Bertone powered by Ford
 

Start of this story begins with my wifes love for Volvo's. She drove a 940 Turbo when we meet and soon told me of her "collector Volvo" (I had hopes of a P1800) when she said 1980 Bertone coupe I knew what car she was refering to. I recall reading about that car in Car and Driver magazine when it came out. The article was not flattering. Her car was stuffed in an old rickety garage as it had blown head gasket driving home from a Volvo Club of America meet.
After we got married I got the car running and it ran o.k. but the milkshake looking oil ended any chance of me or almost any tech wanting to repair that engine.
Me being a hot rodder at heart recalled the Converse engineering 5.0 Ford engine swap kits. I decided that was the route I would take.
And so the journey begins........

After waiting a couple of years I ordered the Ford Explorer 5.0/4RW70 kit from Converse.
After shelling out many hundreds of dollars for a kit I received a wire harness
patch some hoses and motor mount adapters along with around 8 pages of instructions.
As I jumped in removing the old and preparing the way for the new. I found
(the hard way) that it does not go in smoothly and many steps and details were missing from the instructions and a few were plane wrong.
So far the engine has been in and out and back in 5 times.
Converse has been good with answering questions and any swapper should plan on taking engine in and out a number of times.

I'll try not to bounce around too much but no promises. :)
After locating a engine at a local wrecking yard I found a transmission at another location.
I got the wire harness from the same Explorer that I found the transmission.
Long list of items that should be sourced from the donor vehicle.
Alt., P/S pump, ECU, O2 sensors, mass airflow sensor, cruise cable, coils,alternator,starter, throttle cable and something I forgot the VIN#.
I thought buying ceramic coated headers would be a good idea and I lucked out after denting the tubes in a couple of spots the coating seems to be in tact.
A Mustang style twin sump oil pan is needed as well as Mustang convertible engine mounts.

I installed the engine with headers attached and left the intake complete on the 5.0. Looking back I really don't know how that worked.(?)

After denting the RH frame rail to a softball size dent. I soon found that my idea of softball size was not enough. This would be a regular happening as is normal on any swap I would imagine.
My goal is not a step by step instruction but what to be ready for is someone were to decide to install a V8 with or w/o a kit. I'm way over a year on the process. I'm sure I'll edit a few times as I post more.

I am convinced if I were to do this again I would remove the interior and cut out the transmission tunnel and a small portion of the firewall as well as the area on the RH frame rail (softball size dent). That way the engine could be installed more easily and new (modified) sheetmetal welded in for a quicker (IMO) and much more proffesional looking install.
The amount of time fighting the linkage, wiring, exhaust clearance etc. would make a less frustrating install.
I ended up modifying the RH rear lower control arm mount for extra exhaust clearance. Also modified the motor mount adaptor on the LH side.

I stole some ideas from other engine swappers from various forums.
One idea was too add room for a bigger exhaust by thinning the transmission crossmember as well as adding attachment arms to use the factory threaded
holes which I trust more than the lag bolt attachment suggested by Converse. Another couple of pics of the LH mount plate mods.

Transmission chapter
 

The 4RW70 is a good sized tranny and as I have found out it needs modified
(untold in my instructions) and as the Explorer use electronics to signal the speedo the Bertone of course does not. Converse told me there are options
well one at least that I can recall. A signal adaptor of sorts that IIRC sends a signal to a box which drives a cable all of this I learned after buying the kit and engine and trans. In comes TestPoint a friend who I met on TurboBricks website. Who after doing much research decided to replace the 4RW70 tailshaft with a AOD tailshaft. I did the same. Now I will be able to add a speedo driven gear and use a cable.

Foolishly (one of many times) I installed the transmission 2 or 3 times before taking the sawsall to the case and ridding any bosses not needed.
Also belt sanded some ribs down a bit.

That sounds like a pretty interesting project. I converted an old Mustang to fuel injection and it is a lot more work than I initially thought it would be. Great now that it is done but took longer than I thought I should. You are right in that many small things poke their heads up and lead to other modifications.

Been many weeks since I touched the 5.0 swap project. Shop is almost clean enough to get back at it. Hope to have updates soon.

Still at it slow and steady. Heavy on the slow and light on the steady. LOL
Been trying to hook up exhaust and its fighting me the whole way.
No challenge=no fun, right?

