Hi Everyone,

I've been around the forum for a while but I think this is my first post. Most of my experience is with 3rd gen F-bodies, but I've recently acquired a couple of Mustangs. First was a '66 Coupe basketcase, and then next was an '87 Vert. The '66 is currently being restored (slowly... the rust is killing me) and will eventually get a 4.8/5.3/6.0 and an on3 or somesuch. The '87 was a "gift" from my father-in-law. It has the v6 and runs like hot garbage. The good news is, the vert top is brand new, so there's that. It does have some surface rust in places, but, meh.

Anyways, I plan on cutting my teeth on the '87 before I get to the '66. I also find myself in need of a daily driver before my pickup gives up the ghost. My wife doesn't appreciate me stealing the Flex all the time. Two birds, one stone, yadda yadda. Now, to be perfectly honest this is my first LS swap. I've seen a couple, and I've read about it, but neither are substitute for experience. I'm hoping you fine folks will help me learn through your experience and advice.

The Plan:
Looking around the Marketplace\Craigslist, it looks like I can get a 5.3 with harness and ecu and a 4l80e in the $700-$800 ballpark without too much legwork. Cheaper if I want to rebuild a trans, probably, which has it's own list of pros and cons. I'm aiming for keeping it cheap and simple to start - things can get tinkered with later.

Budget:
Since this is basically just a trial run, I want to fabricate what I can and avoid big purchases. I want to get everything running and driving and then I'll worry about upgrades. My goal is keeping it under $2000. Assuming I can get the engine\trans as outlined above, that leaves a budget of about $1200-$1300. There's a little wiggle room, but the closer I can keep on budget the happier my wife will be (and me, by extension). If I somehow manage to have money to spare, I wouldn't mind throwing a cam at it. I'd like to throw some boost at it eventually so anything I can buy once and use twice is a bonus. The car will definitely need SFCs but it'll be limpable without it.

Concerns:
The car is in a snowbank right now, so speculation at this point. Since this is a v6 car, I'm guessing the k-member may be different, so I'm not sure that I can use the 4.6 swap mounts. I know the suspension will be garbage. Maybe if I'm lucky I can score something used to correct that. I'm guessing no 8.8 either, but if not, hopefully they're as cheap and plentiful as 10-bolts. Wiring and gauges are also a concern. Gauges aren't a huge deal - I have a bluetooth ODB2 scanner that I can connect to for some gauges on a tablet or phone, so I can get around that for now, but if there's something cheap\easy, I'm all ears. Wiring has never been a forte of mine, but I'm guessing I can figure it out with some guidance. There's also the ECU. I know I need to get rid of VATS. Maybe some changes to get it to work with the 4l80e. I don't know enough about that. I'm guessing I'll either need a programmer of some sort or do a mail order deal. 4l80e also will need a crossmember, but I'm hoping I can just make one quick. Worst case scenario, I see you can buy them relatively inexpensively. Drive shaft... Obviously will need a yoke and a swap u-joint at the very least. Not sure on length. Will need heat. A/C would be spiffy but not an immediate concern. For the rad\fan, it looks like they can be sourced from a 4th gen. I plan on modifying the truck accessory bracket to lower the alternator a bit. Not sure if the truck intake clears or not. If not, I'll see what I can find used that will clear, or just avoid the whole mess and find a cowl hood I can strap on. Will likely need an oil pan to avoid clearance issues - 4th gen f-body or CTSv, I assume?

So, lots of guessing on my part. I'm sure there's things I'm overlooking, too. Please do feel free to chime in with your opinions. I'm happy to listen to any advice you guys can offer.

Thanks in advance for the assistance!
-Mike

 

So, I found a MicroSquirt with a DIY harness for $300. That would bring my total up but it'd make tuning easier, I'm guessing. I've never used a Micro\MegaSquirt or TunerStudio though, so I guess I'm not sure if it's worth the bones.

Thoughts?

 

If you want to have any hope of truly keeping things under 2 grand, you're gonna want to buy your used engine with harness and ecu and do the harness work yourself. Particularly with no MS experience -- I wouldn't go that route.

