[95gtragtop]

So.. I took a loan and got a 1967 mustang with the intentions of fixing it up with my daughter. Due to financial reasons mostly being California is so damn expensive I was not able to get the house I was trying to buy. So the auto insurance went up to $350 a month, so I had to unfortunately get rid of that car found a guy who is willing to trade his 95 GT and claimed it only had 121,000 miles blah blah blah long story short took him to court because that car was barely running. I won my case and I will be getting either 6k or $10k in settlement. And that’s my reason for being here given this car will need essentially an overhaul because everything on that car is way older than 121,000 miles probably closer to 260,000 miles with a $10,000 budget what engine swap is recommended? Stick with the 5.0 push rod or try a coyote swap or what? now before you ask with my goals well a running car given. I still have the loan lol no as far as power anything above 400 for 50 I’m happy it’s more or less everything else transmission, brakes, suspension fuel, etc. that have to be taken into consideration given that budget now I will be having a shop do this or I can send it to some friends I still have from the military out in Texas that are willing to rebuild. However that’s roughly $1000-$2000 to get it out there and back live in California so that’s my question with a 10k budget and everything included. What are some decent recommendations for 400 to 450 HP ? Or throw the 10k at the loan and count the loss.

 

[ONEZ ST]

Welcome to the forums from Texas.

Sounds like a series of hard times, bad luck and bad decisions. Pay the loan off.

 

[OX1]

Does not sound like coyote swap is in your budget, after you deduct shipping to buddies, or account for shop doing swap.
I might go with a 331 bottom end short block and piece together some used GT40 or P heads, explorer intake/TB, inj, and have it tuned,
just to get it running. Won't be ideal, but you will have a nice forged bottom end motor that will put out some decent low end torque for now,
(with the right low end cam) and can upgrade heads/cam and other intake components later, as budget allows.

Staying with the 302 based block will allow you to use as many components as possible over again, and many of those "lesser"
perfromance or originally stock type parts can be had for pretty cheap sometimes.

 

[95gtragtop]

Does not sound like coyote swap is in your budget, after you deduct shipping to buddies, or account for shop doing swap.
I might go with a 331 bottom end short block and piece together some used GT40 or P heads, explorer intake/TB, inj, and have it tuned,
just to get it running. Won't be ideal, but you will have a nice forged bottom end motor that will put out some decent low end torque for now,
(with the right low end cam) and can upgrade heads/cam and other intake components later, as budget allows.

Staying with the 302 based block will allow you to use as many components as possible over again, and many of those "lesser"
perfromance or originally stock type parts can be had for pretty cheap sometimes.

I’m not at all opposed to a stroker 331. In fact I like that idea of owning a stroker. At the very least I can say my car was built including the engine. I was reading trick flow heads are the way to go later on after we all recover from Christmas lol. That alone puts me close to or at 400 which is more than enough for me and my daughter realistically.

Welcome to the forums from Texas.

Sounds like a series of hard times, bad luck and bad decisions. Pay the loan off.

It might come to that unfortunately. May get lucky with some junkyards especially out in Texas. Gotta admit I miss Texas, not so much fort hood lol, but Austin.. San Antonio..man y’all can cook!!

 

[Beechkid]

So.. I took a loan and got a 1967 mustang with the intentions of fixing it up with my daughter. Due to financial reasons mostly being California is so damn expensive I was not able to get the house I was trying to buy. So the auto insurance went up to $350 a month, so I had to unfortunately get rid of that car found a guy who is willing to trade his 95 GT and claimed it only had 121,000 miles blah blah blah long story short took him to court because that car was barely running. I won my case and I will be getting either 6k or $10k in settlement. And that’s my reason for being here given this car will need essentially an overhaul because everything on that car is way older than 121,000 miles probably closer to 260,000 miles with a $10,000 budget what engine swap is recommended? Stick with the 5.0 push rod or try a coyote swap or what? now before you ask with my goals well a running car given. I still have the loan lol no as far as power anything above 400 for 50 I’m happy it’s more or less everything else transmission, brakes, suspension fuel, etc. that have to be taken into consideration given that budget now I will be having a shop do this or I can send it to some friends I still have from the military out in Texas that are willing to rebuild. However that’s roughly $1000-$2000 to get it out there and back live in California so that’s my question with a 10k budget and everything included. What are some decent recommendations for 400 to 450 HP ? Or throw the 10k at the loan and count the loss.

Ok, although this is federal regs, califi will enforce, if you drop in another engine whose mfg date is newer than 1975 (IIRR) you are going to end up at a federal referee station having to meet all the smog regs of the year of the newer engine. You do the Coyote you are definitely looking at cats, ECM, etc, etc.

 

[kenv]

What did you trade for the `95? Not the `67 I hope.

 

[Braindead]

Ditch it fast, you will put twice the money into it than it could ever be worth, still will sell to junkyard wholesale. Same thing with my C4 Corvette. OK as was but not putting more into it than ever could be worth. It was hard but made the switch. So ten years ago maybe high $5K?

 

[OX1]

Ditch it fast, you will put twice the money into it than it could ever be worth, still will sell to junkyard wholesale. Same thing with my C4 Corvette. OK as was but not putting more into it than ever could be worth. It was hard but made the switch. So ten years ago maybe high $5K?

Agree with this if you are not keeping it for a long time.

