1965 Mustang Coupe Ecoboost 3.5L

[bluestang65]

I'm restoring my 1965 Mustang coupe. This was my first car restored in the 1990s by my dad and me. Some of the panels we should have replaced finished rusting out and so I had to restore the car again. I've posted it on another forum and I have a blog, but looking for some suggestions on making this motor fit.

This restoration is already in progress and I'll update as I can with some throwback posts to other work I've done.

I have rebuilt the front end including new frame rails and inner fenders. I also added a new firewall. I haven't attached the firewall to the car yet so I separated it from the car to test fit the engine.

I'd like to use a 3.5L Ford Ecoboost engine in this build. They're pretty light 350-375lbs and compact. In stock form, they hit early and hard with torque and max out at 420lb/ft. Torque is what makes cars fun, so it's a logical choice.

I'm having some trouble making it fit and looking for input and suggestions.

The oil cooler is the first thing to go. It's in the way of the tower on the rack. I was then able to lower the engine in place in the compartment. I would really like to tuck it tight and low in the engine compartment so I'm looking for opinions.



When it's tucked where I want it, the master cylinder and steering linkages will be tight but I think they'll work. I may have to do some work to the firewall though to gain clearance for the bellhousing.

When I pull it up higher and forward, it will make exhaust and transmission clearance easy, but the crank pulley wants to sit where the rack has to.

Anyway, here are pics.

First pics show the Ford Ecoboost 3.5L weight. The first motor is mostly complete with the missing parts laid on the intake. The second motor is cleaner and has wiring and engine mounts on it.

374lbs for a complete engine with turbos is pretty light. fordperformance lists it as 417lbs. I'm not sure where their extra weight comes from.

[bluestang65]

Here's a shot of the engine dropping into place. The oil cooler was the first thing to go.

[bluestang65]

Here's a few more shots of the engine bay with the motor sitting low and as far back as I can get it. There's a coolant tube that touches the firewall. Realistically, I will probably have to smooth the firewall and open the tunnel a little bit to accommodate the engine and transmission so far back.

[bluestang65]

The EB engine should hopefully give me enough room to route the steering and a brake booster. I may mount it slightly biased to the right side of the car to give just enough space for a hydroboost and the steering linkages. If I don't, I will have to use aftermarket manifolds and relocate the turbos.

[bluestang65]

I centered the engine over the front crossmember. It will contact the rack and pinion and need to be raised slightly to accommodate it. But with it this far forward, I have a lot of space at the rear to route exhaust and for the transmission to sit.

[xsboost90]

when i bought my Anthony Jones AJE front suspension for my 64.5, a 3.5 ecoboost motor mount was an option....

also- you dont have to have the motor below the tops of the front inner fenders to clear the hood- the fenders are 2" or so higher than that ,and the hood goes up in the center. You could easily pull that motor up a bunch. I do like your idea though and i thought of doing this should i ever change plans. Watched "Fast and Loud" the other night and they put this motor in a pantera with bigger turbos- very fast...

[Spork82]

Mount the turbos near the front of the motor or ahead of it. Should give you ample room for exhaust, brake Booster and steering.

[Dave R]

Love it. I really wish I could find a wrecked EB vehicle near me. I'm doing a 4V in my fairlane but would much rather this route. Keep it up and don't stop posting.

From personal experience, mount the engine back as far as you can and put the turbo's forward like mentioned. You have much more room to make the radiator, fans, intercooler and AC parts fit and the weight biasing is more balanced. THe exhaust has to go forward then and you can drop a couple 2.5" tubes around the engine easily. Just be aware of your trans fitment and shifter placement in the tunnel.

Great job!

Dave

[WildCherry66]

Gonna be a very cool build! My dad just got an F-150 with that engine (his 1st Ford truck) and that engine really surprised me when I drove it. Lots of fun to drive and the best V-6 sound I've heard. Turbos sounds pretty cool too! �� Keep up the posting! It's always tough doing something different and this forum has a lot of members with knowledge to try and help you out. Good luck!

[bluestang65]

It didn't take Ford very long at all to build over 1,000,000 EB trucks. They are plentiful. Try car-part.com to search your local salvage yard inventory. The one I'm using to test fitment was very, very cheap. I have found a lot of cool things on there including a Cobra IRS for $400.

As far as mounting the turbos up front, that's still a likely possibility but I'll have to have custom manifolds built. Fullrace.com has some but they're $1800 which is not reasonable. Glad they got patted on the back at SEMA by Ford, but that's not worth paying so much for headers.

The flanges are mirrored but not symmetrical so there is no way to flip them upside down or switch them side to side.

The other issue with headers is increasing the overall size of the manifolds and the turbos will cost low end torque and this is not a race car.

Still lots to consider. I welcome the feedback. Are there any good custom header shops that don't expect 1800 for a set?

[xsboost90]

ive seen alot of turbo guys cutting up the cast manifolds and welding to them. Worth a shot. My work van is an ecoboost transit full size and that thing hauls.

[andrewb70]

In for updates.

What's the plan for engine management? Stock ECU?

Andrew

[bluestang65]

Ford performance if offering a kit that is close to plug and play. But after pretty carefully going over its instructions it's clear that it is using the same ECU as stock - a Bosch two plug unit. It is completely different than the units found in trucks with the V8 which has 3 plugs. The ECU used in the Fordperformance kit appears to be available by itself for about 500-700 and would likely plug right into a stock F150 underhood harness (I already have the engine half of the harness). I also grabbed Ford's wiring diagram and plan to spend hours getting acquainted with the system.

If I can figure out how to tune a stock F150 ECU, those are plentiful at 100 or so. If not, I'll have to go with Ford's kit or their specially calibrated ECU.

I'm not sure if I trust a twin independent variable cam system to an aftermarket setup yet, but I'm all ears if anybody has a good recommendation.

Ironically, back when I was dead set on getting a Coyote powered F150, I was in a corporate training class in Detroit and there was at least one engineer there who worked on the F150 Ecoboost. I wish now I had picked her brain more and got her email address...

[bluestang65]

In case you're wondering how this car came to be disemboweled in my garage, it started in July of this year. I dropped the wife and kids off with my in-laws and broke the eerie silence of the empty house with cutting on this car.

It was my first car and my dad and I built it in the 1990s. Poor quality reproduction parts, inexperience, and 50 years of Missouri winters took its toll on the car twice and it's time to replace some of the worst of it. Actually, it's time to replace all of the worst of it. I'll also be doing a little custom work and adding most of the convertible underbody parts to add rigidity to the coupe's body.

[bluestang65]

Here are a few before pics of the car. I had already taken out the front suspension and the engine by this point.

[bluestang65]

I cut the rusty front frame rails at the firewall and removed the front inner fenders.

[bluestang65]

Cutting out the firewall and cleaning out the interior. I hate rust.

[bluestang65]

This shows the mockup of the front end and me figuring out that I can't do anything without building a jig. In the last pic, I laid out the foundation for the jig.

[bluestang65]

My original intent (and fallback if the EB doesn't work) is a 250 inline six fuel injected. I had to drill the bosses and build a custom rail for the fuel injectors. I've got the finished block, crank and rods sitting in the garage hoping I can't fit the EB in the Mustang.

[bluestang65]

Here's a few more shots of the goodies of the inline build. Full roller rockers and forged pistons would make a fun little motor. Still rooting for the EB though.

These pics are from about a year ago...