It’s too bad you couldn’t score a wagon like at the top of the post. That would have made the project that much better. Enjoying the whole story, well written.
I just met you at Cars ‘n Coffee today. I came home and read all your posts, and I can identify with EVERY comment! If you are interested, I can send pictures of my Ford into a Triumph TR6 project for your perusal. You offered a copy o your tune, and I will get back to you for that. I need to get the exhaust installed with the O2 sensor bung first.
Dennis
I just caught up with all the fun you have shared so far. I’m inspired. Thank you. The humor is great and the custom built parts always define character on your build.
-Still solid on your 302 choice? I’d like to hear some pros and cons if possible.
I’m stuck with my e46 because I love it too much and so many parts and time involved. I do want to put an engine that delivers just enough power to have fun without compromising my upcoming baby’s safety.
-I just want a V8 to be honest. It will happen. If you have pointers from your own joy and suffering let us know!
Thank you for sharing dude. Are you planning to rebuild your engine soon?
I’m still happy with the 302. As this car kind of went from daily driver to more autocross-focused, the 302’s light weight and compact setup are great advantages. The car is competitive and I’m running about even with a couple of 435hp 2015 Mustangs on the stock 215hp Explorer engine. Regarding 5.0 vs. LS, here’s something I posted on BimmerForums:
If you’ll be happy with under 300hp, do the 5.0 and save a few thousand dollars. If you plan to push 350+ hp, you may as well go with an LS from the start. They do that much hp stock, but getting a 5.0 to 350 crank hp costs about the same as a stock LS. The LM4 is an aluminum truck 5.3 that makes 310hp stock and can be found all day for $500. If you plan to push 500+hp, you’re better off going LS from the start because the 302 blocks start to break in half around 450-500hp. The downside/upside to the LS blocks is that you basically have to use a T56. The strongest T5 is rated at 310ft-lb and will be fine behind a healthy 5.0. But once you introduce abuse or power too far above 400-450hp a T5 will be in trouble. The T56 is a six speed (six speeds = extra street cred), and in stock form it’s more than comfortable handling 500-600hp. But they’re expensive – hard to find under $2000, and they’re 50lb heavier than the T5.
My original plan was to build up the 5.0 this winter in the off-season, but I accidentally picked up another project I’m about to reveal that has been sucking my time and cash (see my Instagram feed!)
I do still hope to do aluminum heads, ported intakes, cam, and headers some day for an easy 350+hp. That should be more than enough to cause trouble on the Autocross course, but not so much that I’ll be munching transmissions left and right.
Hey Mikael it’s Trenton the guy who pulled you to his house after you shredded a radiator hose at a rally I was wondering if you wanted to still possibly buy that roller 351 in my shed if so add me on Facebook.
Sincerely
Trenton kopf
The stock BMW ECU? Or the stock Ford ECU? The Explorer ECU is set up for an automatic transmission so that would have to be tuned out. I could use a Mustang ECU, but that would require swapping in a distributor, which I don’t want to do because then I lose a whole lot of controlability. And really, the price to get a Ford ECU tuned by someone else is about the same as the Megasquirt kit. Check out the section on Megasquirt for more info!
Hey, Mikael I was wondering if you knew of anyone that could replicate the mounts and cross member from E36V8 or make mounts for this swap. I believe the e36V8 swap site has been taken down .
I don’t know of any other companies that have made E36/5.0 engine mounts. If they went dark, that’s probably it. You could try a universal Ford engine mount kit modified to what you need: https://amzn.to/3AnfFyI
It’s too bad you couldn’t score a wagon like at the top of the post. That would have made the project that much better. Enjoying the whole story, well written.
I just met you at Cars ‘n Coffee today. I came home and read all your posts, and I can identify with EVERY comment! If you are interested, I can send pictures of my Ford into a Triumph TR6 project for your perusal. You offered a copy o your tune, and I will get back to you for that. I need to get the exhaust installed with the O2 sensor bung first.
Dennis
I just caught up with all the fun you have shared so far. I’m inspired. Thank you. The humor is great and the custom built parts always define character on your build.
-Still solid on your 302 choice? I’d like to hear some pros and cons if possible.
I’m stuck with my e46 because I love it too much and so many parts and time involved. I do want to put an engine that delivers just enough power to have fun without compromising my upcoming baby’s safety.
-I just want a V8 to be honest. It will happen. If you have pointers from your own joy and suffering let us know!
Thank you for sharing dude. Are you planning to rebuild your engine soon?
Thanks for the reply!
I’m still happy with the 302. As this car kind of went from daily driver to more autocross-focused, the 302’s light weight and compact setup are great advantages. The car is competitive and I’m running about even with a couple of 435hp 2015 Mustangs on the stock 215hp Explorer engine. Regarding 5.0 vs. LS, here’s something I posted on BimmerForums:
If you’ll be happy with under 300hp, do the 5.0 and save a few thousand dollars. If you plan to push 350+ hp, you may as well go with an LS from the start. They do that much hp stock, but getting a 5.0 to 350 crank hp costs about the same as a stock LS. The LM4 is an aluminum truck 5.3 that makes 310hp stock and can be found all day for $500. If you plan to push 500+hp, you’re better off going LS from the start because the 302 blocks start to break in half around 450-500hp. The downside/upside to the LS blocks is that you basically have to use a T56. The strongest T5 is rated at 310ft-lb and will be fine behind a healthy 5.0. But once you introduce abuse or power too far above 400-450hp a T5 will be in trouble. The T56 is a six speed (six speeds = extra street cred), and in stock form it’s more than comfortable handling 500-600hp. But they’re expensive – hard to find under $2000, and they’re 50lb heavier than the T5.
My original plan was to build up the 5.0 this winter in the off-season, but I accidentally picked up another project I’m about to reveal that has been sucking my time and cash (see my Instagram feed!)
I do still hope to do aluminum heads, ported intakes, cam, and headers some day for an easy 350+hp. That should be more than enough to cause trouble on the Autocross course, but not so much that I’ll be munching transmissions left and right.
Hey Mikael it’s Trenton the guy who pulled you to his house after you shredded a radiator hose at a rally I was wondering if you wanted to still possibly buy that roller 351 in my shed if so add me on Facebook.
Sincerely
Trenton kopf
Would it be that difficult to run the stock ecu with this setup?
The stock BMW ECU? Or the stock Ford ECU? The Explorer ECU is set up for an automatic transmission so that would have to be tuned out. I could use a Mustang ECU, but that would require swapping in a distributor, which I don’t want to do because then I lose a whole lot of controlability. And really, the price to get a Ford ECU tuned by someone else is about the same as the Megasquirt kit. Check out the section on Megasquirt for more info!
Hey, Mikael I was wondering if you knew of anyone that could replicate the mounts and cross member from E36V8 or make mounts for this swap. I believe the e36V8 swap site has been taken down .
I don’t know of any other companies that have made E36/5.0 engine mounts. If they went dark, that’s probably it. You could try a universal Ford engine mount kit modified to what you need: https://amzn.to/3AnfFyI