hey im about to do a 88 4cyl to 5.0 swap and i was just wondering what the differences are between the 2 suspensions and what do i need from the v8 donar car as far as suspension goes.
the front will be dropped a bit more than a 5.0 b/c of the added weight (looks cool actually). You may have trouble w/ wheel hop b/c of not having the quad shocks. A lot of guys say that aftermarket control arms or southside bars will take care of that. The frame is drilled for the bracket for the quads even on the 4 banger cars, but if you don't have the brackets you won't be able to put the quads in . The quad shocks aren't that cheap, so you might want to just put that money towards control arms. Of course the rear end is diff in a 4 vs. 8, so I'm assumign you are changing rears.
Other than the softer springs, and smaller sway bar in the front (4 bangers don't have rear sway bars either) it should be pretty much the same pieces. It will definately feel sloppy compared to a real 5.0, but it won't be so bad you can't drive it. Front brakes are smaller too - 10" vs 11". If you want to change that you need 5.0 spindles. Good luck.