Need some help - 4 banger fox and a 94 SN95 GT donor car

[smillerj1930]

Ok guys so I couldn't find this exact subject anywhere. I have an 88 4 cylinder (auto) fox that I inherited from my grandmother. It's been sitting for over 10 years and I have finally gotten some motivation to do something with it.

I picked up a 94 GT (manual) donor car (complete but engine has blown head gaskets) for $800. I want to swap the drivetrain, brakes, suspension and all over to the fox and I have zero clue where to start.

Anyone have a write up on what's needed for this? I see plenty of write ups for 4-8 swaps but they are all about swapping a 93 and down 5.0. I'm also swapping from a auto to a manual. Of course this is a very sentimental project for me and I plan on keeping this car in the family. I would like to push about 300HP when the project is completed.

 

[Mustang5L5]

You can certainly use it as a donor, but you will still have the need to search Ebay for various misc parts like wiring harnesses and Fox style accessory brackets and such. There isn't a complete write-up for what you are about to do so you'll need to research the various parts of it. For instance, the SN95 bellhousing is about 3/4" longer to push the shifter back, so for a fox car you'll want to pick up a Fox bellhousing and input shaft and swap them.

Rear axle and brakes has been covered in bulk. Easy searching there.

As for the engine. You'll want to use the long block, but then swap the intake manifold, throttle body and accessories over to Fox style. You'll also want to pick an up 87-89 engine harness. Speed Density or mass air with matching ECU. Make sure the harness years and transmission match. There's a jumper on the o2 sensor harness that needs to match the ECU and trans as well. Get the car running, and then later on you can mass air swap it if it's SD. Easy to do.

If you want 300HP, ditch the E7's and grab a set of GT40 heads, and an explorer intake. That should give you 300HP flywheel with your typical supporting mods.

 

[85GTStangGuy]

Sounds like a Fox donor car would go a long way towards getting a lot of the parts you're gonna need. If you could find one like your SN95 (V8 car with a blown engine for $800), that would be ideal! Good luck with everything on it.

 

[AeroCoupe]

Pretty good thread on the wiring here:

4 cyl. to v8 swap what wiring

on a 4 cyl to v8 swap,fuel injected,do i just swap the engine harnesses and computer or does all wiring have to be changed?need help and advice

stangnet.com

If it were me I would stay mass air as it can compensate for the changes you will want to make to hit your power goals. Realize that the 87 & 88 harness are speed density and 89 harnesses are mass air unless you get lucky and get an 88 harness out of a California car which were mandated to be mass air. If you get a speed density harness then you can simply convert it to mass air with a conversion harness like this one:

Mass Air Conversion Harness

Mass Air Conversion Harness

www.promracing.com

It will come with instructions and is pretty straight forward.

Realize that the 4 cylinder cars have the alternator wiring on the wrong side of the car. I would just install a 3G alternator (do a search) and lengthen the existing wires to you needs as the alternator wiring is in the headlight harness and its not necessary to swap it out if you are good with lengthening a couple wires.

94 motor should have a mini starter on it already so you will also need to wire the '88 for that and again do a search as its been covered a lot here.

300hp at the flywheel and at the wheel are two different things so make sure you know which one you want as wheel hp will take more flywheel hp due to the losses through the drive train. Regardless you will want to swap the heads, cam, and intakes as mentioned above and possibly the mass air meter, throttle body, and step the injectors up in size. Fuel system wise I would suggest you get an adjustable fuel pressure regulator, at a minimum a 190 lph fuel pump, and change the inline fuel filter up between the rear end and the front of the fuel tank.

 

[23Newb]

I am in the process of swapping a 4cyl turbo from a turbo coupe into my 88lx convertible, and found the write ups on Stinger Performance fantastic in answering questions and guidance. Great write up on Auto to T5 manual swap

The 94 Gt swap is pretty straightforward, lots of info on sn95 5lug swaps out there. LMR has numerous videos that will help out