4.0l conversion queries

[78xcgxl 241]

Now next year i will be doing the 4.0L conversion to my xc falcon and literately can't wait but i do have a few question and ideas on it.

 

Engine: I'm going to run a AU ohc non VCT motor (was going to run an el motor but au is just soo much better)

 

Gearbox:  My xc currently runs a 4 speed single rail with a hydraulic clutch and i would really love to retain the Hydraulic clutch, just don't like cable clutchs. This also allows me to keep the current pedal box in and leave all the Hydraulic lines in place. Now my question is can i use a BA T5 bell housing (have been told same as AU but uses Hydraulic instead of cable) and use Ba bell housing hydraulic setup connected to the XC hydraulic lines if that makes any sense ? haha. Now i know that i can't use an AU or BA T5 as the gear shift position seats further back, but would it work if i used a BA T5 Hydyalic bell housing with an EL T5 gearbox ?

 

Diff: I am going to run a 3:45 slippery but unsure which diff housing to use so that the handbrake isn't too much stuffing around to get working. My idea would be that a EL wagon diff would be the easier one as it runs a separated handbrake from the caliper :and only runs one handbrake line on the drivers side floor pan. Any help on this one would be great

 

Other queries:

 

Accelerator pedal and cable: How would i go about the Accelerator pedal and cable setup, currently has stock 6cylinder setup, same as a XD.

 

 Electric Fuel pump and lines: ?

 

A/C setup: It is a must for me to keep the A/c so what would be the best setup in terms of condenser and engine bay a/c lines?. My ideas are to use a complete XG setup and get the TX valve connection modified to fit the XC TX Valve.

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

Giovanni

[Stevemack 122]

Giovanni, my advice is save for a BA turbo conversion, the AU or even EL engine isn't goning to be much of a performance gain IMO.

But if you are dead set on the AU, find a hybrid EL block 1998), which has the casting VR2A on the side (better crank and has the AU girdle) use the XH drop down manifold, XH belt and idler setup, Magna blue top injectors, put a cam in it and an ECU reflash and you should get up to 170 -180kW at the wheels, heaps better than a bogger AU.

A holley Red (i think) should do for the fuel, you'll need a return line and a time out relay.

A T5 from an ef el etc should be OK, just weld on a few lugs to adapt a slave cylinder, fit a master cylinder and bobs your uncle.

The A/C compressor should be OK, but XG pipes might fit better, probably some adaptors somewhere will be needed.

Accelerator cable would be XG, adapt to fit the pedal.

Just my opinions mind

Good luck;.

[78xcgxl 241]

Giovanni, my advice is save for a BA turbo conversion, the AU or even EL engine isn't goning to be much of a performance gain IMO.

But if you are dead set on the AU, find a hybrid EL block 1998), which has the casting VR2A on the side (better crank and has the AU girdle) use the XH drop down manifold, XH belt and idler setup, Magna blue top injectors, put a cam in it and an ECU reflash and you should get up to 170 -180kW at the wheels, heaps better than a bogger AU.

A holley Red (i think) should do for the fuel, you'll need a return line and a time out relay.

A T5 from an ef el etc should be OK, just weld on a few lugs to adapt a slave cylinder, fit a master cylinder and bobs your uncle.

The A/C compressor should be OK, but XG pipes might fit better, probably some adaptors somewhere will be needed.

Accelerator cable would be XG, adapt to fit the pedal.

Just my opinions mind

Good luck;.

 

Thanks for the help mate, ideally i would love to fit a barra turbo but since i'm currently on my Ls and will be turning 18 next year and then on to my Ps won't be able to drive it. Keep also in mind the car is a daily drive and i'm still going to run it on LPG. I think from a stock gutless crossflow on duel fuel, 4 speed and a 2:92 diff the Au OHC 6 , t5 and 3:45 should get the wheel moving ok haha. I like the idea of the hybrid EL block 1998 as that way i can find a late model manual EL and use all the block and gearbox out of it. Why the use  the XH drop down manifold, XH belt and idler setup? I thought that BBM manifold was much better?

[revhead 1,392]

dont bother with the BA bellhousing as they run an internal slave cylinder ,and are priced to offend even a rich person,

[78xcgxl 241]

dont bother with the BA bellhousing as they run an internal slave cylinder ,and are priced to offend even a rich person,

 

Cheers, will keep that in mind, i heard of people making brackets on the bell housing for a slave cylinders on ELs

[Stevemack 122]

The drop down manifold gives better torque, and the XH idler setup is the only one you can use with that drop down manifold and still run the serpentine belt.  The only problem with the drop down manifold (and i reckon it's better anyway) is you have to mount the coil pack on top of the rocker cover or somewhere like that because it doesn't fit under the manifold.  It's easy to wire and easier to get to anyway.

[xm-221 1,803]

18 and driving a modified car, may as well go the BA Turbo and be done with it.

[78xcgxl 241]

18 and driving a modified car, may as well go the BA Turbo and be done with it.

 

I think a turbo setup is just asking for trouble , plus i'm not made of money and can't afford a barra conversion.  I going to try and make it look all factory and run the factory Au airbox, plain grey rocker cover and with a quiet exhaust, so i shouldn't have any trouble with the cops. As long as you don't drive like a dickhead, have a noisy exhaust, run bold tyres and have the car soo low that it is pretty much scraping the guards i should be ok. Most cops won't even notice the difference with a ohc 6 in the XC engine bay.

