my 240sx ford 302 engine changes (lots of pics)

[maik21]

this is my 240sx... my project starts maybe 2 years ago... so i put engine in there but there was some wrong things with the install and i decided to do it better than the first time. i will buy an solder machine to do stuffs but i never solder anything so i need to learn how to but i think its not hard.

before the engine changes.. they will be outside changes.. a great bodywork will apreciate.

first off... my actual car..


clearance between radiator and water pulley


engine mount and oil pan .. its to dirty


actual carburator and intake .. edelbrock 600cfm and torker II


my car this morning.. yea.. i open the hood and put a piece of wood in there because the first person who install the engine... took the steel piece and put in the tranny shift pod.


look at clearance between tranny bolts and the tranny hole... the engine its mounted horizontal and maybe if i let it drop the back a little, it will be sit better...


an other one


see the square piece of wood in the engine mount.. i put it there because the engine was sit higher at one side.


radiator fans, yea ... the car is nissan...
i want radiator fans in the right place because this city its to hot in the day all the year. some times hits 45 C


yes, stabilizer bar hits the pulley every time when car is lifted. but when the car is down, it works fine.. but its a problem so i will fix it... see the oil pan.. its to down... one time i hit a rock in the street and broke the oil pan.



tranny was mounted to high... and the exhaust system suc** .. its fine when u do the job and thinks goes wrong... its bad when other do the job and all suc** ...


spoiler or wing.. i dont know but i like it.


radiator and electric fans


see carefuly this picture.. i will take the engine pulley and quit the last "V" thing... and short it from the beginning


i cant take off this piece... i dont have a piece that take of a big bolt


i pay 3 bucks to my brother .. he was cutting the exhaust


with this.... cutting tool without the ... see for ur self


wing or spoiler


another one..... .. see far far away...


one more...


i put some pieces of brake pads to lift the engine mounts and see how high can i lift it ...


after i mod the height ... it looks great... i take notes and try to do new engine mounts.


if all things will going good oil pan will be more at the back and with this height


im asking for manual tranny costs because i will do a auto to manual swap too.

please.. give me some advices with all stuff i show you.. and some others with the electric wires.

how back can i mount the engine or how back its recommended distance?
i will purchase cams for my engine too =) on tuesday.
thanks.

[BMAR240SX]

Should have painted the engine bay bro, Nice work

[maik21]

Should have painted the engine bay bro, Nice work

i will clean it.. dont worry.. i want to pull out the engine and clean and paint too !!!! but i go to school and time is over me right now.

time is a matter.

i will post more pics when engine is out.

[jeramie411]

word keep going

[WDRacing]

Any updates?

[maik21]

Any updates?

i receive last week the heads .. they were rebuild and now, it will work fine... they dont port and polish because i will save for a good set of al heads.. but not right now... and i have a new timing chain cover.... i will install all this end of week but i dont have money right now... so the updates will be slow......

some man want to sell me a manual tranny from a mustang... he say the tranny will have all the things i need to install and the clutch its a wire clutch, not hydraulic clutch so i dont know if it will work great. i think its easy to do some custom things if i have that tranny

what its the best ? hydraulic clutch or wire clutch?

with wire clutch, i can easily put some custom pedal on it without those slave and master cylinders.

the cost of that tranny with all the stuff for plug and play will be 100 usd.

[WDRacing]

I've never even been around an electric clutch. I've always had hyd...

[maik21]

I've never even been around an electric clutch. I've always had hyd...

its not electric... its something like the wire of the gas pedal, or the wire of the brakes in a bike.

some more... its with five speed.

[maik21]

im very very happy... my car now is back... its about one day or two for a complete swap.

the manual tranny t5 is mounted and the engine was started some minutes ago... i will need some custom headers but for a few days, i will run with direct exhaust. ...i take a video and i will upload tomorrow because i dont have some wires to conect phone to pc. so... so i will come back with some under the hood pics...all look better than before.

[xekushnr]

Aw, you should have sprung for a T5-6. All of my 5.0 friends with a T5 want to do a T5-6 swap. That extra gear will come in handy on the highway and will save gas.

Get some more pics soon! I remember seeing your first "I'm swapping in a 302" thread WAY back and I'm glad to see its moving along.

[maik21]

im uploading some new pics right now!!!

[maik21]

[WDRacing]

Hows it run?

[maik21]

Hows it run?

it runs very fine..i was having problems with alternator belt but i fixed yesterday.... it spin tires in 1st and second all the time even without the need of kick clutch. .. its more powerful than before. im waiting for the 1/4 mile time. maybe this saturday will be open and i will be there.

i dont know if other v8 fords in a 240 has the electric fans as my 240 has.

now its radiator, fans, engine!!!

[maik21]

to bad news... i was to the track yesterday to run my car... i have 235-45-18 in the back and 245-40-18 in the front.. so.. i ran and dit 16.7 in the 1/4 mile at 138kph...so maybe i had a bad launch because my tires spin to much and i didnt do a burnout before start so my tires where at normal temp. i start in 1st gear . my car has a lot of torque and maybe if i start from 2nd gear the things were diferent.

my carb its progresive but in the secondary butterfly has a upper vacum butterfly and i stuck that with some pieces of plastic because the real secondary butterfly only opens when i fully press the gas.

