Hello everyone;

It has been a while since Ive last posted, as I have been working in my precious spare time, slowly doctoring my injured pony into running condition and back onto the lovely streets of central NC.

As most of you know from my preceding posts, my engine choice has changed several times; this due to budget, engine availability, work involved, and my ever-growing addiction to torque and speed. Okay so the whole budget deal has unfortunately slapped me back into tightwad mode, as I have recently been accepted into UNC and need to pay bills.

Anyhow, I was pretty much gifted an engine out of a 2004 mustang GT with 64k miles on the clock; not bad eh? Even though a valve cover was cracked, the harness mangled to bits, and the engine lacking all accessories, I cant complain as a free engine is, and always will, be a free engine.



Now down to the gritty, greasy, tech goodness. Here are some things that I have found different so far:

1) My Romeo engine was missing the water pump pulley. I tried to remedy this issue by swapping the pulley from the Windsor engine, but the Windsor water pump pulley will not work on the Romeo pump, due to the plate at the end of the pump shaft on which the pulley bolts. I fixed this by swapping the Windsor pump into the Romeo block (yes the pumps are identical bolt-pattern-wise, but for some reason the Windsor pulley just wont work with the Romeo pump; it hits the block).

2) The belt tensioner on the Windsor block is totally opposite than the one on the Romeo. One attaches at the top passenger side of the timing cover and the other attaches down by the crankshaft pulley. This really shouldn't be a problem, as the pulleys seem to line up so far (even after I swapped out the Windsor water pump with the Romeo water pump).

3) The wiring harnesses wire colors are different. Cutting and splicing will be difficult. If swapping from a Windsor to a Romeo, it is best to use the harness from the Windsor and swap it onto the Romeo engine. I have swapped the harness from the Windsor onto my Romeo engine and everything seems to hook right up so far.

:NOTE: Even if your Romeo harness is perfectly intact, you will need to swap your Windsor harness onto the Romeo engine due to some changes in the harness.

4) Valve covers are totally different. You cant even use the bolts out of the Windsor on the Romeo. I needed a valve cover and picked one up for 20$ minus bolts with the intentions of using the bolts off the Windsor. Bad move.

5) The upper alternator brackets are different. I think I can get by without them, as the lower bolts are stout enough to hold the alternator firmly in place. FYI, I am lacking all accessories and brackets; I have a feeling this is going to be an irritating, but resolvable issue. I highly recommend that you order accessory brackets at the time you order your engine (if your Romeo block doesn't come fully dressed)

6) HUGE difference: The Windsor = 8 bolt flywheel. Romeo = 6 bolt flywheel. Yes, you will need a new flywheel and a new clutch. The Windsor clutch wont bolt up to the Romeo flywheel (Romeo has a larger clutch). I see it as an upgrade as the Romeo clutch/flywheel is better anyway.

:NOTE: You will need a Romeo flywheel and clutch as your stock Windsor clutch and flywheel will not work. The Romeo uses a larger clutch and the flywheel is 6-bolt as opposed to the Windsors 8-bolt flywheel.

7) I have not yet gotten this far, but I assume that the power steering and AC mounting brackets are more than likely different. I will update this when I drop the engine into the car upon the arrival of my new clutch (I pulled the engine without disconnecting the AC or power steering lines. Yes its do-able.).

8) I have also noticed several parts that appear different and have different part numbers, many of which, are not interchangeable between the two engines due to their orientation or mounting brackets. Most of them still attach to the wiring harness in the same manner/at the same connector and perform the same task.



I will keep things updated as I move forward.

Cheers,
-Grimm

 

Hay buddy how did the swap go? I'm looking in to doing the same thing, and your post has already helped.