I sold my 67 Camaro with a 700" motor and now i'm wanting to put a LS motor or a 5.3 in a peice of crap Mustang. I want to make this car into the ultimate sleeper.

With me being new to turbos I want to keep everything very basic and trying to do this on a low budget. I was thinking of the 5.3 because i was told that you can get them cheap and they work great with turbos. I'm going to keep the turbo to around a T-70 with air to air intercooler.

The questions I have is:
-What headers are used for a turbo appliciation or do I have to get a custom set built? (again this is a low budget build)
-Use OEM wiring harness or is one offered by someone?
-Is the 5.3 better than an LS motor for turbo appliciation
-what cam to use that does not thump too hard (trying to keep it quiet)

Here is a few pictures of the car i'm working with and yes it will never be washed and I may leave the ugly seats in it for a bit... I will be doing all the rear suspension upgrades and I already have a built 8.8.

 

congrats that is ugly!

Headers: Truck manifolds flipped upside-down.

Harness: Speartech (site sponsor and regular poster). John made my 6.0L harness in addition to countless other peoples', and there have been nothing but rave reviews (to the best of my knowledge), however you pay for the quality in the price (that is certainly NOT a complaint from me though!!). You could also have him re-work a stock harness for less $$, as well as others that will also do the work too...

Engine: The 5.3L would be just fine for a turbo app, if not better because it is an iron block. In my opinion the fact that these engines are CHEAP (found one on eBay today for $200) MORE than offsets the extra 65ish lbs, and puts aside that money for the turbo . One thing to consider is that most of these engines are drive-by-wire (maybe the 2000 or 2001 ones aren't) which means you'll have to find a DBW pedal and TAC module, but that isn't to bad. Else, you'll have to switch the throttlebody for a normal LS1 cable-driven one. One drawback maybe the fitment of the truck intake manifold under the hood, as they are quite high. This could be possibly worked around by making your own motor mounts to keep the engine as low as possible, k-member permitting (this would also be as inexpensive as the steel you use). Also, I can't see why the engine wouldn't come with the exhaust manifolds, which you'd want for your low-cost turbo application. However, the truck oil pan is really deep, and would most definitely have to be either cut (possibly hard and costly, welding is tricky if the pan isn't perfectly cleaned) or you'd have to locate a lower-profile pan, most likely one from a camaro(??).

 

6.0L truck long block and add a turbo kit. Stock cam and heads. Heads are really not worth the cost so there is no need to waste it.

Look around you should be able to pick up a complete 6.0L truck long block with assy for about 1500-2000 and you will have everything. Only thing you need to upgrade is rod bolts and crank bolts. and head studs.

You should be able to do this build complete out the door tuned for at most $3k.

 

Did that thing catch on fire???

 

I wish...

I would have made it look uglier...

 

ohh **** how could u sit down inside really need to rebuilt it

 

With Care...

These are the pictures from when it was delivered to my shop. When I get everything to start the swap i'm going to gut everything and clean it up.

 

looks like my notch, only with less paint...

 

heres a pic of my Gt with a small block in it but its old school style,Good Luck with your build

 

AJE Racing makes a tubular front K-member for swapping an LS engine into a fox body. As far as headers go, I would turn some exhaust manifolds around backwards. For a cam, I would go light on duration, and wide lobe sep. Early Z06 cams I think are ideal for boost. They are like 206@.050, and have a wide lobe sep, around 112 to 114 degrees. Edelbrock just released a cam that is like 118 or 119 degrees lobe separation!! Now that is a turbo cam!! Good luck

 

I built a mustang with a SBC in it years agoand it would run bottom 10's on a 275 shot. I had a blast with the car

I was told that a LS6 cam also works great, I'm going to go with the 5.3. I got a set of 317 heads, LS6 intake and an innercooler last night. My brother is trying to work a deal for the 5.3 and we already have a built turbo 350. I wanted to go with a glide but I already had the 350 so to save money i'm just going to use it. I will be using the stock manifolds, all i'm looking to make is about 650hp to the wheels. if it makes more that will be great, if not... Oh well it will be fun building it.

I was hoping to keep the stock K-member but I don't think it will work. I used AJE years ago when I put a BBC in a fox and they do have a very nice product

When this project is done it is still going to be ugly, the workmanship will be done right with nice welds and wiring.

 

You can get a QA1 pretty cheap and mod it. Not sure what AJE prices are but I know the QA1 was 219.00. I have a guy I order from so let me know if you can not locate someone.

 

Right now the K-member is on the lower part of my "to buy" list, I already have the heads, intake, innercooler and bought a turbo today. I have a few deals i'm working for the motor so hopefully in the next few weeks I can start getting everything installed.

 

I know a stock kmember and home made mounts were used in the "infamous" parish/fairmont build. i don't see why the same cuoldn't be done for a fox body. only thing was a big hole had to be cut in the stock fairmont hood to clear the 5.3L truck intake.