[steve mcqueen 1,796]

I think a turbo setup is just asking for trouble , plus i'm not made of money and can't afford a barra conversion.  I going to try and make it look all factory and run the factory Au airbox, plain grey rocker cover and with a quiet exhaust, so i shouldn't have any trouble with the cops. As long as you don't drive like a dickhead, have a noisy exhaust, run bold tyres and have the car soo low that it is pretty much scraping the guards i should be ok. Most cops won't even notice the difference with a ohc 6 in the XC engine bay.

Very sensible approach here I reckon.

Hey, id like a barra turbo into an an X series to but I know id lose my licence with it!

[Campo 869]

The drop down manifold gives better torque

 

Everyone i see says this but i disagree. I gained about 10% in rwkw and torque by changing from the drop down manifold to the bbm manifold on my ef racecar with 4L in it.

[xm-221 1,803]

Most cops won't even notice the difference with a ohc 6 in the XC engine bay.

Gone are the days when most traffic management unit cops are clueless when it comes to what engines should be in a certain car. Vic police figured out ages ago that employing guys who are into cars was beneficial to collecting more fines.

[steve mcqueen 1,796]

Gone are the days when most traffic management unit cops are clueless when it comes to what engines should be in a certain car. Vic police figured out ages ago that employing guys who are into cars was beneficial to collecting more fines.

Glenns right, a lot of cops no what should and shouldn't be and even if they have their doubts they just defect you anyway so either way your wallet is screwed.

Just stick with a stock healthy AU motor and conversion, get it engineered and happy motoring. I know other's might disagree on the engineers but......

[XES 859]

If you get an engineers you've got some sort of guarantee and paper work that its legal. Then when you get pulled over (and you will being on you're p's) you can wave it in their face and then they'll dick you for something else:D

[78xcgxl 241]

I'm not against getting it engineered and what not but this will mean i will have to put a Mod plate on the engine bay. In doing this won't it attract more attention because as far as i'm aware driving a modified car is an offense in its self on p plates.

 

This is straight  from Vic roads website under probationary prohibited vehicle " an engine that has been modified to increase the vehicle's performance (other than a modification made by the manufacturer in the course of the manufacture of the vehicle"

 

So in getting the car engineered i won't be achieving much at all. I honestly hate the rules they make no logical sense the fact that you can drive  a fg xr6 with 195kw but you can't drive a 5.0L V8 NL fairlane, that can't even outrun a honda jazz, why couldn't they just stick to power to weight! I guess i will be taking a risk then, but if do what  I said above and be polite and not a smart ass when/ if i do get pulled over i should  be fine.

[78xcgxl 241]

Gone are the days when most traffic management unit cops are clueless when it comes to what engines should be in a certain car. Vic police figured out ages ago that employing guys who are into cars was beneficial to collecting more fines.

 No offense intended and i do agree with what you are saying  but how many XC falcons do you see on the roads these days? Even when you go into most auto parts shops like repco they look at you funny  when you want something for a XC and they don't even know what a XF is let alone a XC.

[xm-221 1,803]

You have to remember that most TMU/TOG cops now are my age (42) and grew up around this era of cars and probably knew at least one person who owned an XC. Out of my group of mates there were 3 that had owned an XC at any one time, 1 of them is now a Sergeant

 

As for sales people, it's a rare deal to find someone who knows something about older cars working at Repco now, sales experience is the number one prerequisite now. Steve McQueen is one of those rare deals.

I had a mate who had over 15yrs wrecker experience and has forgotten more about cars than I know, yet was passed up for a job when the Geelong Super Thief Auto store opened because he didn't have the pretty boy sales look about him and didn't have enough sales experience. WTF!

I asked one young bloke in Geelong for some XE door handles and they weren't in stock on the computer, so I asked him for TE Cortina handles and they had 2 full sets, I told him I'd take both sets and put one set in my XE, he flat out refused to sell them to me because the computer told him they were different part numbers so they were different door handles. It was only after his manager stepped in as I was giving the kid what for that he capitulated and shut his smart arse mouth.

[Stevemack 122]

Everyone i see says this but i disagree. I gained about 10% in rwkw and torque by changing from the drop down manifold to the bbm manifold on my ef racecar with 4L in it.

Hay Campo, i got the opposite result, dropped the snail manifold and gained plenty moe torque!  Go figure, must be in the cam etc! lol

 

I'm not against getting it engineered and what not but this will mean i will have to put a Mod plate on the engine bay. In doing this won't it attract more attention because as far as i'm aware driving a modified car is an offense in its self on p plates.

 

This is straight  from Vic roads website under probationary prohibited vehicle " an engine that has been modified to increase the vehicle's performance (other than a modification made by the manufacturer in the course of the manufacture of the vehicle"

 

So in getting the car engineered i won't be achieving much at all. I honestly hate the rules they make no logical sense the fact that you can drive  a fg xr6 with 195kw but you can't drive a 5.0L V8 NL fairlane, that can't even outrun a honda jazz, why couldn't they just stick to power to weight! I guess i will be taking a risk then, but if do what  I said above and be polite and not a smart ass when/ if i do get pulled over i should  be fine.

If you are going to do the conversion, sounds like you are going to have to get it modded anyway? right?   Go the improvements i suggested, everything is Ford Factory, any engineer will think it's just an XG motor or some such.  You are gonna need some oomph to get that old girl XC movin round mate!   Once the cops pull you over, shove the engineers compliance under their nose and BAM off they go leaving you alone with no defect fines etc.