Hey fella's!

I been doing some homework, and parts gathering for my project for a few weeks now, and figured it is time to start the thread.

Here we go!

The car, 1990 Mustang GT black on black:











The OLD set-up:



Going a different direction with the EXTERIOR as well and is a work in progress:





I'm taking the car down from GT to LX trim and it's gonna have NO "Mustang" or "Ford" emblems ANYWHERE aside from the running horse in the Cobra grill insert I will be molding into the LX front nosecone. The car will have a 3" or 4" Kaenan cowl hood, a Saleen wing and no tailpipes. Also it's gonna be Matte Black and the Black PowderCoated 18x9 and 18x10 Saleen wheels will remain on the car and the only other gloss balck on the car will be the running horse in the grill insert:









The Ford motor and Tremec trans are out and have been sold off:



More........

 

More.....

The car has already had a fair amount of work performed to it since I bought it in RAGGGGGED condition a little under a year ago, and I had a good deal of help from a good friend of mine as far as the undertaking of a complete Maximum Motorsports suspension set-up:





This work was done about 6 mos. ago by the two of us in a weekend. It was a HELL OF A LONG WEEKEND at that, lol.:











This car has surprised the **** out of damned near everybody that has ridden in it as far as the handling capabilities go. It does NOT drive like or even remotely resemble a foxbody ford any more AT ALL (thank god). My exhaust was ran by a fella close to where I live that does mandrel bending/custom piping and the new exhaust will be nearly IDENTICAL and done by the same guy for the LSx; -only this time, I am going to try out the Hooker "Max-Flow" 3" mufflers. I dont have any gripes what so ever about the borla's that were on the old set-up, I just like to check out new stuff if it's been well tested and received high marks. All the muffler shootout's I've seen put the Hooker's a hair in front of the Borla's as far as HP and Tq are concerned, and the decibel level is a touch lower as well.:

















As you can see, there is a fair amount going on under this here mustang, lol....


More......

 

MORE.......

I'm just bringing you guys all up to speed on the build before we get into the swap, so you can have an idea of the direction I am heading, and where I've been.

Now that we're upto speed for the most part, here is what I have in my living room, lol:

-AJE Tubular LSx swap K-member
-AJE LSx swap motor mounts w/poly bushings
-AJE Tubular LCA's w/spring cups and poly bushings
-AJE Bolt On spring perches (road race style set-up w/18x9's and NO COILOVER's)
-AJE T-56 Tranny swap X-member w/poly bushings
-Dynatech LSx to Fox swap headers 1-7/8" primaries and 3" collector with Ceramic Coating
-Dynatech 3" V-Band clamps and flanges
-Florida5.0's custom gauge cluster and Autometer UltraLite Electronic Gauges and senders













Closer shot, and I apologize for my serious lack of photog skillz....





That's it so far... The motor and tranny are being sourced as I type this, and as soon as they are on the way, the shopping spree will resume in full force.

Thanks for looking; this will be updated until finished.

-Greg

 

keep us posted with details as I am looking at doing a similar project of my own as well. GOOD LUCK!! Eddie

 

If my last (3) posts are any indication of what's to come, I dont think that will be a problem, lol. That was the Cliff Notes version btw, I have a seriously detailed over the top FULL, SLAM FULL of pics 18 page long build thread on my regular forum, lol.

I'll keep y'all posted, and if anybody has any questions, or if some of y'all that have already done similar swaps would like to chime in, PLEASE, -feel free!!!

The motor is gonna be a bit on the stockish side considering.... I'm not all about peak numbers, ESPECIALLY in a roadrace inspired streetcar. HOWEVER, I am looking to make in the neighborhood of 450RWHP PEAK, with a fair amount of power "under the curve" and will put a little dose of gas on top of that for ****'s n' giggles.

 

mean, this is what i want to build.

 

mean, this is what i want to build.

 

very badass car, where are you getting your motor from?

 

Thanks man, I SHOULD have gone with the LSx from the get go.
Thanks very much! I've been hard at it since I got the car, and have had lots of help from some very good friends and top notch vendors in my area. The motor is coming from my buddies @ a Mayhem Motorsports in Raleigh, NC. I MAY send the tranny off to Tick Performance for a "Level Two" overhaul once I pick it up depending on how it looks.

