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Anyone thinking about doing a 3.FIVE swap?

S

SHOcontinental

New CEG'er
Joined
Jan 8, 2005
Messages
9
Searched and didn't see any related threads, so I figured I'd ask.

Besides a turbo 2.5/3.0 probably being easier, why not? Same bell housing pattern. According to Ford it's even a slightly more compact package too. 2007 was the engines first year in the Edge, MKX, MKZ and CX-9 so I'm sure some have been totaled by now. Anyone thinking about it?
 
SHOcontinental said:
Looked at the names of a couple of the most recent threads and didn't see any related threads that have been posted in the last few days, so I figured I'd ask.

Besides a turbo 2.5/3.0 probably being easier, why not? Same bell housing pattern. According to Ford it's even a slightly more compact package too. 2007 was the engines first year in the Edge, MKX, MKZ and CX-9 so I'm sure some have been totaled by now. Anyone thinking about it?
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there you go fixed it for you. Noone has tried it yet to my knowledge.

Now since you didnt know enough to use the search button, I will provide you to another newbie getting made fun of for this same question.

http://www.contour.org/ceg-vb/showthread.php?t=37427&highlight=3.5+swap
 
FunInNorthDakota said:
there you go fixed it for you. Noone has tried it yet to my knowledge.

Now since you didnt know enough to use the search button, I will provide you to another newbie getting made fun of for this same question.

http://www.contour.org/ceg-vb/showthread.php?t=37427&highlight=3.5+swap
Click to expand...


This is why I hate you guys.

Edit:
I went back and read the link you posted. It doesn't look like nearly as easy a swap as the 3.0, but with time and money, anything could be done.

To the original poster, buy a 3.5L and measure it to see how it compares to the 3.0L. If it's close, ship it to me, and I'll design some mounts to fit it to the Contour. Does the 3.5 have any kind of variable valve timing?
 
TennTechMan said:
This is why I hate you guys.

Edit:
I went back and read the link you posted. It doesn't look like nearly as easy a swap as the 3.0, but with time and money, anything could be done.

To the original poster, buy a 3.5L and measure it to see how it compares to the 3.0L. If it's close, ship it to me, and I'll design some mounts to fit it to the Contour. Does the 3.5 have any kind of variable valve timing?
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awww, but we luvs you

yes it has variable timing, not that you couldnt find that out from reading any one of the other dozen threads.

The Alternator is on the opposite side of the engine, the block is different, along with many other things to numerous to list. Just read the other threads. Its not a duratec motor, its a whole different animal.
 
I agree that 2 seconds of searching would have yielded you the answer to this question. However, it bugs me how little people on here are willing to try things or MAKE things work. For christ's sake, they put LS1's into Miatas. I sure those don't mate right up to their trans and drop right it.
 
TX00SVT said:
I agree that 2 seconds of searching would have yielded you the answer to this question. However, it bugs me how little people on here are willing to try things or MAKE things work. For christ's sake, they put LS1's into Miatas.
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you could make it work, I just said noone has tried it.... Or for the about same money you could drop in a V8 and make it RWD too. I didnt say it wouldnt work, I just said that he needs to search to find things instead of just posting the same question people have posted before. Then if he finds all his answers and wants to continue, and has questions, that havent been asked before, thats cool. Even if he is just asking obscure questions, thats cool.

If a person is gonna spend WAY to much money and time to drop a new engine, why not make it worth it and put in a 5.0 or hell an LS1?
 
FunInNorthDakota said:
you could make it work, I just said noone has tried it.... Or for the about same money you could drop in a V8 and make it RWD too. I didnt say it wouldnt work, I just said that he needs to search to find things instead of just posting the same question people have posted before. Then if he finds all his answers and wants to continue, and has questions, that havent been asked before, thats cool. Even if he is just asking obscure questions, thats cool.

If a person is gonna spend WAY to much money and time to drop a new engine, why not make it worth it and put in a 5.0 or hell an LS1?
Click to expand...

Once again, I make a general comment, and you feel the need to reply back in defense of yourself.
 
