About to buy an SN95 - 5.0 or 4.6?

I'm planning on buying my first mustang soon. Despite their reputation as chick cars, I'd like to find a clean SN95 GT. I remember when they came out and I've always liked that body style. I'm also planning on daily driving it for the time being, and I hear they're much easier to deal with on a day to day basis.

The one thing I can't decide on is the 5.0 or the 4.6 engine. I've read a ton about both of them, yet I'm still undecided. My goal (and it won't happen overnight, probably years down the road) is a 10 second car. I'm not sure what it takes to achieve that in an SN95, but I'm guessing somewhere around 500hp? I won't be using nitrous, but a supercharger is something I'd be interested in.

Then of course, one of the most important factors; budget. Like most of us, I don't have a lot of money to spend on this project. I know either of these engines can hit the mark with enough money, but I'd like to know which would get me into the 10's with a lower total cost. I also don't want to get to the point where it's extremely unpleasant to drive on the street on a regular or semi-regular basis.

I will be doing most of the work myself, save for gears and tuning. Thanks in advance!

trinity_gt said:

?

Says who?



I think you're going to have trouble getting a reliable 500rwHP and running 10s from a 5.0L without upgrading the cylinder block to an aftermarket piece. Later-model blocks were very thin-wall and prone to splitting in half under "extreme" horsepower levels.

The 4.6 suffers no such weakness.



Fast. Cheap. Reliable.

Choose any two...



Keep in mind that running a 10-second car is going to require chassis reinforcements (including a cage if you want to run it at an actual track), suspension upgrades, rear axle, driveshaft and transmission upgrades, fuel system work, tires and wheels etc etc etc.

Make sure you budget for all this and more, not just making xxxHP at the wheels.

Click to expand...

All those Fox body jerks

mikemora01 said:

I know a lot of people like to throw around the big 10 number but you should not be dissapointed when you realize it will take 10-15k+ to make a 10 second streetable sn95. But you can make a really fun to drive 12 second 4.6 L for only a couple thousand if that interested you. I dont want to be negative but like trinity_gt says it would be a long expensive project but can be done.

Click to expand...

$10k-15k is what I have in mind, so that figure isn't surprising. I know this stuff isn't cheap. Time is on my side as far as funding the project goes, I'm a patient person.

Thanks for the replies guys. I've think made my decision; I'm think for me the 5.0 is the way to go. Honestly, that was the way I was leaning in the first place, but the fact that 96-98's are so much easier to find around here was enough to make me question it.

My plan is to purchase a very clean SN95 5.0 and proceed with the standard upgrades while enjoying the car. Gears, exhaust, H/C/I, etc. This should be plenty to keep me busy for the next year or so, whether or not I have the funds (or change my mind) to proceed with the high horsepower goal. Can 300rwhp be achieved with bolt-ons? I really like the idea of being able to pull a cheap, used engine and replace it in a weekend, should I damage something.

If I do decide to move forward with the high horsepower plan, I'll most likely start with a Dart 5.0 block, build it right, with forced induction in mind, and increase my horsepower goals to reflect the incredible increase in time and money. I know building an all-motor motor and a motor for FI are quite different, but hopefully when I'm buying the initial components I can keep in mind my FI goals for the future. Do you guys think this would be possible, or are the components (specifically, the H/C/I components) for an all-motor 300hp build too different than the components for a 500-700hp+ FI build?