SC motor in an early Ford or Merc

BB Cougar

Registered User
Has anyone attempted an SC driveline swap into an early mustang, ford or mercury? Everyone is putting 5.0 strokers in them, and I was thinking this swap would be awesome substitute. I would like to find out what would be needed to do the swap. I have access to a complete wrecked SC and I am considering trying to do this. Is it impossible, or just unreal? Thanks for any input. Greg
 
Well it would be a LOOOOONG list of parts that you may need, but if you have a complete wrecked SC them you may have most of what you need. The swap will be a little bit more simple if you plan on using an automatic tranny. Electrical will be the worst part. Not that long ago I transplanted the motor from my rusted SC into my 1990 mustang. Well I'll just say installing the motor, 2 bell housings(dont ask), 3 starters(dont ask), tranny, driveshaft, cooling system and the entire exhaust took about 3-4 days.:eek: The electrical sucked!!! It took me over 3 WEEKS!!!:rolleyes: Do yourself a favor and get the wiring diagrams for both the cars from HELMS. I gave up and ordered them after about a week and it was the best thing I did. If you do try this swap you should post some pix.
 
I think it be a great swap and a quick lil bugger as the old falcons weighed barely anything.

If you go stick you are probably better off using the SC tranny as the clutch setupo is hydraulic and eaily adpted if you can source some mustang pedals. Going with a t5 (stang type tranny ) or a toploader you will require an adapter kit as the 3.8 block doesnt have the needed attachment points for the zbar assymbly. Im not to familiar with it however I'm sure you can find info on it online. Overall I believe the setup will weight more then if a SBF was in place but in such a light car would be fun as heck.

As been mentioned a good schematic of the donar car will help you.

I say go for it
 
I have heard of people putting 5.0s and AODs into classic Mustangs. I think that you should be able to put a 3.8SC anywhere that you can put a 5.0. The old engine bays are generally quite roomy. The wiring, as stated by others, would be the hardest thing, but you will be starting from scratch, so you might as well get all the wiring from the SC engine, computer, etc. and put it all in. The gauges might be troublesome. I am not sure how you should handle that. You might have to build your own cluster.
 
Right now I am going to try to do all the research possible. I want to put the whole electrical works in the donor car. I was thinking a bout even puting the entire dash from the SC into the donor. Does the SC motor mount somewhere close to the 5.0's? I'll get the SC wiring diagram now and then one for the donor car when I decide. I'm talking to a guy about a 68 falcon wagon(real cheap) which would be the cheapest initial investment right now. If it works,who knows, may I'll get one of the new Dynacorn 1967 fastbacks and plop an SC into it! By the way, thanks for your feedback in advance!
 
Pete Roy (Peterdroy66) looked at this swap for his 71 Mustang ragtop, and encountered a few things. Main issue that you would run in to is the oil pan. Early cars need a front sump pan, and the only production front sump 3.8 pan would be from the oddball light-duty F-100 in 1982 and 1983.

Other thing was the P/S pump interfering with the shock tower I believe. I know it's fairly close with the 302 in my 68 Cougar, the shorter 3.8 would move it back closer to the tower.

Probably some other minor things, but those were the two things he mentioned that stuck in my head. He ended up just doing an EFI conversion on the original 302 using SN95 Mustang stuff.


cheers
Ed N.
 
Engine swap.

I am in a similar situation. I started with a complete 93 with AOD and took the complete harness from front bumper to the front seats including the dashboard harness.

The 3.8 is advertised in the factory manual as a little over 500 lbs., very close to the weight of the 351 I am replacing. It is narrower than a 5.7 ltr motor and could be a little narrower than a 5.0. At any rate, the falcon body came with small block engines in them so I wouldn’t expect a clearance issue with the exception of the firewall issue as the supercharger occupies space there the standard intake manifold does not.

You should plan to front mount the Intercooler as you might not have enough room to the side of the radiator. That is actually a prefered location anyway. The electric fan will fit the standard radiator with little modification.

You can use aftermarket gauges (buy a tack that will run off the distributerless ign or have one modified). The ADO is the same length as my C4 was. I would plan on swaping the rear end out for a 8” (with 4 spyders), or 8.8”.

Physically, it should be an easy drop in. The wiring will be a challenge but not insurmountable.
 
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