1990 Mustang Notch Swap (408/L92/VicJR Inside)

[Tunink]

Well it's been a long time coming, and I thought I would post this now that the project is almost complete.

I didn't want it to turn into a thread where I would get everyone hyped up to see results, and the project die halfway through. That being said lets get down to business!

I picked up this notch about 2 1/2 years ago from a "kid" that at the time had more money than sense, it was an original 5.0/5 speed car, but it had an issue of constantly blowing the driver side head gasket. Someone mentioned the car to me , and it being for sale, so I went over to look at it, and knew I immediately wanted it. Car was fairly immaculate. 5 lug swap, nice staggered saleens, ok paint, ok interior. I figured it would be a nice cheap project car. So I scooped it up for a $1000.

Well I got to searching on youtube, looking at different swaps and what not. I came across a 351w 4 speed car running low 7s in the 8th and thought "this is what I'm going to do". So BAM! Picked up a 351W, all the swap stuff, got the motor in the car, basically to the point of dropping in the dizzy in and firing it off.... but in my youtube searches I managed to type in "LS Mustang".... and what was the first thing I see: Dave Mizzell going 9.9xs with stock bottom end 6.0 and L92 heads. I GOTTA HAVE IT. It was just damn impressive, plus supposedly it was cheap....

Well long story short, I skipped the 6.0 being stock, decided on a 370, came time to pull the trigger, and went for a 408. So much for going cheap.

2005 LQ9 Block .030 over
Mahle -5cc Pistons
Compstar Rods
Callies Crank
TSP 251/259 .663/.660
.675 lift springs
Worked over L92 Heads
Stock rockers with Comp Trunion Upgrades
L92 Vic Jr
750 Mighty Demon Carb
MSD 6010 ignition
Kooks 1 7/8" LSx Swap LTs

This is all run through a TH350 w/ 3500 stall.

So far everything has been flowing along smoothly, with the exception of a missing balancer bolt, which I don't understand how you miss, thank you machine shop? And the valve covers needing to be notched to fit the rockers, which again I don't know how you miss, especially if you already notched the heads a bit to fit the rockers. Last but not least, a new steering U joint, as the stock joint hits the headers locking up the steering.

All in all it's been a pleasant experience. I took the project myself to a point (motor in the car, ready to put trans in), and decided it was better that I let someone else with more mechanic and wiring knowledge than myself take over, especially after taking some heat from the wife about not spending enough time at home.

The car is almost ready to fire up, just working on getting oil pressure (we think pinched o-ring), and wiring up ignition. Starter spins the motor over nicely, and hope to have the little stuff out of the way this weekend so we can fire her off and get this bad boy rolling!

Pictures:

Motor:

Here is a clear video of the start up/idle, and an awesome guitar solo. We discovered last night, that there is a vacuum "port" that is open in the rear of the carb that we are plugging tonight, hence the high idle, when he plugged it the car idles a little more smoothly.

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oJi8l27TdM"]YouTube - 1990 Mustang Notch LSX Swap[/nomedia]


I'll update as time goes along.


My goals with the car are hopefully something faster than 10.99 in 1/4 on motor and something faster than 9.99 on gas (when we put it on).

I will add more as I go along, I have some nice shots of the car, and will post videos of the car ASAP.

Any comments or criticism please let me know, as I am open to suggestion on anything.

Thanks,

Brian

 

[Terminator-Fox]

I dont know I like LS swaps in other cars just not Mustangs. To each their own I guess

 

[truebluedevil02]

cough* abortion*cough. just kidding, lol. To each his own but a chevy motor should NEVER go in a ford IMO.

 

[rem177]

meh.. i was hoping for a 408 windsor.

nice car though..the chevy into fox swap seems somewhat common

 

[Tunink]

It is becoming more common. LS motors can be had for cheap, especially the 6.0 iron based motors. The blocks stand up to some serious power, and the specific build that I have can be considered a budget build.

I figured doing this build would be a bit more interesting than a 5.0 build that would require me to purchase a Dart block/AFR heads/Stroker kit. I mean in the end, is that really a Ford motor after all?

Anyways, I figure it will make some serious power for the money I put into it, and will share results as I get them.

Thanks,

Brian

 

[jerrad]

Love it man.
You stole that car for 1k. Great buy.

