Duratec 35

[rurouni20xx]

ive been trying to find a 3.0 m50d for a while, found one and didnt have the money, i can afford a higher mileage tranny right now and i can rebuild it later.

 

[pud]

The SHO was a vulcan block, the only shortblock differences internally were pistons, rod length and rod journal diameter.
the SHO rods were longer with a smaller journal and the pistons had 4 valve reliefs and a shorter pin height.

a bunch of ford engines internal measurements from FRPP. Ive only found 1 discretion where the 2.9L block height is wrong.
http://www.fordracingparts.com/download/charts/217.pdf

the 3.4L SHO v8 is as far as I can see the same as a duratec with a smaller bore and 2 more cylinders.

 

[rurouni20xx]

the sho isnt a vulcan block thats been discussed already, there is no place for the ohv cam and pushrod assy area. its all one piece if im not mistaken, havent had one apart but its a separate block that shares the bolt pattern.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

rurouni20xx is correct. as i said before, the only thing the SHO shares with the vulcan is the transmission bolt pattern. the blocks are completely different (and not just because of the valve trane descretions).

 

[08 Orange Crush]

SHO differences

I have been pondering the SHO swap for about 2 months now, It is possible in the ranger provided you have the M5OD tranny, the bolt patterns do match up. the issue comes when mounting the engine, it will require a lot of fab work. the big problem is with the ECU, the 93 and 94 rangers have the EEC-IV ECU the same as all SHO 3.0 engines. 95 and up have the OBD II EEC-V and the wires arent even close. Since my ranger is an 08' I`m not ready to butcher the harness just yet. the bottom line here is you can put any engine in any vehicle. It all depends on how much you are willing to weld and how much $$ you have. I would see your Duratec swap is wiring not the drive train, you can have any number of adapters made on a CNC as long as you can do some engineering work and are good in PRO-E or AutoCad. I used the CNC here at the air force base when I did my 350 and 4-spd swap in my last project although you all frown on ricers my 240sx was more of a japanese corvette than anything. Just my input on what seems a bleak outlook for my SHO and your Duratec swap.

-J

 

[LittleHorse]

I have to say it still sounds easier than my last researched SHO swap recipient - a Mazda Miata. The crossmember goes right through where the oil pan should be, the top of the intake on the SHO would be about 4 inches above the stock Miata hood, and the centerline of the crank and transmission input/output shafts would still be high enough that the transmission wouldn't fit in the tunnel. Requires complete refabrication of the tunnel and much of the firewall, a custom oil pan, a 5" cowl induction hood which would look retarded on a Miata, and all the mounts and exhaust work.

That said, since I made that last post I've more or less abandoned the SHO transplant idea, at least into my BII. Maybe into a 2WD Ranger some day, but for a 4x4 it just sounds like way too much work to risk potentially being disappointed with having the power/tq in the upper RPM range. It also doesn't help that despite all the talk of it I've seen here on TRS, I have yet to actually find one that's complete and running. I am aware of the SHO Ranger but I have no way of knowing what sort of modifications to the chassis or the engine itself was involved in accomplishing that, and the sky is the limit given that Ford has basically infinite resources in that regard.

I'd feel a lot more comfortable about a 4.0 or a 2.3T.

 

[pud]

the only thing the SHO shares with the vulcan is the transmission bolt pattern.

bull.... the bore, stroke, bore spacing, main journail diam, deck height and transmission bolt pattern are the same. You could, for no good reason, take a 3.0L SHO rotating assy and put it in the non SHO block, and vice versa.
The only difference will be the front of the block where the OHC timing belts would be.

 

[rurouni20xx]

as said b4 the rotating assy needs to be machined in, not worth it. the front of the crank is dif for ohc pulleys instead of timing gears. as for the miata swap, i wouldnt bother putting the sho into a miata, an rx7 motor/trans bolt right in, seen it done. much more hp w/ a twin turbo rotary than the sho.

 

[LittleHorse]

as for the miata swap, i wouldnt bother putting the sho into a miata, an rx7 motor/trans bolt right in, seen it done. much more hp w/ a twin turbo rotary than the sho.

that was why I abandoned the idea...too much work just for the "cool factor" of the SHO motor.

