My Head gaskets!

Well I blew my head gaskets - the far back passenger. There's no coolant in the oil. But I have 2 options to go with. 1. Replace em and hope they last. 2. A good friend and mechanic has a 5.0 out of a mustang that he can get for about $100 casue the guy is goingto get the car junked anyway. (The car was totaled in the back.)

Now I do realize that my car would no longer be a SC wich doesn't depress me much because you can get a hell of a lot more power out of a 5.0 ( than a 3.8. And the 5.0 was built more machanically sound than the 3.8.

So basically what I'm asking is what do you people think? 5.0 or new head gaskets? What are some advantages or disadvantages that you see with either?

i could probably find reasons for you to go either way. i guess it really depends on what you want to do. for money, i've heard the hg's can get very expensive to have replaced or very time consuming if you try to do it yourself, and i've seen people recommend that you stay as far away from trying it yourself as possible. as for the 5.0, the price sounds real good, but what about getting it in the car? would you do it youself or would you take it to a mechanic? another thing to think about is the tranny and electronics. you will have to change pretty much everything to go with the 5.0, and that could add up. those are the biggest things that i've heard about with the sc to 5.0 swap. but in the end it still is all up to you. let us know what you end up doing with the car.

p.s. if you decide to go with the 5.0, i'll be glad to take the blower off your hands for you, if the price is right.

if i had the option and could do them both for around the same price.....i would definitely go with that 5.0L engine. I realize that the 5.0 will make a SC slower than the stock 3.8L would make it. But for me, not being able to fix my own car, because of lack of room, tools, and a bit of knowledge, i would much rather have had a 5.0L all this time insteada this silly 3.8L supercharged.



Moneywise the 5.0 is the way to go....but having a supercharger is cool too, just theres too many probs with that damn enigne.

if you really want to do it without spending too much money, if your willing to do the work. I blew the motor out of my car a little while back it was a 90 xr-7, so i sold the body to my buddy. he had a 1977 cougar with a carburated 302 in it. we swapped motor and tranny and just ditched all the electricals popped out my gauge cluster and took the electric gauges out put in the mechanical ones and bolted it back in. except for the different look of the gauges you can't tell the difference, that and the rumble of the ol carburated motor with headers. but all that costs is the price of a hold junked car with a 302 which you can get for 100-300 dollars.

First, yes everything will be done by me. And yes my freind estimated that if he and I both work on it the head gaskets would take about 25 hours. And yes the 3.8 is a piece of sh1t engine and the head gaskets will blow again. Plus the 3.8SC can't hold a candle to a good 5.0. As far as the tranny and electronics go, I'm getting everything. This guy is gonna have the car junked and pay to do it. So me giving him $100 for it is better than him paying the junkyard. But on the other hand head gaskets are not $100. Whould you still go with the 5.0? I think myself that it would be a better option anyway.

i really like that 5.0 in that car it has a lot of snort. So i would say go for it.

compare torgue curves
i belive a slightly moded 3.8 sc motor will take any slightly moded 5.0 light to light
thats where i want my power
(there's a reason i'm spending a lot of time and money putting a sc motor in my mustang

i agree completly i used to kill mustangs light to light. but i just love the raw power from that old v8. its all personal opinion in what you want and like really.

I agree, the SC has a lot of torque. But theproblem is that the motor is a piece! And the 5.0 has so much more potential where as the SC is busting at the gaskets (lol) because it's already got a lot of power for the quality of the enigne.

i dont think the 3.8 sc are that bad
i think that ford(in their own unique wisdom) put an extremly restrictive exhaust system that blows the gaskets
(theres no supercharger to pull the exhuast out)

an i disagree about the sc stock hp being its limit i saw a mustang with a sc motor that had long tube headers,raised top,10% pulley,underdrives,a custom chip and a custom fmic system he was making 380hp at the rear wheels! on a stock longblock

for me i'll take a 3.8 sc motor
it's either that or a lightning motor
p.s if you think a 5.0 will beat a lightning motor your dreaming

i'm currently in the process of rebuilding my engine since rear main seal leaking, supercharger needed to be rebuilt, and a suspected blown head gasket. The amount of labor to change rear main seal and all the pumping that needs to be removed to remove blower, why stop there. Head gasket was blown and found one of the heads cracked (after had it pressure tested). Luckily I only have to pay for parts (or the labor charges would make me have to junk my sc). Got a 5.0 just sitting in the garage, but it just wouldn't be an SC anymore. And all though it has cost me A LOT (in repairs), I just really have a thing for my SC.

