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Yeah, I thought about doing a crate engine too, but didn't find any suppliers I was happy with - I did the shortblock approach because (1) LRS had very good reviews and listed the brands of parts they used, and (2) it allowed me to build the engine as I saw fit (E7 heads, HO roller cam setup, 85 Mustang GT intake/carb/distributor, etc.).
If you were just doing the transmission swap aspect of it, not including engine costs, I'd plan on about $1500, assuming you go with a rebuilt transmission & don't have a core, and assuming you get a transmission the same length as your current one and don't need a new driveshaft. You'll need the transmission, the appropriate flexplate, and a new driveshaft yoke for sure. You'll also need a TV cable/linkage setup, and will need to lengthen your column shift linkage. I also went with the NSS on the transmission instead of the finicky column-mounted one, and spent another $450 on an aluminum driveshaft since I screwed up when measuring and ordered the shorter of the two lengths for the AOD instead of the longer one.
My planning spreadsheet for the transmission part of the project looked like this:
Been a while since I've had a chance to get on the forums here - this spring was just ridiculously busy at work. Anyhow, a belated update on a couple of things:
1. The remote oil change scenario:
Originally Posted by bkaul
Since I was unable to find a 6-quart truck oil pan and used the front-sump 5-quart car oil pan, the oil plug ended up directly above the crossmember. In order to drain the oil, I rigged up a remote oil drain system. The direct-mount valves would have protruded too far and hit the crossmember, so I installed a banjo bolt, hose, and solenoid valve - mounted the latter to the front of the crossmember. I plan to wire the valve to a safety toggle switch, and additionally power that switch through a relay such that it can only be activated with the ignition off. Should make it nice and easy to change the oil: place a pan and flip a switch.
Now that I'm past breakin and have changed the oil, an update: the solenoid valve setup works great, but I should've drilled out the banjo bolt a bit - oil does drain through it, but it's very slow. Should've thought of that ahead of time; it'd be OK if you're going to start it draining and go do something else for a while and come back to it later, but I got impatient and used my vacuum evacuator down the dipstick tube to speed things up. I may get around to modifying that sometime down the road.
2. TV cable mounting:
Originally Posted by bkaul
Here's how I mounted the cable at the top end - put a stud in an existing hole in the intake manifold, and found an L-bracket sitting around in my garage that I could mount the Lokar bracket to.
The stress was enough to strip the threads in the aluminum intake manifold after a while and allow a little slack into the TV cable. I caught it quickly, so I don't expect any transmission problems as a result, but definitely something to watch out for. I decided to use JB Weld epoxy to permanently fix the stud in the manifold, and that's been holding up well so far.
I've been getting 10-11 mpg (vs the 8-ish with the original engine & transmission), but that's around town and I don't keep my foot out of it. I haven't put a full tank of highway miles on it to know how it'd do there. It's not my daily driver - I use it for trips to Lowe's, to get loads of mulch, etc., as needed, and drive it to work a couple times a month (10 miles, no highway) just to keep it from sitting for too long.
09-08-2015, 11:44 AM
