hi all,

soon ill be looking for a low km AU XR6 engine to drop into my newley purchased EF XR6 and was wondering if i still have the choice what engine would be better?

few weeks ago i could purchase an AU XR6 VCT motor with roughly 80,000km or
an AU XR6 HP engine with roughly the same km for about the same price, what would be peoples choice? both come with 3 months waranty.

while im here with the VCT engine, can the VCT be activated by an RPM switch?
i have dug through a few AU conversion threads but couldnt find what i was looking for.

thanks everyone.

its much the same.. you will get a few extra kw with the vct engine.
i have a vct in my ed and originally i was using the rpm switch to switch the vct over at 3000 rpm and it worked great..
but i have since supercharged it and removed the vct cam, vct unit and im running a wade non vct cam..

so if your wanting to upgrade your cam later on you can, but with the vct engine unless you pay big bucks for a jmm vct cam you will have to disable the vct function and fit a non vct cam..

so if your just after a replacement engine with a few kw more then go the vct with the rpm switch..

the only slight down side i found with the vct engine is the price of the rockercover seal..$80 from ford and not available aftermarket..
other than the cam and vct unit (head casting aswell)the engine is the same as the hp non vct...

all the info on mine in my build thread (troymans supercharged ed) but there are over 70 pages to go through...

thanks for that TROYMAN,

well this car is going to be my daily driver/ work bus so there are no plans for any engine mods (thats what the XR8 is for, lol)

so it looks like either will do the job fine and hooking up an RPM switch to run the VCT shouldnt be a problem.

just one more question TROYMAN,
do you still have problems with the VCT engine pinging on less than 98ron fuel or does the VCT help fix this? not that running 98ron is a huge problem.

thanks mate

ps, ive been using XR LANES and your build threads to gather info, fuk my head hurt after reading your 70 odd pages and xr lanes 40 odd pages but plenty of good info in them.

pinging wasnt to bad in mine when it was n/a. but i had a dizzy fitted and could remove timing to stop it..
in xr lanes case being coil pack/non adjustable timing i think he runs 98 premium?

ah that's right, i forgot you are using the dizzy ignition. its hard to remember what Ive read after reading 110 odd pages of info in one go.

thanks heaps TROYMAN, much appreciated.

I actually run LPG most of the time In my case I have left the VCT because I am undecided on whether I will buy a standard AU head and have bigger valves and better valve springs installed.

The gas system will be replaced with a vapor injection system in the short term, witch I have been waiting for that to be done before I start anything else in the engine bay. Because once that is installed everything will change under the bonnet. location on the converter, witch will change all the coolant hoses that run to it, and will give me room for a stainless heat shield I want to make up. I intend to mount the new converter where the washer bottle is, so that will need to find a new home. And there is more, but I cant be f**k doing things twice so I intend to do these things once the LPG system is permanent.

But if you dont intend to make any changes to to the setup once you have installed the new engine, than the VCT engine will be fine with the RPM switch.

In my case, it was $300 cheaper for the VCT engine, so at the time was a better deal. You can always chuck on a non VCT head, or do as Troy has described to upgrade the cam to non VCT.

thanks heaps for the help guys.

i scored myself a complete 2002 AU VCT XR6 engine this morning with just over 80,000km, 3 months warranty and freight to my door for $900.
pretty happy with that considering he wanted $880 for just the engine without accessories and $200 freight (he is 1500km away) cant wait to get it going in the EF


much appreciated guys.

i know troy and xr lane have written this conversion up already but if you can post up your details of the conversion as ill hopefully be doing this exact same swap (au xr6 into ef xr6) sometime this year. the more info available on this conversion the better i say. cheers

Here are 2 more threads that may help out.

ford-4l-and-6-cylinder-f1/just-starting-au-in-ef-conversion-t81875.html

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=77684

Cheers

everything you need to know has already been documented by XR LANE, TROYMAN, TWASON?? and a few others even including some pics, just a lot of reading

but here are my basic plans for the conversion as i doubt ill have time to document it along the way.
anyone that has done this conversion feel free to tell me if i have anything that doesn't sound right as I'm not real familiar with the i6 version of these cars, this is my first E series i6.

modify the AU sump, got pics from one of the above blokes threads
use EF crank angle and cam angle sensors, slight mod to cam angle sensor bracket
use the AU knock sensor, need to cut and shut wires
use AU thermostat housing, no temp sensor in housing
use AU temp sensor (at back of head?), need to cut, lengthen and shut wires
use top half of EF BBM with associated sensors and T/body that way i keep the EF engine bay loom
use au injectors, fuel rail and pressure reg,
I'm using all AU front accessories apart from the air con compressor so hoping i wont have to shorten the air con bolt spacers for belt alignment
use an AU T5 bell housing if i can find one
use EF coil packs and EF plug leads as i got a series 3 AU engine and coil pack plug is different
use EF engine mounts, again as engine is a series 3, i think they are different?
use an RPM switch to activate the VCT, shouldn't be to hard to work out
use an AU VCT serpentine belt

well of the top of my head i think that's most of it covered. remember Ive never played with either of these engines before, this is what Ive learnt from reading others build threads on here.

I did it the lazy way. I just used the EL brackets and EL air compressor when I fitted an AU motor to my EL. No modifications needed. The AU belt still fit without any issues - but I am only running a stock AU motor (not a VCT), so I am not sure if there would be any difference

well i was pretty close, thanks for the edits there XR-lane, just got a few quick questions for ya.

with the knock sensor i thaught i remember reading the EF sensor was slightly to small for the late AU engine? SV-Valiant's build thread?

and didnt SV-Valiant get away with out cutting the air con bolt spacers due to using the AU alternator or does this not apply to the VCT engine?
either way it was only 4mm of the botom two spacers from memory wasnt it?

and thinking about it, i might stick with the EF thermostat housing and sensor as being an XR ive got the low coolant sensor in the header tank.

thanks.

I put the HP motor in my ED with a wade cam, its a monster!