How much money should I be looking at spending if I want to change a 3.8 car to a 5.0? Do I need to change the transmission or will the swap bolt up? What about the computers? Is it hard to change those out? Let me know what you guys think.
Thanks

 

I was also wondering if I could do this for under $1500.00
thanks again

 

great timing on yoru part! just finished this swap..heres what i went through and what i had to do.
it was a 95 v6 and i had an efi 5.0 out of a 88 GT..
heres the parts you need. and a note..this was NOT an EFI swap..this is a CARB swap.

#1: ALL the acessories off of a 95 GT. you CANNOT use the fox 5.0 brackets if you want AC. if you dont have either a complete 94-95 GT engine or all the brackets..dont do it. we modified the v6 brackets to fit the 5.0. it took 6 days of cutting and grinding and taking off the brackets and putting them back on..NOT worth it!!

and this is assuming that you indeed have a 94-95 5.0 and tranny also assuming its a 5spd.

#2 you HAVE to have a universal belhousing,or either use the v6 bellhousing IF your using the t-5 out of the v6. the v6's imput shaft is over 1/2-3/4" longer than the 5.0's t-5 imput shaft. IF you dont use the v6 bellhousing and USE the 5.0 bellhousing you have to use the 5.0 tranny. the prob with this is the transmission will be closer to the front of the car by 1/2-3/4",which means the shifter will be closer also ( to the front of the car)..you will have to cut and bend the lip that is in the tranny tunnel to get to the front 2 bolts on the shifter. and you CAN use the 87-93 shifter. I do reccomend re-using the 94-95 shifter handle though.

#3 you CAN reuse the clutch cable.
#4 you CAN use the throttle linkage. if you use a fox throttle linkage,you will have to fab a bracket to bolt down the cable.
#5 you HAVE to have the 94-95 5.0 motor mounts.
#6 you HAVE to have the 94-95 GT exhaust hanger.
#7 you CAN reuse the v6 driveshaft.
#8 you CAN reuse the electric fan and the radiator, though you will need to wire the radiator to come on w/the key.
#9 you CANT use the EFI distributor. you need another dist and wire it for electronic ignition..whats on all, say ford trucks from the early 70's to the 80's. OR, you can use points which is easier. whichever you choose. you need the brainbox and the wire harness from the donor truck or car to use the electronic ignition.

as far as the gauges working..i have a thread on that trying to get some info on how i can get mine working. for now, the fuel gauge and the alt work in the dash..and im using a manual oil and temp gauge.

if your wanting to do the EFI swap, you need to do your research. 5.0 mag has a nice article on doing the efi swap. in the long run, it woudl prob be easier, but i had wiring probs in my old fox and didnt want to reuse the harness out of it. also, they said if you dont have knowledge on fords wiring to not attempt that swap.

as far as anything else..you definetly want to have you either another rear end out of a 94-95 or a 3:55 gear for the 7.5, because the 2:73 that comes in the v6 destroys all bottom end the 5.0 has. my car would destroy the both rear tires from a dead stop w/ 3:55 gear, 1st and 2nd when the 5.0 was in my fox...
i spun about 2 ft b4 it fell on its face when i tested it this weekend w/the 2:73 in the sn95 :S

as far as the price, i dunno what an engine and tranny out of the sn95 gt would cost ya. probably your $1500 and then some. i was in a bad bind w/no money..thats why i did it and thats why i reused the v6 brackets and im sorry i did.

i'm gonna do a more comprehensive writeup in a few days, after i go over my notes..i figure it'll help someone liek you and me.
have fun.