New user here. I recently purchased a 91 notch 4cyl. Found an awesome deal on a wrecked 95 gt. The only thing missing is the body. Just wondering what i'm getting myself into when converting. I plan on switching suspension, 8.8 rear, engine, trans, wiring, 5 lugs. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Can anyone estimate how much it would cost for a auto shop to do the 4 cylinder to 5.0 engine swap? (assuming you had a donor car) Any info is greatly appreciated.
I'm not sure what a shop would charge, but I wouldn't do it for any less than $2k
snstr92,
Disconnect the E-brake cable at the backing plate, or just unbolt the plate from the axle and reuse it on the 8.8 they are the same.
Yes you could just unbolt it, but there is no need. The k-members are the same between 4 & 8. Just unbolt the 4cyl bracket from the k-member.
Rear control arms are the same.
Gas tanks are the same. I’m not sure if the pumps are different, but I ran the 4cyl pump until I dropped my turbos in. Then I used a 190l pump.
The AC/heater are the same.
The swap is pretty detailed. It helps to have a whole wrecked 8cyl to do the swap with. You could compare what is different and what needs to be changed
SDO676,
The drivetrain will work, but the wiring is completely different. It is best to use the same year Mustang to do the swap. Go ahead and use the drivetrain, the brakes are actually a good swap, but find a 91 harness to use
__________________
Tony Berger
91 LX 337 Incon Twin Turbo
D&D Viper T-56 6 speed
Maximum Motorsports front to rear
94 Cobra
99 Lightning
and it's JUST-N-LX
Hey, thanx justnlx. Sorry, but I have to ask, what is different about the harnesses? Is it the connections to the cluster? Also I want to install new struts when it is apart. Will I need struts to fit the '95, or the '91, I've found the part #'s are different.
Well if you wanna keep the same body, all you have to do is get the 5.0L engine with transmision change the differencial it take's time but hey you'll get threw it and remeber reinforce the rear axle either get a new one or just get a new one lol well that's all i have to say me and my friend did his coupe it was 4 cylinder then we made it 306 carburator well if you have any more question's PM me or something. and the post thats on top of the one that's on top of mine is good advice too.
__________________
`Ax0r
89 convertible stang 5.0 upper and lower edelbrock performer intake,k&n Cold air intake,1.6 roller rockers,xpipes,pulley's,msd coil and ignition,aod transmision with 3500 torque converter, trick Flow Twisted Wedge Heads, shorty header's, trick flow cam, 4.10 gears, aluminum driveshaft, 70mm throttle body w/spacer, forged pistons.
I am in the second inning {lol} of my 92-92 4 cyl swap. In the 5.0 donor car ive almost got the whole wiring harness out except i don't know where the dash harness ends and the eng. compartment harness begins. As i have been undoing the clips from the body ive been unbolting the relays and whatever control boxes are attached. Do i need this harness that was behind the dash assembly? I also noticed a small harness running along the base of the windshield tying into the door harnesses and i think the rear harness (they seem to come up along the rocker panels). Today i pulled the to-be 5.0 car nose to nose with it donor car to verify the differences in the wiring and vacuum etc., but after staring at the dash harness for 3 hours i lost motivation. My donor car is a convert. while my to-be is a hatch. Anything i should be careful of with the two? Again, thanks a bunch, any help or phtos would be greatly appreciated....Dan
I also am doing a engine swap in an original 4 banger, i am not replacing any major part of the car other than the axle, and i am swaping a little bit bigger motor than the 5.0. well o.k. alot bigger, i am dropping in a 460 from a 78 lincoln. only thing i am going to do to the fron is put stiffer springs, cornering isn't that important because it's built for strip. add in subframe connecters some new wiring and a Holly Blue fuel pump and we're ready for mid 11 sec passes on the 1/4
a 95' is still a fox body so you'll be surprised at how much will bolt straight in, you should be able to get the trans. crossmember out of the 95, but if not ford racing offers a trans crossmember for around $70 so you can run dual exhaust. just be carfull when it comes to the wiring, you need to make sure to get ALL wiring from the 95 including the computer. just to warn you, there may be a few things that you might have to fabricate. to help you out, i would buy a repair book for both vehicles if you have any problems. after it's all done i'm sure you will be glad that your engine swap is over, now you can start planning on what to bolt on next!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SD0676
New user here. I recently purchased a 91 notch 4cyl. Found an awesome deal on a wrecked 95 gt. The only thing missing is the body. Just wondering what i'm getting myself into when converting. I plan on switching suspension, 8.8 rear, engine, trans, wiring, 5 lugs. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
i have to ask what is the vehicle going to be built for? everyday driver? Street/ Strip? if it is for everyday driving, go ahead and drop a 5.0 into the fox, if it is for a streetable strip car. it can be whatever your mind can come up with. if you want an easy build, try to find a older nova, chevelle, maybe even a camero and build you a 350 and drop in. now i am a ford guy but even i have to admit that a 350 has to be one of the easiest engines to build. but if you want to go ford, which i don't mind at all, and you want alot of power. you can try what i am doing now. i have a 89 2.3 hatchback mustang, the 2.3 is now gone. getting ready to take it's place is a 460, be warned ahead of time this is not a cheap or easy swap. i have invested atleast 5 to 10 thousand dollars over the past two years(it shouldn't take that long if you can devote time to your build). i am in the military and my car is back home so i can't work on it in my free time. when i am completly done with this project i will be driving an approximate 1,000 hp street car. don't expect those nombers over night, and be ready to have costly repairs driving an engine like that on the street if you don't maintain the engine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan066
Hey all, Im new here and defently new to fords. I want to build up my first vehicle. I went to school to become a mechanic and learned a lot.. My family goes by GM. I own a 88 Dodge Aries but shes sold. now all I am confronted with are GM's... my daily driver; 98 cavalier and a 93 sunbird 3.1 v6 (brothers, that I am going to fix and sell), 02 grand am v6 (fathers), 2002 cavalier (brothers).
