Rookie Lookin For Help

FlavrMonky · Apr 8, 2010

So I have an 86 Mustang. It's currently got the old 4 cylinder and a lot of miles on it. Rather than the repairs that are bound to come or a new car I was thinking I should put some balls on it. I was gonna take an older model 5.0 engine my dad has from his midlife crisis but I know it used to leak oil and has been in at least 1 accident. A friend told me to look into the new 5.0 engines that are coming out. I don't really know how feasible this is as I have only basic automotive knowledge. Tryin to get an idea of exactly how much work I'd need to put into the car to do this vs. a down payment on something newer, or am I better off going with an older model 5.0 engine.

Current stats on my car; to the best of my knowledge, is the original 4 cylinder engine, 5 speed manual for a V8 (previous owner sold the engine separately and put the 4 back in) or so I'm told...haven't really had that verified yet, still a carburetor, no major modifications to anything else in the car.

The modifications I'd wanna make to make this work out from what I can tell would be...
-Engine
-Suspension
-Transmission
-Clutch
-Fuel Injection
-Exhaust (optional but with the rest going into it may as well)

My questions for you guys are:
1. Anything else you can think of that I need to look into on my car that may need changing?
2. Where are the best places to look to learn what I need to know to start piecing together how I wanna set all this up?

I got time before I have the kinda money this is probably gonna run me between parts and labor/tools, so I figured the sooner I start learning the better.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

cmrocrshr · Apr 8, 2010

Add to the list rear end,(the 7.5 is to weak)
Brakes, (stopping a V8 is a good thing)
Complete wiring harness,(headlight to tail light, and all dash wiring.)
Figure out a budget,(then double it)

in other words, it can be done.... BUT honestly it would be cheaper to sell it and start with a v8 car rather than try to make one.

Just my .02

foxforce33 · Apr 8, 2010

cmrocrshr said:
Add to the list rear end,(the 7.5 is to weak)
Brakes, (stopping a V8 is a good thing)
Complete wiring harness,(headlight to tail light, and all dash wiring.)
Figure out a budget,(then double it)

in other words, it can be done.... BUT honestly it would be cheaper to sell it and start with a v8 car rather than try to make one.

Just my .02

+1.

4 cyl to 5.0 conversions are fairly common, but they require an extensive knowledge set and many parts if you're trying to do it yourself.

Also, the "new" 5.0 is the Coyote engine (in the 2011 GT) and I don't believe it's available as a crate motor yet. When it is available, expect it to be $$$.

Repostyle · Apr 8, 2010

Most people do the swap because the car itself is worth it, (ie super nice.) or they already had a really nice 5.0 car with money invested in aftermarket parts and wrecked it.

If you're starting from scratch, it's not really worth the work and money involved unless you get a great deal on a complete 5.0 donar car. Just sell the 2.3 car and use the money towards buying a V8 stang. You'll probably be in your current car over $4k by the time it's swapped then paint and body will add to that. You can pick-up a pretty nice 5.0 car for that or sometimes even less like this one MUSTANG 5.0 CONV. 1988 5-SPEED

boxcarracer89 · Apr 8, 2010

cmrocrshr said:
Add to the list rear end,(the 7.5 is to weak)
Brakes, (stopping a V8 is a good thing)
Complete wiring harness,(headlight to tail light, and all dash wiring.)
Figure out a budget,(then double it)

in other words, it can be done.... BUT honestly it would be cheaper to sell it and start with a v8 car rather than try to make one.

Just my .02

You dont need a complete wiring harness from front to back, all u need is the main engine harness and an a9l computer. u can make the alt harness work but is on the opposite side of the engine bay so it is really stretched, but it works. and dont 4get the fuel injector harness. i did a 4cyl conv to a v8 and didnt have much problems.

TenorPlayinGuy · Apr 8, 2010

It's gotta be a harness from an 86, That way it still works with your gauges and such... correct me if I'm wrong. That would be the easiest way. Thankfully the 86 mustang was fuel injected. I also don't know if the tach on the 4cyl does the same thing on the older stangs as it did on my 87... Otherwise, it's just covering all the corners, not just dropping it in and going out to race.

boxcarracer89 · Apr 9, 2010

you do have to change the gauge cluster and i forgot that the water temp and oil pressure didnt work, but i just bought some autozone gauges and fixed that fairly easy, if u got any questions u can just ask me and i will help u to the best of my knowledge!!

90lxcoupe · Apr 9, 2010

If the car is clean i'd say keep it, take your time and do all the research and build the car YOU want, if you start from the ground up you dont have to worry about fixing someone else's mistakes, and the price of clean v8 foxbodys is higher than it has ever been.

Look on all of the forums for ideas and deciede which direction you want to go with the car and start building. There are a million things you could do, LS swap, mod motor swap, build a stroker, or even the 5.0 coyote, im sure that will be a crate motor soon enough and since its a production motor i dont see the price being too rediculous.

Nothings really that hard about working on cars, just takes time, money and a willingness to learn

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