4 Litre into XD-XF, Which one? Why?

[PH351 314]

I thought i'd open a new thread to ask this as there isn't much here in the 6 cyl section yet.

 

If I wanted to put a 4.0 Litre into my FE, which model would be the preferred? Maybe even the top three in case number one is hard to find or out of budget, etc.

 

In my case i would like to use the 4spd auto as well. Not sure if i will ever go turbo but if so, does this affect which model i should go for?

[GspecZL 979]

I am in a similar position. I want to put a 4 litre in my ZL maybe next year.

I personally was leaning toward an AU motor. I have an AU so i have experience with it and like the motor FWIW. I would then use the AU box to. I have no technical experience with this sort of conversion so i cant say how hard it will be.

But AU's are plentifull, cheap and reliable.

 

Also adds the option of the VCT motor not sure how much harder that would be though.

 

Good thread mate.

[Ants 6,370]

I like au engines,they do 100's of 1000's of k's with little maintenance and are cheap.

 

The autos are the same from ea2 on,other than mid way through el the dipstick being removed.

[GspecZL 979]

Actually i would like a dipstick its my only real complaint about the AU.

[PH351 314]

Thanks Ants. There's a few AUs on Ebay and carsales for under 1000. Something to keep in mind.

 

 

I am in a similar position. I want to put a 4 litre in my ZL maybe next year.
I personally was leaning toward an AU motor. I have an AU so i have experience with it and like the motor FWIW. I would then use the AU box to. I have no technical experience with this sort of conversion so i cant say how hard it will be.
But AU's are plentifull, cheap and reliable.

Also adds the option of the VCT motor not sure how much harder that would be though.

Good thread mate.

 

Thanks, figured it's a pretty common question with the x-series owners. I'm warming to the idea of this as there are less hoops to jump through than if there is if i drop my clevo in.

[dizzy616 183]

yes i am planning to go down this path with my xf ute. id like to use a eb-el with a t5. i was thinking about 4 spd auto. but it looks like a bit of stuffing around with the transmission mounts. they need to be moved further back. preferably one with a cable clutch since it looks easier. though i plan to save up for the aussiespeed carby manifold to make it easier to run on gas. just gas throttle body and go. since im planning to go down the straight gas path. and the gas injection looks like way to much money. then get a xr6 head down the track and cam it to compensate for power loss on gas.

 

i made a bit of a list

 

swap temp sender and oil pressure sender.

distributer?? im not to sure there
alternator rewiring
custom bracket for xf power steering pump. unless e series can be used?
v belt
xg radiator
thermofan unless. unless engine has clutch fan
xg chasis to engine plates
xg 4 spd transmission cross member

run a computer computer for ignition. not sure if you can use xf one?

go for one with a steel sump or acquire a steel sump.

 

please feel free to add something if im forgeting something. or correct me on something thats wrong. keep in mind im trying to run it without computer if possible. just throwing a gas throttle body on a carby inlet manifold.

 

glens conversion made it look like a damn good idea didn't it

 

if you want to go without a engineers dont go with au. (in victoria anyway)

[Thom 6,650]

Steel dump can't go onto an Au shot motor without changing timing cover and rear main seal to late El ( has to be late El with an Au style head because Au run larger main journals), also pm sent

[blackxt 699]

we did one in my mates old skid rig , was ef bottom end and head , au rods, blocks and heads decked , first motor had a big ported head and bigger valves , we found it had tons more torque with just bigger valves and smaller ports rather than the massive ported head , aussie speed manifold , modifidied electronic dizy , had a 600 holley wich was way to big , rejetted it but never dynoed

 

we went a ef bottom end just because of the sump proplems with a au engine

 

this motor went like buggery and still does , let go a rod once doing a 6,000 burnout with a trailer load of wood on the back .

 

also ran a t5 and the dizy was sorced from aussie speed , this was all very simple to fit with xg mounts and xg power steer pump , used the same wiring from the xflow motor .

 

the the pros from this setup was every thing was very basic and easy todo . cons were it used lots of fuel , but the motor is now in a el with efi and a tune and it uses not much less .

[steve mcqueen 1,796]

From my experience putting a 4 litre in an x series, id say anything from EF onwards. A lot of others will say "use the EL 4 litre" as it has a dizzy over a coil pack and is easier to set up?

Tho I do like what Ants has said "Go an AU donk" A friend of mine has an AU falcon, nothing special, never looks after it, just drives it and that's it. It has just over 200K on the engine and the bloody thing is a rocket! I drove it to Sydney recently and I was shocked at how hard this thing went. I didn't cane it or go stupid but popped it back to 3rd to over take a couple of cars on the freeway and then back to drive again and the power it had was impressive.

Moral:  AU falcon 4 litre. Oh and just buy a complete car for the conversion, cheap as chips!

[revhead 1,392]

ive used el 4lt motors and t5.s into a lot of x series cars,

the mods to fit this kind of running gear to your x series are nothing as you get all your parts from the good old xg ute as there a hybrid of the xf ute which ford modded to take the 4l

 

xg bits to buy before you start your conversion .