 

[Tunink]

Love it man.
You stole that car for 1k. Great buy.

Yeah I did. As a roller the car was definitely worth maybe 2-3 times more than I paid for it.

Once the car is drivable, going to sell the saleens and buy my friends billet specialties, and go for paint. Was looking at a very dark black cherry or black with red flake in it.

 

[jordan0806]

is it just me....or am I the only person that hates seeing a Carb swap into a car and motor combo that was already EFI to begin with?

 

[19mustang95]

Nice car, I almost did an Ls1 swap, had the LS1 and the swap k-member, but then changed my mind and sold it all. Are you gonna be using the MSD box they sell soecifically for carb'd LSX motors?

 

[Tunink]

I did the Carb set up because the intake is $300 vs $900+ for a Fast 102, plus carb intakes seem to make just a wee bit more power/flow a little better than the plastic intakes.

The ignition set up is a MSD 6010 box, 4 plugs, cam sensor, crank sensor, coil packs + MAP Sensor if you want to use it. Using LQ9 coil packs off a truck.

 

[mysteed]

Very cool build. That car should be in the 9's on spray.

 

[Tunink]

Inspiration for the car's build: [nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idmuZ2e2xSE&feature=related"]YouTube - LS Mustang In Car 10.04 at 135.23[/nomedia]

 

[NC STANG GUY]

is it just me....or am I the only person that hates seeing a Carb swap into a car and motor combo that was already EFI to begin with?

It's just you. :burn: j/k

To the op,cool project. Should really fly when you get it all ready.

I have 3 friends that have done/are in the middle of the same projects.
2 are carbed and one is EFI.
One of them is on the LS boards a fair amount V62GO,he's been 9.90's n/a "cam only" (I hate that term) in his white coupe.

 

[M3xpress]

Going to be a pretty cool coupe.

 

[Impetuous]

I'm almost done with a combo that is very close to Dave Mizell's stang. Mine is a little more aggressive though. I expect at least mid 10's with traction, I'm just waiting for my buddy to do the wiring.

Update please and congrats on getting it running!

 

[Paulinator]

more pics of the Taurus Wagon in the back!

 

[SublimeRT]

Pics/info on the 66/67 Plymouth in the vid?

 

[Junior00]

Bad ass man. Don't pay attention to the haters, they're just pissed the General beat Ford to the punch with such a cheap yet powerful motor combo. The LS platforms are so damn easy/cheap to buy and install, weigh less than most everything else and you can interchange shit all day long. I'm betting with some solid suspension tuning you'll go low 10's fairly easily and be in the 9's for sure once everything is completely sorted out. Nice steal on the car too...asshole.:banana: Why can't I ever run into the schmuck who doesn't have a clue what he has?

 

[Tunink]

The 1967 RT has a 499 stroker with mechanical and electronic fuel injection. The mechanic injection runs his pump gas for idling around and in town driving, while his electronic injection runs ethanol for racing. It's a super nice car, but is down right now as the keyway broke and threw the timing chain, which bent valves.

I'm not worried about people being "haters", trust me this was a well thought out setup, designed to go as fast as possible as cheaply as possible. I hope to put down roughly 500whp-520whp on motor, and 700+ on a shot.

Once I get the car driving, I plan to build a cage to keep the integrity of the frame/car, and start working on an adjustable rear suspension set up.

 

[Tunink]

Well, the U joint we had is to small. So while waiting for the the correct parts to come in we squared away the brakes, fabricated a switch panel/push button start, and perfected the cooling system.

I find the stock F body radiator/fan set up to be very efficient, as it kept the motor at idle @ 160* for 30 minutes, when we turn the fans on the temp drops another 20*. I would like to see how it does under a driving load.

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IdxA1fjrCI"]YouTube - Lsx swap mustang 408 idle[/nomedia]


Here is a better video of the idle. We found a port that we all overlooked that created a massive vacuum leak and caused the car to idle at 1500-1800 rpm instead of the standard 800.

We should receive the parts today for the steering, and I've been promised that the car will be drivable this weekend.

Also V62GO went 5.76 @ 119 in the 1/8th with the stock bottom end LQ4, LS2 heads, Cam/Carb set up on a 150 hit. That's flying. He did hurt/break the motor on the pass, I'm still very impressed. Especially with only $2500 in his motor.