"THE SWAP FILES..."
Below is what is basically my journal that documented the entire process of the engine swap from start to finish.
04/11/03
The first update is the removal of the 5.0 drivetrain from the donor car. After a long cold and snowy winter, we finally got some good weather so I took advantage of that to get the engine and trans out of the Mustang. The motor will be stripped down to the shortblock in preparation for being sent off for it's rebuild.
04/25/03
Things have progressed a little slower than I had hoped but things have been busy lately. Managed to get the motor pulled from the Bird today after working a bit at a time after work during the week to get it all disconnected. Next step is to remove all the EEC and other unneccessary wiring and parts that are not required with the 5.0. and prep the engine bay for a fresh coat of paint. Prepping will be a pain as the original owner had some crappy undercoating applied to the car. The stuff is rock hard and will probaly take me a week just to get it all off! Next update the underhood area will be painted.
Ready to come out...
Bye Bye 4 banger...
Let the clean up begin...
05/16/03
As expected, prepping was a task to say the least as the previously mentioned undercoating was difficult to remove. Also found a surprise in the form a stress crack in the left fender apron in front of the strut tower. It wasn't bad so a little mig welding and metal finishing was all that was required for an undetectable repair. As you can see it's all masked and ready to paint.
05/17/03
After a long day in the garage, the engine bay and underside of the hood now match the exterior. Next up...WIRING!!
06/08/03
Well it's been a month now and lots of progress has been made. I've detailed all the engine accessories and installed some of the go fast parts. The engine bay and all wiring has been finished. The engine will be back from the machine shop this week at which point I will install the intake, engine accessories and the Novi 2000!! Next couple of weeks the motor will be dropped in and fired for the first time. It's getting close!!!
07/05/03
Sorry, not done yet! After some delays and a problem with a part vendor, the engine took much longer than originally anticipated to return from the engine shop. I just got it back and have begun putting the engine dress and supercharger on to get it ready to drop in this week. The engine shop did a great job and the engine should provide not only lots of power but years of trouble free service. I'll put some pics up here once it's ready to go back in so you can see it in it's completed form. When the project is done I'll be updating the first page of my site with a spec sheet on the entire engine.
07/07/03
After two long humid as hell days in the garage, the engine is all assembled and ready to be dropped into it's new home...
07/08/03
The engine is finally in! Just need to finish connecting it and hook up the exhaust and she's ready to go.
07/19/03
Finally....my last update for the "SWAP FILES"! The engine and all other mechanicals and cosmetics are finally complete. 3 months of hardwork, stress and an empty wallet have paid off. The Bird runs and sounds fantastic and has loads of power now. Thanks to Mike, Hattey, My Father, Nicole, Brian for his tech support and My friends on Novipower( now known as SuperchargerHelp.com). Thanks also to you for your interest and patience while I was putting this together as I know a lot of you have been following along on a regular basis. Thanks also for all your positive comments in the guestbook...keep 'em coming!
Check out my brother's DECH Mustang
