There is a guy at work that has this rung out 89 2WD ranger that has the idea that a 4.9 Cadillac 275hp Northstar engine and transaxle (front wheel drive) from a wrecked '02 Eldorado, swapped into the bed of his truck to make a wheelstander....
He has no internet access, so he wanted me to ask a few questions for him:

1. Has anyone done this swap?
2. Does anyone make motor mounts for this swap?
3. Would the supercharger from an '03 Cobra fit on the Caddy motor?
4. Does anyone make a ECM chip for this application?
5. Any ideas on how he could keep the steering intact from the Caddy to have 4 wheel steering? Which he thinks would allow him to steer while the front wheels are off the ground.
6. Would this swap affect his gas mileage much?

Last time I was on-line at work he read the question about the Allison jet engine into a '50 pick-up so he thinks this is very do-able. He needs help with this idea that I just can't give....

 

1. Most likely not.
2. Of course not.
3. Only with a custom made intake.
4. Of course not.
5. You could keep the steering with a bit of ingenuity and improvising. However I think trying to steer the rear wheels while doing a wheel stand would be very dangerous, handling wise.
6. Depends on a lot of different factors. Just a guess, but it would probably get 75-85% of the current fuel mileage.

Of course, anything can be done if you have enough $$, time, and fabrication skills.

 

And why not just put a good old fashion carburated 302/C4 in the bed??? Would definitely be cheaper/quicker/easier to build and no need for electronics.

--Mike

 

Hey guys, thanks for your replies to my friends questions on the Caddy/Ford thing. I told Josh it probably was too far out to work. He does have a friend with a totaled V-6, front wheel drive, Taurus Wagon. He really wants to do this rear engine pick-up deal, a "One-of-a-Kind" thing. With the V-6 he knows wheelstands are out, but, the rear wheel steering deal still interests him. His new questions are:

1. Has anyone done this swap or something like it?
2. Does anyone make motor mounts for this swap?
3. What is the best way to straighten a bent frame (hit in side) on the Ranger?
4. What about wiring, would the Taurus harness fit, or have to be modified?
5. Would nitrous be a possibility for more HP on a V6?
6. Anyone heard of a company putting Ram Air scoops on a hard tonneau cover?

He is a little concerned about cost. If he gets the usual $50 each for his Birthday and Christmas from his Grandma, he'll have about $685.25 to spend. What do you think it'll take?

 

A few more Christmas and birthdays to pass....

To be honest with you, a shop would probably charge close to his savings just to straighten the frame..... Rear wheel steer is not new, some of the expensive G% trucks have that, Hon$@ had it on the preludes, as well as the monster trucks, with hydraulic rams and selonoids (sp?), but you need to have the front steer too. If you want to do this on the cheap, cut the frames of both vehicles and graft in the Taurus to the truck. Of course this will probably be a "toy" to play with and not something you will put a family into, so have fun. As far as the nitrous, that can be added to anything, and again, will eat up about 1/3 of the savings. The computer from the donor vehicle should work. This will of course take time and knowledge of the electronics, so I revert back to my carbed 302 and C4 combo, set right in front of the axle with a direct link to the pumpkin.

--Mike

 

The Taurus engines are royal junkers, how old is this guy? JW... I would hate to see some kid, have these dreams, but not know what he is doing, go waste money when he is better off doing something else. My only advise is for this kid to gain some knowlege, wait, get a job, and then, start out with a little simpler project before he jumps into something this big. I to like Mikes idea,

 

Tell him to drive it backwards for a while, see if he likes rear steering.

 

Stop it! --Mike

 

I remember my brother working with some guys to put an old Poncho V8 into the back of some car to make a wheelstander. Upside down diffs and chain drives....I think that car went down the road to the scrappy.

Which is where your buddy's Ranger and whatever donor car he is talking about are headed.

This isn't an engine swap. This is a car fabrication exercise.

The questions your friend is asking betray a level of engineering and fabrication experience insufficient to execute this exercise.

If you had a budget of $10,000 for this, you could probably build this into a running, functioning death trap.

Also, measure out a 302 w/C4: Your elbow will be in the carb.

Forget it.

 

If he mounted it in the front he can buy motormounts. I can dig up the info for the mounting if you like, but I remember it's not cheap. An easier way would be to buy a crate Northstar from Cadillac. They sell the crate 4.9 with mounting hardware and manifolds to accomidate a rear wheel drive aplication for just over $5,000 US. Lately this is a popular install in some high tech hotrods. Yes there is a chip for it and also a supercharger available from Xtreme Motorsports (XMS) in San Diago for $3,500 + S&H for the kit.
My daily driver is a 95 Cadillac STS and I absolutly love the way the northstar motor sounds and performs and I have a bit of info collected on the swap if your friend seriously is interested.

 

Why doesn't he just buy my honda civic that I stuck a 426 hemi in?

 

With all due respect to you, 66MercMan, but did you read his post? He has a t-boned clapped out Ranger and wants to make a rear engined, rear steering, wheelstanding "one of a kind" out of it, and he has less than $700 to launch the project.

You sir, are talking sense. Do you believe the Ranger lad capable of understanding it? Yea, I saw the Northstar listed in Hot Rod magazine as a great modern engine to hot rod. Seems there was some way to mount it north south vs. sidewinder. Also, I think the crate motor you speak of is a north south mount set up.

 

Sorry, I missed the part about the budget for the project. I would imagine hooking up the computer alone would be a nightmare.
cheers
66MM

 

So let me get this right, are you guys saying that he should save a little more money and give the Caddy thing a try, or are you saying that he's a little "over his head" on the whole deal? Seems like the responses are somewhat positive though not completely encouraging.

My buddy is a little offended by your lack of engineering knowledge comments about him; just last year he swapped out the electric motor on his trolling motor with the 2 cycle off an old weed wacker. It's a little loud and smokey on the boat when he uses it but it sure enough does the job.

 

No I wouldent say that. I could see it done on the cheap but RWS might be a tad trickey to add to the combo. As far as the engine goes swap over the entire cradle weld some arms to the frame and locate the cradle where the rear axle was install the wiring harness cut a huge hole in the box and slap it back on. If you locked the stering the swap would be done. If you insisted on RWS you would need about 10 small u-joints and alot of doner peices. If you wanted AWS you would need to fabricate some sort of steering transmission with a reduction gear for the front wheels. Yea I could see it but unless the budget is unlimited I just dont see it happening.