4 cyl. conversion?
- Thread starter donsbad68
- Start date
-
Sponsors (?)
I need some similar info. I'm gonna buy a 87 mustang body, it has no motor or trans. I'm going to put a 5.0 in it. The guy I'm buying it from, bought it for the same reason, however he doesnt know if it had a 5.0 in it or not. My first question, how can I tell what motor it had in it? A mechanic told me I would have to swap out all the wiring and It would be a hell of a job, If it didnt have a 5.0 in it. My second question, is it that difficult to swap over to a 5.0, if it will be necessary?
By the way, I was going to swap the 5.0 from an 88 mustang 5speed fuel injected to an 87 mustang previously 5 speed also fuel injected.
By the way, I was going to swap the 5.0 from an 88 mustang 5speed fuel injected to an 87 mustang previously 5 speed also fuel injected.
You can do this the right way, and the quick way. To do it the right way:
strip ALL MECHANICALS from the 4 banger car.
hope to hell you guys have a v8 donor car, or you'll be collecting parts for the next ten centuries.
after the mechanicals are essentially stripped to the shell on the 4 banger, swap the v8 quick ratio steering rack into the engine compt while the engine is still out. Swap the v8 spindles and front brakes too. Swap the ENTIRE v8 fuel line in from engine to gas tank, rip the 4 banger stuff out, it runs on the wrong side. We pulled the tank and swapped the pumps, but I've heard the 4 banger pump "may" be efficient
Yank the 7.5 rear out of the 4 banger, swap in the 8.8 rear end. Not sure about brake lines, but I'm pretty sure for the rear at least those are plug and play. yank the 4 banger engine harness out, swap in the v8 engine harness (you can cut and splice the 4 banger engine harness, but this write up is for a factory looking conversion) swap in the v8 engine harness, and the v8 ecu and ecu harness. pull the 4 banger engine mount brackets off of the k member. K member is the same as the v8. On the bottom side, more good news, as the bolt in places for the v8 trans x member are already there, bolt in and go. Drop in the 5.0 and trans in as one unit, bolt it all up, connect your fuel lines and wires that are already ready to go. a note on the wiring harness, on aero fox's, the dash wiring harness back to the tails is ALL the same 4 banger or v8, so you'll just need to swap the engine harness and ecu harness.
if you have an auto 4 banger, then you'll need to lose the shifter, and swap in your manual clutch pedal assembly, and swap in the 5 speed wiring harness.
THis is no small project guys. Its extremely labor intensive, but very straight forward. My friend is 38, took him 3 weeks doing it after work 2-4 hours a night, then one last hurrah on the weekend when I was there to swap in all the v8 stuff (he spend the first part stripping the four banger and painting the engine compt)
if you're not hardcore about this, you'll wind up sending both the 4 banger and your parts car to the junkyard. Good luck, the swap is WELL worth it.
I need to emphasize that from me doing this swap, I came under the realization that ALL fox mustangs were built from the factory to hold a v8. They were then adapted with special mounts to hold the 4 banger. For this reason, any dedicated hardcore self wrencher should have no problem completing this swap, just leave PLENTY of time, and if you've got A.D.D. Like I do, have a friend help so you don't get sidetracked and abandon the project. If you have more questions I can try to help
strip ALL MECHANICALS from the 4 banger car.
hope to hell you guys have a v8 donor car, or you'll be collecting parts for the next ten centuries.
after the mechanicals are essentially stripped to the shell on the 4 banger, swap the v8 quick ratio steering rack into the engine compt while the engine is still out. Swap the v8 spindles and front brakes too. Swap the ENTIRE v8 fuel line in from engine to gas tank, rip the 4 banger stuff out, it runs on the wrong side. We pulled the tank and swapped the pumps, but I've heard the 4 banger pump "may" be efficient
Yank the 7.5 rear out of the 4 banger, swap in the 8.8 rear end. Not sure about brake lines, but I'm pretty sure for the rear at least those are plug and play. yank the 4 banger engine harness out, swap in the v8 engine harness (you can cut and splice the 4 banger engine harness, but this write up is for a factory looking conversion) swap in the v8 engine harness, and the v8 ecu and ecu harness. pull the 4 banger engine mount brackets off of the k member. K member is the same as the v8. On the bottom side, more good news, as the bolt in places for the v8 trans x member are already there, bolt in and go. Drop in the 5.0 and trans in as one unit, bolt it all up, connect your fuel lines and wires that are already ready to go. a note on the wiring harness, on aero fox's, the dash wiring harness back to the tails is ALL the same 4 banger or v8, so you'll just need to swap the engine harness and ecu harness.
if you have an auto 4 banger, then you'll need to lose the shifter, and swap in your manual clutch pedal assembly, and swap in the 5 speed wiring harness.
THis is no small project guys. Its extremely labor intensive, but very straight forward. My friend is 38, took him 3 weeks doing it after work 2-4 hours a night, then one last hurrah on the weekend when I was there to swap in all the v8 stuff (he spend the first part stripping the four banger and painting the engine compt)
if you're not hardcore about this, you'll wind up sending both the 4 banger and your parts car to the junkyard. Good luck, the swap is WELL worth it.
I need to emphasize that from me doing this swap, I came under the realization that ALL fox mustangs were built from the factory to hold a v8. They were then adapted with special mounts to hold the 4 banger. For this reason, any dedicated hardcore self wrencher should have no problem completing this swap, just leave PLENTY of time, and if you've got A.D.D. Like I do, have a friend help so you don't get sidetracked and abandon the project. If you have more questions I can try to help
If you are going to use the carb then you need to take out the intank fuel pump or it will blow the needles right out of the carb. I am not sure how others have modified it to use the carb but with an electronic fuel pump you'll need a fuel regulator and more than likely fuel pressure gauge.
Similar threads
