Mac88GT

Ok so I just purchased my first Mustang. It's a 1988 5.0gt and it came with a tick in the driver side upper portion of the motor. I thought it may be a loose lifter but everything is tight under there. After doing research I decided I would just go ahead and do the whole head swap anyway since I would be tearing everything apart.. I was just going to toss in the gt40 heads and go from there (not building a race care here fellas... just want it to run good and maybe a bit better than stock.). I found a 97 Explorer complete gt40 engine for $375 so I snatched it up.. Once I got there I found out it was gt40p heads etc on it, a little more work but no biggie. Now I am at the point to where I am wondering if I should just drop the whole engine in there or do the whole top end swap. If I drop the whole engine in I wont have to find shorty headers, swap the oil pan, and get a new timing chain cover (I believe that's what the 3rd thing was). I've been reading and reading and I'm burning myself out already lol. Aside from cam and spring upgrades in the 97 engine what else should I expect. From what I read that engine has less HP than the 88 fox body 5.0 also. I'm just torn. I'm going to do more upgrades later on but I'm working on a small budget here guys and will save up for better parts later... just keep in mind as I mentioned above.. I'm not building a race car. Ty in advance for any info/suggestions you can give me. None of this was planned.. everything, (including the car) kinda just fell into my lap and became an impulse buy lol.

Mac88GT

Hmm I said part of that wrong.. If I drop the whole engine in I will have to find shorty headers, swap the oil pan, and get a new timing chain cover (I believe that's what the 3rd thing was).

pascal

The GT40P heads aren't great but the GT40s aren't much better really, they just don't flow for schit.
If you're gonna spend money on heads go with AFRs, Trickflow or Victor Junior.
If you're really on a tight budget, get your current heads ported and call it a day.
It would be easier to drop the whole explorer mill in there, although your bracket accessories will have to be swapped. Regardless, you have all the parts.
I'd still go with new timing chain while everything is out.

Mac88GT

So if I drop the explorer engine in, I need to get a shorter set of headers, a shorter oil pan, and change the timing chains cover. Are you suggesting I changed the timing chain on the explorer engine or the current Mustang engine after a head swap?

Mac88GT

At this point we suspect that a lifter was sticking in the engine causing the noise we heard in the stock 5.0 engine. So we're going to get new lifters for the stock cam.. any suggestions?