Hey how are you all doing?
I recently bought myself a 1991 RX-7 with a blown engine with the intentions of dropping the engine from my 1990 Mustang LX 5.0 into it. I have a good mechanic who is very excited with the idea of helping me with this conversion, but i was hopeing that some people here might be able to give me some advice as to what kits/parts i should get. I have browsed through the forums a bit, and found some very useful information already, but i would like some advice as to this specific conversion. As of right now i am thinking of going with the Deluxe Kit from http://www.grannysspeedshop.com/ , but I am not sure what other parts may be required.

I look foward to hearing from some of you, and hope to be around for a good while. See ya all on the flip side

-SageRyokian

 

First read Grannys installation instructions,not just the prices/parts lists. Then read Integra88's thread on his conversion. Check for sites specific to mustangs and forums and then join them. Im not sure how far Durham is from me as Im new to the erea,but theres a lot of guys here installing 5.0 fords in other cars. Help shouldnt be too difficult to find. The only problem I see is labor. Paying someone else to do a entire conversion can get expensive fast!

 

i just placed a 89 mustang 5.0l into my 88 rx7 using the grannys kit and have found, although this is stil vary preliminary, that the motor sits to high in the front for my tastes. other then that i think that the ford 5.0l is a great motor to swap and to make good power all you really need is to swap heads. integra88 swap write up is a good write up to help and i belive that it will be only getting better after the wiring section of his swap is finished. power to the 5.0lrx7 and i hope to have mine done my the winter.


p.s. with the grannys kit i have had some issues with them not shipping em some parts that arevneeded for the swap(the bolts that mount the craddle to the motor mounts and also my shifter extenstion was not shipped.

 

The 5.0 sits high in front due to the fact that the oil pump, which is driven off teh bottom of the distributor, is in the front sump, so you can only lower teh front so far before you need to mod the crossmember heavily. A decent cradle should fix that, but I just decided that setting the engine as far down and as far back as possible isn't a bad solution even if you have to put a small bulge in the hood to clear the distributor.

Using the mount plans I created in my conversion: http://www.freewebs.com/adesso/mounts.htm

the engine ends up sitting like this:








You should be able to duplicate these mounts for like $20 in materials.

It would take a very small bulge or scoop to cover what sticks above the hood, leaving it looking similar to the stock TII setup. or something like this:

 

I am happy with the 5.0 in my 1st gen, plenty of bang for the buck. Some people seem to make a really big deal out of cutting a small hole in the hood and installing a hump of some sort. It is a very minor part of the whole project.

Something many people, including me originally, will not think about is the fact that if you use a hood scoop that is open at the back, then in hot weather the engine heat will go out the hood scoop and right into the fresh air vents on your cowl. I had to block off the back of my 280Z hood scoop to prevent this.

I recommend you take a look at the hood bulge on an Eclipse. Find a used or damaged hood, cut out the bulge and graft it to your existing hood - should give enough height for most intakes.

My 280Z hood bulge is shown here:

www.cardomain.com/ride/646433

 

so a bit more input from me, this long weekend i placed the 5.0 in the car and bolted it up, at first glance the motor is not that high but around the front of the motor it will most likely be too high. the front sump of the oil pan is so close to the steering rack that i am trying to figure out how i can lower the rack so i have a bit more room, as it sits now i can slide a penny around the rack and the pan but that is about it. also i am using the grannys dubble pass rad for my conversion and i have about .25-.50 of an inch clearance between the end of the water pump and the back of the rad and i still need to fit in a fan! with my total cost from grannys being about $1000 and the fact that i am less then happy, now, with the placement of the motor i would say build your own mount plates off merc63's plan and get a good welder to build the plates for you and you should be happy. also you will need to solve the front sway bar issue cause i know mine will not fit, i am planing on using the one that merc63 uses or one simmular to that, it looks like a good unit. if you want to hear about any other of my problems i am happy to share.

 

What?

 

He said the granny kit leaves a less than desireable amount of room at the front of the motor for the radiator, and for a thousand bux it's not quite a bargain.