Yet to get very far. Hope to have updates soon.

Snails pace..........
More exhaust work today.
Just a mock up so no laughing. :)

Trying to run 2.5" head pipes not sure theres room? Pretty tight!

This is one awesome trip into installing a non standard engine.
I keep coming back and looking for updates and can see the issues your having.
A slow methodical approach will undoubtably give you a truly fantastic conversion.Something to be proud of.
The big engines don't get fitted over here to often as the sheer cost of keeping them fuelled is prohibitive Lol.
We have some truly amazing engine conversions going on here which will undoubtably give much higher performance.
The skill needed to get round all the niggles is learnt not taught in my mind.Being able to adapt and learn from mistakes is a neccesary part of any modification.

I'm really liking your attitude towards this project.
I wish you luck in reaching the final hurdle.
The interest in this is obviouse when looking at how many have viewed it 1087.

Regards Brian.

I just hope my wife is proud. The plan is it to be a daily driver. As far as the big engine. Its funny because growing up in the US. Its not a big engine.
It should give better fuel use than the previous powerplant. The O/D trans
and decent low end torque helps that. Lots of Mustang owners get close to
30 mpg highway. We will see about that.

I did get tired of fighting the headers and cut out a slice to point them in the right direction. Which also cause some warpage issues.
Pulled the injectors as a fellow V8 swapper found his to be plugged.
He just got his running. Follow along here if you wish.

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showth...46#post4532646

His build is very detailed.

Liking this :)

Have the injectors out and next I'll drop the gas tank. Its had the same fuel for several years. Hoping a good cleaning and maybe a vinegar bath will be enough to clean it up.

Been thinking why has it taken so long to finish. Beside the household stuff,
my kids. I also have a nasty habit of dragging stuff home. It has a way to really slow down the current project when you bring home other projects.
These are all bought and sold during the Bertone build.
Yes I'm ADD.

New headers
new pic! :)

Summit Racing brand block huggers will fit much better than the shorty headers I had.
Had to trim engine mount bracket and will have to put a small dent in the
header to clear the steering yoke bolt head.

I think (?) this was the picture in post # 3
(I'll add them back as I can)
Attachment 59798

keep up the good work :)

Before pic.........
powered by PRV
5.0

Spent way to much time building the front pipes. Still needs work.
Need a better 'Y' pipe.
Bought mandrel bends and made a protractor and went to town. :)

Used math. LOL

Changed my plan. Redoing the Y pipe.

Heading to exhaust shop to get welded up!
Attachment 61492

Attachment 61493

Pipes welded up. O2 bungs added now working on adding EGR bung on header.
Attachment 61882

Attachment 61883

Attachment 61884

Attachment 61885

Attachment 61886

New muffler next to old resonator.

love it :)

Been doing some wiring and they make for boring pictures.
Trans cooler lines, slightly less boring. :)

Radiator seems a tad too tall.

Cool thread :)

Bit of quality time in the shop today.
Got the 3" Dynomax bullet muffler installed in the resonator space.
Have more welding to do but test fitting went well! Feels good when things go right!

A few things I have done which, as it turns out I didn't need to. Fun part of the journey!

The original headers were Mustang headers and required bashing and trimming to fit. Since I went a different direction. I found all of that was not needed. I had fun cutting and grinding my not so pretty welds. haha

The top side of my exhaust where I massaged it with the 2 lb. sledge.
My reworked cross member, as the cross member sits back one set of holes.

Having issues with the O2 sensors. One will be about 16" further back than the other.

Have smoothed the casting on the accessory brackets and need to think of a way to keep them from corroding. Clear coat?

Wrong picture last post.

great work :)

Exhaust is tucked really tight so I made a tool to connect the O2 sensor to the harness.

Hoping to have it off jackstands soon. (been 4 years)

Split a 2.25" tube for making an oval section of exhaust. I just didn't want the 3" pipe hanging down too far.
Also fabbed up a bracket for the dip stick tube. As usual its a slow go.
Progress is progress, right?!

Googled Bertone Coupe and this came up! lol

http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/image...ne-Coupe_1.jpg

It's an old, 1942 Alfa. Volvo, if only you had......

Looks like you doing some great work on yours mate and loving the detailed step-by-steps.

bongodave, very cool!
Got a bit done on my oval exhaust section.