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So - I now have the powerplant sorted. I can't afford a twin-turbo Ferrari 488 engine - designated 'F154', but I can afford that from a Maserati QP GTS - which is more or less the same thing and also designated 'F154'.

The main differences are that the former has a flat-plane crank and a dry sump, while the latter has a cross-plane crank and a wet sump. Having listened to both, I think the Maserati version (growl, growl) is more suited to the Dino than the Ferrari (waa-waa) - but it's a personal thing, so it's up to the onlooker to decide for himself/herself.

The Maserati doesn't make as much power - a mere 530 hp, but since the Dino only makes 160 (real) hp (or 190 Italian hp), I figured that I'd probably notice the difference. And that's before you remove the cats and do a re-map.

Earlier in the year I spotted a white GTS for sale on a salvage auction site in the UK, but as I didn't have the money at the time I had to watch it vanish from the listings without putting a bid in. A couple of weeks later I sold the new front and rear clips from the Dino, and so I finally had some cash in the bank account. At almost the same time, the white GTS re-appeared in the listings for the next sale - I then realised that it hadn't made its reserve price at the previous auction.

The car was a finance repossession, and was described as having 'intermittent misfire issues'. None of that bothered me, as I only wanted the engine plus some of the running gear like brakes, etc. So I steamed in and kept bidding until I won it. Since it would have been about six hours each way to collect it, I paid a transport courier to deliver it for me. When it arrived, I was taken aback - it was nigh-on immaculate. So much so, that by the time I'd sorted out the various issues and driven it, I realised that there was no way that I could take a disc cutter to it - it was simply too nice a car.

This is where I set out the case for the defence; my mitigating circumstances are that I was left unsupervised at my computer.

You see, whilst browsing away I found a wrecked GTS (a black one) for sale through Copart in Illinois. At the same time there was also another (a silver one), also in Illinois - this time for sale through a dealer. So I got myself set up with an account at Copart and registered with a broker (since I'm not eligible to bid in Illinois). I also enquired about the silver one. Things then went horribly wrong and somehow I find myself the owner of both of them.

Although I told my wife about the black one (she was deeply unimpressed), she knows nothing about the silver one.

Anyone know where I can buy a job lot of black spray paint?

You've got a lot of projects all at once

I'm sure you know this but I'll say it just in case, on a modern engine the electronics are pretty important. The compression and/or boost are high and the knock sensors and direct injection are needed to prevent knock. You have the cars so you have the ECU and wiring but the ECU is almost certainly looking for an enable signal from chassis control unit or perhaps a dedicated immobilizer and may also be looking for info from a trans control unit. The brake system is maybe connected to the chassis control or its own controller. Since you have a running car it might be worth your time to put a CAN logger on it and record what happens as you go through the basic functions. Maybe unplug controllers 1 at a time and see what signals disappear. Then maybe try to get the stuff you want to salvage working before you go to the effort to pull and fit it to the dino.

Funny you talked about copart, I just registered a couple weeks ago there and IAAI as I search for a Supra for my son so I've been giving the what electronics appear dead question a lot of thought and have kind of settled on "runs and drives" is pretty high on the shopping list.

Yes, my plan is to fit an aftermarket ECU - something like a Haltech, in order that I can walk away from all the issues you highlighted above. I believe that, for instance, removing the radio module will start throwing error codes so I imagine it'd go into sheer meltdown when I remove things like the transmission!

BUT - before doing that I intend to run the engine with the minimum possible number of modules to see what I can get away with. Lack of power is not going to be my problem, but I suspect that as I won't be able to get the stock system to run without all the emissions stuff in place (since the factory ECU doesn't allow any code access), it pretty much dictates that I'll have to fit a different unit.

So....the haltech probably won't do it because the new engines have take full advantage of the direct injection. Motec has a di unit and at the other end of cost the rusefi guys have gotten a few different engine running. There are probably a couple other options.

As for throwing codes on the factory ecu....does it matter? You need it enabled and engine running but I assume you don't intend to install a check engine light. A CAN emulator could deliver whatever signals the ecu wants which is why I suggested CAN loggingvthe running car.

You could convert to port injection...but you'll likely also need to drop the compression a little to make it run right.

I wasn't aware that the Haltech ECU couldn't cope with DI - I tried contacting them to find out what their products were capable of, but they didn't reply. I wanted to stay away from the Motec offerings due to their code being inaccessible.

I think the CAN emulator route might prove to be the best one - if I can get the stock ECU to handle the DI side of things, I could then fit an aftermarket one alongside to deal with the other bits.

All the commercial aftermarket ECUs are closed code. You install their tuning software and you can configure and tune the ECU they way they have configure it to be used. There are menu options and you can usually get pretty close to what you want.

There are a couple open source ECU projects out there but if you want to change anything you need to be good at C code. Rus EFI is such a project and they have been working on DI, at least they were last I checked in.

The ECU I use is kind of hybrid. The actual C code that rus the ECU is close but that code tell the ECU to look for a "model" which the user writes so the ecu will do whatever you want as far as controlling the engine but what its doing internally at the c-code level I can only guess. The M1 series motecs are similar but they call the model a "package". If you buy the ECU for $4k, then buy the development package for $2500, and buy the data logging option for $400(crippled version) or $1500 full (version) then you can do every thing my $1800 enginelab can do plus a little more depending. They do offer a DI version, enginelab shows one on there webstie but you can't buy it because the company they were developing it for backed out so the project is sitting. As I type I'm kind of remembering that the rusefi guys were using a separate DI driver board so that probably could be mated to another ECU....I'd have to look into that.

But using the factory ECU in engine swaps is very common these days. The problem you will have is there is going to be close to 0 info out there on exotic stuff so you'll need to be the expert or find someone who to help you. I know the basics so for me just getting anything CAN work is a thrill Stuff like the throttle pedal is probably CAN so you'll want to use that sending unit on your pedal. The high pressure fuel pump is probably CAN and the low pressure might be. The push to start will probably be looking for a switch on the brake pedal, but it could be getting that signal over CAN from the ABS controller and will likely also be looking park or neutral CAN signal from the trans controller. Those are the bit you'll need to figure out with a CAN logger on the running car. Since you have a running car it just take time, without a running car its pretty much impossible.

Have you picked out a trans?

Here's something
https://youtu.be/8amrnkAFuhE?si=FFpdf9gb4YjfBB2V

Sorry - I missed your replies...

The best ECU that has been suggested to me thus far is the Cosworth MQ12DI, which can handle both DI and VVT - whether I can afford one is another matter though...

I'm intending to use an Audi 01E trans with a Quaife LSD in it. Apparently this combination is good for 650 Nm, and there are people using them with a lot more, such as the chap from Scandinavia who runs a 1,000 hp drag car with one in. I would imagine that the lack of weight that my car should end up with would also lessen loads.

Thanks for the GTS link - I'm going to watch it now!

Bosch makes you too
https://xtreme-di.com/product/engine-control-unit-ms6/

Both the bosch and the cosworth make the motec look cheap

I'm pretty sure rusEFI can handle DI and VVT on a 12cyl at for far other end of pricing.....probably under $1000

The audi trans will set the engine significantly higher than a 355 trans won't it? Or do you need that for the wet sump engine you picked? which maybe then begs the question of engine deck lid?