Ok so here’s where I’m at. 2010 s197 mustang with a single 70mm turbo right now making about 500hp. I think I have someone that is going to buy my whole set up for about $3500 so I’ll have some money towards this and don’t mind spending a little extra. I have an 04 Tahoe 5.3 with 862 heads and a truck intake and all other accessories. I want to sell the piston rods intake and harness. And probably the heads I really want a set of 243 heads. My question would be , what fuel injectors , fuel pump , fuel pressure regulator , fuel rails and lines do you all recommend ?? My car is currently efi will my gas tank work for the swap or will I need a fuel cell in the trunk? Also I’m going to get an FTI TH400 reverse manual valve body with trans brake but I’m not sure what computer system to go with. Was looking at the terminator x. Wanna keep it somewhat budget friendly but I like the idea of the boost controller with it and etc. lastly is the turbo .. forward facing headers and I can custom make the pipes I weld in a fabrication shop. I really wanted to do a billet s480 but people keep saying they’re a little more laggy since this will be street driven more than it will see the track even tho I definitely will be at the track. So I started looking at the VS racing billet 78/75 .96 T4 and the 78/75 1.32 T6. Obviously the 1.32 will take a little bit longer than the .96 but is it significantly worth it ?? I want my exhaust to breath fine as my goal is to drive around 650ish-700 but also be able to make 800 if I do want to turn the boost up.. now I know I’ll meed ls9 gaskets ls7 lifters btr dual valve springs and pushrods. Ls1/6 intake because it looks better. But can y’all help chime in with the questions I asked and possibly anything I’m missing ?? This will be my first ls swap and I’m going to do it over the winter so I don’t mind saving a little extra for something here and there. Was gonna use the $3500 for the trans and all engine accessories and come out of pocket for turbo kit and fuel and anything else. Thanks in advance I know it’s a lot but I’m tryna get as much insight as I can since not many people do the s197 swap! Btw I’ll be getting an AJE k member for s197 with universal mount. I know it’s long but I wanted to try and touch on everything and give you all the best idea of the plans as possible lol

 

What fuel are you going to run? That'll dictate what injectors to run.

The Holley Terminator X is awesome. Run that.

In my opinion, bigger is better for the turbo. You will always want more.

 

93 octane is what’s readily available near me. There is one E85 pump 20-25 minutes from me and that’s the only one within hours away , in New Jersey lol so it’s hard for me to decide. But I’m thinking I’m just going to get a 55 gallon drum and fill it with E85 and fill up 5 gallon cans at my house maybe idk man. It’s tough lol and I’m pretty sure I’m gonna go with the VS billet 80mm 1.32 turbo. Not bad on pricing and like you said , bigger is better lol.

 

2005 S197, 416LS with VS racing 88mm T6 billet, E85 fuel. AJE cradle with tubular control arm kit, Holley EFI. Drag Week SR/SB/PA class car.
Your most difficult challenge will be working through the OE electronics, a bunch of body controllers on this car. Mine is stripped of all OE wiring and controllers except the power windows, I used a custom old school wire harness from Ron Francis so it is as easy to figure out as an early Camaro.
If you do the swap good luck, welcome to the club and be prepared for a lot of **** talk from S197 guys, they are not as understanding as the Fox crowd. I tell them it is a 2 valve....

 

E85 really is the way to go. The S480 will work nicely too.

 

Thanks for the input guys I’m going to run the terminator x harness and ecu. I don’t mind losing my ac and I’ll go manual steering rack if easier, but I do want to keep functions like my steering wheel buttons radio power windows power seats etc... how would that work? Also for the TH400 cross member does anyone have a general idea of a custom made one? I’m in a fab shop with access to 3/16 1/8 1/4 mild steel stainless steel aluminum, whatever lol and a press brake. I think the swap itself will be easy and the custom turbo will be easy with the headers flipped forward especially with having the shop to cut and weld all my piping. Just mainly nervous about what you said , the wiring especially with the OE controls and stuff. Thanks again guys!

 

There is no OE manual rack for an S197, only aftermarket and for the street it sucks with heavy steering because these cars have a lot of camber. I stayed with the stock power steering and adapted the GM LS1 pump, easy to do just needs the low pressure valve that is used in many LS street rod rack and pinion swaps. I used an F body -6 AN line kit and for the -6 AN rack fittings you can find them for a Ford Focus on ebay.

Make life simple, use the Hooker iron manifolds with rear crossover and do a single turbo, we are going 8's this way. I could not find anything off the shelf to flip forward and things get real crowded forward of the cylinder heads.

You should be able to divorce the body electrical system from the engine controls and run the engine on a standalone but beware many of the systems are ground switched and can trip you up. If you are not savy with late model low voltage OE electrical systems this will be your biggest hurdle.

Tranny crossmember will be the easiest thing about the swap, just pay attention to your driveline angles, you will find the LS crank centerline sits below the pinion and driveshaft goes uphill so getting the engine angle correct is touchy.

 

PICS?!?!? where

 

This was the NA build, the car now has a single turbo but basically unchanged otherwise.

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/cobr...016-drag-week/

 

I know they don’t make OE manual racks I was just wondering how hard it is with skinnies ? I’ve ran a manual rack with an 8” rim and I could deal with it but If its too much I’ll aim for PS swap. Also I’m not using a reworked standalone im ordering the Holley terminator x I just wanna keep use of my power windows and seats and my radio. Lastly I have a set of truck manifolds I got for $20 lol I was gonna flip em forward and run a crossover pipe and mount it damn near how my current turbo set up is ran. I’m sure I can wire all the plug and play portion of the terminator x what else should I expect to have some trouble with when it comes to that?