A Proper V8 Swap

Why stop at 4.6 (which won't bolt to the transmission)? Put the Jag 5.0 supercharged engine in...
 
So getting a little closer to this project. I've gone ahead and ordered the Magnaflow Catback 16678 exhaust and K&N 57-2562 T-Bird CAI to motivate me ($1500 that should have been put toward a new car lol).

As far as my work list goes, I'm beginning to narrow it down and print off all the the workshop manuals for the potentially tricky bits. Still not sure I've got everything though.

To summarize, putting an 03 LSV8 engine into my 05 LSV6 body complete with trans and rear frame / drivetrain.

Things To Swap:
Engine
Transmission
Drivetrain
PCM / Ignition / Instrument Cluster / Any wiring harness spider nests

Obviously this is going to be a nightmare and a half, but I will have lots of time and all the resources to complete the project. This is going to happen one way or another, I'm home in 3 weeks and plan to begin immediately. I'm setting aside 2 full weeks to get the majority of this work done, to the point where I can hopefully at least drive the 'new' car.

Please, if you feel you can contribute any wisdom or advice to this project, let me know.

Thank you.
 
Reply to KS on front to rear balance LS with 3.9. I could not fathum a car of this weight handling so well at hi speed on narrow two lane in "Keewanau " in UP of MI toward Brockway Moutain at north tip of western central UP. Stock 3.9 LS sport with only new Conti 255X45X17 tires and 90,000+ miles on OD was very strong with little to no front end plow for 30 mile run up and down hills with sharp turns both ways and up and down same hills like ashfault logging trail Felt like roller coaster ride on rubber. Never had one tire come loose or and brake fade at 40-75 MPR. For heavier and stock car with miles LS handled was very as you said "excellent." Felt in control at far faster speeds than any other front or rear drive cars of similar weight have rode in,owned or driven. Stomach rose on downside of hills more than once. Fun ride but missed beatiful fall scenery. Wes
 
Here's to reviving dead threads!

So I've got an update and a few questions. Obviously like most ambitious people we find here, life got in the way of my progress at the last time of my posting. The fact that I now daily my C63 hasn't helped my ambition of completing the rusty old Lincoln in my driveway either lol.

So when I went to do the drive train swap, the good body I was planning to use had deteriorated quite a bit and the rear sub frame, body frame mounts and rear jack points were rotton. It really bummed me out and I began sourcing a good body but people want a stupid amount of money for these cars now and I'm located in Atlantic Canada. I'd basically have to fly to the states and buy a good car then drive it home, all in that's just stupid money.

So I began rebuilding the body and found a frame which I've sand blasted and painted. The rear jack points are all brand new with 1/8th inch steel. The car will probably never be "legal" but it is safe.

With a repaired body I've now got a good shell to work with. My v8 drive train was stored outside on pallets and here's the good bit. I foolishly placed the v8 pcm and gauge cluster in rubbermade containers outside and they've been there for a few years. I recently went to check on them only to find about two feet of water in the containers, the pcm and cluster had been submerged for upwards of a year I'm assuming. Opened them up and the boards were toast.

Did some reading and made some calls, looked into ordering a new pcm and finding a programmer to match it to my pcm cluster and keys. Didn't get far on that end, until today.

I just came back from a guy stripping his 05 v8, he offered to sell me his pcm, cluster, ignition and keys as well as lock cylinders for the doors for $100.

Now for my question:
His car had the transmission with the added feature of shifting up and down manually. While I wanted it, it was just too much work to pull and he's crushing the car tomorrow. Plus his car had about 300,000 km so I'd be rolling the dice on it.

The transmission mated to my v8 is just standard without the tiptronic or whatever shifting capability.

I'm asking if anyone on here knows if that will be a problem for me. I have his pcm, cluster and keys. I'll be using my engine and transmission. Is this going to be an issue?

Thanks for reading if you've made it this far. I won't make any promises, because my work space is my front driveway and there's presently two feet of snow on the ground. But scoring these bits has sparked my interest in finishing the car. (My AMG being stored for the winter doesn't hurt either lol).

