I should correct myself...they don't live with KB's and big boost because of the heat that a KB generates. That's what I should have said first. Vortec's don't generate the same heat as KB's with the same boost.
4.6l v8 in 88 foxbody?
- Thread starter loudstang
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Mr. Rustypwnz
Advanced Member
1991notchbackLX
Active Member
You have to cut the engine bay out and use the front 40% of a v8 car so there's more room. Also make sure to use a WC T5 which was made from 1936-2012 and the gauge cluster from an 88 LX. Any more questions, feel free to PM
you'll have to forgive peeps on here but I think they answered you question. there is also a thread on the top that is current and older projects people on here have been working on/completed (if that is even possible with a fox). Check that out and you will learn a lot. good luck
ID89GT
10 Year Member
stay away from 96/98 2v motors, and if your going to do the swap i would stay away from all 2v motors, if you want to tackle something like this then find a 4v motor or a coyote motor, the only mod motor i would ever think about doing a swap is a terminator motor. thats the only one worth doing, the coyote are too expensive yet. but thats my opinion and opinions are like *******s everyone has them
I've done both 2v and 4v swaps. Both cars had CAI, K&N, off-road mid-pipe and catback. Other than that....stock!
2v was a 2001 GT. Made 241RWHP & 284RWTQ.
4v was a 1997 Cobra. Made. 276RWHP. TQ was unavailable that day, dyno was having trouble picking up the TQ reading, couldn't get a singal from the coil.
Most 5.0L cars make 189-210rwhp with the same mods.
It's a lot of work to install a mod motor into a fox the way I did it. For some, the time, labor, effort, research it takes....it might not be worth it. They make more power than 5.0L's stock for stock, or even both having exhaust. However, some people would rather just swap HCI, or do a blower and make as much or more power than an N/A mod motor.
I guess it all comes down to personal preference and the "cool" factor. For me it was the cool factor. My car would have a crowd around it at the track, and car shows because it's a fox with a mod motor. Wasn't fast, but it grabbed more attention than a 5.0 fox running the same 1/4 mile times at the track. It also grabbed more attention at car shows, even tho other foxes might have had just as nice of paint/wheels ect... The mod motor really shocked people. I used to get people on the side of the road ask me is that a 4.6???? I'd ask, yeah, how'd you know??? They said....you can hear it, you ran them gears out much too long for that to be a 5.0!!! So.....to me, that was worth it.
This is kinda how i see it too.
Hence that is what i did.
I wasn't so much in it for the cool factor, i just wanted around 500hp without having to worry about crap breaking all the time or blowing head gaskets.
The rest of the modular engines just cost too much to build up and modify.
x2. Oh yeah, I left out the part in my reply to his that a Terminator swap is the ultimate mod fox...hands down. But, the most is going to double over what I did. A Coyote would be triple and there would be a lot more research that would need to be done to get that in and running.
I've heard Terminators motors into fox body gives your trouble running a sway bar because the alternator gets in the way. That sucks. I drove my 4v car without an alternator for the first few months and when I put it on, it was a night and day difference. You need a sway bar to handle and manuever on the freeway.
A PI-swapped 96-98 2V might be a cheap alternative though. Pick up a motor dirt cheap, along with some 99-04 2V heads, intake cams, swap on a aftermarket plenum and TB with some long tube headers and you could have a 300HP motor for well under what you pick up a 96-98 4V for
You could also use a 93-98 Mark 8 4V, although you might need to change out a few more parts.
Hell, swap in an LSx while you are at it. Nobody is gonna know.
You could also use a 93-98 Mark 8 4V, although you might need to change out a few more parts.
Hell, swap in an LSx while you are at it. Nobody is gonna know.
True. For me, it's tough to find the heads and other parts, even working at a junkyard. Lots of people don't wanna give up their cores when it comes to Mustangs, so we charge them a core, then they keep their engine. For me it's best to get a 99+ 2V, but yeah 96-98's with PI parts will lay down 300. Project Red Headed Step Child did that a few years ago.
93-98 Marks would work, but the early years had that goofy throttle body that sits straight up, so an intake/throttle body and cable change is necessary. The last year 97-98's had a more similar intake to a 96-01 4V, so you might be able to fab something cheap and make it work without a true Cobra intake. Who knows for sure tho....
You can run a sway bar, but it's a little extra work.
Couple ways to do it, use an sn95 bar which mounts under the frame, not inside.
Or leave the one good sway bar mount (only one needs to be cut off), make a spacer to lower that side and have a chassis shop fabricate the other other.
Basically the fox bar just needs to be mounted lower to clear the alternator.
The sn95 works, but people complain about wide wheels hitting it before full turn.
As far as getting a non PI and making one, i don't see the point.
2v's of any type are cheap.
Combine the cost of the PI heads and intake, with head bolts and gaskets, and i can't see it being worth the effort when starting from scratch.
Yea, I just can't see the benefit of any N/A 4.6 swap into a Fox. More complex, less displacement, and dollar for dollar a HCI pushrod is cheaper and easier and is probably going to outrun a 4.6 with the same kind of money invested. It really just boils down to the uniqueness factor.
Now, a Termi motor is a whole new ballgame.
Now, a Termi motor is a whole new ballgame.
I've done both 2v and 4v swaps. Both cars had CAI, K&N, off-road mid-pipe and catback. Other than that....stock!
2v was a 2001 GT. Made 241RWHP & 284RWTQ.
4v was a 1997 Cobra. Made. 276RWHP. TQ was unavailable that day, dyno was having trouble picking up the TQ reading, couldn't get a singal from the coil.
Most 5.0L cars make 189-210rwhp with the same mods.
It's a lot of work to install a mod motor into a fox the way I did it. For some, the time, labor, effort, research it takes....it might not be worth it. They make more power than 5.0L's stock for stock, or even both having exhaust. However, some people would rather just swap HCI, or do a blower and make as much or more power than an N/A mod motor.
I guess it all comes down to personal preference and the "cool" factor. For me it was the cool factor. My car would have a crowd around it at the track, and car shows because it's a fox with a mod motor. Wasn't fast, but it grabbed more attention than a 5.0 fox running the same 1/4 mile times at the track. It also grabbed more attention at car shows, even tho other foxes might have had just as nice of paint/wheels ect... The mod motor really shocked people. I used to get people on the side of the road ask me is that a 4.6???? I'd ask, yeah, how'd you know??? They said....you can hear it, you ran them gears out much too long for that to be a 5.0!!! So.....to me, that was worth it.
stick 1500 into a 4.6 2v or early 4v and stick 1500 into a 5.0/5.8 roller cam motor , see what runs better, and also you forgot to mention the torque numbers, i stick by what i said, 2v 4.6 is diff in a fox but useless. 4v motors are a much better way of doing it, i have had both worlds and speak from experience
So then is the 4v engine wider than the 2v engine, or do they move the heads in and make the distance between the intake ports narrower?
You sir.... Are my idol.
