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I have a 1978 Mustang II Coupe and the plan is to put the 2003 4.8 and 4L60E in and turbo it. It was out of a wrecked truck and only had 30K miles on it. I bought the 4.8, 4L60E, ECU, Harness and fuse panel for $850. From my understanding no one has ever put a LS in a Mustang II. The Mustang II is a roller and has a Ford 9" rear, 8 point rollcage, fuel cell, rear mounted battery, 2 bucket racing seats, and the car is completely stripped down with an aluminum dash. My goal is to get the engine and trans in the car with the Edelbrock intake and Ls9 cam and drive it a little while before adding the turbo. This is going to be a street/strip car that I might end up daily driving. I don't have a horse power goal. Whatever it makes with 7psi with the turbo is fine with me. I would greatly appreciate any advice on where to find the cheapest price on parts and or what parts I need to make my dream a reality. This is a bit of a budget build, I don't want to spend more than $5,000 on the parts to get it in, running, and turbo'ed. I paid $1500 for the rolling Mustang II and $850 for the engine and trans, so all in I would like to have $7,350 into it or less. I want this car to be very streetable which is why I chose the Ls9 cam.
My list of parts for this build are:
1. F-Body Waterpump, Balancer-Pulley, and not sure about what alternator I need? The car has a manual rack, so these are the only accessories needed. I might end up getting an electric waterpump so that I will only be running the alternater.
2. ARP Pro connecting rod bolts and other arp bolts for various things.
3. Canton Oil Pan 15-276 Front sump (hope it fits) GTO pickup, matching windage tray, remote oil filter, and studs.
4. Ls9 camshaft, Pac 1218 springs, Pac-R511 Ti Retainers, Ls7 lifters, and summit racing kit 09-0027 kit. Not sure what push rods I will need?
5. Edelbrock Pro-Flo XT 7140 intake and matching fuel rails. I want 60lb injectors, but I don't know what injectors will fit the intake, rails, and stock harness? Also, I want a cable driven Throttle Body, any suggestions?
7. I have the stock wiring harness, Computer, and fuse panel/box.
8. Should I get a set of 243's or use the stock heads. I would only get the heads once the turbo is going on. Ls9 head gaskets would be used and studs. Should I use ARP head studs or will cheap ebay studs be okay? And if I get 243's I will have them CNC'ed.
9. Not sure what will fit or clear for headers or manifolds?
10. Custom engine and trans mounts, and crossmember. Unless some one makes a swap kit for the Mustang II? ( Didn't think so )
11. What turbo do I need? I was thinking about an On3 76mm or 67mm Ball-Bearing since I plan on running 7 psi, but the motor will never see more than 12 psi. It will run on 93 octane gasoline. 50mm wastegate and 60mm blowoff valve any suggestions on brand?
12. Aluminum Driveshaft. Not sure from where yet. Any Suggestions?
13. I will also need a Torque Converter which will be bought for the turbo.
14. I want to run Mass air efi not speed density. I also want to have the car dyno tuned. (I am a carburetor guy and don't know much about efi or what I need to make it work) I know the motor didn't come with O2 sensors so I will need those also.
15. I am sure I am forgetting stuff that I will need. If you can tell me what I am missing, please do!
I am saving money to piece it together. I have 3K saved up to put into it, not sure what I should buy first. I am also not sure of when I will be able to get the fab work done for the mounts and cross member as I don't have a garage to work on stuff and will have to use a friend’s to do it. Thanks in advance for any advice!
Before I got it. It had a mild 306 SBF running 12 flat in the quarter mile
Well sold a gun today to get more funding for the project. Because I don't have a garage, I think I am going to buy a mockup block and Trans. It seems that will be the easiest way to make custom mounts and crossmember. It will also make it easier to map out the exhaust.
Since you are going with a turbo, I would not use the Corvette filter/regulator. Get a FPR that can be boost referenced so pressure will rise 1:1 with boost.
Since you are going with a turbo, I would not use the Corvette filter/regulator. Get a FPR that can be boost referenced so pressure will rise 1:1 with boost.
Andrew
Thanks for the info do you have a specific FPR in mind?
Okay so I have been thinking since this is a street car that twin turbos might be the better choice. I want it to spool at 1700 rpm so I want fairly small turbos. Anyone know what size I should get? eBay turbos are fine or if you know of some that are fairly priced that would fine as well.
Probably a long shot but any progress or info? Thinking of doing something similar with a 6.0 ls.
Still have the car. I sold the 4.8 and 4L60e I picked up. So no progress. I bought a 418W shortblock for it and haven't even finished it. I have to many hobbies. There is a guy in Canada who did an LS swap. He made his own mounts. I tried to get him to make me some. Never panned out. The pics are of his car
08-09-2015, 04:20 PM
1978 Mustang II Coupe 4.8 Turbo Swap Build Thread 
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