hi all, im new to this site and this is my first post. So hello all

Sorry if this is in the wrong thread, wasnt sure to put this in the 6 or 8 thread

ok, so i bought myself a 97 EL Falcon Gli about 6 months ago from Car City in Ringwood, the same day i got it i took a weekend trip up to Echuca, i thought what better way to get aquainted with my new falcon than to take a road trip with some mate. So the second day of having the car the engine started making a "knocking" noise. Wasn't a whole lot i could do because i was away on holiday.

So i got back home and rang up the car yard, they pretty much said suck s**t because the car is older than 10 years, so i have no government warranty on it, and the warranty they provided covered crap all. So took it to the mechanic, they suspected dodgy lifters, they opened it up and the whole head was stuffed, spurs of metal everywhere, they suspect it was run on low oil for a while, and it started rusting around the gasket, so a pricey $1800 later i got a reco AU head put on, but the noise was still there, took it back a few months later when i had some more cash and then they thought it was the con-rod bearing, so got that replaced along with a service, $700 later.. the noise is still there, now they suspect its the gudgeon. So as you can imagine im quite sick of spending money on this engine. The car it self if very clean, just a shame im having so many head aches with this engine.

So i have been thinking about it quite alot, im sick of trouble shooting this engine. Im off my P plates in 4 months and im seriously concidering looking into a v8 conversion. Im going to start looking for a riden off falcon with the engine still in tact, or to just look for an engine thats already been pulled out.

What i want to know is how much im looking at to do it all properly, and what things i really should be looking out for. Will i have to swap over more than just the engine? such as gearbox, transmission, clutch etc? i want to keep it auto for now as im not loaded with cash to do a tranny conversion at the same time. and if anyone can suggest where to get this done down mornington Peninsula way that would be great too.

I know this is quite a long post so thanks to those who take the time to read it.

Best way is to get a wreck. That way you have all the wiring looms required, and you can also swap the transmissions over - the bellhousing and input shaft length differ between the I6 and the 302.

just out of interest, would it be wiser swapping to another 6, and a bit later on using some forced induction? i kinda want the least stressful aproach to get an engine with more grunt

Mate, honestly you have spent that much on the motor already with a reco head, I would stick with it. Any other motor you purchase is unlikely to be in as good condition as yours. How many K's on the bottom end? Just go and get a 2nd opinion on the noise, it is probably something really basic if you have already had the head reco'd.

Get a aftermarket set of headers, exhaust and a reground cam and your laughin'.

If you want more grunt and are low on funds, then forget a V8. Follow what others here have done. Install a later model AU motor and get it running nice. Then when funds are available go for boost. Either Supercharger or Turbo, and the sky is the limit. To get decent grunt from a 5.0 requires serious coin, in heads/cam/intake.

Brett

Bottom end has 154000 k's on it. What ever the problem is its in the first piston, you can take the spark lead off the plug and the noise goes away. but plug it back in and the knocking is quite loud, it makes idle a bit rough and if you accelererate slowly it struggles until it gets over about 1500rpm. the reason i was thinking of a new engine was because the guy i took it too said to try and fix it again "still not 100% sure of the problem" i should budget $1500-$2000 because the engine has to be pulled out. Ive got a redback catback with a straight through pipe, not legal but it sounds beasty as lol.

Just get a 2nd hand motor to go in it. Shouldn't cost more than 1k intalled and running instead of stuffing about with the one that's already in there.

Sounds like something to do with the ignition system then. Eh everyone else is saying get rid of it but imo just sort it out. I find it hard to believe the bottom end is rooted it should be able to do 300k+ not 154k.

i think ill get it sorted out, i pretty much have almost half a reco engine, just that one knock thats causing problems. just gotta get some cash together.

First of all its written off and not ridden off. Thank you

Now back to business. The safest option is a low km AU motor that can be had for a few hundred bucks. You could also keep throwing money at your motor until it sorts itself out (which it will when you find a decent mechanic). The most expensive option is to go for the V8, especially when you are paying for someone to do all of the work. A stock V8 with an exhaust is hardly what I would call inspiring. Pulls almost like a 6 but just sounds more lively.

Besides modifying the K frame, is there many other things that need to be done to install an AU engine, found a complete AU Tickford engine with 158,000 on the clock for $750 on ebay

You don't even modify the K-frame. Half of the wreckers around the country stock modified AU sumps designed for the AU into E series conversion.

You will be putting good money after bad into the current motor.
I am speaking from experience here................................
Cut your losses and get an AU motor and be done with it.
The E series 5.0 standard is a slug. It sounds ok thats about it and is a good cruising lump.
My Fairlane 5.0 has only 160000kms on it and actually goes hard for what it is but still gets blown away at the lights by the little fat asthamatic kid on their pushbike with a flat tyre..................

hehe. i get your point. So looks like my best bet is to get an AU engine with a modified sump to fit.
i have read a couple of AU conversion threads and its a little confusing to put it all together. Can anyone list me exactly what i will need to do this besides the engine... if there is anything else to it?