Question I have a 1988 Ford Mustang with 2.3 liter, 4 cylinder engine, standard Tranny. I want to install either a 5.0 or 351 c.i. in it.
Question 1. Can a stock motor mount/ tranny mount from a Mustang that came with a v8 work in it? If so which mustang and what year.
Question 2. I also have a c4 and a c6 which do you recommend?
Question 3. What driveshaft will work with no or little modification?
Question 4. Car will mostly see the street maybe in the near future a little strip also working on a budget what exhaust do you prefer whats you suggestion?
Question 5. Will the front suspension from a 1977 Mustang II fit? If so can you layout the steps required to make the fit?
Question 6. Rear end will be replaced with a 4link ford 9 what gear ratio for street/strip would you suggest?
Last but not least do I need to replaced the computer that in there? What wiring or ignition set up would I need to install? Is there one out of a certain Mustang that will fit or is there some one out there that makes all the wiring/electronics for this type of installation. Again I would greatly appreciate any suggestion that you can give me. It's a father and son project. I've done major repairs and installations so we're not strangers around a toolbox and have excess to various tools if need be.
Please help. Thank you
AnswerLee-
Since you asked questions in order, I'll respond in kind.
Question 1 - Yes, the motor mounts out of a stock 5.0L car would work, but you will also likely need the engine brace (or "K-member") as well. Any one out of a '79-'93 Mustang will work with the exception of '80-'81 Mustangs that came with 4.2L motors stock. A 351, however, will require special "swap" motor mounts.
Question 2 - A C4 will work better for almost any small block application. It's smaller and reduces the rotating mass of the transmission substantially. In regular terms...it won't suck up a ton of power like a C6 will. A good C4 will handle just as much power as a C6 and won't be a parasite on your motor.
Question 3 - If using a C-series transmission, your driveshaft will need modification. There's really no way around that.
Question 4 - The exhaust is user-preference only. Use what you think sounds best. If you've got a deeper pocket, Bassanni is hard to beat for power production and sound. I, myself, use a MAC Prochamber H-pipe and Borla mufflers. It's a great comprimise between sound and affordability (although the Borals do get a bit expensive).
Question 5 - To the best of my knowledge, no, a '77 Mustang II front suspension will not fit.
Question 6 - While I wouldn't recommend any sort of 9" setup unless you're making brutal power (an 8.8" rear will hold up just fine under normal-heavy power loads...up to around 600hp), I would say an ideal gear would be something in the neighborhood of a 3.55. It works well with a manual and with an automatic. A 3.73 gear will work well with a C4 also, but it will limit top end performance.
As far as electronics go, it's all about what motor you use and from what year. If you want to use EFI, you'll need a computer. Most people prefer the A9L computers for their slightly more aggressive timing and fuel maps. If it were me (and it has been before), I would go with a stand alone computer like the SDS Digital Fuel Injection system. It's user programmable and easy to install so you can tailor all of your fuel and timing needs by way of a handheld controller. This has been infinitely useful to me over the last few years and is a great alternative to hooking up a factory computer (it uses a small fraction of the sensors and allows me to program whatever I fel like into the computer). The ignitio and wiring solely depends on what setup you go with. A carbed setup will require fewer ignition and wiring changes, but it will also necessitate a fuel pump change and so on. If you decide to go with a stock computer, the same rules apply as any '89-later computer will work for a mass air setup. If it's speed density, '86-'88 setups will work fine. I would still recommend the prgrammable route. Hope this helps.
Steve
