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I'm baaack! With a 2.5 swap :D

5K views 21 replies 4 participants last post by  1turbofocus 
#1 ·
Whew! Been a long time since I've been on FF! Doubt anyone remembers me, or anyone who I used to talk to here is even still around haha. Well, anyway, I'll go ahead and reintroduce myself and talk briefly about what I've been up to in my own little focus world!

So yeah, I "had"/"have" an 04 focus 2.3 zx3 manual transmission. LOVE the car! I bought it new in 04 and had this particular one dealer traded from about 3 hours away. I did a good amount of alterations to it, fc cai, cossie header, modified mbrp cat back minus the cat, bsd, lots of suspension goodies, and even fabricated a couple parts for it. I owned the car for over 13 years and 200k miles and when my little family started to grow, it was obvious how much smaller my car was! I sold my focus to my brother in law... He really wanted it and always wanted a "tuner" type car. Well, he didn't treat the car with the same respect I had for it and blew the engine. Not blew, but somehow, I suspect, one of main bearings walked out and caused the crank to sag on one side. Soooo, he sold it back to me lol. Of course I wanted my car back. It won't turn over and I have a feeling the pistons might have scored the cylinder walls. Good opportunity to yank out the old and in with something better!

So here's what I'm thinking...

2.5 bottom, 2.3 head, already have the bsd, cossie knockoff IM, maaaybe convert to 38 tooth, possibly cams and adj gears with springs and retainers. Obviously tune and maybe dyno time depending on how aggressive of cams I might get, if any.

Anything I'm forgetting? Good plan? Bad plan? Should I adjust any of my ideas? I know there are dozens, maybe even hundreds, of posts exactly like mine. But I figure FF is nowhere near as popular as it used to be and I want to maybe give it a little life back. Sure, I can search and sift through those hundreds of posts and gather my own information, or I can attempt to show the community that there are still some focus people around who still have a passion for the good ol first gen!
 
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#4 ·
Yeah man! I was a lurker back in 04. Before my 2.3 I had a zetec and wrecked it. The focus has always been good to me.

I think it's interesting you say to keep the 2.5 head because I was reading that you stood behind the 2.3 head with the cossie IM and cams. I'm good with either, I just want the best bang for the buck. This won't be a daily driver, but I do want it to be dependable and something I can hop in and go for a road trip if I feel like.

Anyway, I plan on picking up the engine on Monday or Tuesday. I found a 15 fusion with 36k. The salvage yard said it had flood damage but test ran fine and no water in the oil.
 
#6 ·
Okay, cool. I picked up the engine today and it looks like it's in great shape. I do t think I'm going to pull the head off yet, I feel like I should make sure it starts before I begin throwing mods at it. Will stage 1 cams be beneficial? I think I want to avoid installing cam gears since I don't know the first thing about getting a dyno tune, but might consider stage 2 with springs if I can get a good deal somewhere.

Any advice or input is greatly appreciated! I'll consider anything and update as I make progress.
 
#7 ·
Started tearing apart the focus stuff today. Ran into a couple hiccups. Tomorrow I need to buy a 32mm socket for the axles and rent a slide hammer to remove the axles. Should have the 2.3 out sometime tomorrow. Tonight I will be ordering my parts...

Question. I'm seriously considering buying stage 2 cams and springs and retainers. Do I buy the 2.3 stuff to go inside the 2.5 head? I know I need the intake cam gear and I'm also going to buy the timing tool and the vct delete, I just need to know if I buy the crowder stage 2 cams for the 2.3 since I can't seem to find 2.5 stage 2 cams.
 
#10 ·
Okay, lots going on in the swap. Got lots of parts in the mail though. So the engine I'm using is a 2015 fusion 2.5 with 39k miles. I paid $185 for it, but actually $245 because I haven't turned in my core. Against Toms advice I skipped the stage 3 cams, springs, and gears. Since this is a used engine, I wanted to keep things simple and cheap because I don't know its full history. I did buy stage 1 cams since I don't need to change anything else to make them work.

