Hey everyone!!

Life got in the way of finishing my new build this year. Things like adopting my foster daughter, and starting a new IT business while running an another. Well all of this has left me with no time, and even less money loldum

BUT I think I am going to have time to finally get back into my build. Let me share my life in a nut shell.dum

I originally bought a 89 Mustang Vert. I wanted a Vert because I wanted a car I cold race and take out on a sunny days and enjoy with the family or myself lol.dum

I quickly built that car with full tubular suspension, k-member, control arms, strange 10 way coil overs Frame connectors. I bought a used 306. I had a AOD built by a local trans god. I also installed trick flow 170's trick flow stage 2 cam. I also installed a on3 --70m turbo kit. After I worked through the little issues with vbands, and manifold gaskets. The car ran good. I had it tuned by Frank at PSI It made 512whp throug the AOD. I did do research and found the factory blocks don't like much more than 500. So I knew my time was limited.dum

I only got to take it to the track 1 time. I went there with street tires, just to learn the car. She ran ok. First run was 12.0 at 119. I was told not to do that again due to it being a vert and not having a cage. So all day I just practiced 1/8th. I was using Goodyear 215 street tires and foot breaking. The best 60" I cold get was 1.8. Well my last run I stayed in it and could only get a 11.8 at 124 with a crappy 1.9 but that's best on those tires I think.dum

So later I was driving to have gears and cage done, and the motor let go :bang

Little earlier I was given a 2001 Vette vert with 22k miles as a work bonus. I instantly fell in love with the ls motors. I love the response, dumthe low end grunt. It has basic mods, and I have stage 2 243, and custom cam waiting to be installed. So she is about to be more fun. My point with that is. I now have even a better fun car and sunny day car with the vette. So what I decided to do is.dum

I bought a 93 notch from NC with like 78k miles. Original 4 banger. Very clean. I bought a B50 347 short block. I sent my TW 170's dumto have rebuilt and ported and polished. I sent my edlbrock intake out to Tmoss to get worked. I bought a Megasquirt ms3x. I was going to switch the new b50 347 to ls2 coil packs and ditch the ford TFI setup. I have intentions of moving everything over from my vert to notch. The notch being 300plus pounds lighter if not 500. It would be better for a street/strip car. I can enjoy vette on nice days, and have mustang for race days.

So I bought all the stuff, and made it as far as stripping about everything but the rear out of the Vert. But I have been stuck there for like 4-6 months.dum

Now that might get back to her I have been thinking and reading a lot about the baby ls motors. I was thinking should I just go 5.3? I think I would go for a 05 or higher aluminum 5.3 I read they have better rods, and pistons. I read they will hold like 800hp easy. Which I won't be able to do even with my B50 block. They are not much better than factory blocks. dumI was doing the b50 to get back and running quickly I can't afford a dart block. Plus I was going to teach myself tuning on the mega, and wouldn't do that with a 4k dart block lol. But one day I will get a dart. But if I go 5.3 do I need to?

Sorry for the loooong post guys, thanks for staying this far.dum

So what would you guys do and why?Here is some thoughts running around in my head.dum

1. I have like 99% of the parts I need to get the new build up. Maybe not worth switching directions.dum

2. My heads are worked, and the intake is worked, and the shortblock is fresh. I could probably sell it all and get what?3-4k? Would that be enough to get the ls 5.3 turbo up and running ?

3. I have a on3 turbo kit made for a 302 based mustang, does anyone know what I would have to change on it to fit the ls 5.3? Or am I better off selling and building a kit?

4. I have all new suspension including a new chromoly k-member from UPR. Do I need yet another k-member or can I use this one?

5. Transmission. I have a lot of money in my AOD. Can I use it with a 5.3? I only found one place but was like 800 for bell. I couldn't find info on converter. I have a $800 convertor, can I reuse that also?dum

6. Tuning, the good part is the Megasquirt works great with the ls stuff. So I already have that covered. I am not afraid of wiring the car myself.dum

7. Gauges, I assume I won't be able to keep any of my sock gauges right? That's added cost.dum

So what you guys think? Anything I am missing ?dum

Think I cold sell it all and do the 5.3 with turbo with little extra money out of pocket? I think the lighter stronger 5.3 would be much better.

I know I will need drive shaft. I only paid like $100 for the aluminum one I have so not big deal.dum

Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate you reading all this..dum

 

I say go for the LS....I did and really like it. Coming from a 302 it gave me 100 more HP, low end grunt, and allowed me to get the car down to 2260 lbs. 400 HP and 2260 lbs = 5.65 power to weight.

