Street Rodder Road Tour–Horsepower
We’re up to our eyeballs in ’51 Ford parts, but one part that certainly is not 1951 vintage is the engine and transmission. We love old engines, so we probably would’ve picked a hopped up Flathead or maybe even a Ford Y-Block, but Street Rodder is the boss and worked with Ford Racing to figure out the power plant for the Road Tour car. Keep reading to find more details about the high tech engine that will be powering the 2013 Street Rodder Road Tour car.
Under the nosed and smoothed hood is a Ford EcoBoost V6 engine, which features twin turbochargers and lots of high tech stuff. This computerized, direct injected engine is definitely up with the times, so this car will hit the road and put down nearly 400 horsepower, while getting superb fuel mileage. The V6 comes in at 3.5 liters in displacement and features an aluminum block, and aluminum cylinder heads. It’s a 60-degree design, and it’s a real power house with lots of room to grow. Behind the twin turbo V6 is a Ford 6R80 automatic overdrive transmission.
With a compression ratio of 10:1, the EcoBoost engine feature twin Honeywell-Garrett GT15 turbochargers, which are tiny, but very efficient. These are plumbed into a custom air-to-air intercooler, which will cool the intake charge before it reaches the throttle body. The engine is equipped with dual overhead camshafts, and variable valve timing, which ramps in timing to increase power, and offer great fuel mileage. The final tally is 365 horsepower and 350 ft-lb of torque in stock form, but we’re hoping to squeeze about 400 out of this one by using a FAST engine management system. We’re expecting it to get about 25 miles per gallon!
Part of the cool factor of this Ford EcoBoost V6 is its twin turbochargers. These bad boys are small and efficient, and help the engine make nearly 400 horsepower, while getting great fuel mileage!
The transmission we’re using is a Ford 6R80 automatic, which offers six forward gears. It’s a very large transmission, so we’ll have to do some serious work to make it work.
Since this transmission isn’t exactly common for a street rod, we ran into a few problems, but Lokar helped us figure out a solution for the shifter.
Richard and Delton line up the engine and transmission to bolt them together. We’ll touch more on the test fitting and the necessary cutting and welding required to fit this high tech V6 into a 62-year-old body.
We’ll leave you with this parting shot to give you an idea of our battle to get the engine and transmission mounted. Tune in next week to see how we finished it!
well it fit a 03 f150 and the 4.2 transmission? how much is thing going to be
I look forward to watching your build. I am heavily vested in the Ecoboost platform, I run a 12.5 second 1/4 mile Ford Flex with nitrous and I’m looking at building a F150 drag race EB truck now. Good luck, looking forward to the build!
I can’t wait to see the finished product. I didn’t know this engine came in an aluminum block and cylinder heads.
My first car was a ’49 Ford 2 door. I can’t wait to see this car finished!
Will that fit in my 93 Ranger?
I have a 51 Ford 302/350….C6 tranny. I would like to see more of this project.
Thanks Tommy
I started to swap a 3.5L Eco into a 1966 F100 a year ago in april but then got ill in July so its now on the back burner. Hoping to get back on it soon. My swap will use all electronics including trailer sway control, stability control etc
I would love to do the same engine in my 1938 Business coupe. keep me posted.
I want one
I would like to do this to my 40 ford p/u or my 40 linclon zypher 3 window coupe. let me know.
thanks.
Steve Hill
7801 Carol Ave.
Louisville, Ky 40219
502-964-2165
can wait to see more cool
Ford EcoBoost V6 with its twin turbochargers big overdrive transmission is so cool. I drive a handicap van with my wheelchair, its old a 94 Dodge Grand caravan 3.3 motor. I would love to someday get a new van with this perfect setup to race and cruise.