Heavy car, what to swap in?

[occupant]

Budget constraints and a serious oil consumption problem are requiring me to "take what I can get"

I still want an AOD transmission in here but I have to get an engine in here before summer driving season. I'm already putting 155 miles a week on the car, minimum, just running my girls to and from daycare. Add in two grocery runs a week (60 miles, we have 5 kids altogether, we go to Walmart a LOT) and any other driving I do like when I go buy parts for this beast and it's starting to get expensive to feed the Torino.

This car is using a quart of oil every 70 miles or so. So three days into a typical week, I'm down two quarts and have a flickering oil light.

I found a 351 Windsor V-8 from a '78 Thunderbird, small block bolt pattern, with mounts, all the extras I need to swap it in with the sole exclusion of the FMX SBF bellhousing, all for $140. Add $25 for a bellhousing I found, $48 in upper/lower/bypass hoses and a few other minor bits, and take off the $200 I was offered for my still running 351M motor from a guy who wanted to fix the rear main seal and valvetrain issues and put it in his '77 pickup, and this swap will cost me less than a $20 bill.

It's not the 302 EFI I wanted, it's not the straight six I thought I needed, but it is an engine that won't cost me $10 a week in oil in addition to the 14mpg rate of fuel it consumes. It will be just like going from a car that gets 11mpg to a car that gets 14mpg. Without the oil burninating away or leaking all over the place, the car might get even better mileage. Maybe I'll see an average creeping up towards 15 or 16mpg. And since I'm already changing to a small bellhousing engine, when I have the money (or come across a really cheap core I can rebuild here at home), I can swap in the AOD as soon as I can afford it. There are other considerations for the AOD, like $65 for Lokar's kickdown cable, or $120 or so to have the driveshaft cut down an inch and change, and the cost of the used AOD itself, but now I won't have to spend $300+ on a bellhousing adapter, or do the motor AND transmission at one time, or try to wedge an E4OD in there.

More on the results after everything's running again. I'm picking up the bellhousing, hoses, and other bits and renting the engine lift today to get the 351M out so when the guy shows up tomorrow in his truck with the 351W, I can swap out the mounts and bellhousing and get it in there already, then spend the day Wednesday sorting out all the swap issues (I know for one thing I have to splice in more wire for the oil pressure sending unit, which on my car is at the back of the motor, but on a Windsor is up front by the filter) and getting it tuned up and running smooth. Uses the same oil filters, air filters, spark plugs, etc...as my engine. Economical in that I don't have to re-buy all those bits. Cap and rotor I may have to resell on CL to get money for the right bits.

[occupant]

Originally Posted by JoeBob

Dick Naugle says: 1. Prepare food fresh. 2. Serve customers fast. 3. Keep place clean.

I thought Del Taco bought out all the Naugle's restaurants 20 years ago?

[willix]

Yamaha 3.0L 220 hp & 3.2L 235hp DOHC V6 found in the Taurus SHO. Serious ecomomy & all the power is at the top end. It will bolt up to several Ford drivelines Including a Ford Ranger 5-speed set-up

[trollbait]

Check the engine rotations first. I understand the 3L vuclan in the Taurus turns opposite the vulcan in the Ranger.

[GasSavers_JoeBob]

Originally Posted by occupant

I thought Del Taco bought out all the Naugle's restaurants 20 years ago?

Yes, indeed they did. I added that one night recalling when, back in the '70s, a friend and I would drive from Claremont, CA to Corona, CA in either his '74 Pinto Station Wagon or my '60 Corvair just to go to Naugle's and have Macho Burritos. Oh, and to flirt with a cute girl who worked there...

[thecheese429]

Originally Posted by occupant

But anything mechanical/swap related I'm willing to think about. Wish a 4BT Cummins diesel could fit under the hood but it's too tall (I already measured it)

Too tall? Who says "too tall"? Just cut a hole in the hood

What to swap in? A CVT.

[Wyldesoul]

What about a turbocoupe 2.3 4cyl turbocharged? Find an early 80's bellhousing and you can put an AOD behind it for strength, or if you want lockup TC, then you can rebuild an A4LD to 4.0 spec.

And the engine? An amazingly durable piece of work. Mine had 220,000 miles on the original engine, and when the guy I sold it to pulled it apart there was still the factory cross-hatch on the cylinder walls. Didn't even need re-honed. Plus, I saw a youtube of some kids trying to "kill" their old Fairmont with a carbed 2.3, by shoving way too much nitrous into the carb. They completely failed at destroying the engine.

Stock, the 87-88 TurboCoupe came with 190hp at 4800, and 240ft/lbs at 3400.

And with very little effort (just a 255lph fuel pump, a T3 turbo, and a front mount intercooler), you can make over 250hp, so you have the power on tap as needed, but you still have the 4cyl, 2.3L level of FE.

Heck, my TC was barely better than stock in HP levels, and at 3500lbs, it could out-pace a stock 87 mustang GT. If you bring the power levels up a bit, you can definitely get some peppy acceleration, even out of your 4500lb beast.

If you take a look at my garage, "Wench (Retired)" was one of those, And even though I attribute much of that FE to the stick shift, she still got 35mpg at a steady state cruise of 55mph.


Is a ford motor, it can easily get the power you need, and great for FE, too. Plus, I highly doubt anybody has put in one of those in a car like yours.

Go for unique! A turbo 2.3!

[rvanengen]

just get a good ford long block replacement and do a megasquirt?