Hi, I am apart of a 24 hours of Lemons team and we purchased 2 SCs. A 90 model 35 anniversary automatic car and a 94 5spd car. We are trying to make one good car out of the two. Thanks for the join!
Welcome! I used to have an 89 XR7 that I ran in Lemons for 5 or 6 years. We ran a 5.0 in ours, which as much as I love the SC motors I think that may be your best bet for both reliability and ease of repair, especially if you are not already well versed in the SC. The good news is that the 5.0 will bolt right up to the 5-speed trans in the SC.
There is also another member, S4Gunn, who runs a 95 Tbird with a 5.0 (and who was nice enough to invite me to drive it last time), so I'm sure he will be chiming in too.