I'm ready early next week to take the plunge and buy a 2001 3L. Any useful criticism of my
plan before I plunk down the cash is most welcome! Please excuse the long windedness -
Warmonger has competition from me in that department!
The plan is to start with a straight swap - 3L block, LIM, UIM, PCM, fuel pump - scavenge oil
pan/pickup and timing chain cover from 2.5. I'm planning on sticking with as close to the stock
3L as possible because by my reading of the dyno results nobody except DavidZ has really been
able to get more than a bit beyond the stock power/torque until after 5000 RPM - head work
(including SVT cams) helps a lot between 5000 and 6700, but that's a lot of extra work and it
increases the probability of having to move to some sort of aftermarket engine management
(I like the idea of being able to at least start with a PCM that the calibration engineers spend
their thousands of hours on). Plus when I'm at the track I usually short shift at 6000 anyway
in a bid to increase my engine life! I'll see where I get to with the base 3L and some bolt ons
(my 2.5" exhaust, a y-pipe, gutted precats, and possibly a larger TB). My next project (always
need a route forward or I'll get bored) can be to install SVT cams and do some head
porting while the heads are dissambled to take care of that 5000 to 6700 RPM range. If anyone
feels that there is a proven way to get to peak torques beyond the 180 to 190 ft-lb mark then
I may have to rethink and do more up front. If I can get to a peak TQ of 185 and a
peak HP of 180 at the wheels without the head work then I'll be happy. I'd sure like to understand
the details of how the 2002 LS gets to a peak torque (at crank) of 215 and the Jag S-type to 221 - at
least there's an upgrade path if LS or Jag heads ever become available down the line.
Of course there is some complexity to be suffered - first I need to switch to a returnless fuel
system - swap fuel pumps and there will have to be some rejigging between the fuel supply
line and the rail on the LIM. I'll also have to go through the wiring diagrams on the PCM to make
sure that there is a 1:1 correspondance between the pins - I can either move to the 3L
harness if there are too many changes or stick with the stock harness and perhaps a few
custom routings. And then there's the IAT that needs to be moved from the top of the UIM.
I think the first stage will be to stick the 3L LIM and modified UIM on top of the 2.5L block and
at the same time put in the 3L PCM and fuel system. I'll probably enlist someprofessional help with
the fuel plumbing. I'll get the car running and then drive to HMS for the actual engine swap (and
Quaife install). The third stage will come probably in the next year - SVT cam install and head work.
Any last minute constructive criticism or advice most welcome.
By the way, any issues particular to 2001? I was told by the wrecker that the timing chain cover is
Different than the 2000, but I believe there are at least 2 others who have used 2001's and I've
Nothing about not being able to fit the 2.5 cover - difference probably due to change in location
of water pump.
Eric