Project: Swapping 94 Gt drivetrain to 1999 V6 Vert chassis

Well, first...why would I want to buy any Fox parts when I have a complete 94 GT donor car sitting in my yard?

Second, I know from first hand experience that the stock 96 up K members will not accept a 5.0 windsor block. My brother and I swapped a 5.0 drivetrain into his 97 V6 a few years back and when we tried to set the motor down, the intake manifold was hitting firewall! And the motor mount studs still had another 1/4" toward the back to go before setting down into the k member. In his car, we didn't opt to change the body/dash harnesses and it worked, but he had issues with that car until he sold it. It ran great and all, but the electrical gremlins such as headlights, fuel pump, marker lights and such were all tied to the fact that we were mixing and matching harnesses.

I want my car to look as though it came from the factory with a 5.0 in it, therefore I'll do the extra work involved to make it a seamless conversion! It will be a show car as well so it must be perfect.
 
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hmmmm, sounds to me like a perfect candidate for a carbed car.

it would be a whole lot cleaner and the swap would also be much more straightforward.

just sayin. or rather, just thinking out loud.

:popcorn:
 
OK so here is some things you will need to do you top. These are just my recommendations.

1.Buy new tacking strip for the header bow and A frame (where the pads connect) Can be found here: Convertible Tops and Convertible Top Parts
2. Your going to need a Pneumatic stapler to make the job easier.
3. An electric impact gun or air wratchet is nice to zip on and off the nuts for the times your going to need to test fit.
4. You will need a 12pt 14mm Socket to remove the nuts holding the tacking strip to the body.
5. i think a T8,T9,T10,T15,T20 will cover all the torx for the liner and seals.
6. A big torx to undo the rear seatbelts T60 IIRC???
7. Various sizes of staples the oem top uses 3 sizes... I bought 1/4'' 3/8'' and 1/2''
8. Chalk helps to draw lines on the top if you need to make adjustments.
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9. Spray adhesive (super77) or contact cement.
10. A sharp blade to make the cuts in the top. I prefer a xacto to a box cutter... If you cut to far the tops basically trash.
11. A drill to drill out the old rivets holding the tacking strips to the A Frame
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12. A rivet gun and rivets to install the new tacking strips.
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13. A set of picks to remove staples.
14. A coat hanger and some string to install the cables
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15. Blankets to save your paint.


Tips:
1. Make sure the rear window is mounted high enough (mine is a little to low)
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2. Make sure all staples are fully in when stapled. If not and you try to tap them in with a hammer you will make a small cut in the top... I got one in mine.
3. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL WITH THE WEATHER STRIPPING ITS NOT CHEAP!


For the $125 i spent on the top and $50 in supplies im happy with it. its not a pro job but it looks decent and the window is actually in place...

It will wrinkle and look like trash if not done right... In which case you need to pull out all 100 staples you just put in and restaple the damn thing.
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Finished:
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Im confident if i had to do it again it would turn out much better.
 
I appreciate you writing that up Adam! It will cost me 300 bucks roughly for the back glass and the top. I will check around and see what a shop would charge if I had the parts in hand. Then go from there.
 
I appreciate you writing that up Adam! It will cost me 300 bucks roughly for the back glass and the top. I will check around and see what a shop would charge if I had the parts in hand. Then go from there.

No problem. Make sure they know what brand you plan on buying. I even had people told me they only install "x" brand of top and wouldnt touch anything else.

Also if you supply the top it is not covered under their warranty. Just keep that in mind if you get it done somewhere.
 
Update:

Got the engine and transmission pulled from the 94 today. Boy is this motor nasty! Years of crud on it and it shows. I'm going to powdercoat the accessory brackets and some of the pulleys as well as a few other odds and ends. It will get polished valve covers and a polished Edelbrock RPM EFI intake. I'll throw a nice coat of black paint on the block and heads after I spend an afternoon cleaning the heck out of it.

As a side note, the glass in back of my vert has fallen almost completely out, so it looks like a top will come sooner than later.. as soon as this week probably. Found a place that can do it for 700 bucks and one day turn around so I'm going to jump on that.

I'm waiting on a 95 vert body and driver door harness before I can begin the swap since my coupe's harnesses won't have plugs on them for the top electronics. Pics tomorrow.
 
they back window on my fairlane is like that. i have a new top, but have not done anything with it. i may just take it somewhere too, otherwise it will be 6 months before i do anything with it, and it will probably be wrong ... :bang:
 
The interior in the Vert is in MINT condition. No stains, no rips no nothing! And I'm afraid with having the rear window messed up an animal or something will get in there and cause some damage. The sooner I get it fixed the better!
 
The stock 96 and up K members are punched out to accommodate the 4.6, the V6 are actually installed with adapter plate to make them work. The 5.0 will not set down into the 99 K member.

The reason all the wiring must be changed is because many connectors will be different and thus won't mate creating a bunch of hacked up splicing and such. Also remember the newer cars have the dashes wired up for OBD2 setup. The computer has control over some of the subsystems of the car such as the gauge cluster. The only way to ensure everything mates up and works as it should is to use 100% of the wiring out of the 94. It sounds like a huge pita, but it really shouldn't be.

You should be able to use the K member from the 94 itself. It will bolt right up to the 99.
 
Mounted the engine on the engine stand and began taking things off. Almost had all the injector plugs unplugged and BAM! One broke. I was thinking to myself "hah, EVERYONE ELSE breaks these things but I'm not going to... even stabbed myself with the screwdriver at the same time! Damn Ford cheap plastic and perma-clips...

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I pulled the lower intake off and there wasn't any caked up crud inside the motor. Question: How can I find out if this motor is the original in the car I pulled it from?