coony278

Does anyone know if a 97 explorer engine will fit a mustang , I mean the 97 engine is distribulator less and was wondering if there is a place for one? I'am sure the oil pan will have to be changed and maybe some of the sensor's , but I found a 97 explorer engine for 400.00 with 80,000 miles on it and was just wondering if htis engine would take the place of my 87 stang engine and have as much power , any info would be greatly appreciated. thanks

Chad

1fstlx

hey chad. welcome to the forums! yes it will fit in your stang but youll need to put a stang oil pan, motor mounts, and special headers designed for the gt 40 p heads. the accessories from a stang will need to be used also, as well as the motor harness. there is a place for a ditributor, all you have to do is take out the plug that resides where the distributor goes and stick a distributor in its place. good luck!

coony278

Thanks for the reply 1fstlx, I picked the engine up yestereday, looks to be a simple swaping of parts from my old engine to the new one.

I,an just not sure what you mean by I need differnt headers ? I have a set of BBK shorty headers on the car now. Will they work?

Also do you know what hour the explorer injectors are ? or should I just put my injectors in, my wiring harness will plug onto the explorer injector and they both have ornge color on them and of course the explorer injector's are newer so it would be nice toi use them.

Thanks for the info , I'll let you know how it runs in a few days .

Chad

ctgreddy

the engine from the explorer has different heads on them so you'll need new headers.
but the good thing about this is the heads are better than the stock mustang heads.
so this engine will make more power than the one you have.
if i were u i would throw in a mild cam(e or b or tf stage1)
then you'll get a nice little inprovement over what you had.
not sure about the injectors tho.

coony278

I'am still running speed density on my car , I will upgrade cam in the spring as I plan on converting to MAF then, would be a good fun project cam and MAF

Chad

1fstlx

sure will cooney. ctgreddy is right. a cam would be a good idea at this point. the gt40p heads are much better than stock heads and a step up from original gt 40's. the headers are special shorties because of the spark plug angle. u can buy them from ford racing. the injectors are right, however the fuel rails might not be. when u take the upper intake off you'll notice it looks lot like a cobra intake if u havent noticed already. so u have a good intake already. at this point swap fuel rails and coolant tubes. also double check all sensor connections to make sure they are the same as ur stang, if not, swap them as well. also change all vacuum fittings from upper on stang to upper on explorer. im not sure if these engines are an H.O. though. might wanna check.

coony278

The fuel rail is worng , but I can use my original, I looked for those headers and cant find anything on them , I looked at jegs, summit , and ford racing

Chad

mmm rice

You dont Have to get special headers for those heads. I personally know several people that have the same headers they had on their original motor. Yes, i have seen these, not just here say. and Yes they are gt40p's. I am not saying your headers will or will not fit.....just try it. They all said that they just got lucky with the headers they bought originaly. Just try your headers first...if they fit, you saved money, if not, you didnt loose anything. If your headers do work, you will need at least 1 different plug wire...
just letting you know

ps...if no one believes me pm aru_next he is friends with them as well.

Find out what time of year the heads were made Early 97 heads were still gt40s and not the p's. if you dont believe me, research alot, not just one or two sites.
i hope this helps man.

Also with the explorer motor, you are also getting better intake manifold and 5mm bigger throttle body, but you will need to modify it to work a little.

nacanitihs

the bbk unequal shorties will work you just need to swap ur wire the goes from the dizzy cap to the coil and the #7plug wire as they have different angles on the plug wire

mmm rice

good, so im not alone on this one