TX00SVT said:
I agree that 2 seconds of searching would have yielded you the answer to this question. However, it bugs me how little people on here are willing to try things or MAKE things work. For christ's sake, they put LS1's into Miatas. I sure those don't mate right up to their trans and drop right it.
Click to expand...
Ahhhhh...it must be spring with all the locking of horns and butting of heads! :laugh:

On the Miata, I also love the Mustang/T-bird drivetrain drop-in that's been done over and over, especially with FI! Hell, I think I want to swap in a Cummins diesel in my tour, who wants to help??:shrug: OK, so that's a little too much...
 
SHOcontinental said:
Fixed yours too.

Anyways, the search didn't come up with anything relevant earlier today, although the Turbo 3.0 in the Merkur was cool. Just ran the same search and came up with 3 threads (including this one).
Click to expand...

did you try searching for "3.5 swap" cause for me it turned up about a dozen relevant threads.

You have any idea how annoying it is to try and look for something and research stuff when you are sifting through a bunch of asshole newbies who think they are the first one to ever ask a question or come up with an idea? You are making the forum harder to use every time you are to lazy to actually put in the legwork to find an answer yourself and you call me an asshole. Grow up.

TX00SVT said:
Once again, I make a general comment, and you feel the need to reply back in defense of yourself.
Click to expand...

Actually I was more just trying to expand on what you said and clarify what I had been saying. Gawd you are touchy, take a midol.
 
And once again...you have to have the last word. And FWIW, you were being an asshole. Was the OP's question stupid? Yes. Did you fly off the handle? Yes.
 
If it's such a problem that people want to start some innovative dialogue rather than the same 2 or 3 cookie cutter 3.0 swaps, why doesn't someone write up a sticky summarizing these common questions. It could be nothing more than a list of commonly asked about engines, and a short write-up as to what questions have still yet to be answered about completing the swap. See my example below.

3.5L "duratec" (or whatever Ford calls it):
- Alternator is on the opposite side compared to 2.5/3.0
- VCT would have to be taken care of one way or another

I'm sure others could add a lot to it. Those that want or have time/money for a more difficult swap would have a good reference to start making a decision from.

We should probably have a new sub-topic for non-3.0 duratec motor swaps.
 
the reason there is no writeup for how to do this swap or overcome the issues with this swap is because noone has done it. Also you are not starting an innovative dialogue. You are asking the same thing that has been asked several dozen times before.

Also, I dont think they bolt right up to the MTX75, I am pretty sure the motor mounts are in different spots on the 3.5, and it is not the same block.

Basically what you need to do to install the 3.5 is the same thing as any other custom engine application. Piggyback ECU or standalone, possibly a trans adapter, or custom driveshafts for a trans that does bolt right up to it, New motor mounts, possibly a custom subframe depending on the shape/size of the transmission and pan. However, noone here can tell you that, cause noone here has tried to mount one up. Try going to fordcontour.org and see if you can get terry haines to tell you about his 3.5 project, since I think at one time he was working on one.

The reason there isnt a sticky is because you dont need to have a sticky for EVERY question someone asks. Stickys are for frequently asked questions that are RELEVANT and USEFUL for our cars. Also so that you can get to the information you need fast. A sticky about a 3.5 swap wouldnt be useful, and almost noone would do it since it is not an easy swap, and there is no need to get to the information quickly, since its not like there is anything that you would need to read in here during a swap. The search button however is conveniently located at the top right of the screen. You want to know more about 3.5 swaps, enter the text 3.5 swap into the dialogue box. I dont know why people insist on saying we arent answering questions for your visionary project that you wont ever try. Once you answer the question for the first dozen people that ask it, you dont feel like doing it again. If you go to that link I gave you before, you can get links from that to other threads of people asking the SAME question. Plus, why should a moderator go through the work of making a discussion a sticky if you cant go through the work of pressing the search button

So please, drop this dribble about how you are being singled out just cause you asked an innovative question, cause you are not being singled out, nor are you being innovative. Here is an innovative idea though, try the search button, and if you go any further than than talking about the engine, maybe then you are being innovative.
 
FunInNorthDakota said:
the reason there is no writeup for how to do this swap or overcome the issues with this swap is because noone has done it. Also you are not starting an innovative dialogue. You are asking the same thing that has been asked several dozen times before.

Also, I dont think they bolt right up to the MTX75, I am pretty sure the motor mounts are in different spots on the 3.5, and it is not the same block.

