I've been looking to drop a 3 or 4v engine in my 96 GT, i wanted to go the 4v route but those engines are quite expensive to some 3v engines i've seen but they have about equivelant power. So i was wondering, if i were to buy a complete engine, what mods would be needed to make it fit in my GT? note i have the 4R70W(auto) tranny..
Thanks, Nate

 

I need to make a thread about this. I will start off by saying that the 3v swap is not easy but well worth it I dont know everything that is involved with it but i do know the basics. The heads/cams, intake bolt right onto th block (i used my 2000 block). For the intake we used a 03 cobra TB with an adaptor plate, for the headers we used 2v LT headers with adaptor plates, these plates can be bought from www.loganmotorsports.com. The stock GT computer was used. There is much more involved but i just dont know or cant remember, if your serious about this get in touch with guys at logan motorsports, they did all the work.

if you were to buy a complete engine then you would have to modify the engine mounts and get the wiring harness and computer and thats about it.

with ported heads,cams, full exhaust the car made 370rwhp

 

yeah i heard things about the motor mounts being a problem, one thing i'm wondering though is would my transmission hook up to this engine or would i need a new bellhousing? also would the hood fit with this 3v engine in it, 3v2000GT i checked out your swap and everything and that engine looking quite high, but noticed you had a cowl hood too so did you need to have it to fit?

 

tranny bolts right up. I'd bet you'll need a cowl or a R hood to clear the intake. They're kinda tall.

 

the trans will hook up fine, and yeah i got the cobra r hood because the 3v is so much taller.

 

3v2k let me see if i got all this right

for a 3V swap on a 2V motor...

The heads will bolt to the 2v block (they should, so makes sence since its modular)

You need 3V Heads, Cams, Intake, and Timing Chains/Cover.

Accessories look to be the same, possibly a cobra/bullitt altenator. Belt routing is definatly the same as a 99-00 GT.

You can delete the CMRV stytem with a set of CMRV plates

The VVT (Variable Valve Timing) is oil pressure based from what I read, you can disable and lock the cams to one position which is full advance. One tooth retard is about 17* retard and makes better power

Stock 2v injectors and harness work

You can use a cobra/bullitt/after market TB with an adapter plate

Did I miss anything?

I was reading that 03/04 Mach 1 blocks and the 3v timing cover don't mesh well. Something about the water pump not fitting and/or an oil leak near the water pump. 03/04 Blocks are supposed to work well. What about other iron blocks ?

What has to be changed on the wiring and computer to make this work ?

The 2v has no knock sensors or anything that I'm aware of. The only wiring i can see effected is the MAF/IAT, Coil Packs/COP, and injectors unless I'm skipping something.

If its really this simple - I can build a "built" 3v for the same price as a "built" 2v from the prices I saw yesterday so I may just make my order for 3v pistons vs the 2v pistons. I see no reason the setup that netted you 370 rwhp if put on a 5.4 couldnt be on the heels of 400rwhp n/a... thats ****in sick.

 

Yep you just about everything, we actually used some 3v spark plug boots so that is about the only change to wiring. for the vvt we got special cams from blowbyracing with adjustable cam gears. anothing thing that needs to be modified is cooling hoses, since there is two openings on the 3v intake as oppossed to 1 on the 2v. the alternator bolts up fine and the belt routing is a little different. with a 5.4 you could make 400, but the intake on the 5.4 3v's aren't nearly as good as the 4.6 intake. if you could come up with some kind of adaptor plate then that would be great.

here are some pics of the engine-

 

alright, well i guess i'm going to have to get rid of my aftermarket hood then if i plan on doing the swap, but it's well worth it..anyone know of how much modification would be needed to be done on the motor mounts>?

 

On the adjustable cam gears, you just used those to degree the cam to the proper place right? It is still locked in that position ? How are your cam's degreed, do you know ? How much advance/retard ?

That seems like a better way then putting them in one tooth off on the cam gear like I read last night.

What was special about the cams themselves ?

Cooling hoses are cake. Where does the one on the driver side run to ? Do you just have the upper hose with a Y in it and going to the two inlets ?

I'm thinking I'd make my own CMRV delete/5.4 adapter plate all in one unit, should be simple enough.

How much room to you have under the cobra R hood between the hood and the intake ? Thats a 2.5" rise right ?

If thats really all it is - where is the complication and cost people assume with doing this swap ?

All my searching has only turned up "for the cost might as well go 4v" or "thats a wiring nightmare" or blah blah blah - seems like the same cost as a built 2v and damn near bolt on stuff. The only "complications" are due to the 5.4

I feel MUCH better about dropping the coin on a 5.4 3V build to make ~400rwhp then a 2v 5.4 to see maybe ~330rwhp for the same mods/money. And its still a SOHC so I can use that as a play on words

400 rwhp n/a on low comp with a t56... thats what this car needed to begin with.

 

I just priced everything out again.

I can build a BUILT 3v 5.4 - this is talking from the ground up. Block, cams, heads, etc for $104 CHEAPER then the same setup from a 2V.

The only thing that I did not factor into this build, is a way to "lock" the cams. MMR has a part for about 2 hundo but Im going to wait till i get the heads and can inspect them - i suspect there is a very simple way.

I could probably scale back the heads and cams to save a few hundo and come out further ahead.

Of course there is always margin for error in calculations but so far from my #'s... its cheaper to build a built 3v then a built 2v with comparable parts.