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3L swap progress...

2

281Thunder

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Feb 27, 2007
Messages
618
Location
Inwood, WV
Thought I'd put up a few pics of my swap so far. As I posted in the forum somewhere else, my original 2.5 blew a headgasket a while ago. I picked up an 01 Sable engine and am well underway with the swap. I'm just taking my time as I go since this is all new to me. It's just going to be a full 3L swap...not really concerned with making numbers or anything since this is my daily driver. Still haven't decided if I'm going to use the 3L cams or keep my SVT cams. I know they each have their benefits in certain areas. So..time for a few pics...

Everything torn out. Just need to unbolt the mounts and pull it...
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3L teardown...
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I'm also gonna be putting in a B&M shifter and doing some custom work to my console.
 
I wanted to see how it looked internally. All of the cylinders look great. Plus I figured refreshing it with all new gaskets wouldn't be a bad idea.
 
Looking good man. Good luck with it. Tearing it down is definitely a good idea. Don't want to find any suprises once the engine is in there.
 
Yeah good luck!! How many miles were on 2.5 when it blew?

I wonder if Mike in Dover,DE got his project started....:shrug:
 
Bolt99SVT said:
Yeah good luck!! How many miles were on 2.5 when it blew?

I wonder if Mike in Dover,DE got his project started....:shrug:
Click to expand...

Graduation first my dude! i've got 19 days left and then my one final that i need for the one credit required for graduation and then i will start working on my build...i'll let let you all know when i get it started and some locals can swing by.

Ps: sorry for the hijack...:eek: BUT, when you get it all done, and i get mine done...we can do Ride for Pride together in the SVTs..LOL:laugh:
 
Bolt99SVT said:
Yeah good luck!! How many miles were on 2.5 when it blew?
Click to expand...

Just over 150k. I guess it was just a freak accident. I've always changed the oil every 3k miles with synthetic and done what I can to keep it in good shape. I don't beat on the car either.

I'm kinda at a stand still right now...can't seem to find anyone local with a hoist they're not using. So the 2.5 is still stuck in the car.
 
281Thunder said:
Just over 150k. I guess it was just a freak accident. I've always changed the oil every 3k miles with synthetic and done what I can to keep it in good shape. I don't beat on the car either.

I'm kinda at a stand still right now...can't seem to find anyone local with a hoist they're not using. So the 2.5 is still stuck in the car.
Click to expand...

I know Advance and AutoZone have a tool rental program. I'm not sure if they rent hoist, but its worth a try.
 
some autozone's do rent hoist I believe. if not might be time to buy one you can usually pick one up for under $200 definately a useful tool to have. or rig something up with a wood beam in your rafters and a $15 dollar cable come along.

I pulled a CAST IRON 292 FORD Y-BLOCK V8 WITH CAST IRON BELLHOUSING OUT OF A 59 ford truck with a cable come along a piece of chain and a tree a bit scarry but it worked fine and I gurantee that engine wieghed twice as much as your duratec you will of course have to roll your car out from under the engine but that isn't bad juct re-attach the ball joints stick some wheels on it and roll I recomend a little furniture dolly (4 wheeled cart) to roll the engine/trans around on. you can pick one up at harbor freight for $15-$25 very handy.

they didn't call them shade tree mechanics for nothing.
 
PurdySVT said:
some autozone's do rent hoist I believe. if not might be time to buy one you can usually pick one up for under $200 definately a useful tool to have. or rig something up with a wood beam in your rafters and a $15 dollar cable come along.

I pulled a CAST IRON 292 FORD Y-BLOCK V8 WITH CAST IRON BELLHOUSING OUT OF A 59 ford truck with a cable come along a piece of chain and a tree a bit scarry but it worked fine and I gurantee that engine wieghed twice as much as your duratec you will of course have to roll your car out from under the engine but that isn't bad juct re-attach the ball joints stick some wheels on it and roll I recomend a little furniture dolly (4 wheeled cart) to roll the engine/trans around on. you can pick one up at harbor freight for $15-$25 very handy.

they didn't call them shade tree mechanics for nothing.
Click to expand...

I've done the same thing with engines, pick-up cabs and boxes.

Even straightened a frame with a come along and a tree...
 
PurdySVT said:
you will of course have to roll your car out from under the engine but that isn't bad juct re-attach the ball joints stick some wheels on it and roll
Click to expand...

Only thing is when I pulled the half shafts I pulled the spindle and all as one unit so I wouldn't have to worry about the hub nuts and bearings.
 
SVT for a16 year-old said:
Graduation first my dude! i've got 19 days left and then my one final that i need for the one credit required for graduation and then i will start working on my build...i'll let let you all know when i get it started and some locals can swing by.

Ps: sorry for the hijack...:eek: BUT, when you get it all done, and i get mine done...we can do Ride for Pride together in the SVTs..LOL:laugh:
Click to expand...

Well thats cool. I was wondering about it.

281Thunder said:
Just over 150k. I guess it was just a freak accident. I've always changed the oil every 3k miles with synthetic and done what I can to keep it in good shape. I don't beat on the car either.

I'm kinda at a stand still right now...can't seem to find anyone local with a hoist they're not using. So the 2.5 is still stuck in the car.
Click to expand...

Wow that sucks... I hope mine lasts awhile...its creaping up on 145k. ~"knock on wood"~ because I can't afford anything right meow.

Frank
 
Finally got it pulled out today. I was surprised how easily it came out even though it looked kinda cramped. Right after that we went ahead and took the transmission off. The stock clutch, even with 150k miles on it, doesn't look too bad at all.

Now comes the fun part of getting all the new stuff put together and getting everything all cleaned up. I ordered the last of my parts today. I'm kinda anxious to see how the rest of the 2.5 looks inside. After taking off the valve cover, I'm amazed at how new it looks inside for the hige mileage.

More pics to come within a day or two! I was hoping to get more done to it today, but it was sidelined while I put new lower control arms on the Bird (royal PITA).
 
Haha...did you ever do them on yours? I found the hardest part was knocking the stupid cam bolt out at the frame. Makes perfect sense that they put the steering rack right in front of it.
 
Yeah I did them. And the fact that after it was aligned, the cam bolt is what cam loose and started all the problems I had on the car which led to me getting the mazda. Unfortunately, I didn't know that until after I got rid of the bird.
 
Few more pics.

Some shots of the stocker I pulled out. Looks amazing inside for having 150k on it. I'm sure religious oil changes with full synthetic helped that...

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The marks in the cam journal is just dust...they're perfect as well...

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Center console waiting for me to finish the custom work...

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Few pics of the stuff waiting to go back on...

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I've got the heads ready to go back on the block now.

I've got the torque specs and sequence for bolting the heads back down. Does anyone know if I should dip the threads of the head bolts in oil before putting them in? I know I did this on my 4.6 build.
 
All finished! :)

Took it out of the garage today for a glorious 3 miles, before springing a leak from the hose that goes from the water pump to the cooler lines. It's spraying out pretty good, so I just parked it til I can get to it next.

I didn't wanna beat on it too much since it all needs broken in. It's a totally different feel than the 2.5, plus having the new clutch and CFM short shifter...it feels like a brand new car, lol.
 
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