86 eta 5.0 swap...

[Elysian]

Tackled some big time fabrication today, decided to install the donor core support I had. The original core support had some accident damage on the drivers side frame rail, so I felt the best way to repair the damage and also give me a removable core support was to make some large sheet metal tabs that the new core can bolt to. I used my other E30 shell to get measurements off of, and got the new core in the correct position.









Next step on the core will be to chop it up some more and fit my massive radiator.

[Elysian]

Here's a picture of the bumper mount damage on the drivers side:



You can see it's pretty mangled, which is why I decided to go this route.

[jbontke]

Mounted the cheap Summit Racing seat in the car, fitment is nice after chopping the brackets down a touch.

Does this seat tilt fwd well (I have kids)? I was looking at Summit SUM-G1130L seat as an option, but need it to function well. How is the sitting height? Did you use a custom seat frame or the pone that summit sells for the seat?

[Elysian]

Does this seat tilt fwd well (I have kids)? I was looking at Summit SUM-G1130L seat as an option, but need it to function well. How is the sitting height? Did you use a custom seat frame or the pone that summit sells for the seat?

It does tilt forward, seems like enough room to get in the back. It also has a slider, so it can slide forward.

I modified some Summit brackets to make it work. I tried to use them without modifying them but the seat was too high, my helmet would touch the headliner. These were the brackets I used:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g1151-14

I basically only used the hole closest to the bend on these, cut off the rest of that side on each one, and drilled holes on the no hole side to mount to the floor and bottom of the seat. It was a whole ordeal figuring out the best way to fit them.

[Elysian]

Long day today working on fitting the subframe around the new oil pan. Pulled the motor first thing, beat some spots with my mini sledge that I think were touching the transmission tunnel, then got to work on the mods to the subframe.




I don't have any pics of the final fitment right now, I'll get those next time I work on this. I ended the day rather defeated, as the new oil pan has some bolts that have to be installed through port holes in the pan, which wound up being a humongous pain in the ass. Kept dropped bolts or sockets into the pan and having to pull it back off, put it back on, over and over again. I finally gave up and set the motor on the ground underneath the car. Here's the result of the subframe mods:




I had some leftover 1" x 2" rectangular tube, so I used that to build up the middle section of the subframe, much thicker stuff that the subframe is made from. I still need to figure out the sway bar mounting, but will save that for another day.

By the way, I found out the E30 V8 engine mounts I've been using don't have the rubber mount side holes drilled correctly, the motor was sitting in at an angle and I didn't like that, so I drilled a new hole in one mount, measured off the subframe to make sure the positioning was even.

[Elysian]

Motor and trans are back in, though they will come out again as there's still some rubbing unfortunately. That's my fault for using a non-standard T5 (from the 3.8l V6 Mustang instead of a V8 Mustang T5), but I'm confident I can get it fitting well.



You can see how the subframe is notched around the oil pan here:



Plenty of clearance too, really happy with this setup. Still need to figure out the sway bar, that won't happen till I get the front suspension in place.

[jbontke]

If I remember right, this may be an e36 swaybar in the front: https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...dification-2-0

[Elysian]

If I remember right, this may be an e36 swaybar in the front: https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...dification-2-0

I've got an Ireland Engineering sway bar kit. I've looked at several different variants of the flipped swaybar. I'm going to get the suspension in place and figure out where the bar needs to sit, then see which setup works best for me. I believe it may fit in between the oil pan and steering rack, but need to verify.

[Elysian]

Project creep is gonna be my doom

Decided I want drive by wire... Which isn't even an option for Fords because the Holley Terminator X Max only supports GM throttlebodies and pedals... so I ordered a GM throttlebody and pedal, canceled my still unfulfilled Terminator X order, and ordered an actually in stock Terminator X Max bundle

I spoke to the guy who runs the metals shop at work, he'd be interested in doing any TIG welding and waterjetting I'd need to retrofit a GM DBW throttlebody to the Ford intake, so I guess that's a thing that will happen soon. I'll be drawing it up in CAD when I get the throttlebody in tomorrow. The DBW pedal is a C5 Corvette pedal. Reason I chose DBW is it opens a ton of tuning options, removes IACV, and gives me a much larger throttlebody than the stock 65mm, the GM TB I ordered is 87mm. It also means I don't need to run a Mustang throttle cable. Should be fun. I expect to have the Terminator X Max kit early next week, though there's potential it arrives this weekend as well.

[Elysian]

The barrels I need to make my wheels wider arrived today:



Inspiration:

[Elysian]

Euro grills and headlights came in today.

Starting to think about what I'm going to do for the paint, and thinking a wrap might not be a bad idea for the near term. Red, of course.

[Elysian]

Today is a great day.

The Holley Terminator X Max kit has arrived!






I also received the drive by wire throttlebody, the drive by wire pedal (C5 Corvette pedal), and the coil mounting brackets from ICT Billet.





Excited to get this stuff installed!

[Elysian]

Got quite a lot done today. Started off by removing the motor and working on the clearance in the tunnel, finally got it to where there is no rubbing, and the motor is as far back to the firewall as it can be, about 1/2" further back than it was when I first put the motor in.

Then I moved on to the clutch slave cylinder. The stock Mustang T5's are cable clutch, and while there are aftermarket options for hydraulic clutch slaves, they're pretty expensive. This is a tried and true method, basically building a bracket to hold a slave from another car (I believe this was either from a Nissan or Toyota, been a long time since I bought the slave). I still need to build a reinforcement strip for the plate, but I'm glad to have the hardest part of the job done.

Then I started tackling the suspension. I installed the Ground Control camber/caster plates, the coilovers, the E46 control arms with treehouse bushings from Garagistic, and the tie rod ends I need for the E46 arms. I also installed the Sikky linkage for the steering column, which required me to center the steering wheel and the Z3 rack.

It took a ton of trial and error to get the ride height high enough I could get my low profile jack out, but I finally got it. As someone else mentioned, the new oil pan is WAY too low, so I need to raise the floor on it, which will lose some capacity, but it's a nearly 8qt pan, so I'll still have over 6 quarts. I need to bring it up about 1 5/8" so it's at the same level as the subframe.

I have some rubbing issues I'll need to address to run the 17" wheels and tires, but that shouldn't be too difficult. This isn't meant to be final fitment on anything really, I'll be pulling everything back apart at least 1 more time.

Pic dump:

[jbontke]

So the holley systemax will do DBW with a C5 throttle body??

[Elysian]

So the holley systemax will do DBW with a C5 throttle body??

Yes, the Terminator X Max supports drive by wire out of the box.