AbeLincolns1UZ
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Hi there folks, new member here of course. UK based and I'm planning on doing something which at least one other person on the planet has also had the definitely sane and not at all purist infuriating idea of doing - a guy in Japan with a 70's Lincoln in particular. Mine is a 1968 Continental Coupe which I call 'Abe'.
When I bought him he still had the original 87k mile 462 MEL Ford big block, a 7.6 V8 with around 340 bhp/485 lbft. Sounds awesome and I've put 7,000 miles on it in the past 2 years, but its one of those engines where something is always wrong and just never quite running properly. I Holley EFI swapped it back in 2022 which improved some things, but as of right now he's misfiring on the entire right bank and running 8 mpg - at motorway speed (60L/100km. Yes, really). Not to mention that his awesome engine also happens to be cast iron, and as well as being around 1030+mm long, weighs the best part of 400 kgs (around 800 lbs). Most everything is an engine-out job because of how tight fitting it is, and even now he's in need of new cylinder head & manifold gaskets - all engine out required.
I've had 2 years and 7k miles of fun out of that motor, but its time for a change, with my only requirements being that it still has to sound good, have better reliability, easier to find parts, and better on fuel. Zero competition use. He's a big cruiser and show car. Big looks, big sound, big comfort, and that's it; Picture Mannie Fresh but if it were always raining. My initial plans were for an E55 AMG M113K, then considered a Volvo-Yamaha B8444S V8, and ultimately I've pulled the trigger on a high miler 1UZFE-VVTi from a 1998 LS400 (EU spec of course) along with gearbox, ECU, radiator, hoses, wiring etc (due to be delivered Monday).
I won't be beginning the actual project until March as I have a couple of shows planned before then, but I'm aiming to do as much of it myself as I can. Being over a foot shorter, motor fitment shouldn't be an issue, and if at all possible I'm hoping to have an adapter plate made up to mate the 1UZ to the existing 3-speed Ford C6-460 column-shift auto (because why be efficient when you can do 70 mph in 1st gear instead) and as far as tuning, I'm only planning on upgrading to some nice big choppy Kelford cams, some form of big cone filter/intake, and possibly making 8 individual headers to exit upward out of the bonnet like an old fighter plane. That part is flexible depending on heat management. Wouldn't want to melt any wiring...
I'm hoping to run somewhere around 280-300 bhp with the cam upgrade and I'd assume similar torque - and the torque difference is going to be interesting to see, because on the one hand losing 185 lbft is a big hit, but if I'm only running half of the misfiring big block anyway, it might not feel that different, especially when the motor saves about a 1/4 tonne of kerb weight on top of that.
Aside from any obvious issues which anyone might alert me to from my plan description, the part which I'm least confident on is how to deal with the ECU. Since so many aspects will be redundant, ABS, traction control, etc, how should I approach that? I'd assume the car would have a hissy fit without the sensors/go into some form of limp mode. Would re-programming to new simplified parameters be possible? Removing wires altogether? Or just fit a simplified standalone ECU? I have zero idea on that side of things.
I'm hoping to leave as much of the car as untouched as possible, and make it as close to a straight-up motor/ECU/cooling swap as can be done, so any advice would doubtless be welcome...
When I bought him he still had the original 87k mile 462 MEL Ford big block, a 7.6 V8 with around 340 bhp/485 lbft. Sounds awesome and I've put 7,000 miles on it in the past 2 years, but its one of those engines where something is always wrong and just never quite running properly. I Holley EFI swapped it back in 2022 which improved some things, but as of right now he's misfiring on the entire right bank and running 8 mpg - at motorway speed (60L/100km. Yes, really). Not to mention that his awesome engine also happens to be cast iron, and as well as being around 1030+mm long, weighs the best part of 400 kgs (around 800 lbs). Most everything is an engine-out job because of how tight fitting it is, and even now he's in need of new cylinder head & manifold gaskets - all engine out required.
I've had 2 years and 7k miles of fun out of that motor, but its time for a change, with my only requirements being that it still has to sound good, have better reliability, easier to find parts, and better on fuel. Zero competition use. He's a big cruiser and show car. Big looks, big sound, big comfort, and that's it; Picture Mannie Fresh but if it were always raining. My initial plans were for an E55 AMG M113K, then considered a Volvo-Yamaha B8444S V8, and ultimately I've pulled the trigger on a high miler 1UZFE-VVTi from a 1998 LS400 (EU spec of course) along with gearbox, ECU, radiator, hoses, wiring etc (due to be delivered Monday).
I won't be beginning the actual project until March as I have a couple of shows planned before then, but I'm aiming to do as much of it myself as I can. Being over a foot shorter, motor fitment shouldn't be an issue, and if at all possible I'm hoping to have an adapter plate made up to mate the 1UZ to the existing 3-speed Ford C6-460 column-shift auto (because why be efficient when you can do 70 mph in 1st gear instead) and as far as tuning, I'm only planning on upgrading to some nice big choppy Kelford cams, some form of big cone filter/intake, and possibly making 8 individual headers to exit upward out of the bonnet like an old fighter plane. That part is flexible depending on heat management. Wouldn't want to melt any wiring...
I'm hoping to run somewhere around 280-300 bhp with the cam upgrade and I'd assume similar torque - and the torque difference is going to be interesting to see, because on the one hand losing 185 lbft is a big hit, but if I'm only running half of the misfiring big block anyway, it might not feel that different, especially when the motor saves about a 1/4 tonne of kerb weight on top of that.
Aside from any obvious issues which anyone might alert me to from my plan description, the part which I'm least confident on is how to deal with the ECU. Since so many aspects will be redundant, ABS, traction control, etc, how should I approach that? I'd assume the car would have a hissy fit without the sensors/go into some form of limp mode. Would re-programming to new simplified parameters be possible? Removing wires altogether? Or just fit a simplified standalone ECU? I have zero idea on that side of things.
I'm hoping to leave as much of the car as untouched as possible, and make it as close to a straight-up motor/ECU/cooling swap as can be done, so any advice would doubtless be welcome...
