83 302 potential?

89 Grand Marquis 5.0

Updated look at the bottom

I have a chance to get an 83 302 4bbl for virtually nothing. I have been waiting for an engine to come along like this so I can build it up with pistons, rods, crank, cam, heads, intake, etc and wait for the engine in my 98 stang to **** the bed and then do the swap. My car has 112k on it now. It would be my first engine build but I can tackle it with the help of my uncle. I want to go 302 because these mod engines are so expensive to modify and I am not good with SOHC. So, that leads me to my questions.

-What is the downsides of an 83 engine?
-Can I make my T-45 work?
-Will engine mounts from a 94-95 work?
-What am I getting into?

If you have a real reason why not to do this you can state it but for everyone that is just gonna say stick to the mod engine don't post unless you have a decent reason.

Alrighty then. I was just wondering if it would work being that I found a running 83 for $150. What do explorer engines usually run?

As for piston - valve clearance it probably wouldn't matter because before the engine hits the car it would have brand new pistons in it.

Well I guess I'll keep looking, too bad there are no pick-n-pulls around here that I know of.

What cams and heads would I be limited to with the 83 block?

Is the explorer engine the best way to go, even more than the 87-92 HO block from a stang? Are the heads better?

Thanks.

Edit: I called about a Grand Marquis engine 1989 for around $200 still in the car runs and drives so I'll maybe take a look at that.
I should be able to put dome top pistons in it shouldn't I?

To put an EFI engine in my car what wiring would I need from the grand marquis?

I found an 89 Grand Marquis engine with a AOD that slips all for $200, I was able to hear the engine run because it is still in the car.

What am I gonna need to swap this into a 98 stang gt and put a T-5 on it?

My Guesses:
Mounts from a 94-95 mustang gt 5.0
What else?

Will regular mustang parts work on this engine? e.g. new forged dome top pistons and cam and heads?

Is this a decent block to start building with?

What do I need to do to convert it to 5sp?


Thanks.

Yeah I don't know if I feel like swapping the K-member out but, the reason being is my uncle used to be a mechanic abut neither of us have ever put heads and cams in a Modular engine so we are kind of skeptical and local shop wants like $800 or so I think to put heads cams and intake on my car. I kinda wanted to get another engine because I daily drive the car and it would be easy to work on an engine out of the car already.

I guess I'll look for PI engine parting out but I can't get over doing all that work to put newer stock top end on my car, I'd rather just get comp cams, new intake, and maybe aftermarket or PI heads. But the reason I want to build up an engine is because I want to have my car sometime in the future running like 12's or 11's. I figure if I build the engine myself I will save a lot on labor but I am not 100% sure if I can do it yet, and I'd rather dick a $150 engine up than to dick the only engine I have.

My engine has high miles and I don't want to put a whole new top end on it and then have it blow up shortly after. If I go and rebuild my car I want to forge the bottom end so I can run high boost in the future, but then again thats $5k in itself.