Gladly.

The water pump upper hose does NOT hit the throttle body. There are no mods to the water pump or any other "parts store, side of the road" repair or replaceable parts. I have a fear (for good reason) of being hundreds of miles from home and having a failure (it happens to us all). The trick is I can never use cruise control. I shaved the cruise tab off and a bit of the flashing around the press fit that holds the throttle cable boss to the pivot. I didn't have to shave off much and I can take a pic if you like. I may have not needed to kill the cruise but I have never used it on a car I owned so it is no loss. Future plans are to make a set of spacers and use the car water pump purely for cleaner hose routing. I saw a spacer that spaces the TB out which in theory would save trimming the tab, but I was concerned with clearance.

What do you want to know about the accessories? Let me know and I'll probably have to take more pics. The power steering pump is in the factory GM location using the GM bracket with the alternator section cut off. Not pretty but quick and fit the budget. I may change this to a home made bracket or clean up the one I have at a later date.

The AC is only in that location due to factory hose length. I did the gray beard hot rod trick of not dumping the AC since it worked very well so it is the Ford AC pump on a home brew bracket. In theory anything could go in that location and my original plans were to use the GM AC pump with custom lines and put the alternator there.

For Power steering I took my hoses to a local guy that makes custom power steering, AC and hydraulic hoses. He took my factory Ford pressure PS hose, cut the end off and put a GM connection on it. Then I took apart the GM pump and modified the pressure relief valve for something closer to the lower pressure the Ford rack requires. The GM units run a higher pressure and the car will be very "twitchy" if this step isn't done. For my preference the car had too much assist from the factory (pre swap) and it got worse on the high speed / quick maneuvers. After the kit I have it closer to where I want it, but should probably add one more shim to make it right for me. Again I shopped locally since I have a few hot rod shops to choose from, but you can buy Borgeson PN 899001 or March Performance PN P306 from many on line vendors. I believe there is a third option as well however I can't remember which I used. They are all essentially the same kit and are about $20.

 

Pictures of your brackets , and TB . I'm not using cruise so that's fine.

 

Cool. I can do that.

 

Thanks I'm Most likely Going to go with Braided Line for my power steering . But might get a host made not sure yet. Thanks alot for the help though. Most people go with a manual rack which is an option , but I have a power steering rack under warranty at AZ so figured I'd use it. Hmm Might be time to check flaming river.

 

I had the hose converted for less than the cost of the length of braided line I would need - let's not even talk about fittings. According to my spreadsheet it was a whopping $17.94 for that mod. Granted I used a hose I already had and simply cut the end off.

 

Hey gofastwclass,

Could you post those pics of your accessories w/your custom brackets? I am doing this swap into an 01 mustang and had questions about these issues also. Props to you for helping out fellow rodders!

 

Sorry, been busy. World of Wheels is here and I helped a friend take a car and some motor bikes to the show, then clean, wax, etc. them... Anyway, end of excuses - here are pictures as promised.

I'm not exactly what you guys wanted pictures of so if I don't cover it or you need another angle, let me know and I'll take more.

Overall accessory belt routing.


Alternator mounted in original A/C location. Note rubber dust from slipping belt at WOT. Had a bad tensioner when photo was taken. Also note my design flaw of having to drop the coolant hose to change belts... needless to say this oversight will be resolved in the future.


Alternator and idler pulley bracket.




Cut off power factory steering bracket.


Tensioner pulley bracket.


AC Bracket.


Modified throttle bracket. I used a die grinder for this task, but I'm sure a Dremel would work fine. Honestly it hardly rubbed, but I gave it a bit of clearance so it wouldn't rub at WOT.

 

Nice what idler is that on the driver's side. As in what application?

 

Do you mean the tensioner? It's stock for the truck engine I used (2000 Silverado, 5.3). It is supposed to mount to the water pump on the passenger side. The idler near the alternator is also stock and would have mounted near the tensioner's current home.

 

I have looked at this build for like 3 days in a row. I am going to have to do this to mine. What kind of changes are done to the harness?

SWS

 

Which harness? The car or the engine?

Since the engine harness wasn't anything exciting beyond a normal stand alone conversion, I'll assume you mean the car.

I have a service manual for the car but it wasn't nearly as simple as the engine. Many of the wire sizes and colors change across connectors and there is no "master" diagram so I had to make lots of notes and keep flipping pages. Not being a Ford guy, I didn't realize this until it was time to wire the car. I also didn't realize the service manual I purchased from our favorite online auction site was book one of a two part set. Needless to say I needed book two as the first was chassis, suspension and drive line.

First I removed the factory computer and bypassed the fuel pump relay box. Then I added my own fuel pump relay and thermostatic fan control before I had the wiring diagram (the first start video I posted earlier). Later I discovered this also powered my 2 speed fan and AC clutch. I already had the fan situation worked out since the truck PCM wasn't programmed to do fans, but I wanted my AC back which required more reading.

I cut the wires from the factory computer for the gauges and ran my own from the PCM to them for the check engine light, tach and speedo. I added a relay for the TCC clutch release off the brake light switch (reverse operation). Then the alternator was wired with the GM control (through the PCM) with the output through the factory fuse just like the Ford was and all systems were go.

I can't think of anything else I changed but if I do I'll let you know.

You should make the switch, it's way more fun than it was before.