Something's wrong - typo maybe? '87 Stangs only came with the 2.3L 4 banger and the 5.0L. No V6 or 4.6 in 87.....what year is this Stang?

 

I was going to say the same thing as Michael about no factory installed V6s in Fox body Mustangs.

I'm deep into my Fox body LS swap. We're on different budgets, though. Still, I love reading about all of this stuff and learning more. I'll help out if I can. Michael Y is a wealth of knowledge!

 

Guessing 97

 

I was pretty sure that the K members are the same between the 4-cyl and V8 cars. A quick search at corral.net confirmed that they are the same, however some people claim that the V8 K puts each wheel 1/2" further outboard. I don't know whether or not this is true. In any case, the K members are essentially the same.

 

Right!

 

I think that all '96-04 Mustangs use the same K-member, and that you should be able to use 4.6 swap mounts if you choose to do so. I know for a fact that this was the case with my '03, and that seems like something that would have happened when Ford switched the Mustang from the SBF to Modular platform in '96.

Truck pans hang way too low in that platform. CTS-V pan is actually a good fit, if you can find one.

Suspension stuff all interchanges with other models up the line; there should be nothing special about the arms, but the spring and damper rates may be different and the V6 model often shipped without a rear sway bar. The V6 model does not have quad shocks on the axle (the GT does), but those are of questionable merit when used with good aftermarket control arms. The V6 should have a 28-spline 7.5" axle. I would not recommend it if this car will see hard launches. You should be able to use any Mustang 8.8 from the Fox years up through '98. '99-04 8.8s are a little wider.

Neither the truck intake nor the alternator (assuming typical truck accessory drive) will readily clear the stock hood. If you look at my build thread, you can get a rough idea of how much it sticks out. I would strongly recommend finding an alternative.

Overall, it's easy as far as swaps go. There is plenty of room in the engine compartment.

 

spending $2000 bucks are you kidding me? I do my swaps so thrifty i usually make $3000 /s

 

The stock 87-95 V8 K-members do move the lower control arm mounting holes 1/2” further outward than the 4 cylinder K-members to give a 1” wider track width, so the user would need to decide if that was something that would affect their end goal for the project.

 

Todd, thank you for confirming this!

 

The k member would be the issue. I modded my
v8 k meber to fit speed engineering swap long tubes but they would never fit if it was narrower.

 

That would would be affected by which specific headers were used. The Hooker Blackheart Fox body swap systems are intentionally designed to allow the headers to clear the stock K-member, as well as the AJE, Team Z and Maximum Motorsports MMKM-1 K-members.

 

Hi Guys,

Sorry about the mistake. I was thinking it was an '87, but it's an '86. I just double checked.

Sourcing a 5.3 with an ECU isn't much trouble, so if that's the better route to take I'll plan on that. I also found a local source to delete VATS, rear cat, etc, although I'm not sure what he charges to do so.

I had thought I read something about F-body manifolds clearing in a Fox, but if that won't work I'll have to snag a set off of ebay. I haven't specifically worked with a fox body k-member before, but I've notched and boxed k-members in the past for clearance, so I'm not opposed to doing it again if that's a possibility. I'm not afraid to do some fab work.

I'm going to dig the thing out of the snow this weekend so I can get eyes on it and maybe get it pulled into the garage if I can get the snow blower to get through the hard, frozen snow.

Edited to add: The 2K budget is just the goal. I fully understand that I could go over it, especially with the small things one doesn't normally think of. I'm not new to cars or engine swaps so I know how projects go. I just want to reign it in so it doesn't get too out of control.

Thanks!
-Mike

 

My statement didn't have anything to do with what brand swap parts were to be used, only that non V8 k members would not work no matter what parts were used.

 

I better understand what you were trying to convey now. Other than the location of the lower control arm mounting holes and the extra coli spring seat cups inside the spring pockets of the V8 K-members, there are no differences between the 4 cylinder and 8 cylinder K-members. Engine mounting brackets and headers will fit them both the same and provide the same clearances.