[monkeydemond]

hey thats a bad *** swap man, im looking to do the same thing but w/ an efi 5.0. how did u u make the motor and tranny mounts?

[maik21]

some pieces of metal.. u need the original metal mounts of the 302 and the plastic mounts from a marquis, they look square ... next u need to put the engine in the desire position and make the custom mounts... its so easy... tranny m ount its similar to the stock moun and if u do automatic, u will have no problem with that.

[maik21]

video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW65OockPEQ

[bigk]

How much forward is the shifter from the stock location? Any problems with shifting into gears and hitting anything?

[maik21]

How much forward is the shifter from the stock location? Any problems with shifting into gears and hitting anything?

it isnt hitting any because i remove some metal...

its at least 3/4 of hand forward from the stock location. i didnt have problems to shift. all its all right !!! there is only a must have tunne of carburetor.

[bigk]

Is it possible for you to take a picture of the shifter in first gear. i would like to see how far forward it is. Im trying to convince myself to do a efi 302 240sx.

[maik21]

check the video link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW65OockPEQ

it show u how far it is. and u will need an L adaptor as mustang have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRrG3lplNuQ


Modified by maik21 at 7:10 PM 9/10/2008

[bigk]

Does this L adapter look like this?

[maik21]

yep, thats a fashion L adaptor... i did mine with some tubing and my welder !!! les tan 3 bucks !!! one lug and buala !!!

[maik21]

u can use the one from the mustang but u need to do some little mods . i did mine to save some money.

[streetnissan240]

sup i am lovin this 240! i am thinking of putting a efi 5.0 in mine. But i have questions....did you cut anything to get it to fit? Did you use stock driveshaft and axles? Did you use a 5.0 driveshaft and axles? How many mods you had to do??

[maik21]

sup i am lovin this 240! i am thinking of putting a efi 5.0 in mine. But i have questions....did you cut anything to get it to fit? Did you use stock driveshaft and axles? Did you use a 5.0 driveshaft and axles? How many mods you had to do??

y need a driveshaft for the tranny u will use, and the driveshaft for ur stock diff. then y will cut and paste together and u will have a new driveshaft.

u need custom oil pan, and custom engine mounts... uf u use a automatic aod tranny, u didnt need to cut anything and u can use a chevy tranny support for this aod tranny. it will bolt right.

u can see pics of swap and the video because i swap to t5 and cut some metal in the shift pad.

[nisord]

hey figer i would put my two sence Worth in to maybe give you some help if i can. alright now first pick your motor 302 from 87 to 90 is about the best of all of them to go with in my opinon if you don't want to change much to the motor. they have a roller cam and they have foraged pistons factory (good for nos or any charger on the motor. if you don't mined putting a hood scoop or the engine sticking though the hood some then the 351 (5.8L) would be a better choice. both would not need any stiffer springs unless your going for really hard corning then i would say stay with the 4banger. not sure what all you know about the 302 and 351 but basicly they are the same motors but the 351 has a 1" taller deck height and larger stroke and rods. because of this the intake and distributor are diffrent. the oil pan is also diffrent. you will need a front sump oil pan (came in most the 60's and 70's cars with the 302 and 351. see the pics of the guy with the red engine bay 240. using the early 90's exsplorer water pump and pulley system will give you about 1" more room up front. the headers i would use early 90's truck 302/351 equale length headers. tyhere a bit more costly but will allow better performance and a much cleaner look. they will require someone to do a little heating and bending and someone good at bending some piping. this is about the hardest part of putting a v8 ford in. I'm running true duals all the way out the back so I'm going a little further and i have cut the back floor out and removed the fuel tank and made the back floor go straigh across and am putting an isuzu trooper fuel tank in place so that i have room for the pipes, one on each side of the tank. as far as the modifications that would need to be done i would cut a little off the front side of the cross member and weld a piece of angle iron back in place to get the strength back. this will keep from you having to cut or dent in the oil pan and also get the motor and trans further back in the car making for better acceleration and cornering. the drive shaft has no easy way out that i have found yet. motor mounts will have to be custom. note: make sure you leave the trans mount with a soft mount. if you have a solid mount you could risk busting the trans housing when the car twist, and with a torque v-8 that will happen. if you want to know what the difference is your stock 2.4L puts out about 145hp and only about 120 ft lbs of torque. a like 88 302 stock makes about 230hp and about 210 ft lbs of torque and its only about 100 to 150 lbs heavier. your money will go further and you will be making more that 2 times the hp per dollar with the 302 than the 2.4 or the 2.0 Nissan motor. plus if anything breaks or goes bad you can get the part cheaper, twice as fast, and easier so it will be down for less time. your radiator the best i have found is from a 4.0 ranger. if you need any more help you can email me at lucasdnissan300zx@hotmail.com. maybe I'll have some pics before long of the 240sx and my other project ('91 300zx with a 4.6 4 valve motor from a licon mark VIII)

[nookie2692000]

maik. how well does the auto trans line up with everything? somewhere i know you said you used an explorer water pump? i work at autozone, i was looking at various 302 water pumps. the shortest one i can find is from a 97 explorer. it is about 3 or 4 inches tall. but in order to run it you will need to change the timing cover otherwise your coolant wont flow. so that will help some of you out. the stock pump is 5.75 inches tall. they make 2 versions of it as well. the heavy cast one and a nice aluminum one. the aluminum one is from a late 80`s 302. like a 89 crown victoria.

