K im am completely ignorant.....

[wiwchar]

alright... to start...
i have been reading... and reading... and reading... oh ... and reading.

i blew my engine in my 99 cougar last year. its been sitting in my garage collecting dust.

my dilema is.... i need an engine. i was goign to put a stock one in. but its crazy expensive.

i was wondring. how easy is it to adapt the 3.0L to install in my 2.5 compartment.
is this a weekend project or should i take some time off...
can a non wrench head, very mechanically enclined person do a job liek this..

yes i am probably stupid for even askign questions liek this to begine with. but i woudl really liek to knwo my possibilities here.

[Nafunu32]

I'm putting a full 3.0l in my car. You have the options of that, or P&P the heads and use 2.5l intake. Either way you go will cost you about $2500-$3000 to have someone help you. With a full 3.0 swap you need to modify the fuel rails and EGR tube. Maybe someone more informed on the subject can jump in soon and give you all the details. Pretty much any motor stated in the stickies will bolt right up.

[wiwchar]

literally that simple... they will bolt up?

what about compatability with the computer and o2 sensors,,, other parts in the engine.

are there a lot of mods to other parts?

i know the project will be overwhelming...

will the 3.0 lead to more weight? i know it will add mroe hp but what kind of gains or losses will i experience with this swap? also how much could i add to a new 3.0 to make it have even more punch

after the fact

[StealthyWeasel]

again, PnP isn't necessary with a straight 3L.

[wiwchar]

i dont even knwo what PnP is....

[bensenvill]

port and polish.

[Blackcoog]

Engine is about the same weight as the 2.5 because the 3L is a bored out 2.5L block loosing some mass but the pistions would be larger adding a little more mass back in.

It is not a direct bolt in as you will see in the stickies if you read them. You need to modify quite a few things depending on which engine you go with. Each 3L is slightly different and needs different modifications to work. A Ford Escape engine would be the least amount of work but you can't use the intake manifold because it is too tall. You can't use your intake manifold because it is a split port vs the 3L's oval ports. You could find a 02+ sable/Taurus intake manifold and it would work.

If you do go the full 3L route you also need to fab up a custom fuel rail and custom EGR tube. There is also the option to port your heads to accept the split port manifolds that your car uses now. That is fairly expensive though because you need to remove the heads and have someone port them. You also have to pay for head bolts and head gaskets if you go that route.

A 3L should not be taken as a direct bolt in. The block is very similar but there are ears and bushings that need to be cut for it to fit like the stock 2.5L. If you get a sable/Taurus engine you have to add all these steps beyond what normally has to be done to the block: swap your 2.5L timing cover, crank pulley, crank sensor, cam sensor, oil pan, oil pickup, modified windage tray, and replace a bolt with one that has a stud on the end of it so the pickup will bolt on to something.

[Nafunu32]

I shouldnt have been so broad about my "bolt in" comment. What I meant was the transmission will bolt up and it will fit into the car. Sorry about that.

[Snowboarder]

umm from my reading yes those all take the same trannys (or atleast in my case they take the MTX-75 tranny I believe) I have questions about all of this as well! like what are the benefits too doing a full 3.0L swap aposed to the hybrids if any really! as well as how hard is it to make custom fuel rails and custom EGR tubes? what is envolved in this process? because seems to me just the sound of a full swap apposed to a hybrid swap would make it seem like it would work better and nicer!

[Blackcoog]

Full swap does go in easier. The custom parts are a pain mainly because you need to find a shop that is creative enough to do it if you can't do it yourself. I can also do those custom parts if people want me to.

[Snowboarder]

whats envolved in making them? and if I'm not creative enough (I most likely am though) how much?

[Blackcoog]

The fuel rail depends on what fuel system you have. For a return system you need to braze fittings on to the end and either use custom bent fuel line or a braided fuel line which runs to the return end with the regulator on it which you'd need to braze a fitting on to so it would attach to the braided line. Leaks are a real pain in the azz and you need to reflow the braze or silver solder a few times on some of them.

Read the post on the WR headers on the 3L and check out my picture a few pages in. You basically use the 3L EGR pipe and the 2.5L EGR pipe and hack them up so they meet. Then weld them together.

[jrak123]

i dont even knwo what PnP is....
If you want you can ship the car to me in Michigan and I can do the swap for you.

[wiwchar]

how much??
and how long woudl it take

[DanG]

And just to review, so people aren't still asking the question:

Full 3L oval-port vs. 3L hybrid

Full 3L oval-port:
Engine starts at 200/200 (CRANK!), bolt-ons, P&P add more. SVT cams a good investment. Must port-match heads (www.pnpheads.com (http://www.pnpheads.com)) or use 3L intakes, which requires '02+ 3L LIM/UIM and a custom-fabbed fuel rail & EGR. 3L heads have three oil return ports per head (this will be important- Read on!) Stock 3L compression ratio (10:1) can run on 87 octane (provided no to light power adding bolt-ons).

Power: Can make 210-215fwhp with proper tune & SVT cams. N/A.

3L hybrid:
3L block, 2.5L or 2.5L SVT heads, SVT cams at least a good investment. No port-matching necessary, but split-port heads flow less in the P&Ped state than oval ports are capable of in the P&Ped state. 2.5L heads have only 2 oil return holes per head - None at what is the rear of the engine, which causes oil pooling and possibly oil starvation (e.g. engine = BOOM) while making sweeping right-hand turns at high engine RPMs (oil can't drain back out of the head fast enough to get to the oil pan before it's sucked dry). High compression ratio (11.2:1 natural) necessitates use of 93+ octane fuel. Some believe this high compression ratio may lead to engine reliability issues over time.

Power: Can make 200-205fwhp with FULL P&P setup, proper tune, & SVT cams. High compression N/A.

[recliner15]

Shipping cars cost $1k minimum.. from the rates ive seen, not from personal expierence though

[Blackcoog]

Depends on where you are going but close to $1k is a good estimate or just under is what I've normally seen for the cars I've shipped.

[Massiv]

Easier still, I'm selling a completely built 3L, that is an exact drop-in for your car. This was built by me for a guy on here that got his cougar toasted by some teenager that ran a red light. Engine is not even out of break-in period (less than 300km on it).

I can ship it to you, and ANY competent shop can swap it directly, because it's already done, and built to drop-in. The only other thing you might want to have a shop do at the same time is to put in a stronger differential in the transmission (about $500US + $100 install, torsen or quaife, doesn't matter).

See engine details here: http://www.newcougar.org/forums/showthread.php?t=89287

Massiv.

[Clutch]

Ive shipped a car from Florida to NC for just over $500

[Nafunu32]

Load it on a trailer and drive it up there... much cheaper.

[Blackcoog]

If you have the time and the truck and trailer it is much much cheaper. I normally do that but my favors for borring trucks and trailers has run out. :)

[azbobbybooshay10]

Blackcoog, what would you charge to fab up a fuel rail for a return-style Cougar? I'm looking waaaaaay ahead to a future 3L swap, and I believe the fuel rail would be the only major problem I can't resolve myself (or with help from local friends).