JCBeaver's 1993 GT Coyote Swap "The Never-Ending Project"

Beginning to experience difficulty shifting into 1st gear at dead stop. I suspect I need to adjust my cable? Even though I think I am seeing proper slack per MM’s instructions. I have a complete Maximum Motorsports system - quadrant, firewall adjuster, and cable.
 
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Well now.... I have pressed the "mission abort" button on my small block build. Found myself a coyote swapped 98 Mustang GT in Arizona that had a price that was too good to be true. It had everything I needed to transfer over to my fox.

I have also updated this thread title to reflect the coyote swap and I now dub this "the never-ending project" because it is what it is.

I drove 13 hours and 900 miles to get it a couple weekends ago and last weekend I got both the coyote out of the 98 GT and the SBF/Kenne Bell out of my fox. I expect to transplant the coyote into my fox this coming weekend, but we shall see how things go. Already sold the Kenne Bell and the motor is pending. SBF parts go like hotcakes here in SoCal; can't complain.

Going to get my hands dirty for a few more weekends then! I already have dropped $500+ on PTFE braided lines for the hydroboost and fuel lines yesterday from Summit and they got here today already. Cant believe how much those fittings add up!

It is my goal for this weekend is to get the coyote fitted into fox and get the hydroboost/brake set up with hoses plumbed in this weekend. I ordered the maximum motorsports hydroboost conversion kit so it should be rather easy bolting everything on. The 98 GT came with FRPP Control Pack which is very nice from what I can see so far (simple/neat wiring and almost every wire is labeled)

On to the pictures:

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Has anyone transplanted a SN95 radiator into a fox? Let me know.

I have this nice aftermarket radiator from 98 GT and would love to re-use it rather than spending on a new one. I am thinking about fabricating lower brackets from the SN95 on my fox. Need to mock up the radiator first and see if I can find a mobile welder :)
 
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Doesnt look like whole lot but this set me back $550! :doh: Fragola lines and hose ends along with some adapter fittings. Zero experience with those stuff and brand. Only went with them because Fragola was the only brand that had comparable prices and had everything in stock.

Any real good tip on cutting PTFE braided lines let me know. I opted not to buy $50ish cutting tool as most of them does not look like it is worth the price. My brother said he had most success using a 4 inch cut off wheel on his air grinder cutting right at the middle of the tape on the braided line. I suppose I shall do the same.

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Love the view of my garage at this moment, but I'd like some space back, please. :hug:

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What’s happening with the donor car? And where are you keeping that?
Uhh and another thing...I wouldn’t consider transferring the sentiment.

I know that the window sticker pic wasn’t your idea, but whenever somebody has it so bad to stay Ford in Ford that they can justify spending an assload more money to stay that way.....Kinda makes the “LS swap is cheaper” thing all that more true.

Cause say what you will,..when comparing how much it costs to put an LS 3 into ANY car vs a Coyote/6 speed..LS is gonna win that one, you can document that argument from personal experience.

:nonono: So can I.
 
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What’s happening with the donor car? And where are you keeping that?
Uhh and another thing...I wouldn’t consider transferring the sentiment.

I know that the window sticker pic wasn’t your idea, but whenever somebody has it so bad to stay Ford in Ford that they can justify spending an assload more money to stay that way.....Kinda makes the “LS swap is cheaper” thing all that more true.

Cause say what you will,..when comparing how much it costs to put an LS 3 into ANY car vs a Coyote/6 speed..LS is gonna win that one, you can document that argument from personal experience.

:nonono: So can I.

That sticker was purely a joke. Don’t read too much into it, buddy. :) It is just a donor car for my 93 after all.

In the end I will have extra cash in my pocket and a coyote in my car so this whole thing is a win-win for me.

All this are happening at my house’s driveway and the garage.the 98 will likely be stripped apart.
 
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FRPP Control Pack powers it right?
Most likely. Getting the donor car that was already Coyote swapped was a smart move. All the extra supporting bits (control pack, headers, transmission, k-member, pedal bracket, etc.) are already included and he can recoup quite a bit from parting out the other car. It's a win-win.
 
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I got the 98 GT donor car for $8K. The motor is a 2014 motor and it was rebuilt by performance shop with a invoice of $5,800 paid in cash. 500 miles on the rebuild. Brand new FR500 wheels with brand new Toyo tirees, to name a few.. Too many to list. For that price, I had to run for it. I already have recouped most of my $8K from selling off my fox parts and some from the 98. Still plenty of stuff to sell. Win win for me.