If I did any swap into a Miata it would probably be a Nissan SR20DET that everybody swaps into the 240SX, or for that matter just build up and turbocharge the factory Mazda engine.

 

[rurouni20xx]

the mazda 1.8 is a pretty sweet engine w/ cams and forged internals at 12:1. turboing it a 9:1 is also a good idea. the only prob i have w/ the engine/tranny combo is 5th gear is like a heavy o/d, you are going pretty good in 4th then you put it in 5th and you slow down cuz the engine isnt quite strong enuff to pull it. ive heard of a 6 speed close ratio swap, just dont know what out of and that took care of it, and increased the top speed by 30 mph. the sr20 turbo motor out of a silvia 2000cc is a pretty sweet motor, but the fabbing etc required to do that swap you could do the mazda 1.8 for cheaper plus no fab work required. hell if your going to put a nissan in a mazda go for a vg30dett out of a 300zx twin turbo 2x2, oversize the turbos and theres a 1000hp easy.

 

[LittleHorse]

the mazda 1.8 is a pretty sweet engine w/ cams and forged internals at 12:1. turboing it a 9:1 is also a good idea. the only prob i have w/ the engine/tranny combo is 5th gear is like a heavy o/d, you are going pretty good in 4th then you put it in 5th and you slow down cuz the engine isnt quite strong enuff to pull it. ive heard of a 6 speed close ratio swap, just dont know what out of and that took care of it, and increased the top speed by 30 mph. the sr20 turbo motor out of a silvia 2000cc is a pretty sweet motor, but the fabbing etc required to do that swap you could do the mazda 1.8 for cheaper plus no fab work required. hell if your going to put a nissan in a mazda go for a vg30dett out of a 300zx twin turbo 2x2, oversize the turbos and theres a 1000hp easy.

It's been five years since I've driven a 5 speed Miata so I don't remember, but I can attest that I often wish the 6th gear in my Miata was more of an overdrive...I get tired of cruising the highway at 80mph and the engine buzzing along at 4k. I think it's rather silly that the top gear in a 2.0L 4cyl is numerically high enough that I don't even have to downshift to pass.

Mine is a 2006, and the transmission is not easily swappable to the older models, but the year before mine was when they had the MazdaSpeed turbo with a 6 speed. I have yet to drive one, but I'd like to own one and mod the hell out of it some day. I would have preferred that one to begin with but their resale was so high and the financing deals on the '06 were so good that it was coming out cheaper in the end to get the newer model.

 

[rurouni20xx]

well the 6 speed factory is news to me, the last one i rode in (the first yr rwd i cant remember) only had a 5 speed, you went from 4th at 110 to 5th and you couldnt accelerate unless you were going downhill almost to the full 135. this was the older 1.8 as well. did they ever make a hardtop for one? all the ones i seen were soft tops and the newer one is a hardtop convertible. all this import talk makes me wish i had the money for that s2000 that was on sale for 12k...

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

bull.... the bore, stroke, bore spacing, main journail diam, deck height and transmission bolt pattern are the same. You could, for no good reason, take a 3.0L SHO rotating assy and put it in the non SHO block, and vice versa.
The only difference will be the front of the block where the OHC timing belts would be.

youve never even seen an SHO have you...

one look at the block and its OBVIOUS that its different.

the SHO mains are 2.125", the vulcans are 2.5194". the SHO crank can be (and has been) made to fit the vulcan...but it takes over $500 worth of machine work.

the SHO and vulcan are not related and basically nothing will switch from one engine to the other without modification.

 

[LittleHorse]

the SHO crank can be (and has been) made to fit the vulcan...but it takes over $500 worth of machine work.

what I want to know is what would possess a person to want to do this to begin with.

 

[fastpakr]

well the 6 speed factory is news to me, the last one i rode in (the first yr rwd i cant remember) only had a 5 speed, you went from 4th at 110 to 5th and you couldnt accelerate unless you were going downhill almost to the full 135. this was the older 1.8 as well. did they ever make a hardtop for one? all the ones i seen were soft tops and the newer one is a hardtop convertible. all this import talk makes me wish i had the money for that s2000 that was on sale for 12k...

IIRC, the 6 speed came about as an option on the 10th year anniversary Miatas and has been available ever since.

They've never been anything but RWD.