I'm looking for some opinions on what I should do. I'm a huge Ford fan and I'm looking to get a mustang to play around with in the near future. I have a 2004 F150 and love it. It's my pride and joy. Sadly it's down right now but that is another story that led my to this site while researching a possible fix. I'm not new to the mustang world. I'm 39 and have owned several including an SVO years ago. But looking around at this site has me dreaming about another to play around with. I want to get a "project" car to tinker with. Not sure what year to look for but I'm on somewhat of a budget to buy the car so I'm thinking of getting one with a V6...non GT and do an engine swap. I don't want a "500hp" motor that will cost me as much as my divorce attorney. More of a fun to drive "get alittle sideways" car that will be driven maybe every other Sunday on a sunnny day. I'm leaning towards a 4.6 with a few mods...heads,cams,different intake/tb etc. BUT.....my F150 has a 5.4 3v motor and I have to admit that has sparked my interest. But the custom modded exaust fix I have read about worries me. I have a line on another motor for my truck with 28k miles on it for $1500.00 and I know the history on it so it's pretty much a done deal for my truck. For those of you that are screaming at there pc right about now to buy the motor for the Mustang. My truck is my daily driver/work truck.....the car will be my new toy. So I would rebuild the engine out of my truck for the possible Mustang swap since I need to get my truck back on the road asap. As I have read about the 5.4 swap I'm wondering how much of a pain it will be and if I'm better off just doing a 4.6. Keep in mind I have an F150 and the wife drives a mini van so I'm not used to ANY kind of high pucker facter hp attatched to the gas peddle. So a mildly modded 4.6 will most likely yield an ear to ear grin. But in my younger and dumber days I thought a stock 600cc crotchrocket would keep me happy too untill I got on a friends 1000 and I had to have more power. The go faster bug had bit me. I'm looking at around(and I use that term loosely) $5000.00 to put into the motor give or take a few grand So would I be better off with a 4.6 or the 5.4 ? Also.....what else would I be looking at for the v6 to v8 swap besides ecm, exaust, trans, wire harness etc ? Also.....auto or stick trans doesn't matter to me but I'm thinking a stick might be easier. Not to mention the wife can't drive stick so all the more reason she will not be able to drive it

Thanks for any and all imput,
Allen

 

Welcome to the site bro! You came to the right place for mustang advice for sure. Most of the guys here know their ****.

You was right about a 4.6 would probably be enough to get some kicks for a weekend driver. But you ended by asking about 4.6 vs. The v6 to swap in your old 5.4. The best option for you is to find a new edge GT (99-04). While any of the models will do, the best of them would be late '01 to '04. They came with a better trans. Wich brings me to my next point. Both tansmissions will bolt right up to your 5.4. Also the v6's rear end can't handle the horse power from a V8. The 8.8 rear from a GT should hold up fine under a 5.4.

So if I were you, I would look for a late production model '01 to '04 GT.

 

here's a thought... buy my car off me. It's got all the goodies but isn't a 500hp monster (closer to 430hp). 12 grand and I'll drive it out to you or you can drive it back. check my ad in the classified section. You couldn't build the drivetrain for what I'm asking. There's a few little things that could be done on it so you won't be out of a project but the project is 80-90% complete.

now then, aside from the buying my car option, I'd start with a 99-04 body and let your power wants dictate the combo. Mine is built for racing and fun street duty. 5.4 is WAY more fun than a 4.6 and costs about the same but makes gobs more tq and way better average power.

If you'd like to get more involved with the discussion about 4.6 vs 5.4 or 5.4 swapping or buying my ride and saving yourself all that hassle and expense, you can PM me your Yahoo IM id and I'll return the favor and we can chat live in real time.

www.54stangs.com