Build Thread : Project Crowdmower : Ford Chassis, Nissan Trans, And Chevy motor

[laextreme5]

Well, this is my newest project. If you knew me personally this is quite left field, and i even surprised myself honestly lol.

Id originally set out to purchase a budgie wrx to build for 1/4 and 1/2 duties after parting out my 240 project, however while eating lunch after cars and coffee with a few friends i asked my buddy about his new edge mustang. He'd pulled the original 4.6 out of it to Ls swap it, but found a fox body chassis and picked up and is now doing the swap in it. So i made him an offer and well now i own a mustang haha

Purpose and goals behind this car are simple. It will be a base and tool to learn how to assemble a short block and hone my skills doing so. And i very good way to prove and test such work is to make it go really really fast.

Regarding speed my goals are

150MPH in the 1/4

200MPH in the 1/2 mile

Beat 1/2 mile stick shift record

As of current the stick shift 1/2 mile record is 221mph by a twin turbo Gallardo. Doubt id be able to beat that, as thats a 2000hp car, but without dreams and goals whats the point in even trying.

Now onto the actual car. Its a 2002 Ford Mustang GT. Car currently has no motor or transmission. I have my Ls 4.8 left from my 240 project which will be used for the base of this build, and will eventually be replaced with a aluminum block motor in the future.

I will be running a manual Nissan CD009 transmission form a 06+ 350z. To mate the trans to the Ls ill be using a Collins adaptor plate (which is a beautiful piece)
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Ive still yet to get the chassis to my house as I'm super busy with side work. Currently a short block swap on a wrx and rust repair and paint job on an ae86. However this past weekend i was able to pull the motor out, clean it real good, and throw some parts on it that came in the other day to see how it will look.

Before i how the pics let me lay out my gameplay for the car. Current 4.8 will be run NA and i will sort out al the kinks and issues i may run into when i first getting it running. Drive it NA for a bit while i collect turbo parts on the side. Once i have all the turbo parts those will be out on to the stock 4.8 and run it at about 650-700whp. Hopefully i can have this setup up and running by tx2k17.

Once turbo setup is on stock 4.8, i will start collecting parts to put together a built short block so i can really crank up the power. Expected whp on the built motor is likely to be in the 12-1400 hp range, depending on what turbo and how efficient my setup is.
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[laextreme5]

Had some fresh parts roll in today while i was at work, so naturally of course i had to have a mock up session. Im super stoked on how simplistic the motor is going to look. The only thing driven off the crank pulley will be the alternator. I will have no AC, a manual steering rack, and a electric water pump. So i will have very minimal external drag on the motor. aka MOAR POWWAAA

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[laextreme5]

We had some prime weather this past end of the week. Had a cool front come through and it was perfect work outside weather

Took the little man outside with me one day. He loves hanging out in the garage with me.

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I pulled the bell housing out (from an 98-02 camaro per Collins Adaptors) and gave it a good cleaning. Im still waiting on some awesome when acid cleaner to come in through work, stuff makes aluminum damn near look new, but this will do for now for cleaner handling. I picked this one up cheap as i knew it had a crack in it. Should be an easy fix. drill a hole at the end of the crack and TIG it up. FYI if anyone knows what grade aluminum this is that'd be great, so i can know what filler rod to use when welding it



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After cleaning the Bellhousing i decided to through it and the adaptor on there just tp see how it would look, cuz who doesn't love mockups lol Its a shame this adaptor will never been seen, as its a lovely piece. Love me some billet cmc parts



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AT this point i had to take a break and get some actual side work done, as thats whats largely funding this project at the moment. Relipped a set of weds from 19x9.5 to 19x13. They still look small next to my 18x15s, which will be shipping out shortly.


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After the wheels were done i cut the stock bell housing off the CD009 trans. Im to the point from cutting up friends cars i dont even blink at eye cutting up a trans. Still not sure if thats a good or bad thing?

Anyway. It was fairly straight forward. I cut a little less than the directions said as i wanted as tight of a fit to the adaptor as possible.

