VN-VP 5litre with T5 manual. Will be pretty much a bolt in conversion, not sure about the gearbox crossmember.
Youll be able to use all the wiring off the engine, but you might have to drill a hole in the firewall where a VK EFI has its harness plug. Just use a VK EFI tank, pump and return line - it should fit in the VH. The VN-VP airbox should fit as well, pretty much as the VK EFI fits.
The VH radiator, shroud etc will all work, and from memory you can use the VN-VP A/C compressor and power steering pump fine with the VH stuff.
Youll just have to muck around with wiring/relays over near the battery.
Standard VH TH350 speedo cable should work but buy an inline 2 pulse per rev speed sensor.
Tailshaft might have to be shortened but possibly just use the front half of the VN one??

_______________________________________________________
If we all had the same (good) taste, who would buy all the Fords?

Thanks Byron and Mick.
Your answers have been extremely helpful for getting me pointing in some sort of direction.

Having read your info, these are the questions I have.

Are the VP engines getting a bit long in the tooth these days? Or is there an era to look out for? Ie are the later VPs (say 1993) better than the early ones? Wasnt there a series 1 and 2 in the VPs? Also as they are slightly newer and perhaps better, what about VR and VS engines? Are they more difficult to put in?

If i put the 5 sp man in will I need to cut the tunnel at all? I seem to remember something on Micks site saying you did. Also is that a borg warner? Is this the same as a T5? (pardon my ignorance on that one..)

Mick does the trimatic x-member suit position wise? Meaning you just have to re drill some holes for the box?

Mick suggests using the VN / VS k frame. Arent they a bit wider? How will this affect the camber/geometry etc? What if i placed the VP v8 on the VH K frame? Is the main problem from this just the lack of exhaust clearance or are there more factors?

Mick is ther any particular reason you suggest a VN V6 steering rack?

Sorry about all the questions again. i appreciate your info and am just trying to work out if there is a better way of doing it which involves buying only one donor car (eg a rusty VR) rather than bits from different models..

Cheers again!

Having read your info, these are the questions I have.
Are the VP engines getting a bit long in the tooth these days? Or is there an era to look out for? Ie are the later VPs (say 1993) better than the early ones? Wasnt there a series 1 and 2 in the VPs? Also as they are slightly newer and perhaps better, what about VR and VS engines? Are they more difficult to put in?
Yes there was VP S1 & S2. They were all pretty much the same in VN-VP, with no real improvements/changes until the VR (clearanced block for the 350) and VT (roller cam).

The reason for the earlier motors is the ease of using the computer manual or auto use the same common, and readily obtainable harness. The memcal is the only difference.

The VR onwards have 2 probs:
1. Autos are electronic, and require the full PCM & loom swap, and have a 2 wire speed sender that cant be adapted easily to a cable speedo. You also need the VATS removed from the memcal.
2. Manual VR/VS are relatively rare, and hard to find. They have a unique wiring harness & ECM, which command big $$ 2nd hand.

In my opinion, youre only talking about a couple of years difference in age, and km are irrelevant in a 20 year old donor car anyway. Id rather a low km VN donor than a flogged out VS, and manuals do seem to be more obtainable in VN & VP, for much more reasonable prices. Personally, Id want to freshen up any donor motor from this era, regardless of the donor model.


If i put the 5 sp man in will I need to cut the tunnel at all? I seem to remember something on Micks site saying you did. Also is that a borg warner? Is this the same as a T5? (pardon my ignorance on that one..The T5 is a Borg-Warner box. It is different to the early borg-warner 5 speed used in VH & VK 4 & 6 cylinders.
The gear lever sits right back at the rear of the hole, and 9 times out of 10 requires metal surgery for clearance. The console is also an issue, as it wont line up through the console hole, even if it does make it through the floor. Perhaps look at a hybrid box a Falcon case with VN/VP internals that can move the shifter back, or bring one out from the US that has the right shifter position (like VL Group A T5s).

Mick does the trimatic x-member suit position wise? Meaning you just have to re drill some holes for the box? Slot the holes the rear gearbox mount used in VL HDT T5s is the same as the trimatic one, and the mount almost lines up with the crossmember holes you just need to slot them out. On a VN T5, use the VN mount, and a slotted VH crossmember.
Mick suggests using the VN / VS k frame. Arent they a bit wider? How will this affect the camber/geometry etc? What if i placed the VP v8 on the VH K frame? Is the main problem from this just the lack of exhaust clearance or are there more factors? The K-frames have the same dimensions on all VB-VS models.
The variation is in the motor mounting height, and the steering rack position.
The geometry is identical from VB-VP the whole VP front end (except the swaybar links) is the same as the VB.
There are 2 benefits with the VL-VS K-frame.
1. A HUGE improvement in extractor clearance. Using the VH K-frame means you must use a VH rack, and these block most of the pipe room on the RHS of the engine.
2. You use a VL onwards rack, which is much better than the VB-VK rack in feel, and much, much smaller in the pinion housing than the VH one refer to the point above!

Mick is ther any particular reason you suggest a VN V6 steering rack?
Yes. VL onwards racks are different to VB-VK.
All VL-VS racks will bolt up to all VL-VS K-frames, but will not interchange with VB-VK.

You will need a VL intermediate shaft (joins the column to the rack) and this will allow any VB-VK column to suit a VL/VN steering rack.

The VL rack has its pipes rotated in a not-so-friendly direction.
Its still an improvement over the VH, but not as good as it could be.
The VN rack saw the pipes rotated around further. It makes for much more extractor space. Part way into VP, they changed the pinion drive shaft on the top of the rack from a splined shaft to a square drive. There is no intermediate shaft to suit the square drive into an early commodore, so this limits you to 2.5 models worth of steering rack.
The reason you ask for a VN V6 rack, is that its identical to the VN V8 one, but doesnt attract the price premium.
The other advantage of the VN rack, is you use the EFI power steering pump bracket, location, and hoses, for an easy bolt-up fit, and simple spare parts support youre not making custom pipes up.


Cheers,

Mick
_______________________________________________________________

Judge a successful man not on how he treats his peers, but on how he treats those less fortunate.

Origional trimatic T-bar should operate the TH700R4/4L60 OK. You could also just use a Supra conversion?

_______________________________________________________
If we all had the same (good) taste, who would buy all the Fords?

Thanks Jim. Thats exactly what I was thinking. Glad to hear that it worked Ok for you. If i get around to this conversion I reckon Ill go with something like that.

Gday Guys.

is the kind of thing Im lookin for? I realise I might end up getting a whole car but it might be handy to onsell the car with the k frame etc still in it.. Cheers.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/v...ries&hash=item3efff73dcd

anyone?

hainzy if you need any gas work done (as the doc suggests) go see mick at micks pro gas in wallis st, he does a top job and specialises in preformance mods, he even has a dyno to tune it properly at the end

I doubt that an Impco 425 would fit on a Holden EFI V8 & still be 'compliant'.

Since you already have the LPG tank & filler in the car, the installation of an injected system would be a piece of cake. Definitely the way to go.

Dr Terry

_______________________________________

The best argument against democracy is a 5 minute conversation with the average voter.

Been looking round at all the VN and VPs available and I noticed that statesman VQs from 1991 keep popping up too. Jusy wondering if these are the same as the VN/Ps in terms of electrics etc? Should i be looking at them too? Cheers.