1990 Mustang w/ LS1/T56
#1
1990 Mustang w/ LS1/T56
Well after being a member here for almost 10 years I finally get to begin my first LS swap. For a few years I wanted a notch mustang with an IRS and LS/T56 swap.
The plan is to have a nice cruiser, that handles like it's on rails, enough power to keep my happy...for now, have A/C, good radio, ultimately take it on the Power Tour in 2020 etc..
Call it Pro-touring ish.Ish mainly due to the paint job being last on the list, and even then I just want driver quality, this is in no way a show or a drag car.
The car:
A pretty basic Foxbody, I'm the third owner and the last owner let it sit for 10 years.
One of the first days of owning it I took it to Autozone to grab basic tune up things and the brakes locked down on me on the way home, so I bought new calipers for it and while bleeding the brakes I learned that while working on this car I would I have two nemesis' 30-year-old parts, and the previous owner worked on it. While bleeding the rear drums I found out the bleed screw was cross threaded and would not go back in correctly and now leaked brake fluid every time the brakes were pushed. So I decided to start looking for a rear disk setup and stumbled on an IRS that had all poly bushings, 4:10s, MM adjustable tie rods, and the heavy-duty cross member.
Naturally, that snowballed into doing the rest of the 5-lug swap and cobra brakes on the front:
New vs. Old front brakes:
Old solid axle out:
The front of the subframe bolts right up, and the rear will bolt in but first you have to mount the bracket to the frame of the car, which requires a few new holes to be drilled. I decided to cut a access hole in the trunk pan in order to make a nut plate, which I can weld the nuts to, then weld that to the frame of the car. So I could weld the pan back together and not worry about the nuts turning if I ever had to take the bracket off for some reason.
Which I found the only rust on the car at this time, just a little in the spare tire area.
Just a little surface build up..fixed.
After about 5 months working on it here and there (we had a newborn roughly a month after I bought the car) I finished the IRS swap:
Front 5 lug complete:
The car decided for itself it deserved a better power plant:
Enter Wrecked Trans Am and Speed Engineering swap kit.
Cleaned up the engine bay and installed the K member :
Then in a single day, dropped the LS1/T56 from the Trans Am, dropped the motor in the notch, and reinstalled the T/A k member:
Roughly that is where I am currently, will be updating as we move along.
The plan is to have a nice cruiser, that handles like it's on rails, enough power to keep my happy...for now, have A/C, good radio, ultimately take it on the Power Tour in 2020 etc..
Call it Pro-touring ish.Ish mainly due to the paint job being last on the list, and even then I just want driver quality, this is in no way a show or a drag car.
The car:
A pretty basic Foxbody, I'm the third owner and the last owner let it sit for 10 years.
One of the first days of owning it I took it to Autozone to grab basic tune up things and the brakes locked down on me on the way home, so I bought new calipers for it and while bleeding the brakes I learned that while working on this car I would I have two nemesis' 30-year-old parts, and the previous owner worked on it. While bleeding the rear drums I found out the bleed screw was cross threaded and would not go back in correctly and now leaked brake fluid every time the brakes were pushed. So I decided to start looking for a rear disk setup and stumbled on an IRS that had all poly bushings, 4:10s, MM adjustable tie rods, and the heavy-duty cross member.
Naturally, that snowballed into doing the rest of the 5-lug swap and cobra brakes on the front:
New vs. Old front brakes:
Old solid axle out:
The front of the subframe bolts right up, and the rear will bolt in but first you have to mount the bracket to the frame of the car, which requires a few new holes to be drilled. I decided to cut a access hole in the trunk pan in order to make a nut plate, which I can weld the nuts to, then weld that to the frame of the car. So I could weld the pan back together and not worry about the nuts turning if I ever had to take the bracket off for some reason.
Which I found the only rust on the car at this time, just a little in the spare tire area.
Just a little surface build up..fixed.
