please help Where can I find a 5.0L for a budget swap

I have a 1993 mustang lx 2.3- I have not found any type of information on where to find the nutritious 5.0 or better yet what kind of car or truck it can be pulled from. I also would like to know what axle i need also the drive shaft and transmission. I would love to get a donor car but i cannot find one here in Va if some one has done this before i would love to here about it and what kind of issues i might run into or is it better to just leave the 2.3 in the car
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Here is a thread where a member swapped a 5.0 push rod engine into an 86. Pretty much the same as 93 with the exception of substitution of 92-93 parts. It is not for the faint of heart or the mechanically inept. It will involve swapping engine, trans and rear end but also includes most of the wiring, fuel lines and other associated part/pieces.
You may consider leaving the 4 cylinder in place and enjoy the ride. I say this because there are countless hacked up half finished nice 4 cylinder cars that were turned to junk or half assed carb swapped crap sitting in someone's back yard or junked because someone got in over their head.
It can be done but it will require a V8 car for parts, add to that the 92-3 cars have wiring changes and the addition of air bags.
Welcome to stangnet :cool:
i'll move this to the fox gen talk area to see if any members have more thoughts/insite I have not listed
 
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It's not as easy as a swap as many make it out to be if your not living the foxbody life... but to swap in a injected 5.0 you'll need to find a motor and the appropriate wiring. Wiring has changed a few times through the years and for a plug and play setup you need to make them up right.

For your 93 you have to know that the main harness was changed mid year in 1992 so for your 93 conversion you can essentially use a harness from a 92 car or 93 car. The problem is you can only use a harness from a 92 car if it's mid to late production because mid year they changed where the fuel pump relay is situated. Easy way to tell which is which is for 91-mid year 92 the fuel pump relay would be under the driver seat. From mid year 92 and 93 it would be in the engine bay next to the MAF plug and AC wot relay.

With your car being a 93 you want the later 92 or 93 harness. Easy to tell from pictures if its what you need or not. 1, it would have the round brown redish plug which connects to the dash wiring. 2, would have two relays by the Mass Air Flow connector (91-early 92 wouldn't have relays by this connector)

Besides that main harness you'll need the appropriate 02 harness and transmission harness (manual, or auto), a 90-93 fuel injection harness and ECU. With that the wiring is done.

Next would be the fuel lines... both on the 2.3 come in on the driver side by the firewall where as the lines on a v8 fox come in on the passenger side by the airbox. You would have to swap out the fuel lines for v8 style or get creative

Have fun
 
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Here is a thread where a member swapped a 5.0 push rod engine into an 86. Pretty much the same as 93 with the exception of substitution of 92-93 parts. It is not for the faint of heart or the mechanically inept. It will involve swapping engine, trans and rear end but also includes most of the wiring, fuel lines and other associated part/pieces.
You may consider leaving the 4 cylinder in place and enjoy the ride. I say this because there are countless hacked up half finished nice 4 cylinder cars that were turned to junk or half assed carb swapped crap sitting in someone's back yard or junked because someone got in over their head.
It can be done but it will require a V8 car for parts, add to that the 92-3 cars have wiring changes and the addition of air bags.
Welcome to stangnet :cool:
i'll move this to the fox gen talk area to see if any members have more thoughts/insite I have not listed
Thanks Brother, I highly appreciate you
 
It's not as easy as a swap as many make it out to be if your not living the foxbody life... but to swap in a injected 5.0 you'll need to find a motor and the appropriate wiring. Wiring has changed a few times through the years and for a plug and play setup you need to make them up right.

For your 93 you have to know that the main harness was changed mid year in 1992 so for your 93 conversion you can essentially use a harness from a 92 car or 93 car. The problem is you can only use a harness from a 92 car if it's mid to late production because mid year they changed where the fuel pump relay is situated. Easy way to tell which is which is for 91-mid year 92 the fuel pump relay would be under the driver seat. From mid year 92 and 93 it would be in the engine bay next to the MAF plug and AC wot relay.

With your car being a 93 you want the later 92 or 93 harness. Easy to tell from pictures if its what you need or not. 1, it would have the round brown redish plug which connects to the dash wiring. 2, would have two relays by the Mass Air Flow connector (91-early 92 wouldn't have relays by this connector)

Besides that main harness you'll need the appropriate 02 harness and transmission harness (manual, or auto), a 90-93 fuel injection harness and ECU. With that the wiring is done.

Next would be the fuel lines... both on the 2.3 come in on the driver side by the firewall where as the lines on a v8 fox come in on the passenger side by the airbox. You would have to swap out the fuel lines for v8 style or get creative

Have fun
Im so glad that you told me this information thank you vary much Im 17 and i have enjoyed working on them throughout my life i just bought this fox it has no rust on the shock towers or floor pans this is a plus+ also the torque box is vary solid you wont believe this I only paid $300 for it :) Thanks again i appreciate your help
 
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Most cost effective way to do it is to find a 1993 donor Mustang.

WIring changed over the years and this will give you the best swap option without having to hunt down misc fittings, bolts, wires, etc.
 
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Im so glad that you told me this information thank you vary much Im 17 and i have enjoyed working on them throughout my life i just bought this fox it has no rust on the shock towers or floor pans this is a plus+ also the torque box is vary solid you wont believe this I only paid $300 for it :) Thanks again i appreciate your help


No problem I actually just did the same thing.. Found a rust free 2.3L 93 coupe and completely swapped it. If you want to add the lx exhaust tips from the v8 rather then just dump exhaust you'll need to source out the two exhaust bracket hangers for the one side that doesn't have exhaust on your 2.3. Also if you want to swap a 8.8 rear from a v8 in you'll need to swap brake lines... I would probably just get the wiring squared away first then drop the motor and trans in and drive it until you get used to the car and power and if your needs for the car require the 8.8 swap it at a later time. Just my opinion your young and have plenty of time to do so

Also like mentioned above, ideal way to do this would be to source a rusty crusty 93 v8 car to have next to your 2.3 an to pull the needed parts from
 
You've gotten good advice so far.

I've done this swap twice and done many AOD to T5 swaps also. Both fairly involved.

If you have the time and energy... go for it!


The first one I did was a 2.3l auto 89 LX convertible. Bought a wrecked 87GT and swapped everything over. Did it on my driveway under a car port in the middle of winter.... but that was when I was in my 20s... also converted to 5 speed.

Second one I did was an 83 V6 auto. Converted that to 5 speed also and put a 351W in it.

Lots of work but I didn't mind back then. I bought this 87GT in April and struggle to find time to even do basic work on it.. and it needs a lot of work...

It's not terrible if you have the time and ability.... do lots of research and plan accordingly.

Good luck with your decision....
 
What you want to do will require money, tools, experience and time, all of which are probably in short supply at your young age. No offense meant! I'm sure you probably want to get your hands dirty and dive into your project! Been there, done that. IIWY, I'd get my hands dirty by cleaning up your existing '93, get it running properly and sell it for a tidy profit. You got a screamin' deal on it for $300! '87-'93's are only going up in price. Take your profits plus any pennies saved and invest in another one, this time a 5.0. Now you've got a project you can fix up and enjoy driving at the same time! Just an old guys $.02.