Engine Swap day two

You don’t have to scroll through if you are not interested. But I thought some of you might want to see the progress and steps. This is day two of Zetec  to Zetec engine swap.  (This Ford Zetec engine has powered our van thanks to a conversion kit supplied by a company called Bostig.  We installed the Bostig conversion about 80,000 miles ago.  And we love the power, service and reliability it gives us)

We are taking out Zetec engine that we have been running for 5 years. Will be installing Zetec crate motor for a fresh start down to South America. We are also removing the recently rebuilt ransmission for a trip to Arizona Transaxle to get a posi-traction/limited slip ATB kit install.  We didn’t have the funds to pay for that when we had it rebuilt, but we wished we had it a few times.  So we will spring for it this time.
These photos show the progression of work for two guys (dad and son), working daylight hours in Clarkdale, Arizona at the former BB’s Project VW shop.  This is our “home-base” which will soon be for sale, leaving us home-base-less!!  Until then we are using the shop fully!

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Ready for removal.
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Empty engine bay
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Engine and transmission sitting on the workbench ready to be split.
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The clean, shiny, dry, new, zero miles crate motor from Ford Racing. This motor has been sitting in a guys garage in Montana since 2013.
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The parts which will be re-used on the new motor. Organized, labeled and ready to reattach.
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Dog supervising the shop door. Table of new parts. re-used parts including the “mustache-thing” Notice the sign that says “Asshole’s Garage” And yes, the street this house/shop is on is really names VW Bug Blvd.
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The dusty, dirty Zetec with 132,000 miles on it. It does have a new timing belt. This engine will be for sale in AZ (could ship) if anyone is interested.

 

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Workspace! Mikes shirt says “My VW doesn’t leak oil, it’s just marking its territory” Funny, huh?
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Tools of the trade stay organized, clean and handy!
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That new baby is CLEAN!

 

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Removing the flywheel.  Tomorrow we deliver the transmission to Arizona Transaxle.  

5 thoughts on “Engine Swap day two

  1. I’m sure you’re going to have a lot of offers for ‘bases’, but add us to the list. As you head to south America, I will give you some brief tips on rocks, knowing that geology is not your top priority! A couple little doo-dads, small and light, will be coming your way shortly.

    On 12/9/15, It’s not a slow car, it’s a fast house!

  2. Terri- that is a unit that is inserted in the gears of the transmission so it gets better traction when a tire is spinning. It will not change regular driving, but should give us some help when a wheel spins in sand, mud, ice or ??? Most modern cars have something similar already. This unit has to be added to ours.

  3. What we do to keep our Westy’s alive. I hope you have the energy to continue to work on it on your way to the tip of South America. Your best experiences will be with those that help you keep your fast house alive. That was our experience, on our 16.000 mile trip to Ushuaia, Ar.with our Westy, Paco(bless its heart)..

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