter a set of factory 3.8 Mustang headers and see how that works. Fun stuff, though.

[martybose]

If it's just the oil filter hitting, you can get remote filter kits that have a very short adapter with two hose fittings that screw onto the original filter location, then you run hoses to wherever you can mount a filter mount.  Much easier than moving the engine!

 

Marty

[falconvan]

That's a great idea, Marty. I'll look into that.

[falconvan]

It's looking better; I cut out part of the firewall to move the motor back. I'll box it in once everytning is where is going to stay. I took the oil cooler off and I could just screw a filter there and be ok, but I think Im going to use a remote mount so as not to have the oil filter right above the starter. Drivers side wiill definitely need some fabrication on the header. This is right where I want it to sit so now it's time to build motor and trans mounts and figure out how the oil pan will have to be cut for tie rod clearance.
 

[mrwrstory]

Great stuff.  I really enjoy this part of a project.  Please keep the updates coming.

[falconvan]

^{Will do; I hope to be building motor/trans mounts within the next few days. I got a set of 3.8 Mustang headers last night; the flanges are different but with some modification I should be able to make them work. That's the three biggies for now; mount the drivetrain, make the exhaust work, and alter the oil pan to fit around the steering link. Once those are done the motor/trans can come back out for some final prep.}

[falconvan]

Got motor mounts built today; not the prettiest things but it's solid and level. Once I grind a few crappy welds and throw some paint on them, they should be fine. For insulators I used the rubber biscuits that were the trans mounts for the flathead; worked out great. Tomorrow I'll build a crossmember for the trans and then the drivetrain will be self supporting.

[ktmripper]

Way to go, looks like you Are early there.

[falconvan]

Thanks! Finished the crossmember and got it back on its feet tonight. Now I have to notch the oil pan for tie rod clearance, build some headers, and figure out how to mount the clutch cylinder.

[mrwrstory]

Your progress makes me feel old   

[DJ194950]

Your progress makes me feel old   

 

He's getting it done while we are still thinking about what to do? 

 

Doug 

[Plymouthy Adams]

maybe hs is not getting a daily deluge of rain...we have actually been tropical here...daily rains...about to get anyone in a slump...

[DJ194950]

maybe hs is not getting a daily deluge of rain...we have actually been tropical here...daily rains...about to get anyone in a slump...

 

I remember my years in S.C.back in the early70's! Rain at least twice a day! Only good thing was the humitity would drop from 90%+ to maybe 70% plus a wind! Actually felt good to be outside for a short time until the humitity went back to 90%+ again!

Whenever you travel throught states that are very green in the summer, you can safely assume that it rains alot during the summer and probably gets humid!

 

Trade outs?? 

I did get used to it, no problem 2nd. year down there!    1st. year totally sucked!!

 

I'm getting old these days and don't like temps over 95 and less that 60?

But thats not to many sometimes in central ca. I"M lianing! Gets 110 to 30's ! Humity seldom an issue-FOG well that's another wintertime story!

 

Doug

[falconvan]

We've certainly had our share of rain, Tim. It's been a weird summer; unseasonably cool, too. I've just been really lucky with time lately. Work has been smooth so I haven't had to spend a ton of extra time there and my wife does a lot of things with our church women's group so I've had the time to work on it.

[falconvan]

This was much easier than I thought; one wedge cut and the steering clears fine. No internal interference as far as oil pump pickup or dipstick; all I have to do is find someone that welds aluminum to patch in the notch for me. On another + note; it's really clean inside and looks like it was well taken care of.

Edited August 14, 2013 by falconvan

[falconvan]

While Im waiting to get my header flanges back from the water jet guy I decided to address the fuel supply. Both the SHO tank and the Plymouth tank are the same depth so to simplify things Im just going to transplant the fuel pump from the SHO tank and fit it with the Plymouth sending unit. I'll also put this baffle from the SHO tank in the bottom. Today I took the SHO fuel filler with the overflow line and shorted it up so it will fit the Plymouth tank location; and I'll change the tank inlet to match the size.