mustang 302 swap and t5

damontis

Registered User
I blew my motor and am having a hard time tracking another one down. Havent opened it up but i am pretty sure i threw a rod and did a litttle bit of damage to the head. My question is, what is needed to swap a 5.0 motor from a mustang into our car. The reason for the 302 is the availability in parts and the torque.

Supercoupe guru's.... show me the way!!!
 
You'll be very dissappointed going that route. The 302 just doesn't have what it takes to get these boats moving without alot of help, and with that cost etc it would be cheaper to have Dave Dalke build you a good SC motor.

Frit
 
I blew my motor and am having a hard time tracking another one down. Havent opened it up but i am pretty sure i threw a rod and did a litttle bit of damage to the head. My question is, what is needed to swap a 5.0 motor from a mustang into our car. The reason for the 302 is the availability in parts and the torque.

Supercoupe guru's.... show me the way!!!


Torque? 302's have no torque unless you go nos or kennebell.
 
>Torque? 302's have no torque

I had a 302 Stroppe Bronco that would lift the front wheels clear of any crosswalk in town...felt like plenty of torque to me. Of course I had to increase the wall thickness in the main driveshaft at least once, but hey.

 
>Torque? 302's have no torque

I had a 302 Stroppe Bronco that would lift the front wheels clear of any crosswalk in town...felt like plenty of torque to me. Of course I had to increase the wall thickness in the main driveshaft at least once, but hey.


yeah,right.
 
my '91 XR7 5.0L with a M5R2 swap and 3.27s felt plenty quick and torquey.. heck, mostly thanks to the short 1st gear of the early M5R2s, i could creep away in 1st gear with out even touching the gas pedal.. :eek: Even Stock is wasn't that bad.. My '89 XR7 feels about the same my '91 XR7 was like stock, except smoother in the power..

the SC cars do have smooth power, and are quick... But the 5.0L, least mine, isn't no slouch thou.. I was able to keep up with the SC club up here no problems.. I like to toss in a set of 3.27s into my SC (91 5spd) and see how it performs.. It's fun.. But not THAT fun yet, Acceleration is kinda blah untill you get it going at a decent clip (say near the end of 2nd gear?) i Miss the going sideways into 2nd with the odd Chirp into 3rd like my '91 XR7 could do :) Mind you.. i'm also scared to drive my SC'ed cars that way in fear of blowing the head gaskets :eek:



Own:
89 XR7 (SC Auto, stock)
91 XR7 (5.0L 5spd, Exhaust, CAI)
91 SC (SC 5spd, Stock) <-= Currently driving too
96 XR7 (4.6L auto, stock)
 
Funny thing about the 302 is that its by nature a high revving motor however ford made it into a lower revving torque producing motor..Not a monster but the fuel injected 302's in there day were no slouches torque wise 225hp 300ft/lbs

Meanwhile a 3.8 early model SC made 210hp and 315ft/lbs

Would I do the swap? nahhhh just isnt worth it. A good or even decent rebuild with a few upgrades will net you more power then the cost of a 302 swap
 
you guys have the wrong impression of this post. I have no intentions to modify this car for power. This is my family car. And I just want it to be reliable. By the way, I am under the impression that mustangs make 225 hp, 300lbs torque where as the bird makes 210 hp, 315lbs torque.
 
also in 93 there was a re rating of engine power which reduced the numbers of teh stang to 205 and 275 respectively I believe. Ive heard stories that it was due to cam changes etc etc..But it really was jthat ford rated there engines differently that year..(and from that point on)
 
>Torque? 302's have no torque

I had a 302 Stroppe Bronco that would lift the front wheels clear of any crosswalk in town...felt like plenty of torque to me. Of course I had to increase the wall thickness in the main driveshaft at least once, but hey.

:rolleyes: OK!!!

Thomas
 
Is it true what I hear, that quite a few 5-speed owners prefer the rear end ratio out of the autos...?
 
you guys have the wrong impression of this post. I have no intentions to modify this car for power. This is my family car. And I just want it to be reliable. By the way, I am under the impression that mustangs make 225 hp, 300lbs torque where as the bird makes 210 hp, 315lbs torque.

It can and has been done, but it's going to be a lot of work for a car that ends up being slower and no more reliable than the supercharged 3.8. I had the 5.0 swap done on my 93 SC just to get all the accesories and wiring correct before switching to a race motor. DRove it that way for several months. Car was a real dog with the 5.0 (think taxi cab), but cruised real well on the highway.

If you really want the v8, you would be better off buying a T-bird LX with a 5.0, than doing the swap on your SC.

David
 
I've been discovered! :eek:

;):p:D:rolleyes:

Check http://forums.tccoa.com/showthread.php?t=103398 out, someone put a 351W and an M5R2 in a tbird. M5R2 is the stock SC tranny and has the same bellhousing pattern as the 5.0 and the 351.

that swap cost me $2500 with no machine work.

I could probably do it again for $600 with out the go fast intake and sticking with the auto trans

anyway, my 351w bird is headed for 900rwtq with 9 sec. et's being 100% streetable. I'm starting my turbo build soon.
 
Stcok the '91-92 5.0L MN12s where 200hp at 4,000rpm and 300ftlbs at 3,000rpms.. '93 got Basiclly a cobra spec Cam shaft to try to give the car abit more umph, so the HP ratings did NOT drop..

I bought my '89 XR7 with a Blown engine.. Did i think of swaping in a fuel injected 5.0L.. Yes..
I did not seeing doing the swap as a bad thing (effort of the swap), and may of been able to have it done at a reasonable time.. But i just wanted to keep the 3.8SC engine (or replacement engine:eek:) in it since i already had my 5.0L car :)
But i do believe that just buying a 5.0L car can be the better way to go thou.. :)

Also my 5.0L Has been more faithfull with in reason then any SC in the local SC club here.. Biggest down time for it was when i swaped it to a 5spd, lower it and rebuilt the front suspension (all at the same time).. I've owned the car since '97 (210,000kms too) and it's been at the back of a tow truck two times.. and it was running again the next day.. i think it's pretty faithfull:confused:
 
I've done this swap before more than once. The 5.0 is going to be a little slower than your SC but reliability wise it will be fine. What the published #'s don't tell you is that the SC has a much wider power band than the 5.0 which is what makes it more fun to drive. The SC will spin the tires much easier than a 5.0 will.

That being said, a few things you'll want to know before you get started.

1) Anyone can slap a 5.0 into a T-bird, hotwire some stuff, and make it run. However, if you want to do it right you will have some challenges ahead of you.

2) Don't try to use a Mustang motor. Find a T-bird motor. The Mustang motor mounts, exhaust manifolds, intake manifold, accessories, and wiring system are all completely different.

3) Best bet is to find an LX V8 bird and part it out. You'll need lots of little things that just won't be there on your SC.

4) The flywheel on the 5.0 is going to be different. You can't use your SC flywheel. You'll need an 87-96 F150 5spd flywheel and starter.

5) Even when you use the T-bird wiring harness there are going to be some things that are different in the wiring. It may seem "plug and play" but it won't work without some significant changes. Plan on getting the wiring schematics for both cars.

If any of that seems like too much trouble for you then forget the whole thing and find some other solution. ;)
 
so it would not be worth the money or time to do the swap. I have found an 3.8 sc engine with about 80k, give or take some mileage, from a local engine dealer. Price is $850 and warrantied for 6 months. Should I go for it?
 
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