5.0 swap into a 79 2.8

01mineralgrey6 · **5.0 swap into a 79 2.8**

Just got an email from my Dad,

I've got a question for
you and your 'stang friends. I'm looking at buying a wrecked 90 5.0 GT as a
donor car for the 79. I want to swap the complete driveline from the 90 and
put it in the 79. I'm tired of fussing with the 2.8 4bbl. I've located a
wiring harness on line but am wondering if I can use the one in the donor
car? Also any known issues with swapping the fuel tank with the in tank
pump/ sender to the older car? Will the fuel gage be correct or even close?
I know it sounds like a challenge but you know I'm not afraid of getting a
little dirty and not intimidated by wiring diagrams. Has any of your
friends tried this or know of some one who has?
I guess I'd end up with a 79 GT huh?

thought this would sorta be right up your alley Jimmy

Ponycarman · 03-31-2005, 06:56 PM

Well, 79 is the first year of the Fox body isn't it? a 90 is still a Fox body so I'd assume (I know nothing about Fords) it'd swap easily with a donor on hand.

Steve

Bane- · 03-31-2005, 08:46 PM

yea 79 is the 1st foxbody so it should "technically" just swap over.

guy in my neighborhood is doing something similar, he has a 79 cobra, and a 93 4banger vert, taking all the shit out the cobra and putting it into the vert to make a 79 cobra vert..just a nice lil one off thing..he likes making shit like that. he has a 71 porsche 911 he turned into a vert aswell.

btw the 79cobra from the previous owner has a 351w so yea..this will be a very nice vert when done

im gonna give him the address and maybe take pics at his house.

**fast64** · 03-31-2005, 08:49 PM

The engine will bolt right into the car, but the bellhousing will have to be changed (he might want to look into doing a trans swap while hes at it). If your dad isn't afraid of the 20 page front-and-back 11"x17" wiring diagram, the wiring harness from the donor car will work just fine. He will probably hack the harness up some as he learns what he does and does not need. I am not sure if the body harness changed much from 1979 to 1990, but he will need to splice the engine harness into the body harness for the igntion switch, oil pressure gauge, and water temp gauge. I would suggest talking to Ryan at www.fordfuelinjection.com about making an engine harness for him that will plug into the body harness. They are the very best wiring harnesses on the market IMO. I am sure he could swap out the gas tanks, but he will need to run a return line to the gas tank (actually probably run a new line to the engine and use the old line as the return line). I am not sure about the fuel gauge, it all depends on how much the body harness/electronics changed over the course of 11 years.

Tbird232ci · 03-31-2005, 10:05 PM

something a little more up my alley

a little correction on Jimmy up there, the engine wont directly bolt in, the I engines generally got a different K-member in the fox cars if i remember correctly, but thats easily fixed by swapping the K-member, and the entire front suspension assembly, he'd also get the much nicer 11" brakes up front

as for the transmission, he might as well use the one from the donor car, and use the transmission k-member for the car also

basically, what he should do, is swap the whole powertrain/drivetrain over to the 79, swapping engine and trans would put a good amount of stress on that open 7.5, so he might as well throw that under the rear of the car also

for the wiring harness, thats the very difficult part, the 2bbl doesnt even run an EEC setup, it runs a Duraspark II if i remember correctly, so the EEC would have to be almost set up as stand alone, because i dont think its able to be tied into the chassis harness

hell, if he has the whole donor, strip it and swap, make that 79 essentially a 90, as hard as it is, its actually easier than chasing around wiring gremlins and cutting/splicing/praying

**fast64** · 03-31-2005, 10:15 PM

thanks for the correction, i thought all foxes and the same k-member

Tbird232ci · 04-01-2005, 12:38 AM

i still may be wrong, im not 100% sure, but i do know for a fact that he would at least need to swap the mounts over, ill ask a few buddies about it to be sure

01mineralgrey6 · 04-01-2005, 04:02 PM

I think he said that the k members are different... Ill send him this info.
thanks

**SpectorV** · 04-01-2005, 04:05 PM

its not a bad swap if you take your time and do it right not bad at all, the wiring harness is a pita at times

Ponycarman · 04-06-2005, 10:46 PM

My personal thoughts are to swap the 90 k members in because I'll almost bet that Ford updated/upgraded it since the first model year of the Fox body (79). Heck, I'd probably just swap all the mechanical and run the 90 wiring harness, be easier to do that I'd think but then again wiring is not a problem for me. I've been reading schematics and fixing electronics since 83.

