64 Fairlane 500 SHO swap

[redheadedlefty]

picked up a 64 fairlane 500, bought it with no motor or transmission..have had a SHO motor sitting around for a while, so i figured this would be a different swap to do.



the car is on air ride, its 4 linked, currently working on a mustang 2 swap to make the engine conversion easier, along with better brakes, steering, and air ride options.

Still deciding on what trans to use, was thinking just the a4ld with a good rebuild for just driving ease..this car is pretty much just going to be a cruiser, and i love the look and sound of the sho motors, so it will have a few performance upgrades, but not that many...

also are the aerostar a4lds the only ones that were not computer controlled? what about the mustang and tbird a4lds..saw a low mileage one for online for cheap today for a 2.3 and could just swap to a 3.0 bellhousing and converter.

 

[Off Road SHO]

Just go with the A4LD. Unless you can find an instance where Ford put the AOD behind the 3.0 OHV Vulcan motor. If you plan on taking advantage of the SHO's 7,000 RPM redline a lot while you are just "cruising", I would definitely tell your tranny rebuilder about the high rpm's so that he can build the tranny AND the torque converter accordingly.

Also make sure that you add an oil-to-air cooler AFTER the oil-to-coolant on the tranny fluid path.

Good luck on the build, my sister's first car was a 64 Galaxie 500 with the 390 in it. Had to borrow it more than a few times.

Tom

 

[redheadedlefty]

just throwing out and idea here...a friend of mine has a complete 98 ranger 3.0 drivetrain that i could get for almost nothing, now what about using the wiring harness, transmission, and computer from the ranger (with a custom tune) to run the sho motor..probably more of a pain in the ass then what it is worth..but one of my buddies happens to be a great tuner.. i am more of a fab man myself, this was actually his idea

 

[rubydist]

sounds like a very cool project. you will need a tall hood scoop to cover that SHO motor!

the a4ld is not a very strong trans, so you will need one built as stout as possible to hold up behind the SHO.

on the other hand, the aod will mate right up with the cididit adapter for sbf transmissions and a custom drilled flex plate.

 

[mrecoolgar]

Use a Canfield adapter plate.
You can use any 5.0 trans then.
I'm using a T5 in my project.
See here: http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=119105

 

[redheadedlefty]

sounds like a very cool project. you will need a tall hood scoop to cover that SHO motor!

the a4ld is not a very strong trans, so you will need one built as stout as possible to hold up behind the SHO.

on the other hand, the aod will mate right up with the cididit adapter for sbf transmissions and a custom drilled flex plate.

i dont think i will..ill do some meassuring but is i end up needing a cowl..well then i wont be doing the sho motor...i hate cowl hoods

 

[intimdatr]

Get some pictures! This looks like a sweet project!

 

[DJSHO91]

i dont think i will..ill do some meassuring but is i end up needing a cowl..well then i wont be doing the sho motor...i hate cowl hoods

You could always go with a Thunderbolt-styled hood, carrying a bit of old-school with new-school vibe.

 

[Phoenix]

Awesome project , but how much that thing weights? Im afraid that the little 220hp might struggle.

Remember the 6 cyl that these things had (by these things im saying cars in general of that era) were torque monsters. So they moved around with some pain but they had good torque to move all that weight.

no? yes?

 

[intimdatr]

I agree with Phoenix the thought had crossed my mind but i didnt feel like posting being stoned out of my mind (wisdom teeth came out yesterday). But i would imagine with the RPM of the SHO motor could not just throw some 4.10's or 4.30's in the rear diff and easily solve this weight problem?

 

[Off Road SHO]

The automatic he plans on using is a great torque multiplier; but the 4:11 gears in the back would help also, especially with the high rpm's of the SHO motor.

As far as the hood is concerned; I think a nice see-through hood with a polished SHO 3.2 WITH one of my polished billet YAMAHA upper timing covers would be the *******.

Tom

 

[sho'noff]

the fairlane is the rich mans falcon!! good choice.

 

[redheadedlefty]

Actually not as heavy as you think..they are only about 3300 lbs and the straight 6s didn't make that much tq and either did the 260 that came in it..

Also does anyone know if I could use the 3.0 ranger steel oil pan with pick up on these motors? If I need to section it to lower the motor, a ranger steel one would be much easier

 

[Off Road SHO]

Red,

No, the Ranger 3.0 is the Vulcan, a completely different motor, not even made by the same company.

Tom

 

[redheadedlefty]

****..wasn't sure bc the bellhousing being the same..never know

 

[rubydist]

Also does anyone know if I could use the 3.0 ranger steel oil pan with pick up on these motors? If I need to section it to lower the motor, a ranger steel one would be much easier

not much opportunity to make the pan shorter to lower the motor - the windage tray and girdle are quite a ways below the crank. the short (front) part of the pan is pretty much as close to the crank as you are going to get it.

 

[Shovert]

I agree. I cut out front part of the pan to fit the foxbody of mine. I had to extended the oil pickup tube. I added a dual oil filter should help on oil reserve. I got plans of pulling pan and extendeding the side of pan opposite of the starter for more oil reserve. I cut a major part of the k-member out and added a thick piece of steel on bottom of k-member to add strength and let the motor come as far forward as possible. The SHO pan is almost touching the steering rack. Pictures in my photobucket. Maurice
Edit If going A4LD that is what I am using. That trans bellhousing needs some mods, and must use the A4LD flywheel redrilled for the SHO motor. You need a early Aerostar A4ld non computer controlled trans to work. I have wrong one have plans either control with Jeep trans controller or pressure switch on side of trans. [Merkur or other one forgot name] Used that method. Maurice
http://www.transmissioncenter.org/new_page_1.htm

 

[sho'noff]

Actually not as heavy as you think..they are only about 3300 lbs and the straight 6s didn't make that much tq and either did the 260 that came in it..

Also does anyone know if I could use the 3.0 ranger steel oil pan with pick up on these motors? If I need to section it to lower the motor, a ranger steel one would be much easier

according to autozone the oil pan gasket for the 1995 ford ranger 2wd 3.0 is the same part number as the 95 taurus sho. Part Number: OS32486

The SHO engines share a common bell housing pattern with the following Ford engines: the 2.3/2.5 L FWD HSC I4, the 3.0 L FWD/RWD Vulcan V6, and the 3.8 L FWD Canadian Essex V6.[8] In 1996, Ford discontinued the SHO V6 and began fitting the Taurus SHO's with the SHO 3.4 L V8 and the Ford AX4N automatic transmission.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_SHO_V6_engine

 

[kevinspann]

Autozone is wrong, the SHO pan gasket is mostly RTV, with two small seals at each end. Fel Pro 0S30636R

 

[vortex2450]

As far as the oil pan clearance issue. I've done some modeling in CAD and you can definitely knock off 3.5" of height with a dry sump oil pan but that's a lot of work, so it's a give and take deal.

-josh