Old 302:



New aluminum LS1:

 

I had a well built 302. AFR 185 heads, custom cam. It was a awesome little motor. It ran 6.82 in 1/8 mile and 10.92 in 1/4 mile. I was very impressed. i split one block, and bought anotehr used shortblock and kept running. I knew I was max'd out with it, so decided a f4te roller block was the ticket. I seen lots of people going fast with LS power. I was still gonna build my 351. First on the list was a good rotating assembly. 1400 bucks. Not counting i needed good heads to compliment the 408 i was gonna build. i then got a good deal on a iron block 6.0 at work. I sold the roller 302. Ordered custom cam for 6.0, milled heads .020, bought intake and carb with msd 6012. Car has been a best of 6.50 with old drag radials, and lots more left in it. I feel confident it will go 6.3s when I get it right. So i picked up .3 and am using all stock parts except cam. Its best mph was 99.82. it has now went 105. I love the 6.0, the only regret is not doing it sooner.

 

mmarshall, that car is gorgeous! i bet that thing is a beast!

 

Thanks! It can be a handful at times, but it is a lot of fun! I looks even better now that it has a proper paint job.

 

so youre saying your eyes are permanently stuck to the back of your skull haha.


looks great

 

This is a great story thanks for sharing. I haven't picked a path yet. But thinking real hard. Might do lsx in race car and put my 347 stroker in street car.

 

I couldn't read through all the "dum"s, but I'm sure most here will say go LS. Might as well. Some ford fanboy will buy your old stuff then you can move on with the 5.3. Instead of playing mix and match with bells and etc I'd just sell it all and start fresh with things you know for sure will work together.

 

I just can't believe there are foxes out there that still have ford motors. You have a very rare care

 

I give the stuck in 1993 fanbois on Facebook and the mustang forums credit. They're dedicated and are willing to spend a lot more money to go slower to prove it.

I see a 5.slow powered fox and think "How 90's, a bolt on mustang. The owner must not have any fabrication skills"

 

Lol. You don't even need those anymore. He'll you can literally "bolt on" an Ls6 into a fox now. Well most of it. What sucks is I sold two notches for dirt a while ago right before the F$&@ Ford 5.0 craze started. Even a mint SVO with all the louvers and half dozen spoilers.

 

Come on in, the water's fine!

Mustang guys are notoriously cheap, so you'd have to wait it out. Still, tax time is coming and that's the prime time of year. Whether that would be enough to build your 5.3- I guess it depends on your fab skills.

There's a post on here where On 3 is looking to sell turbo kits for LS swapped Foxes.

You need a K-member designed for a 4.6 modular (and adapter plates) or Chevy engine and the correct swap mounts. All you have to swap out is the K-member itself, as the control arms and coil over kit would work with the correct K-member. You could run the BRP 5.0 stock K-member stuff, but you'd spend as much on a new K-member, and have a less than ideal solution.

AOD has an integral bellhousing, so you'll be out some $$ for machine work in addition to the expensive bellhousing, and you would need a new converter as well. You can probably find a Ford guy to buy the AOD, or maybe trade you for a C4 which is much easier to swap to an LS.

The stock gauges are so inaccurate, you probably won't be missing much if they're not working at all! haha.

 

I just finished my 90' coupe daily driver LSX swap. I thought I had a 5.3 hence my screne name, but I ended up with a 4.8. damn thing still runs better than a 5.0 with bolt-ons. It s a lot of work, but fun too. I have retained all the factory guages with the exception of the speedometer, I am still working on that one. With a "Cable X" I can get it up and working, but I dont want to spent the coin for that little box. You just have to run FORD sending units. If you need the details I can walk you through it, its not that hard, and makes for one heck of a sleeper.

 

Considering all you've already put into the Ford build, why not just sell the Mustang 'vert and start over with whatever you want for the next car?

If you would rather make the swap, you should still sell the weak block and get (even an old) 351W block as those can easily handle 800hp and your transmission should bolt up fine. Plus, aside from headers and the intake and distributor, basically everything else can fit the car with a 351W block(408 or whatever).

Since you've got so much going on, seems selling the 1st car would be easiest, even if it's sold as an incomplete project. Idonno what the engine would sell for, but that B50 block won't really do you any favors if you're making over 500rwhp and you already know it will do that. A nicely done 408 stroker can make that much N/A and still be daily capable, but it ain't cheap. At this point, it would very likely be cheaper than an entire swap, however. If you did a swap though, you could have parts for the Corvette engine.

 

Very good points.

 

Nice!! Thanks man.