Quickest mods to beat LS1!!

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85 Coupe 5.0 - Nicely done sir!

Thank you sir! I saved this one from a rather ugly fate, rusting away in a farm field:

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um...isn't that an LS in that coupe?

personally I'd rather see it in an late 70s/early 80's Camaro (or a Vega :D )than in a Mustang, but that's me :shrug:


BTW nice job bringing back a necro-thread for Halloween ;)

Ya, it would definately be more at home in it's own shell....but ya just can't beat the Mustang's light body, 8.8" rear and 4 link suspension out back....all factory. And the deciding factor for me was the car was free....albeit she needed some major surgery. The T tops needed repair, she had been beat to death with softball size hail which took out only the windshield amazingly. Body needed major work...it was a project to say the least. Here's a start to finish picture thread on tech. All the pics are in 3 posts, so no digging required. Lol, ya I had posted on this thread like a year or so ago, and was going through my subscriptions and noticed it...figured maybe i'd update a little.

My little bastard child, '83 Mustang GT, 5.3 & MPT70 - LS1TECH



Looks like ass


Thanks! So many people confuse it for just another 5.0L it's not even funny anymore. I was getting expressions like this :jaw: when it turned into a rocket shortly after the pedal is put down:

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And I didn't thrash it out either. There is not a single visual cue on the body that says what's under the hood either. She's all blue oval outside, and the modifications are reversible. Used a stock Ford K member and 4.6L mounts. Could swap back K's and have a nice home for a 5.0L.

Also converted the interior to the '87-93 style:

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I normally would agree w/ this, however ...

car looks good and impressive numbers but im just not a fan of the chevy powerplant in a ford car :shrug:

ford car = ford power
chevy car = chevy power

In this case it looks like he has taken care to make the car easy to revert to Ford/Ford if desired, and the results are quite impressive !! :nice:

I am curious as to whether for the same amount of $'s that 5.0 could not have had a similar HP level, but again, this is certainly a unique car, and 85 Coupe 5.0 deserves Kudos for his efforts !! :hail2:


My .02, anyhoo.


Britt
 
In this case it looks like he has taken care to make the car easy to revert to Ford/Ford if desired, and the results are quite impressive !! :nice:

I am curious as to whether for the same amount of $'s that 5.0 could not have had a similar HP level, but again, this is certainly a unique car, and 85 Coupe 5.0 deserves Kudos for his efforts !! :hail2:


My .02, anyhoo.


Britt

Thanks! Well, the real deciding factor on the Ford/Ford was the $. The motor, is a COMPLETELY stock 5.3L longblock, with a Corvette cam (more ideal characteristics for boost) and dual valve springs to prevent float at high boost. It's well documented the stock LS longblocks will handle upwards of 800 fly HP and laugh at you. There was recently an article in HotRod Magazine where they intentionally tried to blow one up on the dyno with twin ebay turbo's at 22 psi. They did not succeed and made several 1200HP pulls, and that was with a 4.8L which is actually the more well suited in the LS family for boost:

Stock GM LS Engine - Big Bang Theory - Hot Rod Magazine

The 5.3L like I have installed in this car go for $500 complete with wiring harness/computer and accessories. The total powertrain package was probably around 4K start to finish. That's 4k for around 750 flywheel HP. Also, now that the car is LS powered, you can swap up to a 5.7/6.0/6.2 by merely changing the motor out and a few small mods. All the LS family shares the same external bolt patterns and dimensions.

Don't get me wrong, you can hit the same RWHP numbers with this exact same turbo on a 5.0 as well, i've seen it done. But it usually requires good breathing heads and cam, which adds quite a chunk to the cost. Then, you have to deal with the production block splitting issue above 500 fly HP:

steve1.jpg


Many well documented writeups about that, including the above pic, here:

The Turbo Forums.com


So by the time you buy an aftermarket block, heads, cam, rods and pistons while you are in there you've far exceeded what you could have done the LS swap for. Put the same mods into the LS and you'd be close to 900 fly hp...

It's just the $/HP, thats the ONLY reason plain and simple

But, I believe with the introduction of the new 5.0L the market will swing back eventually for Ford. Working at at dealership I get to drive a lot of them before most, and the new 5.0's and EcoBoost's have it indeed. GOOD power all stock, and there are a lot of guys that are getting good numbers out of them already with little work. In a few years when they fall more into my price range, I could see myself owning one possibly.
 
I love the 5.3 swaps.........................























Just not in mustangs. I have seen some f body guys do it and make some fantastic power. I really want to buy a hardtop firebird, or a square body s-10 and do the swap. Just not a fan of the Ford tough with chevy stuff.
 
Quickest mod to beat an LS-juan.... Install an LS-juan :banana:

/sarcasm

Too bad the mod motor has such close bore spacing. I'd love to see what a 6.0L engine with equal stroke and bore could do with high flowing ported and cammed 4V heads :drool:
 
Quickest mod to beat an LS-juan.... Install an LS-juan :banana:

/sarcasm

Too bad the mod motor has such close bore spacing. I'd love to see what a 6.0L engine with equal stroke and bore could do with high flowing ported and cammed 4V heads :drool:

Oh It would make real good power. The 4v heads flow very well indeed. I'm a huge fan of the modular motors personally. I used to have a '96 GT I modded out as well before the Camaro and Frankenstang. In fact, if you search YouTube with MPT70 you will see the same turbo i'm using has been used a lot by the Modular crowd as well, and the HP numbers look very good even on a 2V setup.
 
This spring at Pinks All Out at Maple Grove a fox went 11's with a stock LS1 swap. Its hard to beat the dime a dozen chevy 350. How does that saying go ... built Ford tough with chevy stuff
 
I wondered when somebody would catch that :nonono:

I always did hate that marketing ploy that GM used branding the LS1 a 350/5.7. They have NOTHING in common with the old GEN II's or I's less rod bearings and one other small aspect that I can't remember.

Well the fox body 5.0 was actually a 4.9... but the 5.0 sticker looked way better than a 4.9 sticker would have :shrug:

I guess it doesn't bother me all that much
 
Ya I feel ya N8, and get where you are going. It would look totally gay to see 5.6L on the sticker...

For me, the reason I don't like the 5.7 moniker is because it shares nothing at all in common with the old 350's like everyone is used to. They are two totally different designs and nothing interchanges except like small parts, 1 is the rod bearings are the same I know that.

It would be like owning a new 5.0L Mustang, and everyone saying you had a pushrod motor under the hood....although the two 5.0's are worlds apart.