Do Ford and Dodge Use a Common Thread?

Sam; The first thing to do would be to go to your neighborhood parts house and see if they have an intake manifold gasket for both engines. Lay one on top of the other to see how much differance there is. That will tell you if there is any chance of making one manifold fit on the other engine. As for the 2.2 to 2.5 there will be less air flow thru the smaller manifold, so even if you can tweek the computer to give you more fuel ,you may not be able to get enough air flow. Small intake manifold was how VW kept the power down on their early beetle engines.

I have not done this particular swap (Dodge engine to Ford), but it is a bit more complicated than just changing the manifold. If the Fuel injected manifold did bolt up to the head of the carburetted engine, you would need to modify the engine mounted electronic controls for the fuel injection system as well.

Most injectors have a range of fuel that can be injected so it may well be that a 2.2 litre and a 2.5 litre engine use the same injectors. What makes the difference are the mass air flow sensor, the oxygen sensor in the exhaust, the amount of ignition advance and several other inputs such as engine temperature, engine knock which go into the engine control computer. The computer then decides how much fuel to let the injector put in and when it goes in.

In short, you would have to make sure all the Ford sensors were in place on the Dodge engine and then take the time to figure out how to make it work properly through he entire reve and load range.

It might be a lot less aggrivating to just get a different car.

It'll work if you don't run afoul of the smog laws. Checking the gaskets is a good idea as is checking all the peripheral sensors for compatibility. The history of swapping parts is as old as hotrodding.

This really sounds interesting. There are many "aftermarket" fuel injection systems available. Most are for the Ford 302 and of course, the ubiquitous SBC but injection systems all perform to the same specs and that is; to give your engine a fuel/air mixture as close to the stiochiometric (by weight) ideal of a 14:1 ratio of air to gasoline.

Even if the gaskets don't match up you can still drill your manifold and install the injectors into it if there is an individual port for each cylinder. The whole engine management electronics package will have to be installed from the other car as another contributor suggested.

If you have the time and patience (and love to tinker) you can separate the functions (mass air flow, fuel flow, temperature, throttle position, manifold pressure, rpm, ignition advance, knock sensor and anything else I've forgotten LOL) and develop you own computerized performance map using an aftermarket hybrid computer/controller.

Catalogs from Jeg's, Speedway, Moroso and dozens of other aftermarket suppliers will give you choices of many components ranging from simple bolt on's to complex highly refined engine management systems with multiple fuel capabilities. Lots of luck and please keep us posted. A journal with some photos would really be welcomed.

Sounds like a nightmare to me.... why do you want fuel injection so bad? If the Shadow is carbureted (I believe the last carbureted Mopar would have been around 1985 or so) you can re- jet it, or even better put a bigger carb on it. Chances are though, unless your car was sold in Mexico, for use in Mexico, it is in fact fuel injected. It may be a TBI type, which looks more like a carb. Either way, it would be a huge pain in the a$$ to transplant the induction, with no guarantee of increased performance. Jason

This is not going to work without re-engineering the entire system. The computer from the Ford isn't going to like the inputs from Dodge sensors, even if you could find them for this engine. it would be easier to swap in the entire drivetrain from the Ford, but would cost more than either car is worth.

Just had a thought. Why not try and find an injected Dodge motor at the yard, and pull the whole driveline? The transmission needs inputs from the ECU, PCM, (whatever Dodge calls it), as well, so a drivetrain swap is your simplest method if you must have injection. Look for similar motor mounts and track widths, and then pull everything you can get your hands on, including the computer and the wiring from the donor car. New wiring harnesses are pretty expensive, so you'll want to splic in the donor harness.

What are you looking to get from this project? Carbs are great fuel mixers if they are set up correctly, and it seems like the easier path to fix what's there instead of reinvent the wheel.