I am lookin to buy a mustang . Now which one i don't know . I have thought of keep my current dailydriver( 99Blazer ) and buying a classic for about $4000 and driving it just on weekends for fun OR Selling my Blazer and buying a 94-96 . But i dont know what I am doing yet . BUT i do have some questions : is it cheaper to mod and buy parts for the 5L or 4.6 ? And how much money would it take to get about 30hp more so i can keep up with those 99+stangs ? I have thought about just buying a 99+ but the insurance is crazy around here for those . And i am thinking that there are alot more used and new mods available for a 94-95 . Let meknow what ya think . Thanks.
of course it is, a lot cheaper, parts are easier to find and are cheaper, there are alot more parts for the 5.0 if you have LOTS of money then you can make a 4.6 fast, but the only 4.6 id ever buy would be a DOHC cobra.
I can beat stock 99+ with my bolt on's (see garage) that I have now. It's leaterly(sp?) 5x cheaper to mod any 5.0 than a 4.6 OHC period. If your looking for a cheap project car than a 94/95 is the way to go.
Modding a 94\95 is a lot cheaper than modding a 4.6, especially when you get into heads and cams (and 4.6s have 2-4 cams per vehicle). That being said, modding a Fox is a little cheaper than modding a 94\95. Overall it depends on which engine you like better, the pushrod or the modular. Modulars respond better to forced induction than the 5.0s, so that's another thing to keep in mind. Tim
i used to think the same way until i read an article in 5.0 mag that had a 99gt at afm and modded it until it hit 320 at the wheels. there was a sidebar in the article that had a fox with same hp at afm and they compared the cost. the fox was only $500 less, but used more parts to get there. naturally a 96-98 would require a pi intake and such, but if you are doing ported heads you might as well get the pi's. 96-98's with pi heads also have more compression than a 99-up.
If you are just going to perform normal bolt-ons such as exhaust, gears, cai, tune, the 4.6 and the 5.0 will be near the same, and the 4.6 (99+) is a good route to go. Bolt-on PI motors run very well. But if you want to go deeper (H/C/I), go 94-95 all the way, and it's not even close. You will spend thousands more going this route on a 4.6 for similar performance.
the article i referenced had heads/cam on the 99 as well as the fox. a set of ported patriot heads and comp cams is a little less than a trick flow top engine kit and with a stock pi intake both outputs at the tires will be similar. of course you will need new head bolts, gaskets etc, but with the trick flow kit you will need lifters, intake elbow etc. i think where the comparo stops is on a max effort n/a combo where the 4.6 will prolly never have the cubes to compete. oh yeah, who actually wants to mess with changin heads on a 4.6?
Ah come on, more parts equals more fun! How else are we to get our horsepower fix if the car's done sooner! All fun aside that is an interesting fact. I do however like the fact that a 5.0, to me at least, it easier to work on and repair than a 4.6. It might even be cheaper to maintain if I didn't put a better aftermarket part on everytime something wears out! :damnit: Tim
Why the heck would anyone put another stock piece back on their car? The 5.0's are super easy to work on, trust me. I just got done doing a H/C/I swap, and it was real simple actually. I'm not a great mechanic or anything, heck I'm only 18, but it was pretty straight forward. My buddy with an 04 Mach 1 (4.6L DOHC) was there doing springs while I was doing my H/C/I, and I got scared just looking at his motor and thinking about modding it. I wouldn't even know where to start.
well thanks for the input . I will go with a 94/95 if i should buy a late model mustang . But i am thinking of buy a 67 coupe for about 3-4grand and then resto/modding it slowly , and keeping my blazer as a daily driver . Not sure though .
Arn't patriot heads like $1300-$1400? And I know the comp cams for the 4.6's are some major $$$. The the stock PI intake is, well, stock. True it is not as restrictive as a stock 5.0 manifold, but if were gonna consider stock stuff, or want a cheap car in the 12's, you can find yourself some junkyard P heads, and an explorer intake. Some port clean-up work, a cam, maf and your good to go, all for about the price of the Patriot heads alone.
The 67 coupe is a good idea and would be awesome in the end but you will probably spend most of your time looking for parts for the beast. The 94/95's are fun right out the box!