After about 5 months working on it here and there (we had a newborn roughly a month after I bought the car) I finished the IRS swap:
Front 5 lug complete:
The car decided for itself it deserved a better power plant:
Enter Wrecked Trans Am and Speed Engineering swap kit.
Cleaned up the engine bay and installed the K member :
Then in a single day, dropped the LS1/T56 from the Trans Am, dropped the motor in the notch, and reinstalled the T/A k member:
Roughly that is where I am currently, will be updating as we move along.
Last edited by samuel642000; 11-25-2019 at 10:18 PM.
The following users liked this post:
HILROD (12-06-2019)
#4
Thanks man, more to come.
Appreciate it! They are just factory SN95 type Bullitts, planning on getting the deeper style with wider meats eventually, or change the wheel selection completely in the future when I am "done"
#5
Got a little garage time in throughout the day today and was installing the Modern Driveline hydraulic clutch conversion:
And converted the throw outs to have an AN-4 fitting instead of the pushlock, fortunatly I enjoy building rifles also which meant I had a punch kit, for the roll pin, nearby.
Decided to end there for the day.
And converted the throw outs to have an AN-4 fitting instead of the pushlock, fortunatly I enjoy building rifles also which meant I had a punch kit, for the roll pin, nearby.
Decided to end there for the day.
#6
An Fbody radiator and fans work well if you’re on a budget. A Griffin Foxbody LS conversion with Lincoln Mark VIII fan is a real nice way to go for not much more money.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...l#post20148958
https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...l#post20148958
Last edited by 64post; 11-27-2019 at 10:22 AM.
#7
An Fbody radiator and fans work well if you’re on a budget. A Griffin Foxbody LS conversion with Lincoln Mark VIII fan is a real nice way to go for not much more money.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...l#post20148958
https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...l#post20148958
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#8
Good thinking! Better to "spend well" once, than 2 or more times later! Best of times to you, and have a good Thanksgiving!
#9
#11
Started putting a few items that have been showing up lately,
Knock sensors seemed to have been at the end of their life also, so I ordered new Ac Delco sensors and a new harness, seeing as the orginal was cut in half on a poor intake install...
New Aeromotive 340 stealth pump;
Getting ready to build the fuel system next while waiting on my engine harness.
The following users liked this post:
HILROD (12-04-2019)
#12
Maaaaaaiiiiiiiillllllll Callllllllll......
Got quite a few pieces of the puzzle in today, have a few more orders that are already in route and that should give me all the "big" buys to get this thing going. Minus the drive shaft and a tune, which will be last.
Went with a BP Automotive harness for this car mainly due to a couple of things, they include a few options that other companies charge an up charge fee for, they were quick to respond to my questions and didn't make it seem as if it was an inconvenience to do so, the braided loom was cheaper here than all others and they installed it for you instead of just supply the loom, lastly,... the had the biggest percentage off on black Friday lol
About the only complaint I have, which may be my fault if I overlooked it, is that the oil pressure wiring needed to be requested in order for it to be incorporated. Not a major deal and the way it read in the instructions is it wouldn't have been a charge to do so, but I didn't see it listed as needing to be requested on the ordering page. Ah well I'll figure it out.
Ordered black Friday, they added a couple customs for me like the Cruise Control wiring and the loom, and it arrived today, 5 days later.
Looks really good, and clear instructions are included with it.
Next up the majority of my fuel system has shown up, minus 2 fuel rail lines.
Tentative plan is similar to this below:
Might be a little overboard for the current setup but it should allow room to grow in the future.
Now remember what I said about one of my greatest challenges with this car is the previous owner worked on it? It appears that the lower radiator support is a great location to place a jack on this car....
(Ignore the mess, a lot of jumping back and forth and doing what I can at the time)
Ordered Motion Raceworks lower radiator support which is a nice piece have only one minor complaint is that it didn't include hardware(has the ability to be mounted with hardware or welded) but again nothing major can grab that on my way home from work one day. There's also a hint of what is in the future plans for this car in this pic...