I work at a GM dealership. I am getting close to 3 months working there.
Now I wanna build a v8 car... I dont care what it is ... I am not a die-hard fan of any manufactor. But I never worked on any Fords.
Lets get to the point, I am thinking of doing a swap... but I want to rebuild the motor and tranny to make sure it is done right and the way I want it.
This is what I want to purchase as it seems to be pretty solid:
What's the best way to go at this vehicle? Should I just get an old beat off motor and tranny from the junkyard and rebuild them and swap them in? along with other stuff that I will need... Rather then geting a donar car?
so im new to the ford world ...i had an lt-1/nitous/bolt on 95-caprice but it got stolen and wrecked and im taking the motor/tranny out of it and trading the body to my buddy for a 93' stang lx notch 2.3 auto and he has a carbed 5.0/ c-4/ and some 96 or something explorer heads (he said they were iron gt-40's?) anyways i was gunna try to do the swap. it seems pretty simple. i know i gotta get rid of 4-banger mounts and get 8.8 rearend. just wondering if any of you had any tips for me. what manual steering box should i use? what radiator? any input would be appreciated. thanks.
Iv'e almost got things ready to swap from one car to the other. Iv'e only got to finish stripping out the convert, pluck the engine from the banger, power wash the 5.0 drop it in swap the rear and hopefully wire it with out a hassel. When i prepare to wire the new(used) engine, do i need to swap over the behemoth wire loom from behind the dash or can i hopefully plug in the ecu and the harness from under the manifold to the one that runs along the top of the manifold. Since i am swapping a 92 5.0 convert to a 92 4cyl hatch, i shouldn't have too much to worry about should i? I know i need to swap the front hubs, the brakebooster/master cylinder, and gastank and lines. The only thing im sweating out is turning the key and....... ... nothing. Am i ok attacking it the way i described, or is there more to the wiring than what i think i know ...dan
92-92, 4-8, do i need to transfer the main harness behind the dash? When i was removing harnesses, i noticed a harness at the base of the windshield running from side to side connecting the door harnesses, does this need to stay with the dash harness or should i sell it with the doors? When the backing plates come off, do the axles need to come out for that. jstnlx any px on the swap yet?
my buddy is selling me this 85 stang that the body is in good shape. it has a 4cyl that is no good and doesn't run. he has gt springs and v8 mounts and 2 sets of chrome exhaust pipes in the trunk. it has a manual tranny. i had a 85 mustang before that i sold and i didnt do any of the work on it at all. it had gt40 heads a cam h-pipes ignition and a bunch of stuff. i want to have another ride like that again, and i havd plans of putting a carb'd 302 in that car. i'm pretty handy with cars, it's just that reading all these posts it sounds very difficult and not worth doing that swap. in your opinion what route should i go. this wont be my daily driver it's just for a project.
You will need the “behemoth” main harness that runs along the firewall, inside the engine compartment, and inters into the firewall on the passenger’s side. The engine harness will plug into this main harness right behind the engine.
Since you have a 92 to 92 swap, the dash harness will not need to be swapped. Besides, the convertible has a slightly different dash harness. It has wiring for the rear power windows.
Axles will have to come out to remove the backing plates.
I have not taken too many pictures of the swap. I don’t know if I still have the ones I did take. I was going to do a write-up on the whole swap, but things happened and others did not happen so it never came to be
SouthernStyle85,
With a carbed 302 yours is alot easier. If you are comfortible with your abilities then go for it!
__________________
Tony Berger
91 LX 337 Incon Twin Turbo
D&D Viper T-56 6 speed
Maximum Motorsports front to rear
94 Cobra
99 Lightning
and it's JUST-N-LX
Thanks for the reply justnlx. It's kinda a bummer thou, i was real careful taking it out too, i didn't cut a single wire, all the terminals and relays are still attached as well as the fuse panel. Anyways, thanks again. When the spindles get swapped, do i have to worry about the springs? I have a set of rear drag springs w/ a air bag, i was just going to retain the 4 cyl front springs until i get the funds to swap the whole front to a tubular coilover set-up. I know that this should be a different thread but if i want to swapa cam in, do i need to change the rockers too. The eng. has 91,000 on it, it is getting a waterpump and timing chain before it goes in so i figured i would slip a cam in while i was in the neighborhood. I was thinking a somethimg just a step hotter than stock, maybe a b303? Im not real famailiar with the hop ups. I am running an aod , its what the donor car had and the rear has an auburn 373. Would that be an okay set up for general stoplight duty??
and the post thats on top of the one that's on top of mine is good advice too.
...i had an lt-1/nitous/bolt on 95-caprice but it got stolen and wrecked and im taking the motor/tranny out of it and trading the body to my buddy for a 93' stang lx notch 2.3 auto and he has a carbed 5.0/ c-4/ and some 96 or something explorer heads (he said they were iron gt-40's?) anyways i was gunna try to do the swap. it seems pretty simple. i know i gotta get rid of 4-banger mounts and get 8.8 rearend. just wondering if any of you had any tips for me. what manual steering box should i use? what radiator? any input would be appreciated. thanks.
... nothing. Am i ok attacking it the way i described, or is there more to the wiring than what i think i know
...dan
, its what the donor car had and the rear has an auburn 373. Would that be an okay set up for general stoplight duty??
