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Mustang 3.8 & T5 WC swap... good idea?

Mustang 3.8 & T5 WC swap... good idea?

jmkissler

Jeeper
Posts
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Location
Sierra Vista, Arizona
Vehicle(s)
'83 CJ7
I have a friend that just offered me a a low mileage 3.8L mustang engine and T-5 WC. I have never seen this swap done and am having issues finding information.

Do any of you guys know whether or not this conversion is doable if I pick up an ECU for it? It has the engine harness. Is this a good idea to pursue? I'll probably still snag the engine to put in my ranger if it's not CJ7 doable.
 
It's do able. Shoot almost anything is possible. The questions you should be asking is it worth it, and can you afford it. Here are some of the things to consider: motor mounts, spacing, Transmission fit, what Transfer Case are you using, does the Transmission need to be modified to fit a Transfer Case , do you need to modify the fuel system, will you need custom driveshaft for front and rear, and finally what will you gain by doing this that fits your overall plan for your Jeep? Why is your friend getting rid of the motor and tranny? Does the same reason apply to your situation. Are there better options? Yes it is free, but free doesn't always mean a good idea. Consider that you are changing the entire design of your Jeep. Does this cause you to have to change other components, like brakes, axles, etc. I'm not saying don't do this, I just want you to consider all of these things first. Good luck with whatever you decide.

PS: Please fill out the rest of your profile so that we know more about your Jeep. '83 Jeep CJ7 leaves a lot of items out that will help us know more about your Jeep. Specially if it has been modified.
 
Will do. I will fill out my profile as well.

My goals are two simple ones. I would like to be able to do highway speeds. In AZ, people cruise at 75+/- on the highway. I'd also like to get better than 10mpg. I know it's a rolling brick that slows down going down hill, but something decent would be nice. I don't do much wheeling anymore.

As far as what I have, AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l I6 connected to a T-5 Transmission , followed by a dana 200 Transfer Case . IIRC I have a Dana 30 front with an AMC20 rear. Unfortunately I do not know the gearing in the rear. My uncle owned this jeep before I did, years ago. He had other people work on it.
 
Do you want to keep it 4x4? If so, then the 1st thing is to figure out if you can adapt your transfer (should be a Dana 300 , not 200) to the Transmission . If not, are there any transfer cases that will?

As far as the engine, if you want to keep the FI on the 3.8, then you'll need to figure out the computer part and likely upgrade the fuel system.

But before you do anything with the engine/Transmission , figure out your axle ratio. You need to get a good idea of where you are to try to figure out where you would be after the swap. And also find out what the "new" Transmission 's gear ratios are. If you are running the common 2.72 gears and large tires, then you may not gain much at all from the swap.
 
OP, not knowing what gear ratio and tire size you are running makes it harder to throw out ideas, but I can offer advice from my own experiences. When I got my 8 the only upgrade it had was Mopar MPI, so I cant speak to what the MPG's were like with the stock carb. Before I started making "improvements" she got consistently 16-17 MPG overall and if it was 100% highway driving 20+ was easily achieved with AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l , MPI,T-5 , 2:73's and 29" tires. Now many years and "improvements" later I'm lucky to get 16 MPG all highway driving with the current set-up. As for speeds of 75+, mine did and still can, but 60-65 feels more comfortable in my brick shaped tin can ;)
 
What concerns are there for passing SMOG tests?
LG
 

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