Motor swap for restored 3.0CS 72

[drhodgie]

Got my car almost ready to go. All original restoration so far. Now a M30 engine swap with 5 speed has me intrigued.

Talked to La Jolla and they wanted about 18K. I live in San Jose area. Any advice on who can do the swap up here? Hopefully cheaper.

Thanks

John

 

[Nicad]

Seems to me that Euro 735 with 5 speed for $1800 in the for sale section has most of all the good parts you'd want. (I am thinking this, not knowing this). I have to think you can do this for a reasonable sum. Buy a Book on Megasquirt as well just to read up on FI options. From the little knowledge that has whet my appetite, the ford EDS ignition is pretty intriguing. I love the idea of buying high performance parts off a run of the mill junkyard Ford.

 

[61porsche]

Talk with SFDon, first by pm- ( private messaging). He does what you are looking for on a regular basis, well respected, and relatively near you. No disrespect to LJI intended; it is far from you. IMHO.

I would determine ( as best one could) exactly what you want or desire in terms of restoration of a powertrain or upgrading; otherwise pricing is a guesstimate.

 

[rb1971]

Agree with talking to SFDon. Might also want to talk to Dave at Ottowerks in downtown SF (near the ballpark). He drives a coupe himself and has done a phenomenal job on my project.

 

[dp]

And a third recommend (for objectivities sake of course ;-) )

would be Boyd Fechner in San Jose

 

[d-ace]

If you are going to hot-rod it I would go with the Euro 735i motor and 5-speed trans too.
Most the M30 motors USA versions are only about 185HP and the Euro 3.5-liter motors ignition is very hot and burns clean too plus more HP.
My Euro 1979 635CSI passes at 1 hydrocarbons on the California smog test high and low. No pump, no Oxygen Sensor and just swap out the resonator for a Catalytic Converter when I take it in.
I would think you should be way way under the $18,000 in north San Diego. It would just be and motor/trans swap plus cleanup on the parts.

 

[WALTER]

I had a coupe with Carl's 3.5L, 1.3 motronic, and 5spd conversion. It was a great driver; lots of torque and ultra smooth and reliable. I would go away on long deployments (7-8 months), come back fire it up and it would run like it did when I left; Honda like reliability. That being said, of my coupes recently underwent an auto to 5spd swap by Don Lawrence in SF and some fine tuning by Classic Coachworks in Monterey and it is running very nicely. With carbs, it is not as hassle free as running fuel injection with modern engine management but it is not that bad either and I only feel the loss of some torque compared to the 3.5 setup. You may want to make sure your engine/carbs are dialed in before you sink a lot of money into bigger engine. I would; however, recommend the 5spd swap wholeheartedly, in particular, Don's setup. He does it right and I can say honestly that this is the sweetest shifting car I have ever driven; thanks Don!

I have a coupe being worked on now that is going to be a bit more radical; 5spd, 3.5L, Megasquirt II, custom cam, S38 ITBs, IE headers, custom exhaust, and more. Once I get it back (hopefully at the end of this month), I will let everyone know how this setup feels.

-Walt