Lastly, received my Holley fuel rails and Lokar throttle cable:
Threw those on already:
That's about the end of the parts drop off for the day, current plan of attack is to finish the interior rewire/wire clean up, and try to finish the wiring and get it tucked away and closed out. Then enlarge the hole for the shifter of the T56 to come through the floorboard, get that squared away and on to the fuel system.
Got quite a few pieces of the puzzle in today, have a few more orders that are already in route and that should give me all the "big" buys to get this thing going. Minus the drive shaft and a tune, which will be last.
Went with a BP Automotive harness for this car mainly due to a couple of things, they include a few options that other companies charge an up charge fee for, they were quick to respond to my questions and didn't make it seem as if it was an inconvenience to do so, the braided loom was cheaper here than all others and they installed it for you instead of just supply the loom, lastly,... the had the biggest percentage off on black Friday lol
About the only complaint I have, which may be my fault if I overlooked it, is that the oil pressure wiring needed to be requested in order for it to be incorporated. Not a major deal and the way it read in the instructions is it wouldn't have been a charge to do so, but I didn't see it listed as needing to be requested on the ordering page. Ah well I'll figure it out.
Ordered black Friday, they added a couple customs for me like the Cruise Control wiring and the loom, and it arrived today, 5 days later.
Looks really good, and clear instructions are included with it.
Next up the majority of my fuel system has shown up, minus 2 fuel rail lines.
Tentative plan is similar to this below:
Might be a little overboard for the current setup but it should allow room to grow in the future.
Now remember what I said about one of my greatest challenges with this car is the previous owner worked on it? It appears that the lower radiator support is a great location to place a jack on this car....
(Ignore the mess, a lot of jumping back and forth and doing what I can at the time)
Ordered Motion Raceworks lower radiator support which is a nice piece have only one minor complaint is that it didn't include hardware(has the ability to be mounted with hardware or welded) but again nothing major can grab that on my way home from work one day. There's also a hint of what is in the future plans for this car in this pic...
Lastly, received my Holley fuel rails and Lokar throttle cable:
Threw those on already:
That's about the end of the parts drop off for the day, current plan of attack is to finish the interior rewire/wire clean up, and try to finish the wiring and get it tucked away and closed out. Then enlarge the hole for the shifter of the T56 to come through the floorboard, get that squared away and on to the fuel system.
#17
Do you have any pictures of how the master cylinder connects to the clutch pedal?
How do you plan to run the a/c system?
I have the exact same car mine is an 91 but same color and everything. I also will be running a 5.3 with a t56.
How do you plan to run the a/c system?
I have the exact same car mine is an 91 but same color and everything. I also will be running a 5.3 with a t56.
#18
http://www.mustangandfords.com/how-t...r-fox-mustangs
For the A/C I plan to utilize TxFireman1972's thread, like I have quite a few times already in my build. There is a lot of good info in here:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...ec-3550-a.html
Last edited by samuel642000; 12-10-2019 at 06:43 AM.
#19
I started hooking up the power steering lines and the pressure reduction kit by Scram Speed, and long story short I should have made my own. The pressure line is quite a bit too short, or so it appears in my first two attempts to install it, sent them a couple messages so far hopefully they can send me another or at least respond to tell me to F.O.
Anywho, the return line fit fine, the pressure reduction went in without much fanfare.
I searched for this info for quite a while so hopefully someone else can use it, shows the pressure stock GM pumps putout:
Remove the fitting for the line to screw into:
Remove the valve;
I found using vice grips worked the best for me to hold the valve while you unscrew the bolt(which is an 11mm) don't drop anything out of the inside, install your shims and reassemble.
Anywho, the return line fit fine, the pressure reduction went in without much fanfare.
I searched for this info for quite a while so hopefully someone else can use it, shows the pressure stock GM pumps putout:
Remove the fitting for the line to screw into:
Remove the valve;
I found using vice grips worked the best for me to hold the valve while you unscrew the bolt(which is an 11mm) don't drop anything out of the inside, install your shims and reassemble.