[maik21]

maik. how well does the auto trans line up with everything? somewhere i know you said you used an explorer water pump? i work at autozone, i was looking at various 302 water pumps. the shortest one i can find is from a 97 explorer. it is about 3 or 4 inches tall. but in order to run it you will need to change the timing cover otherwise your coolant wont flow. so that will help some of you out. the stock pump is 5.75 inches tall. they make 2 versions of it as well. the heavy cast one and a nice aluminum one. the aluminum one is from a late 80`s 302. like a 89 crown victoria.

yea... i dont know exactly what water pump im running right now.. i only know it flows same as the too old water pumps in ford 302, but mines is aluminum...and its a custom one.. before made it custom, this water pump (Al) was a little shorter than the cast iron. the pulley its custom too, u can see in the pictures !!!

[maik21]

one3 more thing.. timming chain cover has same water flow as old one, but this new one dont have the gas pump hole in it =)

[nookie2692000]

i will take some pictures today at work for some comparison. i am starting my swap real soon. got my whole swap for $150. after work today i will post up some pictures and prices for everyone. i will also take alot of pictures during the install.

[maik21]

that will be amazing... if u change thread please give me the link to follow the entire job =)

[nookie2692000]

89 crown victoria next to 97 explorer pump

89 crown victoria next to 97 explorer 5.75" and about 3.75" tall

89n crown victoria aluminum

97 ford explorer

85 cast iron heavy pos!


they all pretty much bolt up the same except the explorer pump. explorer pump is $70 also requires timing cover which is i believe $82 the 85 crown vic iron pump is $35 and the aluminum is $56. you would obviously need the pulley for the pump and a different sized belt. hope this helps someone.



Modified by nookie2692000 at 7:05 PM 7/1/2008

[maik21]

yes this will help a lot of people.... do u know if there are a timming chain cover for a old 302 that can use explorer water pump ?? when o bought mine they only has 2 timming chain covers.. one for fuel pump and the other without fuel pump so i chosse the last.

[nookie2692000]

you can only go with an explorer that has the 302. the older explorers only had the 4.0 until i believe 96 or 97. the openings on the water pump ports are different. i dont remember the part # for the 97 explorer timing cover but its $81.99 for now this is the only help i can give to anyone. im going to try to use the stock exhaust manifolds from a fox body mustang. there like the hugger headers. there real cheap everywhere. tomorrow i will be pulling the motor and trans out from the donor car. (85 crown victoria) when i get my mounts made i will take pictures of everything. might be a couple weeks though. if anyone would like me to try anything just let me know i will try to get you helpful answers.

[maik21]

you can only go with an explorer that has the 302. the older explorers only had the 4.0 until i believe 96 or 97. the openings on the water pump ports are different. i dont remember the part # for the 97 explorer timing cover but its $81.99 for now this is the only help i can give to anyone. im going to try to use the stock exhaust manifolds from a fox body mustang. there like the hugger headers. there real cheap everywhere. tomorrow i will be pulling the motor and trans out from the donor car. (85 crown victoria) when i get my mounts made i will take pictures of everything. might be a couple weeks though. if anyone would like me to try anything just let me know i will try to get you helpful answers.

stang headers dont fit and the shorty headers from cougar dont fit too. they hit the steering bar... u need a left header that seems to be similar to chevy truck header =) maybe this will help you !.

[nookie2692000]

what vehicle are your manifolds from? i dont really like the setup you have. not saying there bad. they work but i want my exhaust to look nice. i guess when i get my mounts made i will get a couple different headers and see what works and what dont. ill try a few things. how big is your exhaust piping?

[maik21]

what vehicle are your manifolds from? i dont really like the setup you have. not saying there bad. they work but i want my exhaust to look nice. i guess when i get my mounts made i will get a couple different headers and see what works and what dont. ill try a few things. how big is your exhaust piping?

yea, i dont like my exhaust system too but no one want to do it nice. =) the exhaust piping its 2 1/4 or 2 1/2, i dont remember... but i think its the first.

i want to do by myself but i need to buy the tubes and i dont have the money right now to pay shippment and importation. =)

the manifold are from a cougar. old cougar.

[nookie2692000]

well i will get a few different manifolds and me and my fabricator will see what will work nice. im going with the efi setup too just so everyone knows. im going to be using the 302 harness and ecu.