5.4 swap?

bsn95w

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what all is needed beisdes the engine itself to do a 5.4 swap?

i have my turbo coupe for sale/ trade on a local mustang site, and was trying to get a newish engnine/ trans out of it... needless to say, a guy offered me a 5.4, a rebuilt trans, a nitrous kit, and drag wheels for it... so im deffinately concidering it.

my question is, depending on the year, will plugs/ sensors be in the same place? will my current exhaust fit? harness/ computer any different?

my current engine has made a rattling noice since the day i looked at/ bought the car (coming from the timing chaing cover, assuming its a bad tensioner/ guide) and smokes a little bit under hard acceleration, now smokes a bit when i first fire it up, so, this engine needs to be rebuilt, or drop in another, also, my tranny slips just a little between shifts from first to second, so i would need to have it rebuilt too.

any comments/ advice would be very helpful.
 

uncltrvlnmatt

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Get the engine with the wiring harness and computer if at all possable. I am not 100% positive but I am thinking that the harness connecting plugs will be different on the computer.
 
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bsn95w

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ok, so the deal fell through on the trade... dumbass thought my car was a mustang.

how ever, theres a silver lining in every cloud... a truck with a 5.4 just came in, and needs a motor, im thinking of keeping it, and doing a rebuild on it.
 
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bsn95w

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GrnGt said:
The smoke when you first fire it up sounds like valve stem seals

yes, but it also smokes durring hard acceleration which is the rings them selves.
 

1996mustangGT

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Its a direct swap, everything plugs right up.

You'll need to get an intake solution ie adapter plates or an HPS intake.

Exhaust will need to be modified.

96 to 04 computer will work, but you'll need a tune, also your stock harness will work.

Let me know if you hace any questions. I did the engine drop-in in less than 4 hours, its not complex at all.
 
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bsn95w

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1996mustangGT said:
Its a direct swap, everything plugs right up.

You'll need to get an intake solution ie adapter plates or an HPS intake.

Exhaust will need to be modified.

96 to 04 computer will work, but you'll need a tune, also your stock harness will work.

Let me know if you hace any questions. I did the engine drop-in in less than 4 hours, its not complex at all.

will long tubes for a 4.6 work? im thinking thats what i want to do, as for tune, i was planning on having it done anyways, theres a shop literaly 1/2 a mile from my dads shop who will dyno tune it for 500 bucks.

do you have a link to the adapter(s)? im assuming 4.6 cams will work too?

your actualy the guy i realy wanted to ask a few questions about the swap, but i couldnt find your thread, i guess i just over looked it.

i want to be able to show ls1 cars my tail lights. lol.
 

1996mustangGT

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As far as longtubes go, none of us have found out of the box longtubes that work, shorties will work though (I used frpp's)

Cams/heads are shared beteween the 5.4 and 4.6

Modular$ustangracing.com and highperformance solutions should have the plates.

An example build: comp 278s, an HPS intale, decent ported heads, and longtubes would put you in the 350hp/360trq..with trw almost off idle. Throw in some TFS heads and your talkin 400+ rwhp and trq NA.

Hop over to mustangboards.com and there is a monster 5.4 thread with tons of good info over there.
 
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bsn95w

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Well I plan on keeping it stock for the most part, except for the cams. Will this fit under my cobra hood?
 
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bsn95w

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Do you know If I did a lightning intake and cobra eaton, would that fit... ? Lol my bad for the excessive questions.
 

1996mustangGT

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The cobra eaton is unfourtunately to skinny to fit to the lightning lower. The only roots sc that'll fit under a normal hood is the tork-tech kit.
You could also turbo it, or do like I'm doin and go vortech.

Biggest problem with a roots/TS on a 5.4 is totally no traction. So a turbo/centri will build boost later to somewhat help with traction.
 
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bsn95w

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Realy? I had always thought the cobra and lightning blowers wer the same, I just thought the piece for the throttle body was different.
 

1996mustangGT

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The 5.4 is wider than the 4.6, that's why you can't interchange them.

I wish you could, bc I wouldve done a cobra m112 lol
 
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bsn95w

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Ah damn. Lol.

Time to play the waiting game. Its either 5.4, or rebuild this 4.6, but I want to rebuild an engine while I still have it to drive. And just swap it in within a weekend... Oddly enough this one gets the best mpg out of all my cars.
 

1996mustangGT

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If you want to post up or p$ me your email and ill forward you an article about the 5.4 swap from a mustang mag
 

1996mustangGT

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bsn95w said:
Ah damn. Lol.

Time to play the waiting game. Its either 5.4, or rebuild this 4.6, but I want to rebuild an engine while I still have it to drive. And just swap it in within a weekend... Oddly enough this one gets the best mpg out of all my cars.

I hear ya man, I did the same thing...just kept the 4.6 going long enough to build the 5.4l. If your going to stay SOHC then there is really no reason to not go 5.4, the only issue anyone ever has is getting an HPS intake. I built mine over the course of about 8 months, and just went hog-wild....and its totally worth ir :-D
 
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bsn95w

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Yeah, I got the email, haven't had a chance to read it yet..

I've been driving the 98 alot lately. So I might just rip the 4.6 out of the 00, and tear it apart
 

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