Is it still worth it to swap in a SBF?

Mr_Clutch42 wrote: In reply to Tom_Spangler: How much are good Ford aftermarket cylinder heads? If you're talking $900-$1200, that's not too bad.

That much, used.

oldopelguy wrote: I still can't figure out why everyone thinks that you need a t56 to run a LSx motor. Add a $40 truck flywheel and $4 extended pilot bushing and any transmission that ever bolted to any Chevy v8 bolts up. Plenty of transmission options that are smaller, lighter, and cheaper.

The list gets a lot smaller when you want overdrive.

oldopelguy wrote: I still can't figure out why everyone thinks that you need a t56 to run a LSx motor. Add a $40 truck flywheel and $4 extended pilot bushing and any transmission that ever bolted to any Chevy v8 bolts up. Plenty of transmission options that are smaller, lighter, and cheaper.

The list gets a lot smaller when you want overdrive.

In reply to Mr_Clutch42:

Here's an assembled head from Trick Flow for $625 each; http://www.summitracing.com/parts/tfs-51410010-m58/overview/make/ford

Idea- sell all said sbf crap. Use money's to buy stupid fast ls motor. Win at life.

In my opinion the t5 is a good reason NOT to use the sbf. The t5 is just a pain to drive. Shifts chunky, needs to be treated like a princess.

I swapped a 302 and t5 into an e36. The result was fast and fun and loud and hoonable, but at the end I actually preferred the original engine and trans in terms of driveability and track manners.

Turned a scalpel into a machete. Realized I liked a scalpel.

I really think a better trans would make the sbf a much more appealing choice.

for me the question always comes to what transmission.

SBF -> T5 and pray it dont break (if over 300hp) LSx deriv -> T-56 etc, $$$/heavier/bigger...

In reply to rcutclif:

I thought the T5 in my '95 Mustang GT wasn't too bad after I swapped to a Hurst shifter with slightly shorter throws and nice adjustable stops. Not the nicest thing I've ever shifted but not bad. The clutch effort, though, was pretty awful really. I'd like to think a well sorted hydraulic setup would fix that. That Ford still used a cable really says something about the engineering effort spent on those cars.

I've had plenty of T5s, and I never minded them, but an aftermarket shifter is a must. I was partial to the Pro 5.0.

I never regretted going the SBF route with my project but I have easy access to all kinds of SBF stuff. To each his own...

the going rate for a complete ford explorer GT40p engine is still hovering around $~300 where I live. I think that's a pretty good value

rcutclif wrote: I swapped a 302 and t5 into an e36. The result was fast and fun and loud and hoonable, but at the end I actually preferred the original engine and trans in terms of driveability and track manners. Turned a scalpel into a machete. Realized I liked a scalpel.

If we want to be brutally honest, this pretty much sums up 99% of engine swaps.

If you have to buy a transmission for performance use in a v8 swap my go to is something out of a Supra. Even if you have to buy the adapter bell housing new you can get the whole works ready to go for under $800.

Smaller, lighter, cheaper than the t56, better ratios and shifting than a t5.

For an LSx motor add the $300 programmable MSD timing controller and a Holley single plane carb manifold with injector bosses for $300. Toss a carb on top and 8 expansion plugs in the injector bosses and have your $400 5.3 running in half an hour. Get it in your chassis, get exhaust, cooling, gauges, driveshaft, mounts and belts all worked out and drive it. At some later date you can toss the injectors and fuel rails on, swap the carb for a throttle body, and away you go.

Also, for a BMW swap right now an adapter for the big BMW Getrag 265 that would let it bolt to the LSx motor is $4-500.

NOHOME wrote:

rcutclif wrote: I swapped a 302 and t5 into an e36. The result was fast and fun and loud and hoonable, but at the end I actually preferred the original engine and trans in terms of driveability and track manners. Turned a scalpel into a machete. Realized I liked a scalpel.

If we want to be brutally honest, this pretty much sums up 99% of engine swaps.

I think that is 90% true. Most swapes are for people like me who want to learn by doing and to have a car to go hooning in and to show off and turn tires to smoke. But there is always that guy that seems to find perfect balance and makes an amazing car. (case in point -targa miata-)

But for me loud fun and a bit crazy is why Im doing a swap not for a track/autoX killer. Its all what you want from your car.

Just as an FYI; a 5.0 Ford with aluminum heads and manifold can be made as light as 385 pounds which very close to a 2.0 liter turbo motor. My fabricator keeps prodding me to put a 5.0 in my Datsun 1200 but the prepped A-Series engine only was 175lbs complete and it's bolted to a 38lb transmission so I am not anxious to add 250 odd pounds to the car. Of course the I'd like to have the extra horsepower, the current 125 hp makes it less than hoonarific. Note we have a 5.0 SBF lying around.

    Tom

There's a guy on r3vlimited who sells a 5.0 swap kit, probably worth reaching out in that direction.

rcutclif wrote: I swapped a 302 and t5 into an e36. The result was fast and fun and loud and hoonable, but at the end I actually preferred the original engine and trans in terms of driveability and track manners. Turned a scalpel into a machete. Realized I liked a scalpel.

In my case, the RX7 was a champion winning autocrosser before the V8 swap, and it retained all the balance (49/51% f/r) and goodness after the swap, just with added power when you wanted it. You do realize that the tool is only as good as the operator, and if you are flat footing it everywhere, then of course your scalpel isn't as accurate... You CAN still drive it like a scalpel if you're even slightly competent. That's what you gain, is the flexibility to be a scalpel when you want it AND a lightning fast machete when you want that, too.