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[laextreme5]

Before heading out to sema i had a bit of free time to piddle around in the garage. Ill be ordering a cam, springs, and pushrods soon, so i started to remove the heads to start removing the stock valvetrain. While i have the valvetrain out im going to give the heads a super good cleaning. Get all the gunk out of the ports and make em nice and purty.


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[laextreme5]

Went by a buddies house today to ]day to help out with a few builds. Both are also in the middle of mustang builds.One is a fox body turbo ls auto build, the other is a 4.6, and its swap on a v6 new edge.

This also gave me a chance to weight the 4.6 and trans weight so i can compare it to the ls and manual I'm dropping in.
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So on to the weigh measuring. Corey's 4.6 was partially dissaembled as he is changing a few gaskets and cleaning it up a bit. The only thing missing from the 4.6 is an ac compressor weight wise
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After weight the trans, motor, and everthing that would be bolted up in my car if it were still running a manual 4.6 setup the total weigh is

594 Pounds.

That is ridiculous. Hoping i can cut close to 150 lbs off that once running a aluminum block,

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[laextreme5]

Was able to disassembly on the heads tonight. Now that i have it all apart i can give the heads and the valves a good cleaning.

Im looking to pick up the can, springs, pushrods, and retainers on a black friday sale. Brian Tooley? Tick performance? if your reading this i could use your help on black friday:eyebrows:eyebrows:eyebrows:eyebrows


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[laextreme5]

Found my shots i had taken of the car a while back when my buddy blaine owned it (who i purchased it from) and still powered by the factory 4.6


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[laextreme5]

So as some of you will remember from my 240 project, i had purchased a tilton floor mount pedal setup. Over the last few days ive been pondering about how to do my clutch and brake setup on the mustang. I need to change the steering column as we had to weld 2 sleeves together when my friend blaine owned it as it had some slack due to a burned up bushing from the long tubes blah blah. Will be easier to show when i have it how.

I also will be pulling the dash as i will be doign a minor shave on the firewall, and want access to the back to properly seal the backside of the welds. Being that im going to be so in depth into the firewal and dash area, and i would have to purchase componets to convert to a hydraulic clutch line for the cd009 trans, its makes sense to utilize what iu already have, the Tilton pedal assembly. Ive decided to go manual brakes as well so it makes sense to use what i have given how far into tear down i will be in that area to begin with as well

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[laextreme5]

So, big update coming in.

This stupid ****ing taking forever Sti motor is about ready to drop in, alleviating the engine stand so i can get some more progress on the motor. In the mean time i gave the heads a good cleaning. Still need to hit the intake ports some more as the were DURTYYY.

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While at a buddies house the other day, i picked up a spare set of headlights, current ones are shit, and also picked up a "new" steering shaft. Current one in the car had its bushing burnt out due to the install of longtubes on the 4.6. So we welded the two shafts together so there wasn't any slop till he could swap a new one in (obviously i bought the car before he had a chance.) The steering shaft has some white overspray due to it being out of my friends white New Edge that he is 4.6 swapping (originally a v6 car). Its the car pictured a few updates back. Ill just throw some black spray paint on it to make it look new again.



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And last but not least, THE CAR IS FINALLY HOME.

It was actually a pretty late notice hey come get the car before my landlord gets here kinda deal, so i made some time and as able to pick it up and get it home. It was quite the fiasco. Had to stop halfway at a friends to grab my hoist, 2 wheels, his front k member, and my load leveler. Then try the other half of the way to the car. Install the borrowed k member ( one that was in the car was needed for his new Ls swapped fox project) try to install k member, realize UPR lower control arms dont fit, pull bushings out of arms ends to make it atlas rollable to get it on the trailer. AND FINALLY GET IT HOME

Upon getting it home i needed to get the K member out asap as Corey needed it back as its the one thats going in his car (4.6 swapped V6 car). He came over and well, the motor ended up in the car haha.

We also found the same issue with the UPR lower control arms and the AJE k member. The control arms dont fit. Basically the spread of the arms doesn't quite match the spread of the subframe, and its the width of one of the bushings flanges off, maybe 1/4''. But given the angle they can't be forced in. so it looks like i am going to have to order new front lower control arms. Not a huge hinderance but still a pain that they ONLY work with the UPR subframe (which sucks btw, Blaine with the LS fox had tons and tons of fitment issues with that subframe, ended up buying a AJE and it fit perfect)



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Also, upon getting the car home i found a bit of frame damage. After working on the car before when Blaine owned it, a good friend, neither of us had seen it before. It must have been a fairly large hit, so ill def be putting it on our frame machine at work and getting it pulled out and measuring straight.


