engine swap for a 93 tbird

[gitrdun]

i have a 93 t-bird with the 3.8 ... im unhappy with the perfomance that i am getting from it ... i am wanting to know if anyone can tell me how many problems i am goin to have if i put my 5.0 ho engine out of my mustang inplace of the old 3.8 ... but the stang is a 5.0 w/ 5 speed ... i would like to put them both in my bird .... i just really need to find out what all i am going to need to do & what all i am going to need to buy .... any help on this matter would be greatly appritiated ... thank you

[thunderbird muscle]

Your gonna have to spend a lot of money, which is the main setback and you will also need to find a thunderbird sc (5 speed) for a donor vehicle.

[gitrdun]

ok you say ima need to go git a t-bird sc 5 speed ... i am goin to ask why i need to do this ... because i have read that the thunderbirds ( or some of the years anyways ) are the fox-platform and except for the looks of the bodys really the only diff is the t-birds are 4 inches longer ( can u elaborate on this ) ... just like the stangs .... why cant i just use everything that i would need ( clutch pedal front wire harness and so on ) from the mustang?? .. i mean i am not trying to say that you are wrong, i am tryin to git my facts correct b4 i actually dig into this project ... where i got that info is muscle mustangs & fast fords pp 116 - 120 ...

[overl0rd]

Post 88 Tbirds are what are known as MN12's, different from the previous geneation of fox bodies. You're right in that a lot of fox Tbird/Mustang stuff will interchange, but the SN95 Mustang and the MN12 Tbird are two totally different beasts. The main things you would need the SC donor car are hard to get bits like the clutch pedal components and the 5 speed specific interior trim.

[gitrdun]

would the clutch pedal components work from the 88 mustang ?? .... but as far as interior trim im not really all that worried bout it ... i mean the stang is an 88 5.0 gt 5 speep ( needs alot of work done to it ) and the thunder-chicken is a 93 3.8 auto ... im just tryin to get as much info as i can so i can find out if it would really be worth my time to do this project or not ... im not doubtin anything of what yall are telling me ... but i am asking cuz i have all these parts from the stang that i think could work in the bird ... if they are not compatible then i need to know so i can try and git the parts that are compatible ... but as far as the SN95 and the MN12 .. i really dont understand what you are talking about there ....

[thunderbird muscle]

You could get away with having parts custom built for it by a machine shop. It would be easier to put an automatic behind the 5.0, but this is gonna be a money hungry type of modification. I am doing one that is quit a big mod but it has been done before, It all depends on what you are willing to spend and how much time you are willing to take. Good luck with it.

[gitrdun]

thank you guys for the info that u have givin me ....

[CamaroSSBoy346]

There's a 5.0L Cougar with a 5.0 somewhere floating around in the e-world. But If I remembered correctly, it had the M5R2 (Stock SC unit), with a modified bell-housing. I know on 94+ cars, the 4.6 mated to the M5R2.. the shifter would come up into the interior behind underneath the dashboard. Might be a different storey for the pre 94's (different interior)