Ok, I am a weee bit out of my element here, and need some help. I know a few of the guys on here are into old muscle and might be able to help me out a bit on this.

I'm swapping a 302 into a Nissan S13... A little ambitious, but it has been something I have wanted to do for a while.

I picked this up last weekend, and am in the process of putting it into an 87 Nissan shell:



It's the engine and transmission from an 85 Mustang 5.0. Chose an engine from an 85 due to the carb for simplicity, and the roller cam! It also came with a T5 attached with a brand new clutch, flywheel, etc. I got the engine complete from a running car for a song!

The engine is in (no pics yet, finished installing it in the dark of night, all while getting eaten by mosquitos), and is getting plumbed this week. (oil, gas, water, etc)

So here is where I need help - the engine is carb'd and has a distrubtor with a coil - something I really haven't messed with before. Been looking online at swaps, and to figure out what I need to do in order to make this thing run. I thought it was as simple as hooking +12 up to the coil and starter, fuel to the carb, blocking all the vacuum, and letting her rip, but it doesn't sound quite that easy... (or is it?)

Been looking around online, and it appears that an HEI distributor would make life much simpler - just bolt it in, add +12 and tach, wire the plugs up, and away we go... Has anyone messed with one of these?

And for the carb/vacuum... Do I have to hook any vacuum up to the carb to get her to run? Or can I just block it all off?

I will admit, I am a bit out of my league, but would appreciate any help. I really want to get this thing running, as it will be a monster!

-Jw

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

If I'm not mistaken that year was still using the duraspark ignition module. That should be all you need to buy.

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

Based on the years I used to own a 1982, and then a 1988, Crown Vic with the 302, I do know that the 1982-1985 302 Ford V8 had the variable-venturi car, that gave a lot of trouble to a lot of people.

Luckily mine worked flawlessly though, all the time I had it.

1985 was the last year for them;

For model year 1986, the 302 went to a full EFI system. My 1988 with that setup was unburstable, and the most problem free car I ever had in 49 years of driving, and I owned it for many years in San Francisco, until 1996 when I bought the 560SEC I still have, from a Mercedes Benz dealer in Orange County located near Disneyland.

Get a Summit Racing catalogue, though.. Summit racing is the "go to" place for high performance and replacement parts at a good price, and their customer support is very good.

I know it because when the 302 V8 on the 1987 Mercury Colony Park wagon I'd bought in San Diego and flatbedded it up here about 2 years ago went out, I purchased another rebuilt long block from them, but it was no good, and so they replaced it with a problem free 302 from a 1991 Crown Vic and it went in just fine and ran well.







Good luck with the project! Sounds like it will be a blast to drive when it's done!

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

nice station wagon

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

Nice swap!
Vacuum is produced by the carb--closed or partial throttle opening when the engine is running, and sucking air, produces vacuum below the throttle plates. Vacuum was often used as a signal to the distributor on retarding the timing---high vacuum meant low loads so timing could be advanced as far as the centrifugal weights would allow, but low vacuum meant heavy load -like WOT--and too much advance caused detonation/ ping, so the distributor retarded timing. All that to say, AFAIK, vacuum is not required to make an engine run. Some distributors will require vacuum to run RIGHT, but it should start and idle w/ or w/o vacuum. Ford also had some distributors that used vacuum to both advance and retard the timing--these are good for emissions, but not for performance. KISS!
Simplest ignition would be Duraspark. They had a little aluminum box that sat on the fender. If you can get one and its harness from a junkyard, I think that would be the simplest. Ford used the grommet color to identify various calibrations, but any one for an 8 cyl should get you running. Most older repair manuals should give you the wiring color code.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

I'm not sure what Jim means by variable venturi carb. I had an 85 so I know the engine reasonably well. It had a Holley which worked just fine. It also used the Duraspark II which also will serve you quite well. You made a GREAT choice for an engine swap.

If it were a point ignition, putting +12V to the coil would indeed be what you would need to do, but you will be connecting the Duraspark box to the distributor and possibly coil, and then putting your switched +12V to the Duraspark connector somewhere.

I expect that a little googling will get you a wiring diagram for the Duraspark box, and the Duraspark II box is readily available at any parts store. Simply buy one for an '85 Mustang GT.

BTW, there was a bit of a marketing deception involving the roller cam in the '85 cars. Only the ones produced beginning in mid year, February I think, had the roller cam, so don't take any chances. Use an oil with ZDDP additive such as Delo, Delvac or Rotella as if it had a flat tappet cam, if it does have rollers it will still serve well.

Hope this helps and good luck with the swap.

iw,

Do you still have access to the donor car? If so, if you can't get the Duraspark II box itself from the car, maybe you can get the portion of the wiring harness that connects to the distributor, coil and box. That would greatly simplify as well as neaten up the ignition portion of the swap.

Good luck,
Larry

Ford used a VV (variable venturi) carb over a span of years in a series of efforts to control emissions and avoid fuel injection. They work, and sometimes work well, but are more complex than a simple 4 bbl carb. Some require connections to and ECM (computer) to operate; some don't. If yours requires those connections, it would be simpler to go with a Motorcraft 4 bbl.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

No, the 85 5.0 had a very basic vacuum secondary Holley and iw, probably still has it.

iw, here is a link that should be exactly what you need even if only for the wiring diagram.

Duraspark Wiring Question to do with red and white wires from module? - Ford Mustang Forums

Best of luck

oh i remember those VV ford carbs well.if they ran good they ran good but if they gave you any type of trouble they were a PIA to get right.and MS would be correct.the aluminum box is about 5 inchs square and about an inch and a half deep,usually mounted to drivers side fenderwell.where the wires go into the box is covered in plastic,this color denotes what vehicle and emissions.they came with 1,2 or 3 harnesses coming out of them if memory serves me correctly.not a ford man but worked on lots of em.when the box starts to die the car will just die going down the road.usually you can pull over and it will restart,sometimes you have to let them set and cool down or we used to dump water on em to cool em faster.if it restarts you know the box is taking a dump.this is one reason i always liked the GM h.e.i. distributors.all the goodies are inside.just hook 12V up to it and go.doesn't somebody like MSD make a self contained distributor??

Nice swap! That's the kind of thing I used to do - big engine in a little car...

I would find something from MSD as stated above. They probably make a simple distributor setup designed to make wiring hot rods simpler.

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-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

Actually the duras park II IS very simple. Electronic ignitions don't get any simpler. A simple distributor,with a star wheel and reluctor, a coil, and an amplifier that simply provides a lot of current to the coil when triggered by the reluctor. The only way to be more simple is to eliminate the amplifier and use breaker points directly to the coil. Of course, we lived with breaker points for 70 years or so and I don't think you will find anyone recommending them.

BTW iw, the only vacuum you need is to the vac advance on the distributor. If the cannister on the distributor does not work out well, crane used to make an easily adjustable one for it that was cheap. You could leave the. EGR in place and provide vac to that, but it would be simpler to just block it off.

Good luck,
Larry

how are you legally going to get away with this swap in the air nazi state of Cali?

Don't worry about that. I have that covered.

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

Looks like an "Old Man's" car.

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