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[laextreme5]

Once the car was in my driveway and on jack stands we proceeded with pulling out the borrowed stock subframe. The sway bar was the first to come out as one it made it easier to swing the lca/spindle assembly out of the way to drop the k member, and two, because seeing as this is a straight-line car its basically dead weight. Sidetone: that swayer actually weighed quite a few pounds.

After muscling the stock k member out we easily and quickly got the new AJE tubular piece in place. It one provides a nice drop in weight off the nose of the car and two provides ample room for exhaust work and mounting options for the motor.

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With the k member in place. And my friend Corey over as a helping hand, it was a no brainer to drop the short block right in as the first mockup. Had a few minor issues dropping it in. Found out the front end is extremely long and we had to pull the front bumper and absorber off to allow the hoist to go far enough forward to allow the motor to align with the subframe. Even then it was just barely enough length to get it in. Once the motor was in we slapped each bare head on with 2 bolts each and slapped the intake on top.

My oh my does this intake look sweet on the motor. Although i really wish i had gone with the high rise vs the mid rise. I may still try to sell this one and get the high rise. Idk, maybe ill keep it.

IF anyone is interested ill let it go for less than new. Shoot me a message if interested.

Clearacne wise there is ample everywhere. I can flip and swap the mounts and move the motor down and back 1'' in each direction. Currently i have atlas 1'' from the intake to the hood.

One clearance that surprised me was from the front of the motor to the stock cooling fans. Its much tighter than i was anticipating. Although it will get larger when i flip the mounts. I may even mod them a bit to get it to sit back just a little bit farther. That water pump is HUGE.

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[bluebosss197]

Very interesting build. I never knew a Nissan tranny was so strong, aside from the GTR's.

 

[Swift]

Is that a corvette motor

 

[TClark22]

a Nissan transmission? Well now I have seen everything.

 

[Zemedici]

cd009s are very strong units.

 

[AustinSN]

Crazy build.

I had the same question about the nissan tranny as everyone else.

 

[oldmodman]

Quite a build you are doing. One thing for sure. You will NEVER look over into the other lane and see yourself!
It's the most original combo I have ever heard of.
Except for the guy that put four CBX six cylinder Honda engines in a streamliner at Bonneville. On alcohol with turbos. 24 cylinders at 13,000rpm.
Now that guy was a real maniac.

 

[laextreme5]

Thats quite the comparison.....

 

[laextreme5]

Not a whole lot has happened since the last update. Been busy with work and the holidays.

Was trying to make the garage a useable space again. Last several months I've accumulated a lot of parts and such and haven't had time to kinda sort and organize somewhat.

Basically what this meant was all the smaller mustang stuff got shoved in the trunk temporarily.
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Before putting the shittastic ebay headers into the trunk i decided to hold one up to check clearance on. Its not so great. The one 180* bend at the back is very close to the frame rail, and i feel it will get closer when i flip the motor mounts and get gets moved back and down 1''. Seriously considering just getting my dad to help me fab our own set of headers. Ive included a shot of my dads handiwork on headers. Best shot i had on my Flickr account.

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[92GreenGT]

The nissan trans is used a lot more than most people think, if you're a "Sloppy Mechanics" member then you'll know this. Most people don't know much about them though, I feel as it's a unit that the price will sky rocket once more info gets out and about on them. Cool build, wished it was ford powered but hell it is what it is, keep the pics coming. I like a well documented build.

 

[laextreme5]

I purchased it with no drivetrain, so you cant hater me too much haha. And yes the cd009 is a qulaity trans. Although the prices really cant go much higher as they are only 1700 new from Nissan. Even at that price i feel its a better alternative than t56 or v160, which is sometimes used with 2jz swaos since it was the factory manual option in the mk4 supra, side note that is one SERIOUSLY overpriced trans, its nuts. (if you cant tell, i came from the import world. This is my first domestic)