Now I've done many engine swaps over the years, and am also not really a brand-loyal kind of guy, but one rule I have for bi-racial engine swaps is that they have to somehow make the vehicle better than it can be with an engine from the same manufacturer.
For example, I once put a Olds 455 in the back of a Model A pickup truck. Obviously, I couldn't make the thing into a wheel stander using anything Ford made, so I went with the Olds engine/transaxle.
So I started reading the article on the Mustang with a somewhat jaded attitude. Ford makes some pretty good engines that easily swap into a fox body that can make the kind of power the owner desired, so why go with an LS, I asked myself? Well, as it turns out, this guy had some pretty good reasons for going with the LS. That's all. 
Glad you enjoyed the article. Thanks for reading!
Wait, you liked the article? That's crazy talk. (And thanks.)
Margie
NickD
Dork
7/19/16 8:52 a.m.
I think the LS swap into a Fox-body is kind of a no-brainer. Have yet to see a stock Ford bottom end that can survive 1200hp blasts like an LS can (The 302 hinges the block at 450-500). The new-age Ford motors, like the Coyote and Mod motors, are so big that they are a pain to stuff in and still aren't totally embraced by the aftermarket (not like the LS is). The old Ford motors you end up dealing with weak blocks (unless you go aftermarket, at which point $$$) and distributors and the inherent issues of a legacy engine.
A car doesn't know or care what name is stamped on the valve cover.
In reply to NickD:
A coyote fits in a fox body fairly easy and can also handle the amount of power this car made, but the swap made sense anyway for other reasons.
The car was ruined! It has lost its soul! You might as well have set it on fire! There's no good reason to swap the engine from one manufacturer into...anoth...umm... oh.
Never mind.
While the Coyote is a modular based Ford V8, it fits WAY better then any other modular will or does into a Fox body platform.
You can get the Coyote control pack for $15-1600, but then a truck motor is still 2k.... But oh man, the VVT on the modular stuff is downright frightfully amazing....
NOHOME
PowerDork
7/19/16 11:16 a.m.
The mod motor is cool enough, but compared to the 302 or the LS OHV architecture, it is quite sophisticated and dare I say intimidating.
I would expect that the same middle of the road mechanically experienced person who is willing to pull apart a 302 or an LS as a learning experience, is not going to be comfortable pulling apart the 4 cam? And if they do, they will probably screw it up the first time.
Along the same lines, the power recipes and budgets for the OHV engines are well established. Not so much for the 4V mod engines. I am willing to bet that the same price differential that exist for the foam mock up versions of this engine ($350 for the 302 versus $600 for the 4.6)will apply to just about any aspect of the mod engine swap.
The Mod engines are EFI only unless you want to jump though some expensive hoops.
Should have had a 2JZGTE. Or a 1UZFE. THEN it would have been cool.
Sometimes you do what works instead of what the internet has decided is cool today.
Besides, I don't care how you get there, high power/weight is always cool.
In reply to bravenrace
So, you're keeping your subscription then?
In reply to Dr. Hess:
I've been lead to believe that a 2jz at these power levela would have been more expensive, heavier, and harder to cool.
Woody wrote:
In reply to bravenrace
So, you're keeping your subscription then?
Uh, it was a free copy. 
... I only subscribe to Classic Motorsports. IOW, I'm not that guy. 
I really want to find a rough 6 cyn fox body and rear ended 5.3L Silverado and come down and piss up the majority of Gainesville one fall.
When did that issue go out? I just recently subscribed and was wondering when I can expect to see my first issue.
Hey, I know... We can take a classic mustang, a really cool 60's one, pull out the Ford motor and put a hot Nissan straight six in, with a turbo. A big turbo. Then we can go street race people in Tokyo and we'll make a movie about it. Yeah. That would be cool.
Glad that you enjoyed the piece. He didn't swap in the LS to piss off people. It was based on logic and stuff.
Also, 455-powered Model A? Wow.
David S. Wallens wrote:
Glad that you enjoyed the piece. He didn't swap in the LS to piss off people. It was based on logic and stuff.
Also, 455-powered Model A? Wow.
Two teenagers in the summer of '76 with nothing better to do...
bravenrace wrote:
David S. Wallens wrote:
Glad that you enjoyed the piece. He didn't swap in the LS to piss off people. It was based on logic and stuff.
Also, 455-powered Model A? Wow.
Two teenagers in the summer of '76 with nothing better to do...
I think putting a 455 in an A rockets to the top of the list of things to do, no matter what else you have going on...
Knurled wrote:
bravenrace wrote:
David S. Wallens wrote:
Glad that you enjoyed the piece. He didn't swap in the LS to piss off people. It was based on logic and stuff.
Also, 455-powered Model A? Wow.
Two teenagers in the summer of '76 with nothing better to do...
I think putting a 455 in an A rockets to the top of the list of things to do, no matter what else you have going on...
They had girls in 1976, didn't they?
Robbie
UltraDork
7/19/16 2:17 p.m.
In reply to Keith Tanner:
Define "they"
