RealLow4.2

Hey everyone, So i bought a 92 4 cylinder hatch to swap my drive train and motor into... I want to try to do all the work myself cuz i dont have the money to pay someone to do it all. But what i have been wondering is what do i need phisically swap from the 5.0 car into the 4banger car? Obviously not the motor tranny and rear, but im talking what suspension parts do i need to swap? brakes? A-arms? springs, shocks? gas tank, fuel lines? Any help will help me trust me...
My 5.0 is a 1990 hatch, powerdyne supercharged, 42lb injectors, 255 pump, 60mm tb, cobra upper and lower, msd 6al... It has sportline springs (2" drop), reinforced a-arms, subframe connectors, upr upper and lower control arms...

So what can i get away with leaving, and what should i swap... Also any tips to make the process smoother would be awesome! thanks everyone! - Jay

dave1170

You'll need to change the front spindles if you want to use the front brake calipers and rotors from the 5.0(strongly advised!), the 4 cyl. brake rotors were smaller. The master cylinder and brake booster were smaller on the 4 cyl. the brake lines should be changed, they ran on opposite sides between the 4 and 8 cyl. The rear brake lines tend to rub on the axle if you don't swap them over. You'll need to upgrade the fuel pump to feed the 5.0 engine. I'll get back to you when I think of the other things I had to do when I did the swap. These are the major things though. Good luck with the swap!!

dave1170

Also Jay, when you swap the engine harness into the car do yourself a favor and swap the dash harness. It's a PITA but it will prevent alot of electrical gremlins. If you can, try Ebay and find a dash harness and engine harness out of a 93 5.0, it has the fuel pump relay under the hood. Your 1990 engine harness will have different plugs that match the 93 dash harness, that's why I suggest the 93 engine harness also. This way you won't have to jump the fuel pump wire to the fuse box. I've done 4 swaps and it was all trial and error. I've got it down pretty well now

RealLow4.2

Thanks a lot bro, I appreciate the help, the only thing is i dont know how to do anything with wiring... so for me to try and swap harnesses would be a bad idea i think! - Jay

r.barn

Get a '92 V8 harness. That and nothing else.
It will plug right in to the dash harness and save you soooooooo many headaches.

You can re-use dash harness AS LONG AS YOU USE SAME YEAR V8 ENGINE HARNESS.

'93 harness is wrong. It will have fuel pump relay in wrong place.

also need the headlight harness to put alt. wiring on right side.

dave1170

The wiring is all plug and play. I've done a few of these swaps and the only way I was able to get the fuel pump to kick on is by using a 93 engine and dash harness. This has been said many times in conversion sites. When I tried harnesses from other years the fuel pump would not kick on. This relocates the fuel pump relays under the hood so you don't have to jump the green/yellow wire near the drivers side kick panel to the fuse box. Just my 2 cents!!

1992lx5.0

do your self a favor find a donor car thats what i did actually what i did was i took my 92 apart bc i had twisted the frame from to many hard launches at the track and no subframe connectors or roll cage...Any ways i bought an 87 4banger and put them side by side and went to town..My only benifit was my parts were all new in my 92 so everything came out easy and yes youll need the breaks, front spidles, crossmembers, sway bars, steering rack, wiring harness, computer, pullin the wires out is the hardest part of the whole conversion, being careful not to break, cut, or anything to them.... if you have done a motor swap before you can do this, just takes more time and patients

mjr46

^^^^^^^^^^^^^you don't need to do any of that!!!!!!!! why??? cause the 86 and below 5.0 were equipped with the same size rotors and drums as 87 and up 4cyl...= 10 inch...I ran the 10 inch set up on my 85 gt all the way to low 12's with plenty of stopping power and my current 92 stang was a 4cyl project converted to 5.0 and it runs 13.80's with plenty of stopping power and this conversion I did 5 years ago.. the 4cyl set up is quite sufficient to stop the car with a 5.0 in it..don't waste your money or time swapping such stuff......as for the brake line/ rubber hose..thsat rubs an exhaust pipe..all you need to do is zip tie it to the upper control arm...has worked fine once again for 5 years

RealLow4.2

Would i be able to drop my sportline springs and shocks into the 4 cyl suspension? I have brand new UPR rear control arms so i know those will go right on with my rear end, but as far as the front suspension, I dont know what to do. And my motor is 400hp supercharged... Car used to run high 11's...

mjr46

springs will be a direct swap= no probs