Ford Mondeo st220 into '88 Caravelle

[Dueller]

Starting this thread to document my thoughts and journey here, hope it helps someone else who's having some ideas but not jumping in for whatever reason.

When I got my van 2 years back I rebuilt the engine 2 days after my mot as it was a bit tappety, had to reuse the crank and main bearings as couldn't get any new at that time, we all know that story. Luckily I had a choice of short motors and my engineer recommended the best one to use.



So 2000 miles or so later I fancy an upgrade.

First choice was sensible, a Chevy Ls1 v8, missed the end of the auction at £1600, proper cried over that as was running outside of the vehicle so less for me to do.

But it got me thinking...what did I want my new motor to have..?

Had to fit in the back, onto my auto box
No turbo
No fly by wire, needs to be cable operated throttle
No distributor, must be crank driven ignition
No carb, had to be injection
Newer than 25 years old
Must be a torquey motor, none of that bhp top end nonsense, this was never going to be a speed project
Must be a popular fan loved engine with others modded, nothing too rare
Ideally already removed and the loom modded/cut down to the essentials
Had to be supported and affordable in the aftermarket for exhausts and whatever else I fancied
...and that was my starting point

Rejected all VW/Audi engines based on the above, same for Porsche

Then came across Bostig so started me thinking that way, found an adapter plate for a Zetec block and bought an ST170 Focus but the power was all at the top and it was an amazing car to drive, couldn't bring myself to kill it, so sold the car and started again.

Came across an advert for a Ford Cougar 2.5 v6 170 bhp and thought why not as it had been fitted to a boat, ugly but functional.



While I'm working it out an st220 engine came up for sale, already sorted for fitment to a kit car, one call and a big drive in a hire van later it was mine, I just had to have it.



Got some pics to add - how do i add pics here? Sorted by Rob, thanks

...so ask away anything you want to

[R0B]

[Dueller]

Thanks Rob!

[Rascal]

ford v6
Strangley this ford v6 conversion kit was recently on ebay.. Ford had a habbit like vw if it ain't broke don't fix it. Hence why the 55 year old gearbox from my anglia (105e) has the same bolt pattern as a silvertop zetec.from a mondeo. The st220 was pre mazda world engines like the duratec.. So the possibility of a conversion bellhousing just like the ebay one bilting straight to the vw transaxle is a possibility. Just my thoughts, also the st220 v6 is actually originally a porsche design then cosworth had a hand in it...

[Dueller]

Now on to the adapter plate

Keep in mind I hadn't measured or anything else at this stage, just grabbed an engine and planned to make it fit.

Not the first time I've done this kind of thing as have previously fitted Golf gti, Mazda rotary, Nissan 1200/1400, Rover v8 and a few others into vw's so knew my way around conversions, just not the ecu stuff.

First things first I needed to find a common center of the crankshaft and the input shaft. As luck would have it my neighbour was chucking out a rotary airer washline and was a perfect fit onto the gearbox, I had a sleeve made to center it in the crankshaft, 35mm crank and 28mm gearbox iirc.


Then I made the adapter template. At first I did the angle finder and tape measure 'I can draw in a straight line' approach and it was all off, so I made a template using offcuts drilled for m10 bolts triangulated over the common centre, welded together in place like lego, hope this all makes sense!



I was making a sandwich type of adapter where you make a plate for the engine and another for the gearbox and then you fill the gap in with another strip of metal. I used 5mm steel plate and a 20mm steel strip as it met my adapter needs perfectly

t



I used a plasma cutter for the big centre holes for the flywheel and drill bits for the bolts holes, only 2 sizes needed 10mm and 16mm.

[Dueller]

I used the solid Ford flywheel off the 2.5 and removed the starter ring then had it machined down to 273mm so it fitted inside the vw autobox. I missed this first time round and had to revisit my engineers to have it done.

