5.4 in a fox.

[FoxBodyNick]

I have 12k in just after market parts in my swap car (have an Excel spreadsheet if you'd like to see) and that doesn't include the engine/transmission/body/paint job/etc. Some of the stuff I obviously got when I bought the roller, but none-the-less it gets expensive FAST! You, like many before you, have no idea what it is actually going to cost to do this conversion.

lol yea this is what im trying to tell him.. its going to get pricey haha

[TEAMJACOB]

I read the first couple posts and then skipped to the end of all that bull shit.

a. you are never going to do this swap cause you will never have the coin. you are like 20ish years old and cant possibly make more than $25k a year and i am being generous.

b. you are retarded if you think its cheaper to make a mod motor fast than it is a pushrod motor. take a factory forged foxbody 5.0 and throw any power adder = 6.xx.

c. you are never going to do this swap cause you will never have the coin.

[shumpertdavid]

Several Points from personal experience.

1. 351 based engines (351, 393, 408 blah blah blah) will fit under a stock hood line with and injected intake. Takes a K member that drops the motor a little lower, it's running a lightning lower, and a milled shorter bread box type upper.

2. You'll need a K member with mod motor mounts, so that better figure in your price somewhere along for the swap. If you're planning on running long tubes I'd go with a tubular K member. If you think I'm a dumbass on that one have fun putting those bitches, a starter, and trans in.

3. 6-7k won't get you very far. I know what it takes to make a 4 valve run, and my car came with one already installed. I've got $1500 in a fuel system alone. You might as well build it right the first time. If you plan on making 500 plus rwhp you might as well spend the money once. For me it's return style, big feed lines, 03 Cobra tank (gave $300 for a new in box one from a guy at DM it's $900+ new from ford last I checked if still available), Fore had, Dual gss342 walbro's, Aeromotive rails and regulator, 72lb low impedence injectors, injector driver, inline filter, y block, fittings blah blah blah. You'll easily have 3-4k in a motor with just basic machine work, gaskets, timing set, and so forth. Might as well let the machinest build the motor as it's not as easy as lining up the dots on your old pushrod motor. The 03 cobra is returnless factory, if your going to swap that setup over it's more than just a pump and pump driver module, not to mention that pump setup won't fit your tank. You can cheat and use a 98 up tank and bust out the plastic pump retainer in the tank of the pump assembly will fit, but with no baffle don't run less than a half tank especially boosted of fuel schlosh will most likely run you lean and possibly toast a motor. Your going to need forged crank, good rods, good pistons, fuel system, wiring harness with computer(will need to be modified some to work with your fox wiring), fuel system, hydraboost setup (since the motor won't physically clear a booster), Radiator/fan setup, coolant reservoir, k-member, possibly move the trans crossmember(not sure there) just for starters. I know I forgetting something.

4. Labor, Basic engine swap should be pretty straight forward, it'd be best if like stated above you had a donor car. It'd be nice to have the 2 side by side to easily pull from one and sit in another. You're going to have massive hours if you tackle this yourself. If you are having to pay on any of it you best get a deep wallet. The electrical would be easy for me, that being said you need detailed diagrams for both cars and be able to understand them. The underhood wiring from a fox to an sn95 are similiar (they both have starters, batterys, alternators, engine wiring, blah blah blah), but completely different at the same time. The way the harness's lay out is totally different. I can tell you this because I have numerous hours under the hood of mine rewiring, installing fuel and ignition system stuff, and just generally redoing a lot of what I didn't like about a car that I purchased. I also have numberous hours staring at fox harness diagrams while I installed a full fast xfi in an '87 coupe and 93 Lightning. It's no easy task and mentally frustrating.

All that being said there's a huge satisfaction the first time it fires off and moves under it's own power after being down and apart for so long. It's nice seeing all your hard work and money coming together. It's very frustrating as the little things you missed along the way pop up and you get to diagnose and sort them out.