More to come, and thanks for the replies y'all.

-Greg

 

I have one request. Can you take pictures of how the t56 shifter is mounted and how far back it sits(showing any modifications needed) when you get the transmission mounted. Ive seen a couple of ls1/fox swaps but they never show pictures of the t56 shifter location or they are auto's. Thanks in advance.

 

Will do. I have seen a few shots of the shifter location in the console with various stock and aftermarket shifters. I will be running the MGW shifter in mine and will be sure to take lots of pics. Most come pretty far back and a bit to the driver's side of the foxbody shifter bezel, but with the boot installed it doesnt look too out of place. Some MINOR trim work is required to the tunnel opening, and a SMIDGE to the plastic bezel itself, but nothing major at all.

 

where did you get that dash

 

Nice build! I have a lot of the those same parts....going in a '91 notch.

 

It's all listed in the posts. Florida5.0 supplied the assembled and ready to go custom cluster housing assy. filled with electronic Autometer Ultra-lite Gauges. I am VERY happy with it. Top notch parts and the guys down at Florida5.0 are SUPER nice and real easy to deal with.
Thanks man, and that's good to hear about your coupe, those cars are really growing on me.

 

Either this weekend or next (maybe both, lol) , I am going to trailer the car to a friend's house/shop (he just finished a year+ long build of a nice paint booth on site) and we're going to get the engine bay cleaned up, holes welded, smoothed, prepped, primed and painted so that the car will be 100% ready for the 6.0L and T56 to be dropped in.

We'll take care of the exterior work/modifications/paint after the car is up and running/driving, but it will be nice to have the engine bay knocked out and needing no attention after the drivetrain is in place. I'l be sure to take lots of pics and post up progress.

Thanks,

-Greg

 

Looks awesome Greg! You will be very happy once you get it done. I've been thing seriously about parting mine out and building a 67-72 Chevrolet truck. I still want to run the turbo 6.0 though. If I can help you with anything feel free to give me a call.

Mike

 

Thanks Mike! IF you DO decide to part out yours, be sure and let me know. I am sure there'll be some things I could use as far as little swap odds and ends go. I STILL have yet to locate a TurboCoupe pedal assy, but I may end up modifying the Mustang assy. instead. It LOOKS fairly simple, and I am planning to buy MaximumMotorsports' manual brakes conversion before long, and I BELIEVE they set you up with a new brake pedal, so I dont want to have to cobble the expensive stuff up, lol. I will double check that to be sure, but I am thinking you already sold off all your six-speed stuff anyway. I still need to modify my fuel pump stub outs and pick up a vette filter/reg. assy., and a bunch of misc. -AN adapter fittings for fuel sys., clutch hydro sys., and the power steering lines.

I'll put up a list here of some of the things I am aiming to locate/pick up for the swap.

Thanks for chiming in on my bullshit Mike!

-Greg

 

looks nice so far. Damn near a carbon copy of my car in black hatchback trim. My only nit-pick-internet-*******-comment would be to lose the AJE k-member and get an MM one instead. The total MM front end package will do even more to make your car handle decent. Right now I'm sure it has quite a bit of understeer due to all the rear end grip you've added and when you get the front end under control, watch out. Now spill the detail on the engine/drivetrain combination.....


As for the shifter location here is where mine sits. I have my engine pretty far back and I had to cut the stock hole where the shifter comes through back 3-4 more inches. The console would fit, but it looked like **** and rattled like crazy. The interior of my car is by far the worst thing about it right now, but I'm in the process of getting it all sorted out. I'm going with a console delete from an early 80's mustang.



What it will look like....

 

Nice. I can't wait to start mine....

 

I a gonna reply to this after I get off work. Great post man, and you touched on a few things that I thought long and hard about, and would like to give my why's and where for's on the choices. Thanks for posting, and check back tonight if you can. I'm on my lunchbreak and will be getting off around 6pm and after I take care of some things I'll get back online and post up. Thanks man, and feel free to post up more pics of your ride, under hood, tranny underside, etc. Also, what pedals did you go with?

-Greg