Autobox attaches via the 3x m10 bolts, in this case cap screws, drilled from the engine side flush via an access I left open in the adapter plate.

So it's flywheel then vw flex plate to support the torque converter then into the torque converter, just like vw intended more or less.

I'm not kidding myself here, I expect this to fail as being pessimistic and thinking the autobox can take 150 bhp I'm still waaay overpowered. GoWesty do an engine kit to 165bhp and there's a guy in London offering a turbo on the wassrboxer and that's probably the limit of these boxes. Manuals you can rebuild stronger I know but not for my engine choice.



My plan is to make an adapter for an 01e or suchlike flipped box and go manual in my 'Velle

Ive a video of it connected up and LOUD but need some guidance again here please to upload it

The finished adapter with a bit of paint. For fitment it goes onto the gearbox first due to the top bolt needing to be fitted before mating to the engine.

[Dueller]

ford v6
Strangley this ford v6 conversion kit was recently on ebay.. Ford had a habbit like vw if it ain't broke don't fix it. Hence why the 55 year old gearbox from my anglia (105e) has the same bolt pattern as a silvertop zetec.from a mondeo. The st220 was pre mazda world engines like the duratec.. So the possibility of a conversion bellhousing just like the ebay one bilting straight to the vw transaxle is a possibility. Just my thoughts, also the st220 v6 is actually originally a porsche design then cosworth had a hand in it...

I didn't even consider a bought kit tbh due to the cost and also I expect to break my autobox so wouldn't be a great long term spend, the history of the engine is interesting on wiki and shows what those naughty manufacturers are like for swapsies!

[slowcoach]

Looks massive!

[Dueller]

Looks massive!

Oh yes, very top-heavy with big heads and inlet, fitment under the engine lid was never a consideration, if it fitted then great but the probability was any engine choice based on my criteria was going to bulge. I'm not a camper or a lowered kinda guy so can afford to drop the box a bit to help lower this profile a bit, will see when I drop it in and bolt it up. Hoping for a 4 inch drop but the sump position will decide.

Seen too many guys agonise over this, but the B32 had a raised engine deck so won't be the first van to have this done.

Anyways here's some exhaust pics in the meantime

[Dueller]

[Dueller]

Had an issue on the rear/RH bank exhaust fitment

I've used the 2.5 system as it has a single exit for simplicity, the 3.0 system had separate exits per bank and for my purpose currently is overly complicated.

I was told the 2.5 wouldn't fit onto the 3.0 and having both engines to hand I offered it up to both, it didn't fit either , so much for suppliers.

Each block has a step cast in behind the water pump that needed trimming down a little, marked in the pics above

[Dueller]

I got a pair of Jag engine mounts with the engine and the LH bank fitted with a little grinding to clear the exhaust. The RH bank will need one making as the exhaust is in the way, will finalise it once in position.

[Dueller]

Fitted the engine into position today, went in through the top hole after I removed the thermostat and temp sensor housing.

I've left the engine and gearbox in place for connecting up then I will see what height it will sit at once fitted, initially I plan to drop it 40mm.

Will need to sort the engine mounts for weight so I can see the sump clearance too

[Aidan]

Great thread, thanks for posting

[Dueller]

It's not my day, just wrote a post then pressed the back arrow and lost it!

So first bad day today on the van

Got the engine and box under the van but couldn't connect them, adapter plate was snagging on the water pump, couldn't get the angle right under the van so 2 hours of mayhem.

Ended up tipping the box and dropping some ATF fluid, wasn't happy so decided to start again.

Turned the engine round and bolted the box on from under the rear bumper, took some doing but then the crank wouldn't rotate after connecting the flywheel to the torque converter. Worked well when tested but I didn't use the vw flex plate so guessing I need a spacer. Have the 2.5 engine one or will make one up from a sheet of 2mm steel I've got.

Finished the day as I started although I did make up a plate to fit to the autobox for the throttle linkage adjustment off the engine.