SVTstang96
Well-Known Member
Hey everyone! Here is a little background information about this project. I purchased the car on 7/25/13 from a guy on craigslist about 2 hours away from me. The car has been a midwestern car all its life. The previous owner purchased it in 2002 and in 2004 he parked it to replace the head gaskets. Well after some family issues he didn't have the time or resources to fix it. He parked it in the garage and let it sit for 9 years before he finally realized he wouldn't finish the car. Thats where I come in. I purchased the car for $850 with some extra parts like a Crane E303 302 Cam, Edelbrock 460 Cam, Crane 302 Valve Springs, Aluminum 302 3-Core Radiator. The car is in really good shape considering the age. The car has 158k miles, with no rips in the interior, or major body damage. There are some door dings and scratches, along with one tiny penny sized rust spot in the driver rear quarter panel. On the way home I picked up a 95 T-Bird 3.8L Engine and Transmission $350. To my surprise when I showed up I found out the transmission was rebuilt 500 miles ago, and at the same time they had the water pump, alternator, A/C Compressor, Serpentine Belt, and Gaskets replaced. Because it is a T-Bird engine there will need to be some changes and modifications to make it work in the stang. I will go into more depth on that later on in the post, but for now here are some pics of the car when I picked it up.
The interior is a little dirty, but its nothing I can't clean up.
Old 3.8L V6 engine and transmission removed from the car.
Here is the 95' T-Bird engine and transmission that I picked up on the way home.
Because the engine and transmission are out of a 95' T-Bird there are many things that need to be swapped over to make work. The major part is the ignition system. The T-Bird uses a distributor system where the mustang uses a coil pack system. To make this work you have to take the timing cover off the stang' engine, along with the harmonic balancer, coil pack bracket, coil pack, wires, and wiring harness then reinstall them on the T-Bird engine. You also have to swap the exhaust manifolds, and emission parts to work properly on the stang'. You will also have to take apart the A/C compressor from the T-Bird to make it work on the stang'. It's the same compressor but the switch mounted behind the clutch on it is in the wrong location. Simply remove the bolt on the clutch, then the c-clip and pull the clutch off. When the clutch is off take a gear puller and pull the sensor and housing off, rotate it 180 degrees to the left and reinstall everything. Another little thing that needs changing is the coolant temperature sensor on the T-Bird. They have it on the hose going from the block to the firewall for the heater box. On the stang, this is a hex screw for bleeding the air out of the system. Simply remove the sensor, and plug it with the screw from the stang'. On top of all these little differences you will also have to swap over the motor mounts, wiring, transmission fill tube, transmission wiring, crossmember, and coolant hoses. After all of this you are finally able to drop the engine into your stang'.
I also replaced the transmission cable because it didn't want to shift smoothly. Thanks sleepn_sn95 for the cable!
Tomorrow I hope to drop the engine in, fill it it up on fluids, connect everything and then finally get a new battery and start this thing for the first time in 9+ years!!!!
The interior is a little dirty, but its nothing I can't clean up.
Old 3.8L V6 engine and transmission removed from the car.
Here is the 95' T-Bird engine and transmission that I picked up on the way home.
Because the engine and transmission are out of a 95' T-Bird there are many things that need to be swapped over to make work. The major part is the ignition system. The T-Bird uses a distributor system where the mustang uses a coil pack system. To make this work you have to take the timing cover off the stang' engine, along with the harmonic balancer, coil pack bracket, coil pack, wires, and wiring harness then reinstall them on the T-Bird engine. You also have to swap the exhaust manifolds, and emission parts to work properly on the stang'. You will also have to take apart the A/C compressor from the T-Bird to make it work on the stang'. It's the same compressor but the switch mounted behind the clutch on it is in the wrong location. Simply remove the bolt on the clutch, then the c-clip and pull the clutch off. When the clutch is off take a gear puller and pull the sensor and housing off, rotate it 180 degrees to the left and reinstall everything. Another little thing that needs changing is the coolant temperature sensor on the T-Bird. They have it on the hose going from the block to the firewall for the heater box. On the stang, this is a hex screw for bleeding the air out of the system. Simply remove the sensor, and plug it with the screw from the stang'. On top of all these little differences you will also have to swap over the motor mounts, wiring, transmission fill tube, transmission wiring, crossmember, and coolant hoses. After all of this you are finally able to drop the engine into your stang'.
I also replaced the transmission cable because it didn't want to shift smoothly. Thanks sleepn_sn95 for the cable!
Tomorrow I hope to drop the engine in, fill it it up on fluids, connect everything and then finally get a new battery and start this thing for the first time in 9+ years!!!!
