99 GT needs a new engine - What to do?

JohnyD05

Founding Member
Mar 17, 2002
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Massachusetts
Long story short my 99 GT has a 101K miles on it.
I blew a spark plug out of one of the heads. Shop was able to fix that but told me that I have low compression in 4 of the eight cylinders (~90 psi) vs the 150 psi in the rest of the cylinders.

Was looking on the frpp website for a good crate engine. But nothing I found which was reasonable. Any suggestions? Try junk yards for a similar used engine for the car?

I wasnt looking to dump a ton of money into the car, I always had the dream of supercharging it, But I don't if it is worth it at this point.

The car was side swiped in a hit and run on the passenger side a few weeks before so the paint/body is in a bit of a tough shape now.

So
Any good crate engines out there?
Is it worth having the current engine rebuilt? Doesnt sound like it will be cheap.
Craigslist/ebay? Been looking nothing outstanding.
 
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Do you have a budget? Do you plan on doing the work yourself?

Finding a low mileage Windsor motor can be difficult. I purchased a salvage Romeo from a 2004 Crown Vic with 38K for $830. There will be some additonal $$'s for 6 bolt flywheel and 11" clutch. Plenty of ppl have done the Windsor/Romeo swap with good results.

Having a professional shop rebuild the existing motor (once out) should cost 2000-2500. Use a local shop to avoid shipping costs.

For salvage motors in your area try Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market. The costs for a salvage motor can vary widely depending upon mileage/condition.

What local area of the country are you located? Possible someone on this very forum has a cheap motor for sale. I even have a 150k mile Windsor from a 2000 GT that needs an oil pump and timing set. However, more than likely, it is not worth shipping anywhere.

If your intent is to fix for the absolute min $$, may be able to fix the motor you do have. For example, if just heads are needed, used heads can be purchased cheap. May be possible to rebuild just the heads that you have. It's all about how much is your budget vs your time.

Recommend a compression test and leak down test would give you a better idea of what is wrong.
 
Yeah, if you just want to get the thing back on the road back in it's current state for the least amount of money, a relatively low-mileage Crown-Vic/Grand Marquis junkyard motor is probably the way to go. There's only 5 trillion of those cars out there and, except for Police Interceptors, most of them probably haven't seen north of 2500 RPM in their entire life. There's plenty of 4.6L truck/SUV motors too but they'll require even more parts swapping to drop in (some of which you can swap over from your current motor thoguh). Obviously, a Mustang motor is the simplest but they're not gonna be as available at your local junkyard, they tend to fetch more even though they're all the same under the skin and they're more likely to have been rode hard and put up wet.

What's the reason for the low compression? Did they give you one or did they just say, "I dunno, could be a head gasket, maybe it's rings... :shrug: " Perhaps it's fixable and still be cost effective if you can do the work yourself.
 
I Live in Knoxville, TN and we have 2 different mustang salvage yards locally. I bought a 03 2v for my wife's 96 GT for 1000 bucks and it had 30k...That is cheap to me for that kinda mileage. Especially complete motor vs. rebuild.
 
I found an 02 GT motor locally with ~78 k miles. Little more mileage than I want but it is only 800 bucks. The guy says he has a clutch that will be needed to swap from the windsor to romeo setup.

The reason they believe for the low compression is the rings. The motor had been driven with low oil a while ago and since then oil consumption has gone up significantly in the motor.

So the whole motor would need a rebuild. From what it sounds like not cheap.

Thanks for all the help. I will keep everyone updated.


As an FYI the horsepower numbers I put down below were with the engine in the state it was right before I blew the spark plug out.
 
If you are going to go used check the carpart.com link that was posted and look for 03 Explorer engines. They come with an aluminum block. Last time I looked on carpart.com there was a couple 7k mile motors for 2 grand.
 
If you are going to go used check the carpart.com link that was posted and look for 03 Explorer engines. They come with an aluminum block. Last time I looked on carpart.com there was a couple 7k mile motors for 2 grand.

Do the explorer engines have the PI heads and same cams as the mustangs?
Also are they romeo or windsor motors? My clutch setup now is for the windsor. Would be nice to keep it (it's new).
 
Another question. I have the 10.5 King cobra for the 99 GT.
I assume this will not fit the 11" flywheel on the 02 motor?
Do I order a clutch then for the t-45 (trans of the car) or do I order it for the 02 motor and 11" flywheel. Which pieces need to fit?
IE clutch housing needs to fit around the 11" flywheel. and a clutch disc to fit around the spline on the t-45?
Just a bit confused. Appreciate all the help.

I found a ton of low mileage motors on car-parts that are local. Just a matter of the right price.
 
Ford racing flywheel 6 bolt

Get a Ford Racing Products flywheel. Has dowels for both size clutches. I believe the part number is M-6375-D46A or M-6375-F46.

I didn't. Wish I did. Ended up buying a salvage flywheel from a 2004 Mustang ($100). Then I needed a new 11" clutch. Paid for a flywheel resurface ($50) and a new 11" clutch ($200).

In retrospect, had I purchased the new Ford Flywheel, then I could have reused my 10.5" clutch.

Another option is to get a flywheel from a 96-98 Mustang GT.
 