Steve

silverstangboy · 04-15-2005, 06:35 PM

thats going to be a very difficult swap...

unless you don't mind spending about 450 dollars on a painless (brand name is painless) or stand-alone ford engine managment unit (pretty much the same thing) still not easy, but easier than taking on the job of electronic engineer

i've done a swap myself, and its not that bad, however the 90 electronics is in no way shape or form ment to connect to the 79, nor would taking the complete dash harness and the such out and replacing it be a good idea.

for it to be a 79 model, you really would be better off to go carborated, its more horsepower anyways.. but if you didn't, I'd seriously think about getting ford's standalone kit

01mineralgrey6 · 04-16-2005, 09:38 AM

I think he is looking at the painless kit, and im not sure but i thing hes found some sort of adapter that allows 1 harness to plug into the other, im not sure. but i know hes talked about the painless kit

**fast64** · 04-16-2005, 08:19 PM

tell him to talk to ryan at www.fordfuelinjection.com about a harness, well worth the money and probably cheaper than painless's overpriced stuff

Tbird232ci · 04-16-2005, 10:12 PM

http://www.mass-air.com/

250 bucks for an EEC harness

Rick0636 · 06-01-2005, 06:09 PM

Better him than me, sounds like a major undertaking, I would transfer anything possible from the 90 to the 79, its more up to date for certain.

svtlx · **Re: 5.0 swap into a 79 2.8**

the gauges run on a seperate harness than the computer...you can seperate these by tracing the harness from the ecu...i had an 88 gt..put harness, engine, & computer in 90 v6 t-bird....3yrs later took motor,comp, & harness out and put in a 92 stang 4cyl.... all of my gauges work fine...just make sure that pins 20,40,& 60 on the ecm are properly grounded.....u can cut a hole in the firewall for the harness gromet....you can run the fuel pump on an ignition (key-on power) wire, if wiring it through the ecm is too complicated....if u want you can call me and i will give you the specifics. it's not as hard as it looks or sounds...you just need lots of patience....i'm not positive, but i think u will have to go with an aftermarket air cleaner unless you are willing to cut a whole in the inner passeger side fender "i think".....anyway like i said, i have done 2 fords and one pontiac formula 327tpi conversion...let me know and i will give you my #

unstopablestang · **Re: 5.0 swap into a 79 2.8**

iam diong a carb 5.0 swap in a 93 mustang and its not as bad as i thought all you gotta do is take your time and not rush it

Cajun JungleBoy · **Re: 5.0 swap into a 79 2.8**

i have an 81 fox that i'm going to be doing a 5.0 swap... infact i gutted the car last night

**SpectorV** · **Re: 5.0 swap into a 79 2.8**

yea if you go carb its very easy, well much easier than doing FI.

unstopablestang · **Re: 5.0 swap into a 79 2.8**

who would u choose edelbrock or holley

svtlx · **Re: 5.0 swap into a 79 2.8**


Quote: Originally Posted by unstopablestang iam diong a carb 5.0 swap in a 93 mustang and its not as bad as i thought all you gotta do is take your time and not rush it

have u driven it yet? i still have 4 cyl. brakes on my coupe... i think the only reason i haven't upgraded brakes is so i don't loose my license. cause if the car will stop, i will push it. as for now i only do highway runs where i got plenty of room to stop. i raced a porche carrera @ 137mph...he couldn't shake me...those things have decent top end torque by the way. i was lil deflated when i went to a porche dealer and found out that those things are only 355hp.....anyway let me know how much fun those 4cyl. brakes are!

unstopablestang · **Re: 5.0 swap into a 79 2.8**

yes i just got it out all runnin it runs so nice everything is getin changed to 5.0 ill be posting som pictures soon