'95 Mustang engine swap

Original 5.0 in the '95 is getting pretty tired with over 200k on it, and the car has ate two T5's in the past year. I have no idea what's up with that besides the fact that my brother has been driving it. My dad knows a guy with a '03 Mach 1 engine and trans which has the computer with it and all. What would it take to swap this into the '95, which of course is the last year of the 5.0? Will I need to swap the K member to put the 4.6 in? '94-'95 there is no difference between the V6 and V8 K member, is it the same on '96 and up? If so, I could get a K member super cheap at the local junkyards.

Have asked this on a Mustang forum, and they started going on telling me I needed some expensive tubular K member, and tried to tell me the stock cluster won't work because my speedometer is mechanical. Yea, right. I wouldn't mind swapping a Mach 1 cluster in though, since they look cool. But I have a feeling that would be opening up a whole can of worms since the Mach 1 cluster has a digital odometer and the '95 has a mechanical style odometer.

I know we have a few Mustang guys around here, figured maybe someone here who actually knows what they are talking about with these cars, or may know of a forum where they do.

 

I know the 4.6 k-member is unique to those engines,can't say about the gauge cluster though.

 

There are aftermarket speedometers that use the input from the electronic drive. You could always install one of them.

 

ive thought about putting one of my 5.0's in a '99-'04 GT but have always wondered if i could bolt the 5.0 k-member into the car or not. i'd like to see your project go thru as well. while i dont know exactly if your's can be done or not, ill let you know if i find out anything.

 

I guess I'm not seeing what's wrong with retaining the original cluster? They tried to tell me it is mechanical, but I know for a fact it isn't as I am the only one who has kept this car on the road the past few years, and have been through it end to end with a fine tooth comb. There are only wires to the back of the cluster, no cable, and it has a VSS on the trans where the cable would go on an older car.

Tim, so you are saying there were two different K members from '96 and up? One for the six and one for the eight? My uncle took a 5.0/T5 from a '95 GT my cousin wrapped around a tree and put it into a '96 Convertible that was originally a 3.8/auto and it bolted right in. I guess I need to get out and start looking and measuring for myself.

I know it CAN be done, heck there are guys swapping 4.6's into 80's Fox Body's. I have read that the K members are interchangeable from '94-'04, and can be bolted into a Fox Body as well, but it will throw the geometry off. I'm just trying to figure out how much of a PITA it will be. Could pick up a new 347 long block and a TKO trans for around the same price. The Mach 1 engine sure would be cool though.

 

really?!? i have looked everywhere and haven't found anything on this. if they're the same ill be on the look for me a new GT to do an engine swap do you know where you might have seen this info??

 

I have always heard that the K members will physically bolt on from '79-'04. The difference is in the control arms and the spindles, so you have to retain the correct control arms, spindles and rack and pinion for your year of car. I don't know for sure just yet, so don't take my word for it. But I am going to try to find out.

 

Nothing against the 4.6 from the Mach-1, that would be a cool swap, but if I were you I'd go for the 347 and TKO....."same price", bolt-in-and-go-fast, whereas the 4.6, will require the extra time and co$t of K-member/suspension/electronics research, locating, purchase, fitting, fabbing and installing for the 4.6.

also, the 4.6's are nice engines, but are big $$ to modify,....the 347 is already modified, and a lot less complicated and le$$ expen$ive to work on.

Another thing to keep in mind.....are people going to look at your 95, stop, do a double-take, and exclaim "Oh wow! They swapped in a 4.6, Awesome!!".....you know, like the reaction your cool mutant Fiat gets?.....

or are they going to maybe glance at the car in passing and assume it's just another stock 96-04 4.6 Mustang?

Lots of work, little recognition, and a lot less punch than a 347......and even though there lots of built/stroked 5.0 Foxes out there, the lope of a nasty-sweet built Mustang rumbling down the road will catch my attention everytime.

Whatever you decide, best of luck. I admire your love, dedication and skill for the "Mutants"

 

Pretty much my thoughts.

 

Bum Steer, I love you to death man (you know, in a friend sort of way, not a maverick5946 sort of way ), and have the greatest respect for you, but I'm going to have to go with the same reply as on the Mustang forum. The question wasn't weather I should do it, it was how to do it. I will say that the next engine to go in this car is fully expected to reliably run at least another 200,000 miles without burning an excessive amount of oil. Even if we put a 347 or 331 in it, it will still be a relatively mild engine. We are definitely wanting to up the performance a little, but this car does have to remain a reliable daily driver. This car is driven 70-100 miles a day during the week, and can be driven anywhere from 0-500 miles in a weekend.