 

Oh...I guess I did not realize you needed the disc. I uhhhhhhh....kinda have the Ford one for the car. So, you have no computer control from the Ford one at all? So the airbags and such are stand alone or non functioning? The 4.6 is kind of anemic but with the right parts it is pretty good. I THINK I am going to keep the 4.6 in the white car and try to find a 6.0 for the red car. But until I get it running in the 12s with the 357, it will not be NEAR ready for a LSx turbo.

SWS

 

Disc, what disc?

If you are referencing the need for the wiring diagrams, I didn't really NEED them but it made life a TON easier. Without them I would still be messing with stuff, instead I just need to work out a couple of small ergonomic irritations and make it pretty.

The Ford computer is gone. Air bags, seats, windows and all the other stuff aren't run by the PCM, so they are all good. The car wasn't an ABS car and ABS is run through the PCM, but it wouldn't matter since I don't use ABS on my cars.

You just struck on the reason for the swap - the 4.6 is anemic, the 3.8 I started with makes a 4.6 car look like a powerhouse and the 5.3 in stock form produces 100 more HP than the 4.6 for that car. Finding a non ragged out 260 HP Mustang 4.6 is both hard and expensive and leaves you down on power compared to the 5.3. Gen III bolt-on's are nearly as cheap as you can get and the engines respond very well to small modifications. Since a transmission and wiring change was in order no matter what direction I went it didn't really matter much to me.

My next issue is upgrading the suspension, brakes and eliminating my occasional wheel hop issues. Oh, yeah... I need a new drive shaft - I don't know why the factory crimped one isn't working so well. (oops)

So what kind of power do you need to get one of these cars in the 12's? I think it weighs 3900 LBS right?

 

Yeah...the EVTM/service manual on disc. I think I can even put my hands on it. If I could sell my 4.6 stuff (ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL of the extras I have) I am not sure I could still swing the swap cashwise. In fact, if I spent that money on the 4.6, it would be faster than the 5.3.

Go to the yard and get a Mark VIII shaft. Theyz 'luminum. You need to look for one that is a one piece (cause they make a two piece unit too). If you need one that is two piece (to have it modded), lemme know and we can work out a deal.

SWS

 

Oh, I see. I got a book, easier to read while under hood.

I've got a guy I use that will make a steel one for a reasonable price. Not sure I want to go the aluminum route, I want to (and already have) beat on the thing pretty hard. He was going to re-tube mine to the same length for $100 more than shortening the aluminum Mark VIII shaft would cost. The lighter weight would be nice though.

How can I know if it is a one piece shaft before dropping the tank? I remember a thing with Mark VIII info about lengths and such but I don't remember seeing that. I thought all Mark VIII drive shafts were one piece.

 

Look at the rear of the shaft. There is a clear difference as the two piece has a huge gap. I will send you a pic on the cell if the number you PM'd me was the cell number.

SWS

 

Yep, that is my cell, send away. I may take that route if I can get one that isn't damaged for the right price. Less rotating weight is good!

I need to take a trip to the yard anyway. I've not been in a few weeks.

 

Sent them. The worst part about pulling them is getting the gas tank out. You can do it if the trans is out or if you are going to pull the rear end (hint hint). You NEED a 36mm socket to pull the axles out and a t-50 (maybe 45) to pull the knuckles off. I will measure the pivot bolts to get you those sizes if you need them. I have the sockets to pull the axles and the torx bits if you need to borrow them.

Let me know as I have a lot of nothing to do this weekend (had the snip snip done an hour ago).

SWS

 

I know I'm bringing this back from the dead, but GREAT build!

I used to have a '94 Cougar XR7, and I LOVED that car! I thought it rode and handled great, especially such a big car. I loved the comfort, and even today think it has the best interior of any car I've ever owned.

Mine had the 4.6, and even with that it was slow. I can't imagine if it had the 3.8. Of course I wouldn't have bought it in that case, I think the Ford 3.8 is a POS.

I'd have LOVED to have LS power in that car.

And it most definitely had a open diff btw.

I actually kind of miss it, and I just saw a really clean black '95 for sale the other day too.

I'm going to suggest the Cobra wheels for it. Back when I was into the MN12's, alot of guys were running them on the T-Birds and they looked GREAT! I forget who sold them, but you can get them in the proper bolt pattern for the MN12's.

 

Dead? It isn't old enough to call dead... I've seen threads revived with 6 months since the last post.

Thanks for the compliment. Between driving the car and people like you, it makes the hard work worthwhile.

These cars are great to drive and ride well but were heavy and underpowered in factory form. The 3.8 was the most pathetic, unresponsive, unnecessarily difficult to work on engine I have ever owned and the only one in my stable with no available upgrades or aftermarket support. (SC parts won't work and you can't convert it to an SC without swapping engines, wiring, computers, etc., etc., etc.)

Mine had an open diff, but now it is a 3.27 limited slip. I might go steeper for the street and use this for highway trips.

Show me a pic of the wheels you are talking about. I dig the wheels KTK Z28 posted and thought about sourcing some of those. Running Mustang wheels after I change to a real bolt circle with real (i.e. mustang) brakes (another gripe) should happen this summer. Using Mustang wheels has been in the works since day one but I haven't decided which ones.

You should buy the 95 and convert it.