96 4.6, adding power

[stang99gtv8]

I have a friend that is thinking of selling me his 96 gt. It has 140k miles on it, but otherwise is in good shape. I know it doesn't have the PI heads on it so I thought about going the route of a PI head swap. Problem is, with that many miles on the motor i don't know if it would be worth it.

My thinking is I have a few options.
I could swap the heads on that motor the way it is.
Could swap and have the motor rebuilt.
Buy a drivetrain from a wrecked or whatever 99+ gt
Get a 5.0 carb'ed.

I want to be able to get it at least back to where I was on my 99gt running a 13.8. Not using nitrous or a supercharger, what would you do?

[92BlackStang]

pi head and cam swap, Keep up with the maitance on the car oil changes etc.. It will last forever

[mustanginky]

what he said. if you swapped heads you'd get a nice bump in compression too, which would be good since you're planning on staying N/A. I would have the top end rebuilt on whatever heads you're going to go with, or get some lower mileage heads. should dyno close to 300 with other mods. while you're at it get some cam's too.

[cstreu1026]

I say the easiest route for more power is to find a 4.6 out of an explorer or mountaineer. You would get the PI heads plus shed 80 pounds for the switch to an aluminum block. The PI swap does yield some nice returns but it can be quite a lot of work.

[stang99gtv8]

what about a 5.0 out of an explorer? not sure that would be worth while but i might have easy access to one of those.

in a 4.6 from an explorer, what year exp would i need to find it from, and would it be a direct replacement, meaning no changings of positions of things, hookups, whatever?

[bobtsgt]

Need a 4.6 and not a 5.0 not sure on the years but my 03 explorer has the 4.6 w/ aluminum block. With any 4.6 stang you have to help it along. With a nice gear or even some sort of power adder. Unless you have the cash to start digging into it motor wise. Doing the explorer route will give the best of both worlds with power and weight.

[stang99gtv8]

Need a 4.6 and not a 5.0 not sure on the years but my 03 explorer has the 4.6 w/ aluminum block. With any 4.6 stang you have to help it along. With a nice gear or even some sort of power adder. Unless you have the cash to start digging into it motor wise. Doing the explorer route will give the best of both worlds with power and weight.

Do you know if thats a direct swap, or need a new oil pan, maybe a water pump, sensor positions?

[bobtsgt]

not sure on the pan but I think it may be okay. Cameron would know more then me.

[cstreu1026]

I will have to check on the oil pan but I would think you would be able just about all the accessories, oil pan, etc. off of the engine thats in the car.

I think ford started using the 4.6 in the Explorer in 2002.

[Goober]

Correct, They killed off the 5.0 in those in 2001.

[mustanginky]

the 5.0 would require a different k member, i believe, because the mouting points are different for a 4.6 and 5.0.

[NXcoupe]

Yes, and the fuel injection part would be a nightmare. I would do the explorer 4.6 swap. Lighter, and already has the better heads and intake on it. Easiest thing to do is put the engines side by side and swap over from the old to the new anything that is different. They are around 800 to 1000 for a good used one with less than 90k on the clock. Great all around deal IMHO.