 

[Braindead]

^^^ Roger that on keeping/selling. Started out as keeper and over a decade sort of lost connection with C4’s. They are not magical and have worse problems than other cars. Just start to fall apart even if not driven a lot.

 

[Cobrajet67]

A 1995 is not going to be worth much even after dumping a lot of $ into it. Also, as mentioned being a California resident means you have a lot more constraints on what you are even able to do to the car. I would just get rid of it in your situation.
A 1979-93 Fox body would have value and continue to grow especially a 1987-93 but a 1994-04 SN95 just doesn't have anywhere near the same worth or general appeal. Trading a 1967 Mustang for a 1995 was definitely unwise.

 

[95gtragtop]

Ok, although this is federal regs, califi will enforce, if you drop in another engine whose mfg date is newer than 1975 (IIRR) you are going to end up at a federal referee station having to meet all the smog regs of the year of the newer engine. You do the Coyote you are definitely looking at cats, ECM, etc, etc.

Definitely, if I go this route I would definitely take it and register in either az or tx. Registering it in CA isn’t happening.

What did you trade for the `95? Not the `67 I hope.

I had to. I was looking at nearly 800 in payment and insurance alone for that 67. In ca, as expensive as it is out here, I wouldn’t have gotten a part on that car.

Ditch it fast, you will put twice the money into it than it could ever be worth, still will sell to junkyard wholesale. Same thing with my C4 Corvette. OK as was but not putting more into it than ever could be worth. It was hard but made the switch. So ten years ago maybe high $5K?

It’s starting to look that way just get rid of it and take the loss and lesson.

A 1995 is not going to be worth much even after dumping a lot of $ into it. Also, as mentioned being a California resident means you have a lot more constraints on what you are even able to do to the car. I would just get rid of it in your situation.
A 1979-93 Fox body would have value and continue to grow especially a 1987-93 but a 1994-04 SN95 just doesn't have anywhere near the same worth or general appeal. Trading a 1967 Mustang for a 1995 was definitely unwise.

This was meant to be a learning build for my little girl and myself, it doesn’t have to be specifically this car. I’m thinking of getting rid of it and just starting over. I’d love to pick up a fox body shell and build an engine with her in the garage in the future. Might just save the 10k for that.

Agree with this if you are not keeping it for a long time.

I wanted to build it with my little girl. Make some garage memories. So in a manner of speaking keep it for a while but it’s not looking too good so far.

 

[Wooley689]

I don't think a Coyote will fit without some large changes to the engine bay.

 

[Hazey]

I don't think a Coyote will fit without some large changes to the engine bay.

Coyote physically fits in an SN95 fairly easily. They're pretty much the same size as the 4.6 4V that came in the '96+ Cobra.

 

[95gtragtop]

If i change the ECU in this 95 to see if i can get it running right/better do I need to have the new ECU programmed? I cant recall if PATS started in 95 or not?

 

[Cobrajet67]

If i change the ECU in this 95 to see if i can get it running right/better do I need to have the new ECU programmed? I cant recall if PATS started in 95 or not?

Changing the ECM will likely do nothing at all. A bad computer is very rare overall and with the kind of mileage that this car supposedly has on it it's likely parts and sensors malfunctioning or a more basic engine problem. You haven't even apparently scanned the car for trouble codes yet and posted them here so just assuming the ECM is the problem is about the last thing you should be thinking right now.
The first year of PATS is 1996.

 

[95gtragtop]

Changing the ECM will likely do nothing at all. A bad computer is very rare overall and with the kind of mileage that this car supposedly has on it it's likely parts and sensors malfunctioning or a more basic engine problem. You haven't even apparently scanned the car for trouble codes yet and posted them here so just assuming the ECM is the problem is about the last thing you should be thinking right now.
The first year of PATS is 1996.

96 got it

 

[Cobrajet67]

As I said before though changing the computer is an unwise thing to do until you go thru the steps of diagnosing the car first. When a car is running poorly it's rarely ever the computer. Changing the least likely part would be foolish.

 

[dennispug]

A 1995 is not going to be worth much even after dumping a lot of $ into it. Also, as mentioned being a California resident means you have a lot more constraints on what you are even able to do to the car. I would just get rid of it in your situation.
A 1979-93 Fox body would have value and continue to grow especially a 1987-93 but a 1994-04 SN95 just doesn't have anywhere near the same worth or general appeal. Trading a 1967 Mustang for a 1995 was definitely unwise.

I will have to say i LOVE my 99 Mustang six, auto - while I am not a racing-type driver, I went one size wider the existing 15" tires, which made a huge difference. I screwed up trying to drive home with a blown radiator hose, got a good hose bandage, and the hose blew again NEXT to the bandaged part even with the radiator cap loosened. After that started getting oil in the coolant intermittently. After driving Ford Fusion Hybrid, and Honda Accord Hybrids, both impressive, but I still loved driving my 99 Mustang much more, and the huge costs of the new cars were not appealing to me. Plus my insurance would have doubled. Had engine professionally rebuilt by ARCE motors in El Cajon, Ca - no regrets, lost my job last December, waiting on surgery on shoulder from workmans comp, company fighting it, working at half pay until this is resolved at a new company. Glad I didn't have a car payment, I keep comparing how much I put into my beloved car, vs. how much I would have paid in car payments, plus the insurance rates -