Volvo engines in Fords

Daniel S

I've always wanted a 2.0 Focus MK2 ST, but unfortunately they don't exist. I love the sound of five cylinder engines, but the tax and fuel costs are too high for me to just get a 2.5 ST.

Are the engine mounts on the B5204T5 (the 2.5 ST/RS engine) from the Volvo's the same as the ones on the B5254T3 (2.0 Volvo only engine)? If they're the same on the Volvos, wouldn't the Ford Focus ST/RS ones fit the B5204T5 and therefore making an engine swap significantly easier? Couldn't uprated ST/RS ones even be used?

I'm looking to build a megasquirt ECU and since there's loads of these engines about seems perfect for a winter project. I don't mind months of wasted time, I just don't want to start fabricating parts!

shietpilot

Anything you save on road tax by doing a conversion you will lose on insurance, if not more.

Daniel S

shietpilot wrote: »

Anything you save on road tax by doing a conversion you will lose on insurance, if not more.

Insurance won't be an issue by next year, hopefully.

shietpilot

Daniel S wrote: »

Insurance won't be an issue by next year, hopefully.

Most insurance companies will run away from modified cars though.

Daniel S

shietpilot wrote: »

Most insurance companies will run away from modified cars though.

I won't have a traditional private individual car policy. Possibly trade/garage insurance.

It's not the point, I'm just investigating the mechanical side of things, not the finanical.

Musketeer4

No offence, but you're mad.

Even setting aside the cost and time you will find it very hard to get insured on a car modified like this. None of the main insurers will want to touch it.
You will also dramatically devalue the car and find it very difficult to sell without absorbing a massive loss - again because any prospective buyer will know its basically uninsurable with regular insurance providers. Any company specialising or willing to take it on will ride you rock solid for the privilege.

When you've spend 1000's re-engining this car and find you cannot insure it good look selling it. Your typical irish motorist is very wary of anything that is in any way tampered with. Who will want to buy a second hand car with a non-standard engine controlled by a hand made ECU made by some fella in a shed up in the bowels of Co. Clare?

tl;dr. You're cracked. For practical purposes you're basically going to write off the car if you do this.

Musketeer4

If you're planning on fabricating engine mounts you will run into problems. An insurer will want to have an engineer inspect the car and assess the modifications. No problem there provided you have an engineer design the parts, ensure they are made in line with the relevant standards, have them tested in a lab and have CE marking/ relevant approvals in place. Insurance isn't going to happen with bespoke major structural parts that don't have certification.

It'll make a nice nippy field car for some young lads though.

Daniel S

Musketeer4 wrote: »

If you're planning on fabricating engine mounts you will run into problems. An insurer will want to have an engineer inspect the car and assess the modifications. No problem there provided you have an engineer design the parts, ensure they are made in line with the relevant standards, have them tested in a lab and have CE marking/ relevant approvals in place. Insurance isn't going to happen with bespoke major structural parts that don't have certification.

It'll make a nice nippy field car for some young lads though.

Again, can we stop with the insurance and financial aspects?

And I'm an engineer anyway. But I mentioned in the original post, I didn't want to fabricate anything.

If it makes things easier, can we just imagine it's a track day car?

Musketeer4

Sure from a purely technical point of view, I'm sure it can be done as long as the mounts line up.
You're still mad though. Do you really want to go fiddling with ECUs? Christ knows what way those mods will interact with the rest of the electronics in the car.
Personally I think its a recipe for an expensive disaster. I still think you'll end up with unsaleable scrap.

kona

Daniel S wrote: »

Again, can we stop with the insurance and financial aspects?

And I'm an engineer anyway. But I mentioned in the original post, I didn't want to fabricate anything.

If it makes things easier, can we just imagine it's a track day car?

If your a "engineer" you should have no problem fitting it.

However the reasons why are bizarre. Just buy a 1.4 if your going to go butchering cars.

Drummerboy08

You're going to spend a couple of grand to do the conversion to save €370 a year on road tax.... ?

The savings in fuel consumption will be next to none.

Essentially you're making a good car worse for a weeks wages every year.

To answer your question tho, it should be a reasonably straight forward swap once you have someone who can make the ECU communicate with the rest of the car.

Musketeer4

I'll second all of the above. It's pure madness.

shietpilot

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

You're going to spend a couple of grand to do the conversion to save €370 a year on road tax.... ?

The savings in fuel consumption will be next to none.

Essentially you're making a good car worse for a weeks wages every year.

To answer your question tho, it should be a reasonably straight forward swap once you have someone who can make the ECU communicate with the rest of the car.

You have to also take into account how long he will keep this car. The chances of him keeping the car for longer than 10 years are very small so he won't even save that much on tax!

JimmyCrackCorn

You may have allot of fun with electrics to get it going.
As for saving money forget about that as it just wont happen. All large car projects spiral out of control eat your bank account.


Tips:
1. Budget 3-4 times what you are thinking in money
2. Budget 3-4 times what you are thinking in time.
3. Parallel ecu is the way to go on Canbus vehicles.
4. Insurance will hate you. Getting a quote will be difficult and you will need to get an engineers cert.
5. Be prepared to fabricate little bits and pieces
6. Be prepared to spend allot of time on it and make sure you have the time and patience.



My one month easy engine swap is now running close to 3 months.

PurvesGrundy

In addition to the replies above, the engine you're thinking of won't fit in a Focus. The 2.5 litre engine in the ST was compacted to fit in the smaller engine bay of Ford's as well as the Volvo's which were based off the same chassis.

The 2.0 litre engine you're considering is out of the old S60, V70 and S80. These all had wider engine bays.

Musketeer4

PurvesGrundy wrote: »

In addition to the replies above, the engine you're thinking of won't fit in a Focus. The 2.5 litre engine in the ST was compacted to fit in the smaller engine bay of Ford's as well as the Volvo's which were based off the same chassis.

The 2.0 litre engine you're considering is out of the old S60, V70 and S80. These all had wider engine bays.

There's your answer OP. Forget this madness.

Supergurrier

It's a tenner a week like in the difference and you think that it will work out cheaper to do an engine swap with fabrication, c'mon now