I used the Ford Racing flywheel when I swapped from Windsor to Romeo and was able to reuse my existing clutch...there really wasn't much of anything else that needed to be changed

but I had a new Mustang engine, there is probably more stuff to change with an Crown Vic or Explorer engine...although one of those all aluminum Explorer engines would have been nice
 
If you are going to go used check the carpart.com link that was posted and look for '02-'05 Explorer engines. They come with an aluminum block. Last time I looked on carpart.com there was a couple 7k mile motors for 2 grand.

Fixt.
Do the explorer engines have the PI heads and same cams as the mustangs?
Also are they romeo or windsor motors? My clutch setup now is for the windsor. Would be nice to keep it (it's new).

Head and cams and intake are the same. The Explorer engines are Romeo based. Your clutch should bolt up to a Romeo Flywheel.

The 70lb weight savings over the nose of your car is worth it....if not for the handling and weight distribution improvements alone.
 
Fixt.


Head and cams and intake are the same. The Explorer engines are Romeo based. Your clutch should bolt up to a Romeo Flywheel.

The 70lb weight savings over the nose of your car is worth it....if not for the handling and weight distribution improvements alone.


+1

You will have to use a Mustang front cover and romeo valve covers as your 99 will be a windsor based (not sure if they cross over, but doubt it). But an exploder/mountainer motor are your best best for sure. I used one when my 98's motor let go. Ran very very well. :D
 
Windsor/Romeo swap using a Crown Vic Motor

The Crown Vic/Grand Marquis/Town Car swap does have just a little more to swap. Exhaust manifold, Fuel injectors, wiring harness, TB, heater return hard line, oil pan (6 qt), oil pick up, oil dip stick tube, new 2001-2004 dip stick, new PCV line, and new PVC breather line.

Will need a new 2001-2004 upper radiator hose. The Windsor is too short.

For the PCV system, starting in 2001, the size of the PCV line increased to ½”. The 1999-2000 upper plenum has a smaller ¼” nipple. One solution is to use a plenum from a 2001-2004 Mustang.

Will need to add an extra idler pulley and new front belt. Suggest following the belt routing of the 2001-2004. If not, the alternator may slip.

Something has to be done for the oil pressure sender. If the Romeo oil filter adapter is retained, then the wire is too short.

If the Windsor adapter is used, then the oil pressure sender interferes with a lifting boss not on the Windsor block. If nothing is done, it will not be possible to remove the sender without removing the adapter. One solution is to use a 1/4" elbow. Point the sender down.

The 6 bolt flywheel has already been mentioned. Which one to use depends upon the which clutch is going to be used (10.5” or 11”).

IMO, do not get a police interceptor motor. In typically service, these motors spend an inordinate amount of time idling. Therefore, mileage is not a good indication of the age.

A trick I use for buying salvage motors is to ask for the VIN number of the donor car. By law, the salvage operator has to keep track of such things. Run a Carfax report on the VIN. Compare the Carfax mileage with the mileage reported by the salvage yard. They should be in the ball park.

I was about to purchase a motor from one operator until this turned up a more than 10k mileage discrepancy. Got to figure if they will mislead about that, what else might they misled? IMO, the Carfax report was money well spent.
 
Won't a lot of those parts swap over from his current motor?

IF he gets another windsor motor, he can swap his front covers/cam covers etc. The lower/upper intake will swap over regardless.

Best bet is to just source a junk yard motor or just look at rebuilding. If its just low compresion, then it could be a few simple issues (if your mechanically inclined).
 
The stock internals are generally good for somewhere in the 450hp range. Most entry level kits (Vortech, Paxton, Tork Tech, Kenne Bell, ATI, etc) are geared to produce just that, or slightly less in base trim. You really can't push them much beyond that without making some major upgrades to the fuel and ignition systems (aftermarket internals or not), which most aren't prepared to do.

Keeping this in mind, is it really worth the effort to go forgeing a short block when your power levels might not ever exceed what the factory parts are able to sustain? :shrug:

If money is a concern, and technical ability is limited, then it should be a no brainer. Get to a junk yard and get yourself a low mileage stocker and enjoy your car. Better that, than having it off the road for months while you accumulate aftermarket parts and money for a built short block you may never need.
 
Won't a lot of those parts swap over from his current motor?
Yes and No. I just did a 2000 Windsor to 2004 Romeo conversion. Used a Romeo from a 2004 Crown Vic. There are some parts that have to be swaped because of the Windsor/Romeo thing. There are other parts that have to be swapped because of the CV/Mustang thing.

I attempted to include a quick complete list of parts. In some regards, my approach was different that other people's. For example, many reuse the CV oil pan. This means the oil capacity is now 5 qt (vs 6 qt). However, it does save some work.

Also, I ran into the different PCV line sizes. I do not recall anyone else mentioning this. My solution was to pattern after the 2001+ Mustang Romeo. This applied to PCV and front belt routing. Since my donor motor came from a CV, those parts were not available to me and had to be purchased from another source (Ford).

Since I followed the 2001+ belt routing, I did not have to swap front timing covers.

If there is anything I forgot, let me know. If there is anything else I can help with, let me know. Will do my best.

With regards to the blower question, A blower can be added to a rebuilt Windsor or a lower mileage salvage. In that regards, use the $$ saved as a down payment on the blower.

:nice: