Barra Engines

[hudson nut]

I thought I should start a post here about these engines. Some of you were educating me after I asked about the Aussie Holden sixes on Chrisso's Wagon thread in the Construction section. Out of respect for Chrisso, I do not want to hijack his thread. (my apologies Chrisso).
Anyway, Frank Basile (I hope I spelled that right) told me about the Barra engine, and I have been doing some reading about them over the last few days. It seems there have been some that have found their was over here to the U.S., and they are quite impressive. Is anyone here running one of them in a hot rod? I would be very interested in seeing any photos. Also, do they bolt up to a standard Chevy transmission? I am very intrigued, and I think one of these would really give a Hudson Hornet some sting.

Dany

[hudson nut]

I see I've already stepped on myself, as these are a Ford engine, not GM. sorry guys.

Dany

[FRANK BASILE]

Not very familiar with them myself. My son has an automotive workshop and one of my grand sons works for him. Just happened to have a Ford Falcon in the shop at the time with one. Told me that a few engines had found their way to the States. They make some decent HP in Turbo form. I do not know who exports them.

[FRANK BASILE]

Try this one. Plenty of info when doing a google search.

[46 deluxe]

Dany , as you already worked out they are ford engines .
But guys are starting to put them in all sorts of vehicles .
i have 2 in my daily drivers , one is the turbo version and the other one is an LPG only .
The basic engine in the turbo and LPG versions have a pretty tough bottom end capable of big HP , as they have stronger conrods than the standard petrol version .
I've heard of guys getting 700+ hp out of them without much trouble .

[hudson nut]

So, it looks like someone here in the states built one of these with an 80mm turbo and 40 pounds of boost and is tearing up the dragstrip with 2200 rear wheel horsepower. In-freakin-sane.

Dany

[monte]

The best inline six ford ever made yep 1000 hp without too much trouble and good reliable HP ,my 2007 falcon ute has a standard one in it 190kw ,and goes like stink ,done over 200k just now and the more it does the faster it goes ,the power band is a bit scary in the ute when you give it heaps on the highway and it decides to drop down a couple of gears and yer it will burn rubber then too ,they are being exported all over the world to put in all sorts of cars ,just a pity the stupid Ford company decided to close the operation down in Australia and build all their junk now in Asia after finally building a bloody good car here

[T1916]

Our club had a Dyno day with a few cars going on, blown Chev V8,s and a few other worked ford V8,s. But the thing that put out the most HP by a long way was a turbo Barra motor.


Cheers GT.

[35coupe]

I'm making progress slotting a Barra into my '28 Ford - using a 6-speed Tremec - both came from the one car - a factory original 2011 falcon ute.

the engine is Big... but it's one of Ford's best in terms of durability. For mine, the Tremec still needs to be converted to centre shift.... so gears can be shifted from the front seat

[chop_shop]

I repowered my 1983 XE falcon with a ebay brought $90 non turbo Barra, (ex SX/SY territory) used BA sump, radiator/fans & extractors, AU bellhousing, and T5 gearbox, 3.45:1LSD diff, fuel lines etc all from EL, all on factory mounts, used a stand alone wiring harness (works but was dubious quality fuse block) and standard computer (with the PATS removed and switched to manual trans settings).
and as per Monte's description it goes like stink, (and i reckon will go harder with some dyno fine tuning)....as such its now my favourite car to drive

[steve the ford guy]

So would a Barra be a bolt in a 87 XF Fairmont? Or does the front cross member need cutting?

[FRANK BASILE]

There is one fitted up to an XP Falcon on the early Falcon FB page.

[chop_shop]

So would a Barra be a bolt in a 87 XF Fairmont? Or does the front cross member need cutting?

fits with no cutting if using the standard BA sump....(for the NA engine) if you want turbo using the standard turbo manifolds the RH shock tower needs a trim (or dent))and a few other minor mods the castlemain rod shop guys did an XF fairmont ghia last year, there is some videos but in general they dont go into details

i used the xe 6 cylinder chassis mounts, ED falcon engine mounts, this picks up the barra engine block holes, used stadnard EF/EL tailshaft (noting that i swapped diff to EL )
if the XF is already EFI, then you just need to upgrade the intank EFI pump, in my case the XE was carby so i sourced and EFI tank and put in walbro pump
to use the BA raditaor i scollaped the very front tie bar, but there is a commodore radiatoor (dont quote me maybe VL) that its bolt in deal, just needs the right hoses
the power steer pump line needed the steering rack fitting cut off and reflared(metric) utilising the origial XE power steer box fitting

all the mods wew minor and i had the old engine out, engine bay cleaed/prepped and barra installed within a day (no help)
the wiring took another 1/2 day with the standalone loom,,,it had six wires to connect up (we had to run heavy gauge to the new fuel pumpbeing non efi car previously

[steve the ford guy]

So would a Barra be a bolt in a 87 XF Fairmont? Or does the front cross member need cutting?

fits with no cutting if using the standard BA sump....(for the NA engine) if you want turbo using the standard turbo manifolds the RH shock tower needs a trim (or dent))and a few other minor mods the castlemain rod shop guys did an XF fairmont ghia last year, there is some videos but in general they dont go into details

i used the xe 6 cylinder chassis mounts, ED falcon engine mounts, this picks up the barra engine block holes, used stadnard EF/EL tailshaft (noting that i swapped diff to EL )
if the XF is already EFI, then you just need to upgrade the intank EFI pump, in my case the XE was carby so i sourced and EFI tank and put in walbro pump
to use the BA raditaor i scollaped the very front tie bar, but there is a commodore radiatoor (dont quote me maybe VL) that its bolt in deal, just needs the right hoses
the power steer pump line needed the steering rack fit weting cut off and reflared(metric) utilising the origial XE power steer box fitting

all the mods wew minor and i had the old engine out, engine bay cleaed/prepped and barra installed within a day (no help)
the wiring took another 1/2 day with the standalone loom,,,it had six wires to connect up (we had to run heavy gauge to the new fuel pumpbeing non efi car previously

Good information chop shop, thank you for posting. I found this on FB
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3432996 ... ?ref=share
Have some insane builds on there including a HK Holden that's been fitted with a Barra and late Ford front end
Have seen Aussie TV motoring shows over Christmas, and one I watched they were fitting a Barra into an XF, they didn't explain anything so very disappointed, the shows on TV here are more like sales commercials for the workshops and sponsors

[steve the ford guy]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1807914 ... 249397942/
Willy's Jeep build with Barra in Oz