I wanted to share some pictures and progress on my V8 swap.

To start, it's really not that bad. It's time consuming, and a couple of things were tricky but getting it in the car was pretty straight forward.

Thursday night was prepping the V6 to be pulled out.

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Friday was pulling the V6 and the start of swapping things over. It took a while to do this being that there were so many things wrong on the V8. All of the smog equipment was either disconnected or cut. So it was alot of soldering and tracing wires to get it all together. We also had to help our friend out with his bike which ended up taking most of the day. So Saturday was the same thing with prep to drop it in.


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Sunday was the fun day. Putting it in and getting it all together. Unfortunately my exhaust manifolds never came in so we're not finished buttoning it all up but for the most part it was ready. We realized as soon as we tried to drop it in that the motor mount brackets are different from the C32 amg to the crossfire's so with the tranny connected (we didnt want to go through that pain again) we needed to swap those.















Overall me and one other guy did all of it in about 20 hours.

Now we just need to figure out how to get it started lol.




EDIT: Some note's to help..
- All accessories can be swapped over (AC compressor, alternator (bigger reccomended eventually), Power steering pump, starter, tensioner)
- Alternator to starter needs to be lengthened by almost nothing. Two joining connectors with alan bolt downs that were about 1" ea. with wire cut just enough to fit in one end of each was a little too much. You can work with it though and it's better than trying to stretch it.
- AC compressor lines don't need to be cut but you need to be careful not to pinch the line.
- Oil pan upper and lower swap + oil pump if it isn't the same style as the crossfires.
- Every input vaccum, fuel, etc.. line needs to be swapped to the V8.

 

Still waiting on exhaust manifolds. Ordered on Ebay February 19th, still no show. May have to dispute it and grab a pair from someone else.

Still need DAS, V8 PCM, and engine cover but I may have a engine cover to buy, we will see.

The next few updates will probably be slow going but this wasn't meant to be an overnight thing in the first place lol

 

Good work man, Keep us posted!!

 

I really appreciate you taking the time to document your progress. I wish more people would do the same. Good luck and I hope with the help of Lantana and Rudy, it will be roaring to life in no time.

 

Hey Josh, just wondering why the hood is at half mast in all the pictures ....
You are aware that the hood support will extend to hold the hood fully vertical, right ?

BTW, great work, hope you get your parts soon.

 

Way to go looking good,u may consider removing hood very easy to do recommend 3 people to be safe

 

Josh, looks like you are in it to win it, solid work.

Best of luck and a sincere thank you for documenting the journey. I am hoping to make the plunge one day as well and this will be invaluable.

 

it looks like it belongs there

 

Thanks! And will do!

Thanks! And at first I was going to make a How To but it's actually a lot easier than it seems. Were also working with Markus from the German forum to help with ideas, so between companies and people, hopefully we will come up with something .

About that lol... My hood strut died, so we tied it to my rafters at full mast but it's funny, I never realized it was down in all the pictures. We had to roll it back every now and then which required un-doing it from the rafters otherwise it would hit my garage door motor lol.

And Thanks! me too lol.

With the hood all the way up, it was completely out of the way. But thanks a ton cause none of this would have happened (at least yet lol) if it werent for you!

Thanks! Im hoping once the electronics are figured out that we can get more people to do it. I obviously havent heard it yet but just imagining what it will sound and drive like is just how it should be!

It does doesnt it!

 

Sweet! Even tho my licence starts with BGT.. I'm thinkin if i ever wanted to beef up my coupe, i'd go the v8 route, instead of the possible turbo. GL and have fun man!



2004 SSB 6spd coupe. Annnd!......still waiting for the snow to go

 

Thanks man! As far as those mods go they both have there pro's and con's but I mainly wanted the V8 for the rarity and mod potential. The V8 has low enough compression to run a decent amount of boost but stock is already what the turbo would have gained us on the NA V6 anyway. So that 100 or so hp is going to put me around the 400 mark rather than the 300 mark. There's no replacement for displacement lol. Plus most of the 340 ft-lbs of tq coming on at 2-2500 RPM is going to be nice. The only reason the turbo would have been nice is weight lol, Im looking at 100+ lbs added to the front now lol... and the turbo would probably be less of a tuning headache.

 

Star DAS with Xentry and developer is on the way. Week to week and a half for processing which is long but the source is legitimate so no worries. Free shipping with laptop included. MAF housing + sensor is on the way also. Still trying to figure out what Ill do about the exhaust manifolds... The guy on ebay wont write me back and its been 3 weeks since purchase. I guess Ill dispute it if it isnt here monday. Delivery estimate said Feb 27-March 7 so well see.

If anyone is in the area, I can run some tricks with DAS... The first thing Im doing when the car is running is the netherlands mod lol.

 

Yes, the pics are great, thank you. Awesome to hear things are going smooth for your install.

 

I always wanted to do this.. good luck with the build, I'm sure it's going to be a whole different car when you're done

 

Looking good Dude!

 

Wow, awesome work! Nice to see someone just get er dun! You on top of the motor is a fond memory of my dad tearing into the top end of his old P/U back in the early 60's (alright, no crackin on me age).. Looks like your having a blast! Oh, about the ebay thing. You have 45 days from purchase to open a case, do NOT let it get to 46 days or your SOL. All the storms are messing up deliveries all over so please have patience if you can cuz once you open the case its a lot of hassle for each of you and it doesn't get your stuff any quicker (did he get you a tracking number yet?)... Yeah, looking good!

 

Thanks man and no problem. More pics to come when I get farther.

Thanks! and Im sure it will as long as we can get it to run!

Thanks man!

Thanks! and thanks for the info! Ill wait until day 45 lol. and No, no tracking number. Not sure if he just shipped it late or shipping was more than he thought (flat rate) or whatever but hopefully they come.

 

Looking Awesome! One day I'll buy a Silver 6-Speed Roadster and drop a V8 in it

 

Looking great! Thanks for providing pics. Sounds like you are having fun.