 

1,xg engine mount plates to chassis

2,xg front sway bar,

3,xg power steering lines,

4.radiator,and header tank

for an option you could change the lower support panel radius rod mounts to make the conversion complete like i have done

[Wes 214]

Au bottom ends but EF- EL heads are better. They flow more out of the box in standard trim, ie they breathe better. That's if you can be stuffed with the whole conversion mating of halves.

[xm-221 1,803]

just buy a complete car for the conversion, cheap as chips!

This!

I have got an EA 3.9lt and T5 in Heather, ED Diff with XE brackets for the vented brakes and ED tailshaft. A mate here in Geelong does the rear brake hose conversion for $45 plus postage. Modified XE radiator, EL thermostat housing and that's about it. Sway bar is standard XE, XG chassis plates. I don't run power steer or air con so I have one V belt that runs the water pump and Alt. I'll bail Dan up and find out exactly what bits he used for this conversion originally and edit this post later on

[Thom 6,650]

Au bottom ends but EF- EL heads are better. They flow more out of the box in standard trim, ie they breathe better. That's if you can be stuffed with the whole conversion mating of halves.

It's piss easy, it's as simple as doing a head gasket, plus raises compression

[gerg 10,871]

Au bottom ends but EF- EL heads are better. They flow more out of the box in standard trim, ie they breathe better. That's if you can be stuffed with the whole conversion mating of halves.

Yep good combo... And believe it or not, EA cams are slightly bigger. That is, apart from XR6. Regardless, Crow makes cams for them so plenty of choice anyway.

[gerg 10,871]

Oh by the way, my brother's got complete EA and EF motors, both running but suit rebuild, unused 0.20" oversize forgies for the EA. Make an offer.

[PH351 314]

All great info guys, thanks heaps for the responses. Gives me somewhere to start if i go this way. My initial thoughts had been to go buy a cheap EB-EL and slap her in. AU's are also getting cheaper which is good. But mixing and matching, and EA cams? I wouldn't have thought to do stuff like that.

[n00bus m@x1mus 465]

Any reason why the EF/L head flows better than an AU??  You would assume it the other way around... is it chamber shape or port?

[Campo 869]

Whats the difference between a EF motor and EL one? Got access to one of each, just trying to work out which to go with.

[bear351c 10,270]

 351 drops straight in......

 

Looks better

Sounds better

Goes better

 

   

[351XD_Fairmont 604]

Any reason why the EF/L head flows better than an AU?? You would assume it the other way around... is it chamber shape or port?

Whats the difference between a EF motor and EL one? Got access to one of each, just trying to work out which to go with.

Hey n00bus I'm not 100% but I believe its because they had a better rocker ratio then the au's had, Campo the only difference between an ef and an el's engine is the ef's have coilpacks where as the el's have a dizzy, so just for ease of installation and setup I'd go with the el, but in saying that I'm sure some others might go the other way, hope this helps anyway.

[Thom 6,650]

Ef and early El are the same, late El.used a Au style head and crank, without the longer con rods (if you see an El engine with the prefix wr2axxx cat into it it's an Au style head with 1.8:1 ratio rockers compared to the earlier 2:1 ratio) and the camshafts don't interchange between the two ratios, Ef or El cam be set up for a distributor or coil packs (ea- can also be setup for coil packs but it requires a Ef/El timing cover, also to change from v belts to sepentine belt requires Ef/El timing cover and balancer *note v belts cannot be used with a Ef/El timing cover with stock brackets) pre Au: ea's have the strongest rods, ef's have the best crank (12 counterweights compared to 8 on all other e series) Ef/El blocks are better as they have oil restrictors in the top of the block to prevent to much oil in the head at high rpm (makes for more stable valve train above 4000rpm) ea cam is the biggest for made for a 4.0l (except xg xr6 but good luck finding one) and cannot be used on a Au without custom rockers, xr6 head use standard intake valves with a larger exhaust valve, they were also a different casting from a standard head with similar intake Ports but a much better exhaust port (the best xr6 heads to get have the casting no 93dt and 94Dt, the best of the non xr6 heads have the casting 94da). Au egas engines use better crank and rods than a standard petrol engine (also slightly higher comp, and an Ef xr6 head on an Au egas short nets 10:1 comp) Au engines can take a BA turbo crank and rods without machine work, Au rods are longer than e series with a hypertectic pistons (same advantage as using 3.3 rods in a 4.1 or 302 rods in a 351) a really nice Combo (what some of you will remember I had in my xh) is Au egas short motor, Ef xr6 head, ea cam, El intake with a set of extractors and a tune made 178 rwkw for less than $600

[gerg 10,871]

Great info Thom, you're a wealth of knowledge.

[bear351c 10,270]

Dat's da shit, man !! Very comprehensive and informative.

 

Cheers.

[Thom 6,650]

Thanks, I did play with 4.0l's for a while to figure that stuff out (read lots of weekends at pick a part pulling ea-Au's apart and measuring parts to find ou what's different)<br />

[Thom 6,650]

I just re read your fist post, personally if I was building a turbo engine I would go Au, at least later if you get serious you can use aftermarket crank/rods/pistons to suit a barra engine without serious machine work to fit