pony1pony2

First, i really hope this is the right place for everything - figured i'd give it a shot. Could use some advice. Sorry if some of this is pretty pointless, i tend to get carried away.


First things first, please do not tell me to scrap it - i know, i probably should. But i bought this car with the intentions of swapping at least the transmission - just wasn't planning on doing it this fast. Basicly i bought it just for the shell/parts - the interior is completely redone to match the 2003 cobra. Carbin fiber tail lights, projection head lights on the out side. New paint - no dents, bumps, etc on the body. Brand new aftermarket radio. Clean title. Brand new tires on stock rims - a set of low profiles also thrown in with the car. I had my eyes on it for awhile, and i guess i got lucky(or did I?) and the owners went through some really hard times and had to sell it asap. Gave $1,200 for it. It was running at the time.

Had planned to just drive it untill i saved up some more and then swap the auto tranny to a manual one and then be done with it. But, four months later my OD light starts flashing - take it to the dealer, tranny needs to be either rebuilt or replaced. Ok, fine i guess, planned on doing that anyways. $2,500 for brand new manuel tranny to be swapped in. That is set to happen in 2 weeks.

Now, engine is messing up. Misfire on Clyinders 2,3& 5. We know it at least has a vacuum leak. Not sure what else might be off. It was told to have 160k miles on it but odemeter stopped working before i bought it so can't be sure. Haven't had it looked at yet, but after reading most people seem to have alot of trouble out of these engines. Would you go ahead and have a rebuilt engine put in it while getting the new tranny? Would it be at all possible to fit a v8 in this body instead of the v6 it came with? What would you do?

Chances are if the engine is fixable and its a minor thing i'll just have it fixed and leave it alone - but would like to have options if thats not the case. And of course if its going to cost me a ton to fix an engine that could possibly have 200k+ miles on it, i'm not going to do it.

Has anyone else swapped either the engine or the tranny? How much did it run you? If you swapped the engine what did you swap it to?

NeoTokyo

Welcome to the Forums.

First off, the 03/04 Cobra seats are worth what you paid for it.
Second, a car that clean doesnt derserve to be junked, just keep working with it.
Third, the bodies are all the same between the V6 and V8.

So the engine and trans are having problems, well like you have been thinking this is a great time to go ahead and swap over to a V8.

Now if you are paying someone to do this work then its best to find the cheapest guy you can because the labor is going to really add up quick.

If you are willing to do this yourself then your best bet is to find yourself a wrecked 96-04 Mustang GT and swap everything over. The reason why you cant go older is because you need to stick with the motor types of that year OR newer, so a 5.0L from a 1995 should not go in, you will have smog/registration/DOT problems. YES it will fit just fine, its just the laws that pose a problem.

So, 96-04 Mustang GT's or Cobra.
Since you already have the interior, a nice 03/04 Cobra swap would be really awesome.

Now keep in mind, when swapping over to a V8 you need to upgrade just about everything else, rear end, engine and behind dash wiring harness and ECU's, fuel system and so on. Thats why it is best to swap from a wrecked car, you can take what you need for the swap.


Now if you dont want to go through all of that you can swap a 99-04 3.8L V6 and T5 in for much less work and money. You get the revised splitport heads, 190hp and the 5spd that you want.

There are lots of write ups for swapping a 99-04 V6 Splitport motor into a 94-98 V6.
I swapped a 2000 into my wifes 96', very easy and fairly cheap as far as swaps go.

pony1pony2

Thank you so very much!

Only a few questions. As for pulling the engine & trans out of a wrecked car - wouldn't you worry something could be messed up with them? Or do the junk yards test them to make sure they still work before selling?

And i'd probably be paying someone to do it. I've got all the time in the world but i have no clue what i'm doing - so really wouldn't want to mess something else up.

I am working with a budget so i'm thinking v6 and t5 might be better, but then again a 03/04 cobra would be pretty wicked... Guess i'll have to go junk yard searching and see what i can find (:

NeoTokyo

Whelp, I would never buy a motor without some sort of warranty.
Be careful about salvage yard warranties though, some require you to change the timing chain and water pump before any kind of warranty will be honored, you just have to check into it.

Now Changing the water pump and T-Stat is usually a VERY good idea, I mean, its your cooling system and in buying a used motor you really dont know any running history on the motor.

Buying a 99-00 is exactly what you would need to buy to not have to swap intakes.
If you buy an 01-04 you have to swap the lower intake manifold with that of a 99-00 because the 01-04's have IMRC's which are butterflies in the short runners that open at a certain RPM to offer a broader powerband, the 96-00 can not be tuned easily to use the 01-04 IMRC's.

When buying a 99-04 motor be 100% sure that the motor has the original flywheel and dampener on it, the 99-00 is ballanced differently than the 01-04.
Buying a Spec aluminum flywheel offers a ballance for both types and you can use 10.5" or 11" clutches.

Your current wiring harness needs to be modified slightly for the new 99-04 engine, but not much. You will need to buy EV1 to EV6 fuel injector adapters so that you can use the fuel injectors on the new motor, its about $40-$60. You will also need to modify the existing 99-04 fuel rail with your old 97' fuel rail or purchase a windstar fuel rail and use a 1/2" phenolic spacer on the upper intake. Some small clearancing may need to be made to the drivers side front plenum on the upper intake, I ran into that problem but I did not use a phenolic spacer.

You will also need to call Justin over at VMP tuning and let him know what you are doing, that you are doing a splitport swap into your 97' and that you will need a SCT Tuner and a couple tunes or the new motor.

There is more to it too but not too much.

Finding a mechanic that is familiar with Ford is a very good idea.