Basically what you need to do to install the 3.5 is the same thing as any other custom engine application. Piggyback ECU or standalone, possibly a trans adapter, or custom driveshafts for a trans that does bolt right up to it, New motor mounts, possibly a custom subframe depending on the shape/size of the transmission and pan. However, noone here can tell you that, cause noone here has tried to mount one up. Try going to fordcontour.org and see if you can get terry haines to tell you about his 3.5 project, since I think at one time he was working on one.

The reason there isnt a sticky is because you dont need to have a sticky for EVERY question someone asks. Stickys are for frequently asked questions that are RELEVANT and USEFUL for our cars. Also so that you can get to the information you need fast. A sticky about a 3.5 swap wouldnt be useful, and almost noone would do it since it is not an easy swap, and there is no need to get to the information quickly, since its not like there is anything that you would need to read in here during a swap. The search button however is conveniently located at the top right of the screen. You want to know more about 3.5 swaps, enter the text 3.5 swap into the dialogue box. I dont know why people insist on saying we arent answering questions for your visionary project that you wont ever try. Once you answer the question for the first dozen people that ask it, you dont feel like doing it again. If you go to that link I gave you before, you can get links from that to other threads of people asking the SAME question. Plus, why should a moderator go through the work of making a discussion a sticky if you cant go through the work of pressing the search button

So please, drop this dribble about how you are being singled out just cause you asked an innovative question, cause you are not being singled out, nor are you being innovative. Here is an innovative idea though, try the search button, and if you go any further than than talking about the engine, maybe then you are being innovative.
Click to expand...

Did you even read my posts? I'm mostly in agreement with you. Go back and read MY posts before responding to ME. I haven't seen any posts from anyone about feeling singled out. My point is if we had a sticky listing the common engines and a few of the known difficult challenges, it could help others reallize quickly why they should swap a 3.0L and not spend another second considering any other swap.

Try reading all the posts before replying to a thread next time. Or maybe you could SEARCH for all the other posts since you like to suggest it so much. It's like this forum has a few people just waiting to treat others like jerks rather than adding to or improving the information here.
 
sorry got you and the OP confused.

But yeah, there is no point in a sticky on it. If there is a sticky on the 3.5, why not one on the 5.0, the 4.6, the dodge 2.0 out of a neon, or an LS1? You can see how quickly it would get cluttered with all the other BS people would ask questions about. Noone is going to need to QUICKLY find information so they can get through their 3.5 swap. People sometimes quickly need information on other things, thats why they get stickied, so people can find the answers easily.

There is a sticky that addresses many of the issues that many newbies need to know when they are researching information on a 3.5 swap or anything else that a person may want to know. Its called the read first sticky in the new members classroom. In that sticky it tells people to use the search button.

besides, stickies wouldnt cut down in the number of people asking questions. There are dozens of questions a week that are answered explicitly in stickies.
 
For TennTechMan,

It's been awhile since I looked at it all closely, but there are a lot of hurdles to overcome in order to fit the 3.5L, I'll see if i can remember some of them.

Bellhousing - IIRC, the pattern is different enough that it would require a custom bellhousing for any MTX I'm aware of.
General fitment - The overall size of the engine is about the same as a D30, but the crank centerline is lower, meaning the crank centerline to the top of the engine is taller than the 2.5/3.0L options, some of which already barely fit under the hood. I don't recall the difference, but it could be enough that none of the common cowl hoods would even make enough room.
PCM - the D35 uses a pretty complex new engine control system compared to the EEC used in the contour. I believe that attempting to use the stock D35 PCM and controls would probably lead most non-engineers to commit suicide.


That's just a few, but, like you said here, and I've said in most of the threads where this question has been rehashed time and again, anything can be done given enough time money and expertise. The reason no one has gone very far on this swap, is that the time, effort and money required to make it work is a lot more than most are willing to expend. The only valid reason to do it, is to "just be different" because readily available parts, and relatively easy to swap options already exist that will let the 2.5L/3.0L put out more power than the platform can really handle. In all honesty, it would probably be easier to swap in a 6.0L V12 from an Aston Martin to run RWD . . . and definately easier to swap in something simple, like a 302, or a GM LSx family V8.


btw, I forgot how ridiculous the thread linked above was. I had forgotten how much of an idiot Kaos was.
 
I love these threads. People think if they can get the engine under the hood of the car, the work is 95% done. :troutslap: Of course, even if that were the case, this is also the forum where people complain about if a mod costs more than $200. :blackeye:
 
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