5.3 in 1966 Mustang?

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Sep 24, 2006 | 06:57 PM

CorvettePD

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5.3 in 1966 Mustang?

Yea yea, its bit of an oxymoron to fit a chevy into a ford, but many have done and loved it!

With that said, have any of you read or personally seen an LS1 or 5.3 in a 66 Mustang?

I am considering picking up a 66 for a deal that I cant beat. It has a worn out 289 and 3 speed in it. Having owned the 5.3 truck and LS6 Corvette, I have to say that I feel they (LS) are about one of the best line of engines in production today. I am considering the 5.3 over the LS1 simply due to the savings in cost. I would also prefer to go with the 6 speed transmission.

I'd love to read about anyone else who has done this and possibly any sort of write up in regards to brackets used and where they were fabricated or purchased.

Thanks!

Sep 24, 2006 | 08:29 PM

Brains

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There was talk of someone thinking about doing it, but no answers on whether or not he started the project. I say go for it, I'd love to watch some blue blood boil over that one

Sep 24, 2006 | 09:33 PM

CMcCarthy

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You better be getting a smoking deal on it, because it will be worthless after you swap the motor. You'd be far better off just reselling it as is for a profit and buying some other toy.

Sep 24, 2006 | 10:01 PM

CorvettePD

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Quote:

Originally Posted by CMcCarthy

You better be getting a smoking deal on it, because it will be worthless after you swap the motor. You'd be far better off just reselling it as is for a profit and buying some other toy.

Perhaps. 64-66 Mustang's arent exactly high dollar cars. A search on ebay or collector car will show quite a few in decent condition for less than 10k. This wouild by no means be a restoration project with hopes of it being a showroom reproduction.

Sep 24, 2006 | 10:06 PM

Brains

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Indeed, 66-69 Mustang coupes in fair condition generally go for around 5-6k down here.

Sep 24, 2006 | 10:08 PM

CorvettePD

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A search on ebay also shows that the 5.3 is far cheaper and more available than the DOHC 4.6 engines. I dont know a heck of a lot about the mustang engines, however. It just seems like the 5.3 is a cheaper and better engine to start with.

Sep 25, 2006 | 11:20 AM

kwkenuf

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Quote:

Originally Posted by CMcCarthy

You better be getting a smoking deal on it, because it will be worthless after you swap the motor. You'd be far better off just reselling it as is for a profit and buying some other toy.

It certainly won't be "worthless". I would surmise that no member of this board perfoms a LSx swap thinking that they will have a 100 point restoration when they are done. We do this for other reasons and our cars certainly have value when they are done. I have 3 swaps (2 complete, 1 in the works). A 68 LT1/4L60E Camaro, a 65 5.3/4L60E Chevy stepside, and a 61 LT1/T56 Corvette... Are these cars worthless? I think not. While they will always have more value to the owner who did the swap, if a person was inclined to sell and found the right buyer (who knew what they were looking at), they certainly would command a very fair price..... But no, Edmunds or Kelly Blue Book values don't apply here.

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Nov 22, 2010 | 09:43 AM

Irish350

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wow, surprised you found this thread.. i never did. Im planning on putting my 5.7 into my 65 coupe in the coming months. heres my thread, for what little info it has so far

https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...n-mustang.html

EDIT: also, this thread was created when there was less precedence for high dollar ls swaps. who'dve thought rx7s could sell for 30k+?

Nov 23, 2010 | 12:17 AM

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kmracer

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Quote:

Originally Posted by CMcCarthy

You better be getting a smoking deal on it, because it will be worthless after you swap the motor. You'd be far better off just reselling it as is for a profit and buying some other toy.

BAHAHAHAH! what a tool. im a mustang guy, my first car was a 66 mustang, im putting a turbo 5.3 in my 88 mustang, and i plan on installing a turbo 6.0 in my 66 in the future.

DO IT. the only thing i'd be worried about is shock tower clearance.

Nov 23, 2010 | 06:40 AM

#11

fast

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I had a 5.3 (the aluminum block version) I was going to put into my Mom's 'vert 'stang ... went simple old school 5.0 instead

Nov 23, 2010 | 04:25 PM

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c6matt

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Quote:

Originally Posted by fast

I had a 5.3 (the aluminum block version) I was going to put into my Mom's 'vert 'stang ... went simple old school 5.0 instead

thats what i was debating, injected 5.0 or 5.3... hmmm

Nov 24, 2010 | 10:40 PM

#13

Irish350

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Quote:

Originally Posted by kmracer

SBFs fit fine, so while the shock towers make it more of a pain, i dont think theyd ever obstruct like a big block would (even a tall deck ls would fit id guess)

Quote:

Originally Posted by c6matt

thats what i was debating, injected 5.0 or 5.3... hmmm

If you decide to go 5.0, im probably the new, forged 5.0/trickflow/headers etc I currently have...

Nov 25, 2010 | 01:37 PM

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Jimbo1367

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LQ4/LY6 w/ turbo

Nov 25, 2010 | 06:59 PM

#15

Chris C.

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If you go carb and use the Nascar front plate to run a Distributor. The distributor is a Ford part mounted just like a 289-302. I know a few people who cut the tops off cobra valvecovers and tig welded them on LS1 covers to even hide the true identity.