Hi all,
Just after an opinion on an idea I'm having. I've been offered a real tidy AU series 3 Futura wagon (4.0/Auto, with dual fuel) with 180k on it, for a real good price. It may or may not have done a head gasket, and I initially thought this is no problem, as I have a good AU engine and trans in the EL, plus another spare AU engine in storage. But, I have also been offered a damaged AU series 1 XR8 (auto) Ute, also with under 200k, also on duel fuel. So the thought was to convert the wagon to full XR8 running gear, and have a V8 auto wagon, on duel fuel, for a relatively low cost.

So my question to the Fordmods universe - Can I use the XR8 series 1 engine/trans/ECU, etc, in the Series 3 wagon body, and will everything I need to work actually work, or is there too much of a difference between the S1 and S3 stuff?

And the other issue I have - I really don't like the AU front panels, regular or XR8 style. But I do have access to a set of BA XR front panels, and maybe even an XR8 bonnet. I have heard that the BA front end stuff is not too hard to fit to the AU chassis, maybe with mods or complete replacement of the radiator support panel? Can anyone confirm this for me, or point me to an appropriate build thread?

At the end of it all, I could - in theory - end up with what looks like a BA XR8 wagon, with a 5.0 (302w) auto, dual fuel, all with under 200k, for under $3k in parts...

Any thoughts or comments appreciated.

Cheers,

Last edited by sooty72 on Tue Mar 15, 2016 12:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

OK, So I bought the AU wagon - got it for a good price, and will have to go have a good look over it to see what it needs. It is supposedly got a blown head gasket, so I will be removing the engine - just need to decide on whether to just stick another 4.0 in there, or go for the 5.0. Still need to know if it is something that will hook up - electrically - easily enough. Any ideas guys?

And so I've done a bit more research on the BA front panels idea, and that will probably get the big heave ho - too much friggin around I think. Maybe later on, but for now it can stay as an AU.

OK, any ideas appreciated.

S1 is Smartlock, S3 is Smartshield. The dash wiring is different as well, S1 cluster feed is different from S3. I suspect the code reader on the steering column will not send the Smartlock code to the BEM as it is tuned to the Key transponder, it feeds 5 wires into the BEM, Smartlock feeds 4.

You could of course disable everything with a J3 chip, thats what I did with my XR before I got the keys matched to the car.

Then again if you have the ECU, BEM, ignition and door locks with keys you could transfer it all across. Be aware that the engine bay wiring differs for V8 vs 6 cyl.

Another difference is the S1 uses an E series style oil pressure sender (the big one), S3 uses an oil sender switch, you will need to use the S1 cluster to get oil pressure.

Cheers

Thanks RD,

So if I go ahead with this, I will be getting a complete driving S1 XR8 Ute, and can take anything and everything I need to make it run in the S3 wagon. I figured I could just use the engine bay harness and ECU, but if there is that much difference, then maybe I will just take the complete column, cluster, BCM, etc and swap it over that way. Does this sound OK?

I could give 2 rats if it has Smartlock or Smartshield, as long as it runs and drives and everything works. This is to be mainly "her" car, so needs to be reliable and problem free. And I don't have lots of time to swap s**t over and then spend days working through the miss-match issues, if you know what I mean...