[Zeruel]

Hi everyone. The title kind of says it all. I have a '78 Mustang II and 90 or a 91 (cant recall for certain) Mercury Cougar XR-7 Supercoupe. The XR-7 has a 5 speed and is the 3.8L V6 supercharged version. So my question(s) are as follows. Has anyone tried this and is willing to impart any wisdom as far as engine mounts, transmission mounts, and what rear end to use? Should I try and make the XR-7's rear end fit on that car or find and plug in one from an explorer V8 or a Mustang 1979 or newer. Or is my idea just really dumb and I should just buy something different?

Happy new year everyone, and thank you for your time.

Rich

[nigel]

The problem isn't going to be the engine. It's going to being having the room for the intercooler behind the radiator. I was playing with the same idea with my 89 Thunderbird S.C. Some engine and tranny.

[mustangiighia]

You'll have to find a shop that can make an intercooler and they can make one that fits perfect for you. I'm going to try and do a 2.3l turbo swap with mine and thats what I'll be doing for an intercooler.

[74stang2togo]

As far as the rear end goes, if your car has an 8" rear-end in it now, it will work fine with the 3.8L SC's power level, they live happily with 302 V8s pushing them every day.

If yours has the 6.25" rear, then you'll need to upgrade to at least a 7.5" rear, but ideally and 8, 8.8, or 9 inch unit from another car.

Fitting the rear end from the XR7 is a cool idea, but not a very practical one, as the XR7 has an independent rear suspension (I think, I could be wrong, but I thought all of the 89-97 Thunderbirds and Cougars were IRS) and is much wider than the Mustang II (I think the rear end from brake rotor to brake rotor is wider than the actual Mustang II itself is fender-to-fender).