i have a 91 lx and i have everything reay for the swap. im wondering how long it took you guys to get the car running after the swap. i've heard the engine can be taken out in two hours and im sure the wiring takes the longest. im looking for best and worst case scenerio, experienced and unexperienced.
IF you have every part (you wont) it can take as little as 3 days.. pull in a day, wire in a day, and replace in a day. However as careful as you try to be in getting all the parts, you will likely be missing bolts, hoses, belts, fittings, gaskets ETC that you dont know you need yet, and gathering all of that is what takes the longest. Overall my swap took about a month (including engine prep and a vacation in the middle) Once i FINALLY had enough to start it, it went from stand to running motor in just a few hours. Dr.
my friend just got the sudden urge to swap it in and it seems as though we are gonna do it next weekend. i will have two guys helping me and the mechanical is no problem for us but my question is this. the motor is an 87 with no intercooler(the previous owner took it off) and i have a front mount waiting to be put in but i will not have the pipes at the time of the swap. i know the la3 runs funky without an intercooler but will it start and drive for a few minutes. any tips on the install into a 91 is also appreciated.
It'll run fine without the AC, just make sure you have all the vacuum lines plugged or connected to something. If it's a TC engine, they had the vac fitting for the cruise control on the IC but that's the only one I know of. Anyway, if you're gonna have someone helping you do the swap it shouldn't take too long. When I put the new engine in my thunderbird, I did it all myself and thus took longer than it really should have (for example I spent a whole day just pulling the old engine)
cool and i am going to be using the bellhousing off my t-5 right? the clutch off the t-bird and the bellhousing of the na tranny. stinger says to take the ps and ac off the na engine and put it on the turbo engine. do i have to do that or can i keep the ps and ac from the turbo. are the alternators the same since i have a new one on the na block. and my last question is are the sending units the same. the reason im asking is because my turbo motor does not have the oil sending unit, can i just pull it off my na? thanks a lot guys-marcin
It's easier to just keep the power steering from the original car. Unless you really want to mess with all the fluids.
i think the sending units are different, I am running the TC oil sender on mine and it causes the gauge to read low. I have been told by others that they have the same problem. I would use the mustang sender (or the one that matches the gauges) The rest however all seem to be the same. Dr.
thats what i thought about the sending unit. if you guys think that the powersteering shoud stay in the car then thats okay i can do that. any tips on putting it in would be greatly appreciated and anyone that wants to help my number is 3473858330-marcin
It is easiest to just take the power steering pump off the engine that's in the car, and leave it hooked up. Just keep in mind you need a PS pump pulley puller to get the pulley off (you can do the loan-a-tool thing and get it from Autozone), after you get the pulley off, 3 bolts and the pump comes off the bracket. When I was doing mine I left the pump hooked up and just set it on top of the motor mount so it wasn't hanging by the hoses. For the AC, you HAVE to leave the compressor hooked up unless you feel like taking the car to an AC shop afterward to have the system recharged. Really, just pulling the old engine and putting in the new one is fairly straightforward. Just make sure you know where all your connectors & vacuum lines have to go to save yourself a headache later!
thanks a lot. i glad you told me about the ps puller i forgot u needed one. anyone else got tips-marcin
there is no reason to remove the Pump from its brackets. There are only about 3 bolts that hold the PS pump the the block.. When i did mine i removed the entire pump assembly and hung it in the side of the engine bay. No need to remove the pulley unless you really want to. Its just more work. Dr.
Leave the alternator on the PS pump bracket as well...and unbolt the ac compressor from the block and leave it in the car as well (if it works and you are keeping).
okay so i am going to take off the whole bracket right? during the swap i am wondering which injector harness i will use. am i gonna use the mustang or tc harness
one more question i have is that on turboford.org in the archives it says that the na fuel pump will not hold upto the turbo motor. of course this is a given but will i have trouble starting it initially if i plan to put one on a few weeks later
Mustang Injector harness.. the turbo coupe one wont plug in. there are NO wires to change. An no, the fuel pump will be fine, i have the stock pump and i have been running 15psi on it for 6 months. Its not ideal, but it will work if you dont get too carried away. Also there are swap pics on my website of what i did, not sure how much help they will be but it may give you some ideas. Dr.
