Progress Thread 89 Notchback 4-cyl to V8 swap

89notchDude

Member
Apr 11, 2022
43
18
18
central NJ
Hey everyone. New guy from NJ here. I picked this up 1989 coupe roller in Feb '21. Its a Florida car so almost no rust. The plan is to restore/restomod it with a 302 for a fun sunday cruiser and hopefully get my two young boys into foxes. I picked up the motor thats shown, a t5, A9L, 89 engine harness rather quickly.
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I removed the dash in order to dye it black. While it was gutted, I put in a new heater core and AC evap and replaced the blower motor for extra insurance. I never want to have to go in there again.
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Used a degreaser, scotch pad and clean it with alcohol


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Picked up a replacement dash pad from LMR. The fitment was a little off so I had to elongated 2 of the holes in the rear to get it a best I could.
 

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V8 cluster in. I ran the v8 engine harness and computer while everything was out.
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Somebody was a bad boy and smacked a curb. I had to bend back the lower core support.

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got the new ball joint pressed in.
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I cleaned up the bay a little. Removed the 4cyl steering rack, and am getting ready to drop in the new one. Swapped out the 4-cyl brake booster/master cyl to the regular v8 one (Not Cobra). New clutch and speedo cable.
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I threw a quick coat of Rustoleum Turbo black on it just for a little protection. Paint and body is on the back burner until I get this fired up and on the road.
 
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So I'm in the process of cleaning up my motor. I'm gonna swap out the stock upper/lower for an explorer. My question is since I have no ACT boss on the lower, what would be a good place to tap under the explorer upper? I highlighted where I'm thinking. What do you guys think?
 

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1 is a coolant port. Coolant circulates in and out of the intake through there, so it’s not a vac line.

2 has the potential of oil puddling. 1 pcv connection should go there to prevent that.


For the ACT, best options are to carefully drill/tap the runner, which is difficult due to no boss being present, or just mount the act in the airbox and extend the wires.
 
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I finally had some time off to get the motor freshened up. I installed the explorer upper/lower. Picked up some explorer 19lb injectors from Neomustang. Getting the itch to drop this in the engine bay. Just waiting for the clutch kit, new motor mounts and some minor odds and ends.
 
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