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How I did the v6 swap

wile coyote

Donation Time
I used this site every step of the way and the help and history of posts has been invaluable. Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond. I thought I would document in one place how I did my swap, and maybe it will help someone along the way. In no way do I imply this is the only or best way to do anything, just letting you know what I did. It has been a lot of fun.

I followed the following blog written for the conversion as my cookbook.

http://v6alpine.blogspot.com/p/sunbeam-alpine-ford-28l-conversion.html

Some pictures of my build:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=14WpSpY1XIb4yLlyJahHYleNCE_P6cbRd

I did have to cut a hole in the front of the tunnel for the clutch arm. Made a metal cover to go over it. Remove the cover to pull the clutch slave cylinder pin.

I used a donor from an 85 Ford Ranger 2.8L. I rebuilt it with new rings, bearings, 38-241-4 cam from Comp Cams, lifters. Rebuilt heads with standard valves and drilled water jacket as previously described.

I used the timing cover from a Mustang 2 with the lower water hose fitting rebuilt to face forward at a 45 degree angle. The heater nipple cut off and welded closed. Original intake manifold and upper hose connector used.

Converted to the Duraspark ignition by ordering stock distributor, ignition module, and wiring plugs for an '84 Ranger. Apparently the 85 is when they switched to the more complex system using the car's computer as well.

Original radiator with heavy duty core replacement by Abilene Radiator in Abilene Tx. Had the lower fitting moved to an inward facing elbow on the bottom right side. Had the stock upper fitting angled inward 10-20 degrees. Used only 2 9" electric fans in front of the radiator from American Volt.com. No pump mounted fan. top radiator hose is a Gates 21341. I trimmed it quite a bit and used an aluminum tube as a coupler in the center. Mainly used the sharp angles formed in the hose.

Original driveshaft shortened and new yoke (1310 series U joint) by Allpro clutch and drivetrain, Abilene Tx.

Jose's V6 kit. I had to build a different alternator bracket to move my alternator back about an inche due to the water pump pulley I used.

Water pump pulley number ACP C30Z-B-6. I had to drill out the center hole and drill different mounting holes to bolt to the water pump.

As previously show, I used the Ranger crank pulley. I had it machined to cut off the front pulley groove and machined the rear shorter to match the water pump pulley. This also required turning down the shaft a little for the front oil seal. (Pictures of a similar process posted by another builder)

Ranger flywheel. Ranger clutch disc with a 95 Mustang clutch hub. Made by the previously mentioned AZ shop. The part number is still good.
  • Phoenix Friction #NCD 1228D - CD: New 8-7/8” x 1-1/16” 10 tooth spline - Late

77 Mustang 2 bellhousing. Ground down the Left edge where the clutch slave cylinder needs to clear.

95 Mustang transmission with the pilot shaft turned down as previously discussed. bearing retainer turned down to fit into the bellhousing.

Wilwood clutch master and slave cylinder as mentioned in the blog. No firewall spacer used. Made a new actuator rod with a Grade 8 bolt and the clevis from old rod. Ground the bolt head and polished to match the cylinder piston. The rod has to be longer than the original to get full travel of the slave cylinder.

Dorman 39022 master cylinder with a Wilwood add-on reservoir. No vacuum assist. Actuator rod again made from a Grade 8 5/16 bolt to match. No firewall spacer used. Used the original brass junction fitting that was on the right firewall. Moved it to the left side to send two lines to the front tires. The rear comes straight from the tandem port on the master cylinder.

Alternator from an 87 Suzuki Samarai. (A Nippon Denso unit. had a new one lying around and it fit great.)

Wiring harness from EZ wire. 12 circuit.

Weber 38 with the 457 conversion kit. facet style fuel pump mounted on the frame under the passenger seat with a Mr Gasket adjustable regulator just before the carburetor.

New wood dash from Sunbeam Specialties. New gauges from Speedhut. Speedometer uses GPS. They are very easy to install and wire. Speedometer is period correct looking but comes with some advanced features.

I will edit this post as I get more information together.
Hope this is helpful to someone.
 
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wile coyote

Donation Time
I do not know what car it came from. I got the number somewhere on this site. I ordered it from RockAuto. The part number may show the cars it come on.
 

Fergusonic

Donation Time
Nice info. Do you recall the length of your Clutch Master Cylinder Actuator rod that you made from the Grade 8 bolt?
 

wile coyote

Donation Time
Fergusonic
I do not recall the length. It took two tries to get it right. Once the bolt head was ground/polished to the right mushroom shape, the clevis from the original shaft was cut off and drilled out. put the clevis on the most forward mounting hole and cut the bolt to fit. Welded the clevis onto the bolt to allow either clevis mounting hole to be used.
 

loose_electron

Donation Time
Good call on the fresh wiring and SpeedHut gauges - Things you might want to do - Go all LED for the lights, put a 350A fuse in line with the batter, near the battery, and measure all the fuse circuits and properly size the fuses.
 
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