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New guy here, starting research on a swap

I have read through some of the threads on here regarding donor car info. I live in CA and want to do a complete swap that will be able to pass the CA smog test. I have some things I need confirmed, and some opinions/suggestions from anyone with the knowledge...

First, I don't really care about small differences in HP & TQ (like 280 vs. 290 HP). Ultimately, I want to get a donor car from which I can use the engine, trans, ecu and wiring harness, and put them in my 1990 mustang. The goal is a nice daily driver, hopefully with working A/C, PB, PS, etc. I was originally set on a '98 donor car because it had the intake that would fit, and the improved trans. After reading a little, it seems I can get a shift kit from Baumann (?) that will fix most of the issues. My search has widened...

1) In order to be smog legal in CA, I have to swap over all the emissions equipment from the donor car (including the OBDII port, if 96+). What were the differences in smog equipment between 93 and 98?

2) I would like to avoid the PATS and IMRC. Did all years come with these?

3) What is your prefered donor Mark VIII, and why?

Thanks,
Jon
 
Kind of along the same lines as question #2, could I use "C" heads and a 99-01 cobra (or mach 1) intake in order to get a better "street" motor? Will I even be able to tell the difference between the "B" and "C" heads?
 

ModFoxMustangs

Well-Known Member
Staff member
1) In order to be smog legal in CA, I have to swap over all the emissions equipment from the donor car (including the OBDII port, if 96+). What were the differences in smog equipment between 93 and 98?

2) I would like to avoid the PATS and IMRC. Did all years come with these? FORD PATS SYSTEM

3) What is your prefered donor Mark VIII, and why? Which Mark VIII engine
 
1) In order to be smog legal in CA, I have to swap over all the emissions equipment from the donor car (including the OBDII port, if 96+). What were the differences in smog equipment between 93 and 98?

- Still wondering about this...

2) I would like to avoid the PATS and IMRC. Did all years come with these? FORD PATS SYSTEM

- Very informative. So I can use 93 - 96 without getting involved with PATS. What about the IMRC?

3) What is your prefered donor Mark VIII, and why? Which Mark VIII engine

- That thread is pretty weak. I want to know from people who have done the swap, or are planning on doing the swap, what year they are trying to get, and why?
 

ModFoxMustangs

Well-Known Member
Staff member
What about the IMRC?

You have two options:
1. Use the existing ones and just gut them out.
2. Purchase a set of IMRC Deletes (Below)


YOU WILL WANT TO HAVE THEM TURNED OFF IN YOUR NEW TUNE. YOU CAR CAN STILL BE DRIVEN, BUT IT WILL NOT RUN WELL. IF YOU CAR IS A DAILY DRIVER KEEP THE IMRC's

IMRC Deletes from Modular Mustang Racing
IMRC.jpg
 
Just to confirm, all Mark VIII's came with IMRC? Also, will the IMRC delete affect smog at all? (Sounds like it won't, but just want to make sure.)
 
getting ready to pull the trigger on a donor car. There is a 97 for sale locally for $1300. It's a complete car and I figure I could drive it around for a little bit before I start taking it apart. Being an 97, it will have the PATS and the OBD2 port. Good thing I like wiring...
 
There are three Mark Viii's that are for sale locally. I would like to get input about each one. Again, this is not a high horsepower build. I would like to get a donor car with engine/trans/ecu/wiring that I could swap directly in, without rebuilding anything. I anticipate changing the timing chain tensioners (maybe chains, too). What is your opinion on changing the water pump, oil pump, and external gaskets rear main?) while the engine is out?

Anyway, here are my options.
1st - the 97 with 203000 miles for $1300. Supposedly if was grandmas car, and looks like it was very well taken care of.

2nd - a 95 with 100500 miles for $1900. This is coming from a "dealer" so he has to charge tax. But, he also has to smog it and give me registration papers for it. (I figure this may help when I eventually scrap the body.) Also, since it's a dealer, the price could go down if I show up with cash.

3rd - a 95 with 20000 (yes, only 20K miles) for $2250. This was also grandmas car, but suffered some serious body damage not too long ago. The seller knows what he has, so I'm not sure if he will budge on the price.
 

Svt Fox

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Why not just by an engine for $300-$500.

That's the only part that I used, from the mark VIII.

If you want a complete car to swap everything from, buy a wrecked 96-98 cobra. You can use the engine, trans, wiring harness, EEC, brakes, k-member, etc...
 
Even wrecked cobras are $4k around here. Also, my fox already has the sn95 front and rear brakes.

I've done a fuel injected pushrod 5.0 swap (into a 68 ranchero) and it was very beneficial to have the donor car there.

I want to get a complete donor mark Viii so I know I will have almost everything needed to transplant the drivetrain and make it turn on.
 

whiteponygt

Well-Known Member
I used the mark viii motor and had a 97 gt as a donor car just getting the Lincoln your still gonna have a lot of parts your gonna have to chase down, then anyone will tell you when you start piecing these swaps together it turns into a nightmare, I've had to use parts from 3 different cars, as far as imrc they are not hard to get rid of some buy the deletes some just take out the butterflies and some just wire them open, as far as PATS your a quick trip to the tuner and they can turn it off.Using the Lincoln computer later down the road if you do have it tuned you will have issues finding someo to tune that computer.
 
Thanks for the info. I know I'll have to get an sn95 crossmember (motor mounts and drive shaft too?). Hopefully I can get most of what I need from the Lincoln.

How are the Lincoln ecu's different than the mustang ecu's?I figured someone familiar with the EEC-V would be able to handle any EEC-V?
 

cdog02mustgt

Well-Known Member
I am still not sure what I am going to do with my swap. I picked up a donor lincoln and plan on using most of the Lincoln parts to do the swap. I am starting to get a tad worried about wiring this in using the Lincoln parts.
 
A bit of a delayed response....

Get yourself a very detailed wiring diagram for your donor EEC (correct year and trans option if you decide to use the mustang EEC).

Take advantage while you have the harness out, use a multimeter to make sure each and every circuit has minimal resistance in the wires. The more checking and verifying you can do while everything is apart, the less of a problem if you have problems later on.

I'm not 100% familiar with the mark Viii EEC, but I would imagine the only external connections that need to be made are 12v batt, some grounds, and 12v in start and in run. Everything else should just be attaching factory harnesses to factory components (relays, sensors and actuators).
 

Walt460

Member
Emissions: California will require your car to meet emissions for the year of the engine you swap in. I strongly suggest getting a running donor car, preferably a Mustang. And, as Jonathan above suggested, get a wiring book for your car and for the donor car. Even if you like wiring, Ford makes tons of small changes every year that can drive you nuts if you don't have good reference material. I understand a 96-98 Cobra or a 99, or a 03/04 Mach donor car will cost $4K, but you can sell off what you don't use to get some bucks back, and you will have EVERYTHING you need.
 

bjmayberry2

Member
I used the mark viii motor and had a 97 gt as a donor car just getting the Lincoln your still gonna have a lot of parts your gonna have to chase down, then anyone will tell you when you start piecing these swaps together it turns into a nightmare, I've had to use parts from 3 different cars, as far as imrc they are not hard to get rid of some buy the deletes some just take out the butterflies and some just wire them open, as far as PATS your a quick trip to the tuner and they can turn it off.Using the Lincoln computer later down the road if you do have it tuned you will have issues finding someo to tune that computer.

Are you saying you put the 97 GT's heads on the Lincoln? If so what intake did you use?
 
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