HGS

I WENT WITH THE 4.2 TRUCK S.S GASKETS SO FAR SO GOOD MY 2 CENTS......................FAST FREDDIE.....OH PLUS OPENED THE EXHAUST................CATS ONLY................

z9_87,

It wasn't too long ago that I pondered the same question that is facing you right now.

My HG's blew about six months after I got my '90 SC. At the time, I knew way more about 5.0L Mustangs than I did about Super Coupes. I too had cheap and easy access to a great '89 GT donor car. I'd heard a great deal about the head gasket woes of many of the SCCoA members. I gave serious consideration to buying the 'Stang parts car, and swapping in the 5.0 and the T5. As it turns out, it's not an easy swap. There are serious issues with the electronics, especially if you want to keep the stock T-Bird cluster. There's also an issue of the shift turret being located too far forward on the T5 for that tranny to go into a T-Bird. That requires big modifications to get around. The other thing is that not much besides the longblock can be salvaged from the 'Stang for use in your T-Bird. You need different motor mounts, a different upper intake manifold, different throttle linkage, and the list goes on and on. You're much better off starting with a 5.0L T-Bird as the donor car.

In regards to the performance and durability of the 3.8L as opposed to the 5.0L, I think you're right in that it's much cheaper to buy performance goodies for the 5.0L HO motors than the 3.8L supercharged motors, but keep in mind that a lightly modded 3.8L supercharged motor WILL OUTPERFORM a lightly modded 5.0L HO in an MN12 chassis anyday! Just look at the stock numbers our motors were capable of in comparison to the numbers for the 'Stang motors. Those guys dream of making the kind of torque that our cars did from the factory.

Then there's the issue of not really having an SC anymore... Look to Ted Lyon's for advice on this one. Ted took his SC and dropped in a 5.0L (I think he's running more than 302 cu. in. displacement now). His car is an incredible machine, but he's also bolted a centrifugal blower onto his mill. Oh, and guess what. He's had failures in his 5.0L blown application.

If you're mechanically inclined enough to handle a motor swap like this, then I'd wager that you're skilled enough to handle replacing your own HG's too. I've done three cars in the past four weeks for other members of the SCCoO. The last car was Bill McNeil's '93 SC with a Morana Stage III mill. We had the heads off in about three hours, and the whole job done in about nine hours total. Yes, we've done a bunch of these, so we've learned some tricks, but it is definitely doable.

Whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck as you try to get your car back up and running. If I can be of assistance, in so far as offering information, etc. then please don't hesitate to drop me an email.

Best regards,

Sean

head gaskets!

if i were you, i'd do the head gaskets!!! they're not THAT hard, especially if you have a part-time helper, the right tools, and a WARM garage!!! i guaratee that since time = money, the headgaskets would be much cheaper to replace, yourself anyways. i think i did my friends in...about 19 hours. and that was my first time. had some little problems along the way, but everything worked out, and they're still holding up. just take your time on it, and it will save time in the end! now.....a lightning engine on the other hand...... anyways, good luck with whatever you choose! take care!

derrktor feesh

Everyone has five os why not be different and stay with the unique 3.8 sc'd tbird. My friend has a 1995 gt 5.0 with headers, ehxaust, chip and some other performance upgrades and I still keep up with him til 120 mph, Who the hell wants to go faster? I personally like quickies I can beat him from light to light and that pisses him off. I only have the cats removed and air silencer. Just imagine if I upgraded a little. Plus I love the blower sound

well I was thinking it over and decided to go with the head gaskets. I've never done anything to an engine with so much sh1t on top of it though. And SeanMatteson, 9 hours! WOW, quick! I'm guessing this will take me about 20+ hours to do. Hope it's quicker though. Thanks for all the advice though.

z9_87,

Trust me, it's taken me a few of these to get the time down to that. Plus, it was Bill McNeil's car, and that thing has been apart so many times in the past year and a half that you can rest assured we didn't encounter a single stuck bolt or anything out of the ordinary. If you can accomplish the whole job in about 20 hours, then good for you! More importantly, take your time and make sure you do it right. Ask for advice if you come across anything that you're not sure of. There are plenty of us here in the SCCoA who have been down this road, some of us multiple times, so I'm sure you'll get answers relatively quick.

Good luck!

Cheers,

Sean