If it wasn't a daily driver, we would skip the crap and go right for a 393 with a nice little Paxton hanging off the front.

If we want to get into looks of the car and engine, I have kind of a hard time thinking anyone will mistake the car as a run of the mill '96-'98 GT... Though the 302 emblems may present a problem regardless of engine choice...

If there is one thing I could ever say about driving this car, it is an absolute cop and ricer magnet...

 

Love and respect you too Jamie, and I do realize the main point of the thread is about how to do do it, but you also said:

your bringing up the alternative possibility of the 347 and TKO does, in fact, indicate there's an alternate choice being considered......ie: a "should"....that's what I was commenting on.

and I'd bet a 347, even built for realiability, would still have more punch that the stock-Mach 4.6.

so, I'll stand by my post..... it wasn't advice.....I said "if I were you", in other words, if I were in your situation. I'm not, ....and I'm not dissing the idea of the 4.6 swap....if that's what you want, and it can be done, I'm all for it, and hope you share the various stages of the swap with us. We all can learn from each other here. (I've got a buddy trying to talk me into a 5.4 mod swap into my 64 Galaxie!....he's not, however, volunteering helping me figure out how to pull it off, or how to pay for it!)

If your 4.6 swap is a no-go because of the PITA factor, let us know how you build the 347 for reliability, because that's all stuff we could use and learn from too.

Again, no matter how or which way it goes, share it with us. That's what makes this forum so cool.

BTW, the car looks awesome....and yeah, Arrest Me Red paint and stripes will draw plenty of attention.....both wanted and unwanted! LOL


.

 

Ok...some facts. The K-members can be swapped from '94-04. No problem. They can fit a Fox chassis but need some small alterations. Back to the topic....I would do the following:
A.) Use the later style modmotor K-member.
B.) To simplify things, ditch the coil-on-plug setup and use a '96-97 computer and engine harness. You need to get the wiring diagrams from the '95 and the '96-97 Cobra and compare the pin assignments. You should be ok but check them out first.
C.) Use the later Cobra exhaust systems on the market.
D.) Use the modular's hydroboost setup.
E.) Use the rest of the modular cooling systems.

Do not use the '98 Cobra computer since those cars were the first of the returnless fuel systems. Other than the pinouts this is an easy deal. The '96-98 Mustangs used a mechanical speedometer so you will be ok there too. The Mach I engine is a good one. Good with a blower or nitrous. If equipped properly you can give the 347 cars one hell of a race.

As far as the paint thing goes......if it has to be red at least paint the top part of the car black. The black-over-red is killer!

 

Thanks... right now the front spoiler is busted, my dad was pulling out of our local Metal Supermarkets which has kind of a steep entrance and the spoiler caught the ground. It has '05 GT take off wheels on it right now, 3/8 spacers in the rear and 1/4 up front, car is lowered 2 1/2 inches which makes it ride like an old log wagon.. If it was up to me, it would have a set of '96 Cobra wheels on it. I plan to put those on my '80 Capri.

Arrest Me Red sounds about right... I've gotten two tickets in the car since January... one for speeding (running late for work one morning) and one for having a head light out, despite I was on my way to get a new bulb when I got pulled over... :16suspect

Shadow, thanks for the info! Exactly what I have been looking for. I know it dosen't take much for those engines to make 300+ at the rear wheels. Have read people with concerns about forced induction though, due to the high compression. I guess I must not understand what this "mechanical" speedo is. It is an analog reading speedo, yes, but there isn't really anything mechanical about it. I think of a cable operated speedo when I thing mechanical. The odometer has the mechanical style numbers, but the numbers are turned by small electric motor.

 

Don't use the instrument cluster out of the Mach. Use your stock unit. All of the '96-98 cars use the same type speedo as your car. The '99 and up cars were the first to use the digital, computer controlled units.

With most typical bolt-ons you should be able to make over 320 hp to the tires in normally aspirated trim. Compression on those engines is just over 10:1. Not that big of a deal as long as you have a good tuner to do the programming, run quality fuel, and don't do anything stupid with the engine.

I had one customer, long time ago, driving a blown Cobra with stock rods/pistons who sat in traffic for twenty minutes then found an off ramp and hammered the snot out of the engine (with 87 octane fuel in the tank) to get out of the traffic jam. Engine rattled itself to pieces in less than a minute. That is stupid. Built him a new forged bottom end engine that made over 650 to the tires with the blower, told him not to be that stupid again and he drove it for five years before selling the car to buy a new S197 Mustang.

 

how did I get brought into this

just use a HV/HP pump and you'll be fine

love is love.....whether your bumpin' uglies or just hanging out