Weird Engine Swap???

07 Boss

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So call me crazy but I have my reasons. Back story; I've had my Mustang for 15 years now. The other day she lost oil pressure and I shut her off and had her towed home. I don't know how far I drove with basically no oil flowing. I haven't pulled the pan or investigated yet but I was thinking worst case scenario. At the same time I have been keeping my eye out for a suitable car for my boy who will be getting his license in a few more months. He wants a new edge but is also partial to the s197. I'm not going to give my a boy a 500 hp car for his first even though I grew up with one. It got me in a lot of trouble as a kid and I'm actually surprised I made it through those years. Anyways, has anyone swapped a 4.0 into a GT? I've seen a lot of conversions from 4.0 to 4.6 and 5.0 but never the other way around. I guess I could reverse engineer one of those threads but basically what would I need? Will the tranny bolt up? Will I need a different driveshaft? Obviously I would need a new ECM but would it be hard to integrate that into a GT? Or would it be better (cheaper and hassle wise) to just drop a stock 4.6 in there?

I know some will say sell the GT and buy a v6. I have done so much to this car I will never see a return, and if the motor is shot it will be that much harder to unload. Parting it out is just a logistical nightmare for me with everything else going on. At least if I dropped a new v6 into it we would still be getting some value for all of the mods. Plus I know everything about this car and what kind of order everything else is in. Just tossing the idea around in my head and thought I would get some of your opinions on it.
 
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So call me crazy but I have my reasons. Back story; I've had my Mustang for 15 years now. The other day she lost oil pressure and I shut her off and had her towed home. I don't know how far I drove with basically no oil flowing. I haven't pulled the pan or investigated yet but I was thinking worst case scenario. At the same time I have been keeping my eye out for a suitable car for my boy who will be getting his license in a few more months. He wants a new edge but is also partial to the s197. I'm not going to give my a boy a 500 hp car for his first even though I grew up with one. It got me in a lot of trouble as a kid and I'm actually surprised I made it through those years. Anyways, has anyone swapped a 4.0 into a GT? I've seen a lot of conversions from 4.0 to 4.6 and 5.0 but never the other way around. I guess I could reverse engineer one of those threads but basically what would I need? Will the tranny bolt up? Will I need a different driveshaft? Obviously I would need a new ECM but would it be hard to integrate that into a GT? Or would it be better (cheaper and hassle wise) to just drop a stock 4.6 in there?

I know some will say sell the GT and buy a v6. I have done so much to this car I will never see a return, and if the motor is shot it will be that much harder to unload. Parting it out is just a logistical nightmare for me with everything else going on. At least if I dropped a new v6 into it we would still be getting some value for all of the mods. Plus I know everything about this car and what kind of order everything else is in. Just tossing the idea around in my head and thought I would get some of your opinions on it.
As a kid I did some very stupid things in some very slow cars! I guess my point is, if he drives like a maniac bad things can happen either way. I’d put the 4.6 in it and once you get a feel for how your kid acts, make a decision then. Is it possible for you to put the 4.6 back into your car and possibly look at a v6 new edge? I imagine those are pretty cheap by now.
 

07 Boss

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As a kid I did some very stupid things in some very slow cars! I guess my point is, if he drives like a maniac bad things can happen either way. I’d put the 4.6 in it and once you get a feel for how your kid acts, make a decision then. Is it possible for you to put the 4.6 back into your car and possibly look at a v6 new edge? I imagine those are pretty cheap by now.

Well, I drained the pan and didn’t see anything unusual. Then I noticed the little penzoil oil filter. I always did my own changes and bought a case of K&N a while back. Then I remembered that when the car was on a rack for a tire repair I told them to go ahead and change the oil while it was up in the air. Anyway I pulled the filter and it looks like the inside was not a regular round shape, deformed but not caved in. Long story short I cranked her a few times with the pedal on the floor to see if she spun freely and she did. Then I went ahead and fired her up. She’s alive but has a loud noise coming from the right front. Kinda think I might have collapsed a tensioner from running her with no pressure. So nothing catastrophic but some work ahead of me none the less.

My hunt for a car for my boy is still on. New edges that I’ve looked at are either modded out, some rather poorly, or have not been in decent shape. He might just end up with a dodge dart or something. Maybe a v6 s197 if I can find a decently priced one. I have a few months.
 

Forty61

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I can imagine it’s tough to find a decent condition used Mustang but maybe you can find one that’s mechanically sound that needs some fixing up? Some sweat equity into a car will make your son value it a little more I’m sure!
 

JC SSP

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Would make a good father & son project too…
 

bambam 06

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So call me crazy but I have my reasons. Back story; I've had my Mustang for 15 years now. The other day she lost oil pressure and I shut her off and had her towed home. I don't know how far I drove with basically no oil flowing. I haven't pulled the pan or investigated yet but I was thinking worst case scenario. At the same time I have been keeping my eye out for a suitable car for my boy who will be getting his license in a few more months. He wants a new edge but is also partial to the s197. I'm not going to give my a boy a 500 hp car for his first even though I grew up with one. It got me in a lot of trouble as a kid and I'm actually surprised I made it through those years. Anyways, has anyone swapped a 4.0 into a GT? I've seen a lot of conversions from 4.0 to 4.6 and 5.0 but never the other way around. I guess I could reverse engineer one of those threads but basically what would I need? Will the tranny bolt up? Will I need a different driveshaft? Obviously I would need a new ECM but would it be hard to integrate that into a GT? Or would it be better (cheaper and hassle wise) to just drop a stock 4.6 in there?

I know some will say sell the GT and buy a v6. I have done so much to this car I will never see a return, and if the motor is shot it will be that much harder to unload. Parting it out is just a logistical nightmare for me with everything else going on. At least if I dropped a new v6 into it we would still be getting some value for all of the mods. Plus I know everything about this car and what kind of order everything else is in. Just tossing the idea around in my head and thought I would get some of your opinions on it.
. I'm not going to give my a boy a 500 hp car for his first car. Great decision.
 

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