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Should Have Had a V-8: 1994 - 98 Mustang V-6 to V-8 ConversionConverting your SN-95's 3.8 into the 5.0 you should have bought From the June, 2002 issue of 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords By Matt Rawlings Photography by Keith Keplinger
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Horse Sense: A question that often looms over anowner's head is whether or not to notify his insurance company of anengine change. The insurance company we called said if you want your new5.0 engine insured, it's best to fess up. There comes a time in every Mustang enthusiast's life when he realizesthe power harnessed by the stock motor is nice, but just not enough.We're all guilty of wanting more and more horsepower as time passes. Thecar we fell in love with, although cool as ever, needs some help to getus over the horsepower hump. A supercharger, some nitrous, and all theother regular bolt-ons seem to do it for most of us. We can go from a225hp car to 350 screaming ponies in a matter of a few weeks. Those who unwittingly purchased a V-6 Mustang instead of a V-8 start outin a considerable hole. You know who you are. It doesn't matter whetheryou bought the car new or used--you own it now, and you've got to makethe best of it. Admitting your mistake will help you take the first steptoward more power. Here are some of the necessary... Here are some of the necessary parts for this conversion, minus theexhaust system--which you will also need to attain. Pictured here is theelectrical EEC harness, the EEC computer, the mass air tube, thethrottle cable, and the heavy-duty clutch from RAM. That first step is an engine swap. If you've been pondering thepossibilities of swapping your anemic 3.8 V-6 for a potent 5.0 V-8,we're here to show you how. With the help of Ford Racing PerformanceParts and the handy work of Tim Matherly of MV Performance in Statham,Georgia, we'll have your Mustang terrorizing the neighborhood with itsnew set of lungs in no time. Apart from the obvious benefit of increaseddisplacement, swapping to a V-8 engine will enable you to take fulladvantage of the multitude of speed parts designed for injected 5.0s,such as the aforementioned supercharger, nitrous, heads, and other finegoodies. We compiled all of the necessary parts (see the sidebar The Part NumbersGame) for this conversion, and the following pages will highlight ourengine swap, as well as all the parts needed to make this swap possible.We're giving you a good foundation as to what's involved rather thanstep-by-step instructions. Whenever you deal with a swap that involvesEFI, it requires at least a basic knowledge of Ford electronics. Inother words, don't try to do this by yourself over the weekend, andespecially not on your daily driver. According to Tim, "A project likethis isn't the hardest in the world, but you do have to know what you'redoing." The Part Numbers Game
Here are all the part numbers you'll need when ordering or locating theparts for your 3.8- to-5.0 swap.
Mass Air Conversion Kit: M-9000-A51 (manual trans) or M-9000-B50 (auto trans)*
Main electrical harness: M-12071-C302*
Sensor and relay package: M-12701-D302*
Universal Safety Clutch Housing: M-6392-C*
Heavy-Duty Clutch: Choice Optional
Smog Equipment**
DUAL-EXHAUST SYSTEM: Choice Optional
Fan Speed Control Module: F4ZF-128577-AA*
* Obtain new from Ford or used from donor car
** Must obtain from donor car  Once all the necessary cables...  Once all the necessary cables and wires have been disconnected, the 3.8engine can be lifted out and laid aside...  ...Although Tim is an experiencedtechnician,...  ...Although Tim is an experiencedtechnician, he still needs to gather his thoughts and go over the nextfew steps in his mind, so he won't forget anything. He then begins byremoving the V-6 A/C lines, which are different from the V-8's.  Tim unveils the EEC computer,...  Tim unveils the EEC computer, which is located in the passenger-sidekick panel. This V-6 computer will need to be removed, along with theV-6 electrical harness.  Once the wires have been disconnected...  Once the wires have been disconnected from the computer, the EECharness--located in the right fenderwell--can be pulled through and put aside. The new V-8 EEC harness and computer are installed and routed thesame way as the V-6 harness.  Once the new harness has been...  Once the new harness has been routed through the right fenderwell, Timinstalls the necessary smog devices, required for V-8s. Since this isn'tstandard on the 3.8 car, the smog equipment must be attained from adonor 5.0 Mustang. As you can see from this photo, Tim nestled the smogsystem in the same side fender as the electrical harness.  