Hey all-

I have posted in some other threads about swapping an 02 Mustang GT 4.6 and 5 spd. into my 95 2wd F150 short bed. I thought that I would take the time to chronicle it here.

For those that are interested there is a MEGA thread over at F150online.com that shows the whole process in excruciating detail. That thread has been alive for just shy of 3 years now!!! If you want to read the whole thing it can be found here:

http://www.f150online.com/forums/pre...gle-turbo.html

But if you want the condensed version just scroll down.


Here is how my truck sat when I purchased it. A pristine 2WD 1995 F150 with a 4.9L and automatic trans.




Here is the engine bay after I pulled the original motor and trans. Lots of room in there!




Now what could I drop in there you ask? Why not a Modular 2V 4.6 from an 02 Mustang GT along with the Tremec T45 5 spd. Shown here just after I received it.




The first trial fit of the engine, notice no transmission is in place, this was just a dry run to make sure my measurements were correct.



I knew everything was going to fit but I also knew I wasn't going to use the factory Ford computer to control all of this, so what to do? I purchased a DIY standalone kit known as the MegaSquirt. I won't even begin to go into what is involved with this but it is simply AWESOME. The MegaSquirt is a user built and configured EMS that makes nerds like me weak in the knees. Yes, it really is THAT good. Here is how the MegaSquirt shows up at your door, lots and lots of bags of electronic components.




And here is what it looks like assembled, yup, that's an engine computer there, assembled, soldered, and tested by me. Oh yeah, the testing shows that it works to boot.





And here is how the whole thing looked just before it got installed in the truck. Note there is a relay board and a Ford EDIS module also pictured. Lots more to this story but I am trying to keep it as brief as I can. This whole assembly is tucked safely behind the drivers seat.





Here is the first filmed start of my 4.6 swap! A lot of you will notice the engine is sporting a turbo in this video. Wayyyyyy back when I started this project I wanted to turbo it. After a VERY steep learning curve I have set the turbo aside. But only for the time being. After this year of driving and learning how to tune an EFI vehicle I will be going turbo again. Next Spring will be good with lots of boosted HP on tap.



The whole project got sidelined not long after the previous video when my National Guard duty called me away for many months.

When I got back I found disaster had struck. Somehow I had left a bit of straight water in the block and it had frozen. Several freeze plugs had popped and I had to pull the engine to replace at least one of them. Sadly once the engine was out I found a crack the block. Here is a self portrait of me just after I pulled the engine. Now you all know what I look like. It was while the engine was out and I was repairing it that I decided to go back to naturally aspirated and put the turbo in mothballs for a year while I worked out the other bugs.



I was able to weld up the crack and it has worked perfectly ever since.

Here is the engine on the stand, freshly painted. No more gay red valve covers! Those of you who are nitpickers will notice the injectors in this pic are the yellow top 24 lbers as opposed to the green top 42 lbers in the above pic. Long story longer, the green tops are back in there now. Not going to explain why, it is all in the thread at F150online for those who must know.



Safely back at home and ready to rock. Notice all those expensive K&N filters in that pic. Gotta have them though.



A pic of the custom headpipe I made from scratch for this thing. Notice the O2 sensor that is hooked up to my wideband O2 controller which feeds its data to the MegaSquirt. It goes 2.5 to 3 inch right off the manifolds and runs full 3 inch all the way out back.




The frankentailpipe I made from something I got from Overstock.com of all places, sporting a Magnaflow 4" stainless tip. There is a Flowmaster 40 series muffler sandwiched between the pipes in these two photos but no pic of it. Suffice to say it sounds GOOD.




Interior photo showing just how clean this beauty is. Check out that chrome Hurst shifter with retro white **** attached. I personally think it is cool as heck but I am pretty biased since it is my truck after all.




A short video I made back in Feb. showcasing how nice she sounds. Look at all the snow! The video doesn't do it justice. She is LOUD in person.



Here is the most recent pic taken just the other day. I have a DJM 3/5 drop kit sitting here waiting to go in. I am just having too much fun driving this thing to pull it apart right now. I do think it will look MUCH tougher sitting in the weeds. Pics to come when I get around to installing the drop.




There is tons and tons more that went into this. I will be happy to answer questions or you can read the thread I linked to for a more in depth story of how this came to be. Items of interest include a Crown Vic aluminum driveshaft the was the perfect length, a miracle U-Joint from Napa, the bizarre way I made a hydraulic clutch work, and so much more.

 

Droppina FORD? UHHHGGGH! Thats waht chevies are for.

 

wow man that truck is sickkkkkk, have u dont a 0-60 time run yet?

 

Dang, I take the time to make that huge post that spells out what took me 3 years and you wanna rip on me for wanting to lower MY truck?


No 0-60 times yet. It won't be very impressive I'm sorry to say. She is pretty snappy but I don't think I'll be surprising any Mustangs or Camaros until I slap the turbo back on there. But thanks loads for the nice comment!

 

But of course the best truck in the world is the one that make sthe owner happy! I do respect the amount of time and effort you put into that project. Kudos.

 

Very nice Eddie Bauer! I dont think i ever saw that color combo. You got guts going thru with that swap but the result looks awsome!

 

bum. Thats cool.

 

nice swap what about some cobra heads and a pro-charger

 

no sense in raising a 2wd...

nice truck though.

 

Wow, that is one impressive project. Nice job!

 

Wow, that's awesome! Reps sent! That MegaSquirt is pretty nice... I too would enjoy building, testing, and using something like that!

Years ago when we converted my Dad's '85 F250 from 2wd to 4wd we used a driveshaft out of a van and one of those miracle u-joints from NAPA. One cap size on one axis and a different size on the other.

You gonna ditch those steps when you put 'er in the weeds?

 

im tempted to get my truck bagged with all the stock suspension, so it could sit lower and handle a million times better but still be used as a work truck when needed to

cant wait to see that thing dropped

 

Ok... I just spent the last hour and 15 min <STRIKE>reading</STRIKE> skimming your thread on the other site! Wow, what a journey. As expected there were about a million gotcha's in that project.

If you don't mind, please keep us posted on here if/when you decide to break out that turbo again!

 

Did the engine motor mounts bolt to the frame where the old engine rested?

 

Whoa, your truck sounds fricken sweet. Awesome swap job. I don't think I have the patience to tackle that kind of a project. Hows the shifter reach? I can see it's not as tall as a factory truck shifter. Did you have to modify it to fit or are your arms long enough that it wasn't a problem?