5.3 Fox on the Cheap
 

Howdy,

Figured I would post my build here since it will be a carb'd 5.3. We have all seen this done a 100 times on here but I am hell bent on doing it really really cheap. I am also a carb guy and haven't gotten the efi bug yet.

I bought this 93 hatch a few months ago for 2 grand and turned out to have gt40 heads and a cam. All the typical 5.0 shit that has been done for years.

Made a couple passes in it and decide why prolong what I really wanted and sold the 302 and t5 for a 1000 bucks. Found a 5.3 on CL the next day and it goes from there.

Its not done yet but I am making progress on a daily basis. Hoping to the hit the track in late October and a high 7 in the 1/8 NA would be awesome. I plan to spray it and change the cam and converter once I get comfortable with the car.

I appreciate all the endless help and knowledge that I have learned from everyone. Looking forward to feedback good or bad.

Steven

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5.3 with 100k miles completely dissembled.

150 bucks and i got the guys engine hoist and engine stand for another 150.

Good
- 150 bucks...
- next to no wear on bearings
- can still see cross hatching in cylinder walls
- no rust.
- all sensors came with it
- all bolts bagged and tagged from previous owner
- came with truck intake, no TB, fuel rails, harness, no pcm, stock injectors
- flywhweel in great shape too
- balancer
- coil packs

Bad
- no water pump
- no exhaust manifolds
- no alternator
- no starter

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Found CL two streets from house. Just rebuilt with a shift kit and came with a 2800 stall converter.

400 bucks

I cleaned the motor up and order parts.

Fel pro mls head gaskets, tty head bolts "i know, shitty", arp bolts for converter and bell, jegs swap oil pan kit.., ict lifter valley cover, holley intake, and found a Might Demon 750 on CL.

I will post my totals for the build once i update them. I am probably less than 3k in total including the fuel cell, fuel pump etc.

Painted the trans black last night and I plan to mate the two tonight. I bought the spacer that is needed so I hope it all goes together good.

Hopefully I can lower this down in the car to start work through the mounts for the engine and trans. Sticking with the stock k member and I flat refuse to pay 300 for BRP mounts. If I have to buy a welder and make them I will... hahaha

Best thing you can do to a Ford.

Its a bit expensive to make this conversion but once you are there youre golden. A sbf that can handle this much abuse is north of 3k. When this pops its another 500 bucks, rinse and repeat.

The community and support for the ls platform is unbelievable.

Well, if you want to go "there" and not use manifolds, I'll be damned if speed engineering isn't selling a LS swap header for a fox for 300$. Shit is driving e crazy because they don't make a swap header for the 94 GT I'm working on. Kinda kills me, lol.

It is a lot easier to put the cam and converter in it now than after you put the engine in.

I agree, but I want to hit the track sooner. Then in winter i can pull it apart again.

If I wait for the cam and converter it will be spring time with the budget I am allocating towards it.

Im going to go check them out, thanks for that. Very reasonable too.

I was also considering using stock manifolds and flip them forward and dumping them out the front fender. kind of nasty but its a not a street driven car and cheap is a plus.

Those headers are nice too. I ordered my buddy a set and they look very good. I wish I had a set. I may order some for mine and sell my dynatechs.

Will they clear the stock k member?

Says AJE K member I think for the dynatechs and if they are made after those then it would probably be required. Only 270$ for the K member.

little progress this morning. At home with my sick daughter the next couple of days. between naps..

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More progress. The stock t5 cross member to the holes in the stock k member are very close to the mounts on the th350 to the center line of the 5.3 motor mounts.

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Plenty of room and will work on getting the trans up in the cross member a bit to level this out.

Man you're busting ass on this thing! What ignition box are you going to run? I'd like to see some more reviews of people running the new MSD 6014