About the engine itself... It came from a flood damaged vehicle. The junk yard said they tested it before pulling and said it ran. They said they drained the oil and didn't see any water. I call BS on that one. yesterday I removed the pan and I found milky light brown oil in the engine. I flipped the engine over to inspect the cams and the lobes had what I think is rust. It wipes clean though and no pitting. I think my plan is to clean everything very well, I will wipe everything down with either 3in1 oil and/or wd-40. After I get it running I will do a couple close interval oil changes to ensure all the crap is cleaned out. I think it will be okay.

So parts I've bought are the stage 1 cams, throttle body adapter, timing tool, VCT delete, new cam gear, a new coolant reservoir because my brother in law must have cracked the old one and epoxied it lol, AEM 30-4110 wideband. I still need a new crank bolt, flywheel bolts, and pressure plate bolts. Speaking of the pressure plate bolts, they are for the exedy oem flywheel and clutch. Will factory pressure plate bolts work with that or does exedy use some specific bolts?

I removed the old cosworth header and flexpipe so I could weld in the wideband sensor bung and made the decision that the flexpipe is too rusted to mess with. Too much corrosion and damage to repair. I think I am going to buy a fswerks replacement and weld the bung into that. I will paint the header after I get it all cleaned up and might have to buy a new catback because the flange is pretty ate up too. I found a super cheap catback on ebay thats made out of stainless for just over $100. tempting. It has some 4.5" tip on it though. If I get that, I will have to cut the tip off and weld on my MBRP tip. Budget has become a factor and I still need to plan for a tune.

Speaking of tune, I assume you're going to read this Tom, we already spoke about me having the old xcal 2 and you said I will need to download Livelike 2. I just downloaded Livelink gen 2, that's the same, right? I can't seem to find the DIN2 cable or SCT fire wire. Any ideas on that or how to make it work? Should I just call you? Lol.
 
#12 ·
Okay Tom. I downloaded 6.5. I see the din cable I think... One end plugs into the x2 but what about the other end? It's a cannon style plug but I don't understand where it's supposed to go. My computer doesn't have any plugs like that. I am extremely tuning stupid. Honestly, I kinda feel like I should just bite the bullet and take the hit for a new tuner because I feel like they might be more user friendly since I literally have no clue. And I'm still failing to understand where the wideband comes into play and why it's needed. Is there a webpage that explains everything?
 
#15 ·
Okay, finally got the engine in and bolted to the transmission. "most" of the plugs are plugged in... Since I'm using the fusion intake manifold, I'm assuming I will have a few plugs that don't go anywhere and also assume that a tune can fix that. Because there are no vacuum controlled tumble flaps anymore, nowhere for those to go from the old 2.3 intake manifold. For those who opted to use the fusion IM, does that sound correct?

Also, what did you do with the throttle body cable bracket? I have the TB adapter from massive, but no clue what to do about the cable bracket (side note, one of the mounting holes that goes to the IM was drilled incorrectly and that made for a very sketchy fit... Not happy about that). I am planning on modifying the bracket and tap some holes in the adapter so I can attach it but couldn't find a better solution. Thoughts?
 
#17 ·
Yeah, I saw that earlier when I was scrating my head lol. Looks awesome but I don't have the means to make something like that. I'll try to get some pictures of what I'm considering doing. I'm pretty sure it will work, but won't be able to finalize it until after this weekend. Did you use a Mazda intake manifold?
 
#19 ·
Well, crap... I just realized I need to modify the fusion IM because of the fuel injector pressure sensor. The 2.3 manifold has the vacuum port/bung/nipple already in it but the 2.5 doesn't. Looks like I'll have to drill a hole and somehow affix something for the vacuum line to attach to. That manifold is a pita to pull out, so I'm really not looking forward to that!

And regarding the throttle cable bracket, I saw in the Massive forum that someone made a simple bracket that attaches to the throttle body bolts and mimics the factory position. I'll just do that, but because of work I won't be able to get it those two issues fixed until next week
 
#21 ·
I fabbed up a bracket for the throttle linkage. It feels like it will work great! As for the fuel evap canister hose, do I just leave that unhooked?

I think I'm going to thread tap the Massive throttle adapter plate with 1/8 npt and put a nipple in it for the fuel rail pressure sensor... Should I do the same with the evap canister? These are my last hurdles and I'll be ready for the tune! Going with you Tom, I'll be calling you within a couple weeks to get that sorted out.

One more thing, what's the advice for the belt? I haven't tried the 2.3 belt yet. Is there a specific size I need?
 
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