For some unexplained reason, I woke up today with a burst of energy. Not sure why but I decided to post up a brief overview of my car's tidy little powerplant that was installed & was finally tuned this month.

Subject: 97' EL Ghia sedan.
Color: sparkling burgundy ( the color of champions )




Purchased... oh... maybe... f**k if I can remember exactly, maybe 5 + years ago?? Something like that.
It came with the usual interior Ghia goodies; leather, full electrics and all those shiny chrome highlights that lots of members like to scrounge and install on their own e-series cars. I kept the factory premium sound as I was pretty much over the whole supersize-my-stereo-massive-amp-output-butt-massaging-accoustics-that-shake-the-dentures-loose-on-old-drivers-in-their-toyota-camrys. I just want to relax, listen to my music and cruise the roads.

Intention: increase engine performance via the most budgetary method possible.

Anyhow, after the usual first mods of intake / exhaust, quiet thoughts of some increased engine performance was slowly percolating in the back of my mind. So some years ago I slowly started collecting bits & pieces for a top end upgrade, such as GT40P heads, intake, cam, valvetrain, throttle body, MAF, balancer plus a bunch of smaller essentials to round out the equation. These were obtained via various sources like eBay, wreckers, new and second hand parts from various states in America.

Unfortunately or fortunately ( depending on your outlook ), just as I was looking to crack open the wallet and it assembled, I had certain words and thoughts whispered in my ear... more power... more torque... throw some extra cash at it mate... more cubes... three hundred and forty seven cubes to be precise...







To cut a very very long story short, I now have a mild 5.6L slotted into the engine bay. Internals consist of Scat crank & H-beam rods, Probe pistons, GT40P heads with some mildly massaged ports along with 3-angle valve cut, Crow cam and valvetrain, Y/T RR's, Cobra intake with some porting, 24lb FMS inj, C&L MAF, BBK TB, Powerbond balancer, BPT race pullies and a bunch of other parts. The exhaust side is a set of modified PH4000 headers, x-pipe, Magnaflow cats and tri-flow mufflers.
Tuning this assortment of new & second hand set of parts was the final task and that is being performed superbly by the highly capable Wolf v500.



In essence, the car has a bit more poke now... and I also have lost track of the amount of money I have spent on building it as I have sold many car parts to offset the building expenses. Definitely $10k+


/End brief burst of enthusiasm.

Last edited by Vic on Wed Sep 08, 2010 8:30 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Very nice!! Sounds like it is a solid performer, would make one stealth looking Ghia then

Those rocker covers and the red leads are a good combo

Hi there Vic,
Nice combo you have there bloke!,
have you done any work to the auto? (if you have the auto!!),
I've been wanting to do something like that to my 5.0L ED GHIA!!.
Keep enjoying drivin her mate!.

Cheers,
Jason.

Yes red was an appropriate color given the exterior paint, plus those covers were the taller version and along with the phenolic spacer, still fit quite comfortably under the upper intake.
As for the transmission, it's the original auto and the auto trans comp still runs it although the line pressure and other settings are still set for 5L and are struggling with the increase in power and torque. Hopefully in the not too distant future, the Wolf will be connected to the ATC and the transmission line pressure and settings will be correctly set for the increased power output.

very tuff vic!
wondered when you would post something up.
how many powahs and talks did brian get out of it?

as a side note, every time i go to the FM home page, the 'randomised' image from the user galleries is always one of yours

About time, I've been in this car a couple of times now, how smooth and strong it feels, Reminds me of a 70's porn star with a deep voice singing softly in your ear love the 5.6LOGGF.

Well I'm pretty slack.
Well Brian likes to handcraft his "powahs and talks" and I entered them in the Dyno Registry. As of January this year, it's pumping out 223rwkw and 545nm. My transmission doesn't like me anymore.
As for the randomised images, it's a deal I've cut with the admin.

We are due for our free gobbies from you again vic!

Not for you ~ you're a biter.

Well the rear factory speakers decided to fall to pieces not too long ago so I decided it was time for an OEM upgrade and bought some Kicker's.



I might fit the original factory covers over them to maintain a stock appearance.

Well due to slackness and lack of fundage, I had left the auto trans as stock and basically just abused it for the last 5 ~ 6 months, to the point where it slips & flares when changing gear under a little bit of extra load.
Now however, due to a failed trans temp sensor, the auto is in LHM.
While the LHM hasn't been as annoying as I thought it would be ( the stroker can easily get going in just third gear and only revs about a 1,000rpm higher than normal at 80km/h ) I do miss the excellent launch characteristics the stroker normally provided with a full set of working gears. So with the excuse of needing to have the trans repaired, to be free of LHM, I may as well rebuild the BTR to properly cope with the output from the stroker. The thought of planting the pedal down at Heathcote and having a properly shifting transmission has got me smiling in anticipation.

Very tough car mate.

It is when it runs properly.

I'm also going to use more of the Wolf than I have so far. Right now it's running piggy back but because Wolf have finished the software and hardware add-on for the EL, I can remove the v500 from piggy back mode and with their new EL harness, plug it directly in instead of the Ford ECU. Their new software runs all the original Ford features i.e., climate control, trip meter, everything the Ford ECU had programmed in, which means I can also do away with the Ford auto trans computer too and be able to program all the transmission variables just like Ford did. No more need for shift kitting, adjustable solenoids etc etc to get the trans to do what I need it to do.

Maybe u should consider a T700 instead and go hydrolic and have it fully manuallised which is nice to drive with or go to DTM if i recall correctly out ur way who build tough BTR units.

Nice Vic, I may just go that way myself. Would be nice to use the computer for that. I have had to keep my EMS as a piggy back due to all the other crap the factory one uses.

Brett

Yep, only learnt on the weekend that Wolf had sorted their v500 to return all the Ford ECU functions and features when running the v500 as stand alone and being able to adjust the transmission on the fly with the laptop is very cool.

It's been a bit slow since last month but finally the harness and wiring has begun for the installation of the Wolf as the standalone ECU and to control the transmission. I get to say bye bye to both of the Ford computers and say hello to full trans control.

Very nice Vic.

Is that a loom adapter (at the kick panel) from Wolf or did you do that yourself?

Wolf made it. My car is the guinea pig for the release and update of the v500's full Ford V8 emulation ability. I'm itching for the day my car hits the dyno and is released back to me.

Stuffed S1 solenoid removed and replaced.
I now have 4 gears again.



Next: some dyno tuning of the BTR..