I might be interested in a new vehicle again when you can buy one WITHOUT a computer and maybe a flathead V8.

 

Well, so far, my two "junk" Ecoboosts (one in my truck, one in the wife's vehicle) have done exceptionally well. And they're very powerful. If they both blow tomorrow, I can't really say much. MPG's are okay if you drive it civilized, but otherwise not much better than traditional V8's. As far as putting one in a Raptor (and I realize that version is much more powerful), I'm not a fan. I just can't imagine standing in front of one of those trucks and listening to the "intimidating" sound of that timing gear turn, because that's basically all you hear at idle.

 

I have to admit, that most people now can't even check the oil. We here at FTE are the exceptions.

 

Hats off to Ford for betting the farm on direct injected turbo charged engines. With the emissions and café standards constantly getting tougher, Ford has positioned itself to do quite well. Lots of power while still meeting the government standards.
My OT car has a 5.4 with a supercharger and I am amazed every time I drive it how a engine with so much power can be so easy to drive in traffic.
Although I am following the Coyote engine installs on this forum closely, and deep down I would really really like to do that, for my 56 I am going with a 408 Cleveland. Like others have mentioned I am going to keep it simple.


B

 

Straight 6's , flat opposed 6's and 4's and inline 4's got no problem with them . v6's especially Fords junk ( everyone i have owned has issues with popping head gaskets , amongst other crap ) i do not care for . without bandaids like turbo's and such the do not make impressive TORQUE or HORSEPOWER NUMBERS ! And like i said shoving loads more air and fuel in , and asking them to pull around a 5000 pound truck is just asking for trouble . they are and always will be disposable , generic turds and can NEVER replace the v8 for pure unadulterated driving pleasure !!!!!

 

You seem like you'd be fun to have over at Thanksgiving

Then you could test drive my wife's car. You would like that it has a V8. Though you would not like that it is turbocharged. I'm not sure how you'd feel about the fact that it is made in Germany and that it is a station wagon. But it does make 570 hp and 590 ft lbs of torque in factory trim, and it accelerates like a scalded goat. Talk about driving pleasure! I would though, like you, consider it disposable. And when it is three years old we're giving it back to the krauts to let them sort it out. For now however, yippee.

But in all seriousness, I can see what you are saying. Common sense would seem to dictate that a complicated forced induction engine will not last as long as the old style simple, low compression V8's.

Please keep in mind that I'm not arguing that Ecoboost engines are better than V8's. My only point is that they are smaller and can be moved further back in the chassis yielding better handling for pro touring type builds. That probably matters to less than 1% of the folks on this forum.

Gustave

 

v8 powered wagon ... what a mercedes ? they're cool . make lots of power and torque . hell my beater is a fiat 500 c so ........ the only import cars i have an issue with are those of asian decent , and that's because they can build and sell they're stuff here but we sure can't there . until that trade imbalance comes more inline i will always have a h@^# on for them . european , british and others are more than welcome to the party and some of them are just freaking outrageous with the power figures !!!!!!!! ( our companies have a good sized piece of that market !!!! ) some of the styling is so so but .............. turbo's and superchargers don't bother me either just the v6's do ............. an all aluminum v8 and setting it back in the chassis could yield the results much better . i mean your going pro touring who care if the engine intrudes into the passenger compartment a little .

 

Yes sir.



My existing long term plan for my '56 F100 has always been to dual turbocharge my existing engine. It's a very mild 347 stroker. 9.8:1 compression with a baby cam, but because it's a sealed racing engine, and thus meant to last for a full season of circle track racing, it's pretty stout, with forged everything and a Boss 302 beefed up block. I figured 10 psi of boost out of some small turbos should make it a real nice power plant. I already did the work of converting the engine to EFI with full sequential injection and ignition (8 coils). There is an aftermarket ECU inside the cab that I can program with my laptop. So to go to turbocharging is mostly a matter of exhaust and instate plumbing, and then additional tuning.

The only problem is I'm not really an "engine guy" at heart. I'm a "chassis guy". I'd much prefer to build a new frame than to build a new engine (although I have done it in the past). Hence the appeal of dropping in a "pre-turbo'd, pre-tuned" power plant and calling it a day. That's where the whole Ecoboost thing germinated.

 

The turbo's on the 347 the wagon ..... A sleeper for all the tuners and pony car wannabe's !!!!!!

 

Dr G,
Talk to Steve Szymanski at Industrial Chassis in Phoenix. He put dual turbos on the 454 BBC in his '65 Ford Unibody pickup. It runs great. It has a TKO 5-speed behind it with a Ford 9 inch rear. He could work out the dual turbo install on your 347 small block and fab up the exhaust and intake piping for you to include the needed wastegate, etc.

His current project for a new shop truck is a 53 F-100 stretched to be a dual cab with a small Cummins 4 cyl. diesel.

Phone number is 602-278-6800.

The 3.5L Eco-boost V-6 install sounds interesting.

Philip

 

Dr G,
My bad Steve's F-100 is a '63 not a '65.

Here is the link to his Photobucket album on his truck. The fabrication photos of the turbo install start about page 7 and go on for several pages. That is if you are interested.
My 63 Ford F100 by Steve Szymanski | Photobucket

For all the rest of you guys, the pictures are educational for seeing how someone fabs up things.

Philip

 

Thanks very much for the tip Philip. But I do everything myself. I won't sub anything out really, except maybe for rear end assembly. Installing turbos I don't see as much of a challenge. Just fabbing up some exhaust manifolds and some intake piping. Now that I have a TIG welder and some reasonable skills with it, I feel ok taking on that project. The 'systems' aspect of it, turbo sizing, wastegate sizing and location, BOV's, wiring, drivability programming, that part is pretty straightforward for me. I'd get someone to help me with full throttle ignition/fuel tuning on a dyno though.

I've posted pics of my engine before. But here's a gander at a few details. This pic shows the MSD distributor which I converted to an engine position sensor. The distributor came with a magnetic crank position sensor and a Hall effect cam position sensor, both built in. I just gutted out the "distributor part". This allowed me to convert the engine to full sequential ignition like a modern LS. The two black Mil-spec connectors allow the position sensor to be removed from the engine and are a little more reliable than what MSD provides.



This next pic shows four of the total of eight ignition coils that I now run. I mounted the coils on carbon fiber panels. On the exhaust side I coated the panels with nickel foil. The coils are also mounted on rubber standoffs. With the combination of the foil and the non-conductive carbon the coils stay relatively cool, even mounted as close as they are to the headers.



Sequential ignition is not necessary for turbocharging of course, but it doesn't hurt. And my point in showing this is that my choice of engine, and my process of converting to full electronic engine management (not simply EFI) was all leading to one ultimate goal. To create a total integrated package. A well rounded turbocharged V8. Before I got sidetracked by the Ecoboost

Anyways, I'm way off topic at this point...

Gustave

 

I have a raptor and it seems weird for the baddest production offroad truck on the planet to have a V6 no matter how much power it makes. Why not just put supercharged coyotes in them and be done with it? I think most people getting raptors could care less about gaining a couple miles to the gallon.

 

Yup flatheads forever

 

Let's all just pause for a moment.





..... WOOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!!!!