Ed's VR6 swap in Melbourne FL

[spl310]

Just curious, did you drive the car at all before you decided to swap it?

[67RoadSun]

No, but have a lot of time behind the wheel of MB 280sl 113 chassis model. I helped resstore three back during high school. Inline 6 in those cars were great!

[67RoadSun]

So I've decided to go forward with the VR6 swap. If any moderator can change the title to this thread that would be great.

This is what i picked up today:







And yes, that is a 2.8L 6 cylinder engine believe it or not. No bigger that the SR20 if you ask me.

Here is what I found after stripping the drivers door down. I'm going to but one of those spot pullers to pull all the dents out and then weld up all the holes. Someone put 1/4" of bondo when it was not needed.

[67RoadSun]

Today I received my hardtop and rear quarter panel section. So it'll be only body work for the next month or so. I also found a R154 on craigslist for a very good price and am picking it up this weekend.

[notoptoy]

This should be interesting, that is a vicious motor as far as stats and what is packed into a pretty small package.

[67RoadSun]

I'm looking forward to it!

can anyone tell me if the rear quarter panels are the same from different years? the panel i recieved looks to have a different door jam. panel shape looks the same on the outside.

[spl310]

No, there are differences. The 1500 has the smallest flare. The 65 - 67 1600s have the medium flare. The 67.5 - 70 have the large flare. In the middle(ish) of the 67.5 model, the attachment at the lower rear of the fender changed from the inboard to the center of the panel. The door jam (B pillar) is consistent from the 62 - 67 models. The 67.5 is unique. The 68 - 70 are the same. There are holes for marker lights for the 69 and 70 models. Also holes for the bumper filler pieces on those as well.

[67RoadSun]

When you say flare, is that down the center or in the back of the rear quarter i just need to replace from the door jam to about the wheel well. It looks close enough to me to make it work.....

[spl310]

By flare, I mean the lip over the wheel opening. It seems an awful waste to cut up a good quarter panel when new patch panels are available though...

[67RoadSun]

It's not a whole rear 1/4, just from middle of wheel well to door jam. I'll trade someone if they want but if not, i'm going to make it work.

[Alvin]

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That's an inline-6, you lie!

what are your plans for transmission, exhaust routing/intake?

[67RoadSun]

Funny you ask that question. The plan is to use a VR6 bellhousing and cut/mill off all the stuff i do not need. by using the stock bellhousing all the Flywheel, clutch and pressure plate will be ordered for a VR6 with a five speed. The clutch slave mount is located on the bellhousing that will be reused. I plan to relocate the starter that currently would sit by the gas pedal, to right next to the clutch slave on top. The plan is to use a T5 transmission out of a 2005-2010 4.0L mustang because it uses a shifter linkage system. This tranny is very compact and light and will be removable from the car with the engine in. It's rated to about 330ftlbs of torque but an upgate kit is available to handle 500hp out of a V8 so I assume more torque than i will be at. I found a whole 5 speed VR6 tranny with a bad gear for $75 and a 2007 T5 transmission with 50K miles on it for $250 at a local LKQ. That's motor and tranny setup for $500!!!

Intake will be an off the shelf aftermarket unit and the turbo manifold as well. I will have to figure out the exhaust when i get there.

I have an engineer at work designing a new housing so i can relocate the thermostate housing from the back of the head to near the water pump.

[fj20spl311]

by using the stock bellhousing all the Flywheel, clutch and pressure plate will be ordered for a VR6 with a five speed. The plan is to use a T5 transmission out of a 2005-2010 4.0L mustang

The Disc need to match the transmission not the engine.

[67RoadSun]

Correct, clutch disc will have the T5 spline. If anyone is interested I use Tampa clutch supplies for building my discs when doing these type of conversions.

[67RoadSun]

I got luck and one of the guys at works owned a body shop and loaned me a spot weld dent puller and i was able to pull the dents out of the door that i could not get from behind. I should be able to finish pulling the rest out tonight. I'll post a pic of the setup and progress later.