Yes the FRPP Control Pack is powering it. The prev owner kind of hacked the wiring up a bit so I got some digging to do but I think I have everything rougly set up though.

Coyote should be officially in by tomorrow night! I will make another post after this one to provide an update to this build.
 
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Considering I needed to do work under the dash for the hydroboost conversion and FRPP Control Pack harness, I decided to pull the dash after being unable to fish out the ECU harness out of the passenger side firewall hole due to the heater box being in the way. I did it so many times that I got it pulled out in less than 30 minutes so no real big complaints here. Installation always are harder/more time consuming though.

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I got rid of the ECU harness as it is no longer needed here. I still have the drivers side harness for the headlights etc and the whole harness behind the dash. Tempted to trim down the harness behind the dash, but not sure if I am digging too far beyond my abilities here. I would like to get heat and AC functioning later on and I was told I can run its own AC module, but I dont know anything about it yet. Might just have to put everything back in and tuck them away the best I can until further notice haha. I know that my Dakota gauge cluster will connect directly to the control pack, so will my lights. Not sure how everything else works without the ECU or power. More homework to do for me.

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Got the FRPP Control Pack harness mocked up and I think I will just mount the ECU in the fender. Nothing fancy. I transferred the accelerator pedal from the donor car that also already had the correct adapter bracket. You can see the brake pedal and arm are from the maximum motorsports hydroboost conversion kit. Well built as usual. The floor mat I have will have to go and I need to either improve the carpet adhesion to the body or cut it up some bit because the accelerator will not clear completely with the mat in there

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Degreased the motor the best I could and I think it came out fairly good. Not a show car, but I am happy :)

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Hydroboost conversion from MM installed. It was very straight forward. Not much to say here other than I twisted up the existing brake line adapters I had for 93 cobra to work with 99-04 master cylinder (with Traction Control) so it had the same 12x1.0 and 10x1.0 metric fittings. Not pretty at all but will suffice for now. I will plumb something nicer later on with a better proportioning valve.

I am limited to my own 2 hands so I thought best way to get the coyote into my fox would be to get it under the car. I must be golden at this point..

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I was wrong... Apparently, I did not do enough homework. The motor wouldn't clear the damn sway bar brackets! Sure as hell am not cutting them off. I have not even learned how to weld yet haha. And I like me some corners so yes sway bars must stay... I spent 10+ hours working on pulling parts from the 98 and prepping the fox on Saturday so I can at least get the coyote in. Close, but no cigar.

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I bought some straps and now I have the motor up on the engine crane ready to go in once I have someone help me get this bad boy in. At least this way I pulled off the K member and was able to confirm that it fits on fox no problem. This K-Member is supposed to be for 96-04 but I suppose they are just referencing to the engine not the body/frame fitment.

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Stalled out at this point on Saturday/Sunday due to the Super Bowl and work. I also am a new dad so I am juggling a few things here and there. Surely, I will get her done sooner than later! My wife was willing to lend me her hands to get the coyote in tonight but our little darling wasn't having it so there goes out time haha. I have a friend coming tomorrow to lend a hand, I just need to be able to pull the transmission down while someone lowers the crane for me. Should get this bad boy in tomorrow with a little wrangling! :cheers:

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Dont cut the brackets it can go in from the bottom. I did mine from the bottom with headers trans and k member attached. the trick was having the car jacked up high. Slide the motor under and lower the car slowly on each side. This required 2 jacks. I had one side of the car lower the the other at times as i worked the motor in slowly. It was a tedious process but i had the motor in withing 10 minutes. I just looked through my pictures and i had the motor on a Barrel dolly and rolled it under and had the car lifted up high and slid it under. Not so sure if i have pics of how i did mine but here is a link to my build.


 
Dont cut the brackets it can go in from the bottom. I did mine from the bottom with headers trans and k member attached. the trick was having the car jacked up high. Slide the motor under and lower the car slowly on each side. This required 2 jacks. I had one side of the car lower the the other at times as i worked the motor in slowly. It was a tedious process but i had the motor in withing 10 minutes. I just looked through my pictures and i had the motor on a Barrel dolly and rolled it under and had the car lifted up high and slid it under. Not so sure if i have pics of how i did mine but here is a link to my build.


Never said I would cut the brackets :) it is not an option.

don’t forget I have headers and trans on so going from underneath is quite hard when I’m alone. I was not willing to push it and end up with some scratched up coyote.

going from the top is not a big deal. It will be done by end of day today then I just need to button up the rest! Did you use a control pack?
 
Loved reading through this build. LOVE your car. You have a great attention to detail and have outfitted your car with all the best, tasteful mods. Looking forward to following this one!