With the V-8 harness in place,...  With the V-8 harness in place, the TFI module--which isn't found on theV-6--can be plugged in on the right side of the engine bay.  While the V-6 engine is out...  While the V-6 engine is out of the car and the electrical harness isrouted through, Tim goes underneath the Mustang and disconnects theexhaust system and the driveshaft. For a swap such as this, you mustalso obtain a new dual-exhaust system from a donor car, or just purchasea new system from any aftermarket company. Also, with the new exhaust,you'll need to get the hangers from a V-8 car or from Ford. Without thehangers, your exhaust pipes won't sit straight, nor will they be secure.  With the driveshaft and exhaust...  With the driveshaft and exhaust out of the way, Tim lowers the V-6'stransmission in order to install the new clutch. The V-6 and V-8 T5transmissions are almost identical, including the fact they both havethe same gear ratios. The only dif-ference, according to Tim, is theV-8's gearsets are stronger than the V-6's.  According to Tim, the clutch...  According to Tim, the clutch upgrade is a must for performance when itcomes to converting your existing 3.8 into a pavement-pounding 5.0. Forthis installation, he chose to have a RAM heavy-duty clutch, known forits exceptional grip and longevity.  Now that the clutch is in...  Now that the clutch is in and the tranny reinstalled, the Mustang islowered and the new 5.0 engine is ready to be dropped in. Note how mostof the engine's parts are already installed, including the headers, theintake, the throttle body, and even the spark plug wires. The morecomplete the engine is, the easier the entire pro-cess will be. Makesure you take care of anything you want changed with the engine-- such asspark plugs, wires, headers, and so on--before you drop the engine in thecar. You and your knuckles will be glad you did.  One of the parts you'll definitely...  One of the parts you'll definitely need to acquire either from adealership or a junkyard for this conversion is the throttle cable andlinkage. The V-6's cable is considerably shorter than the V-8's, as youcan see from this photo.  With the 5.0 engine in place,...  With the 5.0 engine in place, Tim makes all the necessary connectionsfrom the main electrical harness to the correct sensors and relays. Asfor the fuel system, the V-6 engine also uses 19-lb/hr injectors, butthere are only six of them (obviously) instead of the needed eight forthe V-8. The best thing to do is to purchase eight new injectors fromFord (PN M-9593-C302) so you know you get a balanced set instead of justtwo new ones. You also can opt to use a set of bigger injectors if youplan on modifying the engine later. As for the rest of the fuel system,Tim assures the V-6 stock 88-lph fuel pump is adequate for an engineproducing up to 300 hp. One of the parts you'll definitely... One of the parts you'll definitely need to acquire either from adealership or a junkyard for this conversion is the throttle cable andlinkage. The V-6's cable is considerably shorter than the V-8's, as youcan see from this photo.  After Tim swaps the new V-8...  After Tim swaps the new V-8 throttle cable to the V-8 throttle linkage,he removes the cruise control servo from the V-6 engine and places it inthe engine bay with the V-8...  ...The cruise control cables...  ...The cruise control cables are the onlydifference here, which is what he is swapping out in this photo.  With most of the work almost...  With most of the work almost complete, Tim connects the A/C lines, whichmust be from a V-8 car. The V-6 A/C lines cannot be reused.  One of the last steps in this...  One of the last steps in this conversion is to swap out the radiator andcooling fan from the V-6 to the V-8. Although they are not identical,according to Tim, they're extremely similar with the exception of havinga different fan speed...  ...You must therefore replace...  ...You must therefore replace the V-6's fan controlmodule with a V-8's. This module is located beside the coolant overflowbottle and is pictured above. The new V-8 module is the one on the left.  You can reuse the airbox from...  You can reuse the airbox from the V-6 engine, which is identical to theV-8's, except for the air meter and the air tube.  Once all the hoses and connections...  Once all the hoses and connections are double-checked, Tim tightens allthe bolts to the front of the car.  Here is the final product....  Here is the final product. The new 5.0 engine looks as if it was nevereven out of the car.
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