Sbkeen

I know this is an old thread I started and most of the times the crazy ideas never go anywhere. I wanted to post an update, I did actually build a 3.5 ecoboost mustang although it's not awd. The mustangs strut towers were 7" too narrow to out in the awd setup from the Taurus. Its running and I should be taking the car for its first test drive tomorrow! Used the f150 PCM, wiring harness and integrated that in to the mustang electrical system. I should be pushing well over 500 whp with the modifications already made and should be going as high as 800 whp before I'm done modifying it. Here's a link to the build thread if anyone is interested! http://themustangsource.com/forums/f801/mustang-3-5l-ecoboost-engine-swap-538017/

I'm not surprised at all, that's lots of torque for a stock tranny. I've been thinking about it and I don't want to create too many problems for myself at once. I'm going to try and install the stock ecoboost first, the goal would be making it operate properly and put some miles on it (hopefully) then start tinkering with the motor and tranny. Surely I can have the tranny rebuilt with better parts so it will hold up, there is a site out there with performance parts for this tranny. I'm mostly concerned about the PTU, I doubt you can do much to it to beef it up. I may just do some conservative mods and call it a day, assuming I can get it running.

That's a great point, this is why I wanted to post this to discuss! I need to think about that, fortunately I have a 97 and an 04 so I could at least do some measuring and check it out. What I'm most concerned about is getting the electronics working, I'm hoping if I can fit this ecoboost in a mustang from the same year maybe I would have some things work together. I've read online that its a nightmare to put this in an older vehicle. The flex I was bidding on dissapeard last night from the auction, not really sure what happened. It had 2 days left with only one other bid, then it disappeared? I have no explanation. Fortunately another one with an ecoboost showed up only an hour from me, that would be handy.

I think I'm going to buy a wrecked/salvaged 2010 mustang, hit in the front, to try this swap. I found a nice car that I'm going to bid on, it's only slightly smashed. I thought to do this for a couple reasons, one if this is an epic fail I didn't waste anything but time since I can part the vehicles out for most of the money. Also if I have the front end pulled apart to repair damage, mainly the core support, it will be much easier to try and install the new drivetrain. I worked as a body technician for a few years when I was just out of school, I can handle a little front end damage repair I think. Looks like I'm going to have to pay more for the flex than $500, looks like $1,500 after its all said and done.

That would be great actually, I didn't know that either. It must only be on some trucks, my 2013 EB fx4 is only 4x4 high or low.

It won't be that bad, my donor car was going to cost $500 and a 2010 6cyl mustang is about $15k, GT will probably be around $250k-300k. I guess it depends on what the labor is worth to do it, but that won't come out of the bank account. I checked on the expedition, it's only avaiable with ecoboost in 2015. That's going to be hard to find a wrecked donor any time soon. I guess I'm back to eyeing this wrecked Flex again. I need to decide soon, the flex is big sold in a few days and those are very hard to find with the ecoboost AWD. I looked at nearly 70 of them and only one had the right drivetrain.

Lol, I get what your saying and I would agree it's a huge project. I've considered it might get stuck halfway through and may never finish (worst case scenario obviously). I have no idea why I make things so hard for myself but that's what makes my brain happy . I recently sold my company and I'm not in to Porsche or Ferraris, I love fords. My wife won't let me buy a Ford GT but she will let me work on stupid projects like this. I'll check out the video, thanks for posting the link. I just realized that if I go with the expeditin setup I can put a standard transmission behind it instead, this would allow me to use the ecoboost control unit that's supposed to be for sale in a couple months by ford racing. That means some of the really annoying electrical work would be kept to a minimum. Awesome!

Thank you so much for the tip, I will consider the expedition for a donor instead for sure. I didn't know the expedition was AWD, I thought it would be 4wd. Very cool, I would much rather have the engine facing the correct direction. I've been dreaming about this for a year or so and an expedition never crossed my mind. I figured the flex could handle it, here is one with 600 wheel horsepower. I've seen videos of it drag racing and kicking ass online too. Hers a video of the dyno.

Thanks for the reply. Well if you rode in my gt500 you might reconsider not needing AWD on a mustang, need is a strong word anyways...of course no one needs an AWD mustang...want is the right word . My gt500 spins the tires at 70 mph when it's cooler than 65F, with AWD and the same amount of power I would have better acceleration. I definitely noticed the engine was transversely mounted, that was clear from my homework. I've looked and measured my Eco boost truck and my mustangs engine bay and it should fit. I have no desire to put an ecoboost 3.5 rwd in a mustang, that's not interesting enough to spend that kind of money on. I want to create something different and unique, something that hasn't been done yet. That's why this sounds like fun, if it's possible I'll do it. I'm reconsidering buying a new mustang for this. The flex I can buy is a 2010, although not as impressive maybe I should go with a 2010 mustang in the hopes that some things might plug and play together. I've also read that in 2011 ford changed to have more of a centralized control system and that it would be more difficult dealing with integrating electronics between the 2 drivetrains. Is there any way to beef up the PTU to keep it from overheating? Thanks again for the input!

I posted this in ecoboost tech also, not sure which section is more appropriate? Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum but I'm not new to fords. In high school and early college I owned 5 different gm products, 3 Camaros and 2 firebirds. I traded my last camaro for a mustang and never drove a gm product again. Since then I've owned 4 mustangs (still have 3 of them in my garage including an amazing 2014 gt500) and I've owned 7 f150's...my daily driver is a 2013 ecoboost fx4 which I love. The ecoboost is an amazing engine that I would choose over any previous v8 that I've owned in those trucks, way more power than the 5.4. I have what may seem like a crazy idea but it's only crazy if it won't work. I want to buy a brand new 2015 mustang gt, pull the engine and drivetrain, and replace it with an awd 3.5 ecoboost drivetrain from a Ford Flex. I'm an engineer and I also went to school for auto mechanics long ago, I work with several mechanical and electrical engineers that are car addicts, I have the budget to do this, and I have found a flex awd turbo donor vehicle that I can buy right now to get started. I've done as much homework as I can without buying the vehicles, can anyone here give me any advice on accomplishing this? Will it fit? Can I make it work? I most concerned about the electrical side of this, I know I can get a stand alone computer for the ecoboost engine and I'm assuming this would work. However controlling the transmission is a different story and I'm not sure how to get this done. I plan on boosting the performance of the engine and beefing up the transmission to handle it, hopefully somewhere around 550-600hp to the wheels. Does anyone know what the limits of the engine and transmission are currently without heavy modification? What are my weak links? Thanks in advance for any help offered. I realize this is a big project but that's the kind of stuff we do, the challenge is all part of the fun. Plus how amazing would it be to own the first AWD 2015 mustang! Stephen