67 Mustang_LS Swap

[ronin187]

G'day crew,

Looooong time lurker, first time poster.

After years of following builds like Andrews 67 Cougar. LanglyLads 67 mustang I finally decided to pull the trigger and push on with my.

Why the long wait? I've recently discharged from the Australian Defence Force and now finally have my own work space and spare time (well.... until 3 weeks ago and my first child arrived...)

Also I wanted to figure out a way to get an LS into a mustang without welding up mounts. I knew, like many of you that there are a multitude of options for this swap in to nearly every conceivable make, model and style of vehicle from Cessna light aircraft to shopping trolleys, but never a bolt-in kit for a early mustang.

I found these bad boys from an Australian HotRod fabrication shop (www.rodshop.com) Castlemaine Rod Shop.

215588215589

I went to a local Mustang shop and picked up some inner shock towers to play with measurements and very rudimentary trial fitment.
215587

By looking at Andrews Cougar build, I'd want a rack and pinion steering system for ease of installation, so I've got a manual and power TCP rack (not sure which one I'll use for the final setup).

215590

I then picked up a plastic LS block to further test the plan.

So far I was pretty close to what the measurements and dimensions I was seeing in the bay of my 67 mustang. Things were getting very interesting....

215591

Found a front sump out of a Monaro (your Pontiac GTO's I believe), and still, things are looking good.

I should note at this point we were in an apartment looking for our next home so could only really "bench race" the plan.

Until...

215592215593

[ronin187]

as per Andrews build I'm using Hooker LS Swap manifolds. This has proven to be the correct route for this application, but also again note that I've removed the stock steering box and associated parts, so I have a huge amount of room on both sides of the engine bay where the exhaust will finally exit to the pipes.

[ronin187]

At this stage I'll be running a 4l60e trans. This will be a daily driver and if you;ve ever been in or around Sydney traffic, manual trans become pretty inconvenient pretty quickly.

That being said this is what room I have with the engine in its mounted position
Radiator mount to engine block
215594

Block to firewall
215595


If anyone has any questions, or would like any further details hsout out. Further, I dont know what I dont know, so if anyone notices anything, or sees that I'm overlooking anything please tell me! Im open to all forms of input, even you crazy kids that are all about the "purity" of a ford engine in a f...snooooooore.

[ronin187]

Okay so some background to the car.

Owned it for 15 years now (times flies!!) It was originally sold, and lived its life in Amarillo, Texas prior to being imported to Australia in 2008.
216267

When i first got it, I added larger profile wheel, disc brake front end (still manual brakes), new interior, autometer gauges etc. What i'd call "lower level mods".

Move on a few years and having a bit more money in my pocket

216269

216266

Started to understand the "whys" of doing mods - safety, drivability, and then looks. No point going if you cant stop safely, see where your going or control how you get there...

So Added in Procar Rally seats to replace the non-latching stock ones, three point shoulder harness belts, dakota digital gauges, and better headlights.

Around this time I also replaced the stock wiring with an American Auto Wire kit and an MSD Atomic EFi system and supporting fuel system (Aeromotive Phantom in tank fuel pum etc).

- - - Updated - - -

Apologies the photos have uploaded in the wrong order! as it sits now is the black version.

[ronin187]

engine bay prior to the start of the swap
216270

Now to the reason for the swap? Just to see if I could do the conversion using off the shelf parts and keep it as a bolt in affair. Given that there's a LS swap kit for nearly every other car on the market from Cameros to Ladas, I'm still amazed one doesnt exist for early model mustangs.

[braveplayer3160]

If anyone has any questions, or would like any further details hsout out. Further, I dont know what I dont know, so if anyone notices anything, or sees that I'm overlooking anything please tell me! Im open to all forms of input, even you crazy kids that are all about the "purity" of a ford engine in a f...snooooooore.

Would you mind letting me know the part number for the mounts that you ordered? I went on Castlemaine's website and they list 3 separate part numbers that look similar (probably stock images) that looks similar to your mounts and I want to order a set.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

[Pedigry]

Cool project, welcome to the site, tons of help here. Don't let the hatters get to you, as much as i hate to say it, the LS platform is a logical choice shearly because of the weight savings. I could use 100 lbs off the nose myselft.

[arcane73]

If anyone has any questions, or would like any further details hsout out. Further, I dont know what I dont know, so if anyone notices anything, or sees that I'm overlooking anything please tell me! Im open to all forms of input, even you crazy kids that are all about the "purity" of a ford engine in a f...snooooooore.

As the owner of a 68 mustang sporting a stroked 351W with friends that pushed me hard to LS swap it....i can tell you one thing for certain. Plug changes will suuuuuck ;)
I'm not a purist by any means but I just chose to stick with the SBF because that's the platform I'm more familiar with. But any time you start filling up space and inching closer to the shock towers, the worse it gets.
I'll be watching to see how it goes!

[ronin187]

Hey mate,

Apologies for the slow reply - have a new born so things have been a little hectic!

https://www.rodshop.com.au/engine-mounts-heavy-duty-for-ls1-ls2-ls3-lsa-lsx-e~487499

These are the ones I'm using.

[ronin187]

Thanks Pedigry! I actually joined the site in 2011!! brings a whole new meaning to "long time listener, first time caller" haha

Seeing the LS between the shock towers it just seems to make more sense (to me at least) when I start taking into account budget (mainly..) and whats available down under.

A barra conversion was very high on the list, but I really didn't want to cut the fire wall to sandwich it in.

- - - Updated - - -


As the owner of a 68 mustang sporting a stroked 351W with friends that pushed me hard to LS swap it....i can tell you one thing for certain. Plug changes will suuuuuck ;)
I'm not a purist by any means but I just chose to stick with the SBF because that's the platform I'm more familiar with. But any time you start filling up space and inching closer to the shock towers, the worse it gets.
I'll be watching to see how it goes!

Yeah your not wrong mate. The passenger side is no sweat, the drivers side is tight, but 100% do-able. In fact I'd wager I may still have more more than you would have with the 351.

[Vimes]

Unless you've already bought the drivetrain, consider going with the 6L80E/90E instead of the 4 speed. The amount of work for either will be the same since in both cases you're stuffing something where it doesn't belong (and I have zero issue with that, that's the whole point of this site :naughty:) but you'll get the two extra gears which will help with fuel economy when traveling and acceleration when racing. If you don't mind doing direct injection, you could even go with an 8 speed - which is like having a 4L60E with 4.11s for the strip that become 3.08s on the highway. Personally though, I'd go with the 6L and avoid the direct injection mess.

For my own project I went with a Dodge drivetrain to get the 8HP transmission and port injection specifically to avoid direct injection and its carbon clogging ways. I don't like that it also meant an iron block but that can always be changed out later. Doing the Dodge saved me more thousands in trying to make everything work together than an aftermarket aluminum block will cost. Otherwise, I was going to go with an LS based engine.