Lastly I've read a ton of your posts and given you several replies. Being that you are young and learning I overlook a lot, but don't be a dumbass either. If someone gives and opinion and you don't like it just read it and go on. Everyone has their own. I can tell you, that from just reading this thread you have little knowledge of what you are talking about. You can read all you want in the magazines and listen to what people tell you, but in the end it's your personal experience that will teach you knowledge. You know little about pushrod's building big power or mod's for that matter. It's easy to say "oh I'll get a block, some 4 valve heads, crank, blah blah and build a bunch of power on the cheap. You'll find out really fast that it's expensive to build a DEPENDABLE/BUILT, Mod motor be it 2, 3, or 4 valve. Yes you can buy an eaton cheap. I've seen head units for as little as $300 bucks, what you don't get is a lower intake, intercooler, intercooler pump, heat exchanger, reservoir, the entire blower drive system, and so forth because the guy selling the cheap eaton had to use all the accessories to drive the big blower he replaced it with.


Hope I answered some of your questions and gave you some food for thought. If you think I'm a dumbass or whatever then that's your opinion, but I've got dynosheets and receipts to show you what it takes.

[dville_gt]

It's easy to say "oh I'll get a block, some 4 valve heads, crank, blah blah and build a bunch of power on the cheap. You'll find out really fast that it's expensive to build a DEPENDABLE/BUILT, Mod motor be it 2, 3, or 4 valve.

x11 billion, very good post all around!

[Cooter]

lol @ people wasting time spouting logical info to a daydreamer

[Trick Pony]

LOL at talking about heads and efficiency and technology and then deciding to use the least efficient blower out there.

[matts5.0]

"you know im a dreamer.." that song is stuck in my head when i read this thread!

[Cooter]

there's this fat kid here in town that's always talking about shit he's (never) done and is (never) gonna do...

I nicknamed him "big dreams"

[joes01bullitt]

and this is why i stay on this forum....

stupidity is great entertainment

[Mysticcobrakilla]

LOL at talking about heads and efficiency and technology and then deciding to use the least efficient blower out there.

Heaton ftw!

[VETTKLR]

Fact. All ford v8 modular motors with the exception of the new 5.0 are total shit. The main things you need in order to put one in fox car is a hard head and money.

:

But a 03-04 cobra has a higher dyno chart and a supercharger and the speedometer says 180mph and it goes to eleven...

and this is why i stay on this forum....

stupidity is great entertainment

Best part of this thread is that TEAMJACOB screen name. Pure genius.

[shumpertdavid]

there's this fat kid here in town that's always talking about shit he's (never) done and is (never) gonna do...

I nicknamed him "big dreams"

I've done my fair share of dreamin for sure. One thing I've learned is it's hard to do much to your only vehicle as you can't have it down for long. Second is make a plan and goals for what you want on paper along with what it will take time and money wise and work towards that goal. I've done things 2 or 3 times or more(with the additional cost) because I tried to save a little early on. Also there really is no Budget built motor when it comes to big power and durability. It may run and you may do it on the cheap, but something "cheap" will give up along the way and tear a bunch of shit up.

My recommendation would be to get the chassis/drivetrain in good order with components to handle your goal hp and desired usage (drag, road course, DD, etc), build a fuel system to take more than the hp you desire so your have some cushion in there, and work on getting the HP last. A shit ton of power is useless if you can put it to the ground or drive it.

[Broncojohnny]

You won't be able to afford to swap a god damn lawn mower engine into that turd if you keep working at Vatozone, you ass clown!

If you would actually try to do something with that 5.0 under your hood instead of sitting around on your ass daydreaming about Mary Jane Rotten Crotch from you special ed classes, then you might get somewhere...

And you can make 280 rwhp on a 5.0 car without even swapping out the heads. 320 rwhp by opening the Summit catalog instead of finger fucking your Iphone all day long. Nothing worse than someone who won't bother to educate themselves on what they have.

[351Coupe]

.......

By far the best, most intelligent post in this thread.

Get the fuck out of here with that kind of logic and good advice.



Fast, cheap, reliable. You can only have two. Pick wisely.

[slowyellow]

Blocks and internals are nothing more then compression and displacement.

And Im sorry but a crossflow head will out perform a wedge.

Turbulence!

Look at the hemi in the 50s and 60s. They were the best for a reason. Cross-flow.

Expcept for cobrajet wedge head. That's a nasty motor.

This right here is crazy. This is like saying all oranges are better than apples no matter what.... Except, those really good apples over there. Completely contradictory.