Thanks guys
 
The transmission itself is exactly the same, no difference at all. The only differences are the shifter inside, and the programming of the PCM. Should've got the shifter from him. Anyway, it'll work fine just far as far as park, reverse, neutral, drive (D5), and D4 go.
 
joegr said:
The transmission itself is exactly the same, no difference at all. The only differences are the shifter inside, and the programming of the PCM. Should've got the shifter from him. Anyway, it'll work fine just far as far as park, reverse, neutral, drive (D5), and D4 go.
Click to expand...

I'm actually so glad you answered Joegr :D

So when you say shifter, please excuse my ignorance. It's been years. Is it literally just the actual shifting box shown here? If that's the case, can my non shift select transmission accept the shift select assembly shown below and become shift select?

s-l1600.jpg


That's a mouth full..

Thanks
 
Last edited:
SeaPro said:
... Is it literally just the actual shifting box shown here? If that's the case, can my non shift select transmission accept the shift select assembly shown below and become shift select?
...
Click to expand...

Yes, and yes. There is some PCM reprogramming to make it perfect (though it works fine without it), but if you are using the PCM from a sport, then you already have that.
 
Thank you again joegr, I'm so glad you're still active around here. You've been a great help over the years. Called buddy before he crushed it and he pulled the shifter. Best part is he pulled everything for me . Wish me luck lol

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Little update. So again this swap pretty much died when i found the car to be in bad shape underneath, however like I said previously I've more less sorted out the rust and rebuilt everything important. In light of me finding a good computer and cluster, I decided to unearth my good v8 (120k km). It's been store outside however I've made a point to turn it over every month to prevent seizing. Today I pulled the plugs and put oil in every cylinder and turned it over again. Doesn't look pretty but honestly it's fine. No resistance when turning over and the oil will help keep it rust free until spring. I've got lots of free time now and the weather's been mild, may make some progress before summer if I'm lucky.

I pulled the wiring harness from the v8 but as far as I can see under the hood the v6 harness appears to be identical. Can anyone speak to this? Does anyone know if the v6 and v8 wiring harnesses are the same? The only thing I don't see is the plug in the dash where the four buttons to control the cluster would be. The buttons just below the top center air vents.

If I'm lucky I won't need to swap any wiring. I can live without the cluster control buttons if the v6 harness works.

IMG_20200131_145926.jpg
IMG_20200131_145933.jpg
IMG_20200131_154103.jpg
 
The engine harnesses are very different. Some of the under dash harnesses are different to (message center buttons and instrument cluster, at the least).
 
The V6 harness would be missing at least 2 coils and 2 injectors
 
I think I'm OK there, the engine has its own harness that plugs straight into the computer.
 
joegr said:
The engine harnesses are very different. Some of the under dash harnesses are different to (message center buttons and instrument cluster, at the least).
Click to expand...

That's my main concern. The engine harness is still in place and will plug right into the new v8 computer. The clusters should have the same plugs shouldn't they? I'll tear out the v6 cluster and look at the actual wires to the plug.
 
I should have been more clear, sorry guys. I realize my questions are a little out of the ordinary, this is a little beyond installing a stereo or changing the thermostat housing lol.

Other than the message center buttons, can yuu guys think of anything aft of the firewall that could be different? I'm curious if I try to plug and play the new cluster if it would "work"..

Is anyone aware of any detailed electrical diagrams I could maybe refer to?

As always, I appreciate any and all input. Thanks
 
Yes, I have a full set of wiring diagrams that cover the V6 and the V8. Unfortunately (for you), they are in printed form. You might try ebay, or you can go to Helminc and get electronic access to them. You can pay for a day, a week, month, year, or all time.

One thing I forgot before. The V8s have (and need) an aux pump that mounts under the DCCV. Note that the V8 DCCV is also different than the V6 DCCV. You'll need the harnesses involved in that (two of them), as well as the hoses. I don't know if the DATC has to be changed or not. Without the aux pump, you won't get heat inside at idle, and engine cooling could be compromised.
 
Couldn't find a wiring diagram option on helminc so $36 CND on ebay will do. Should be a week or two. Honestly, I'd rather pay for the book than waste hours online digging through bs links.

Thanks for the advice, I'll comb through the diagrams and note any differences.

StorySaver_mercedes.c63.amg_82707406_1089262748078471_6228127843291947208_n.jpg
 
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