Jacob Hawthorne's V6 Coupe
Registry # 00-0268
Clarksville, TN
Clarksville, TN
Red White and Blew... right past you!
|
Jacob purchased this Vista Blue Premium upon returning home from service in Afghanistan in 2012. Always wanting to own a Mustang as kid, he took this one home with 60,000 miles on it.
The car led the usual monotonous commuter life for the next four years until Jacob decide to paint the car and use it to promote and raise funds to help with PTSD awareness locally with his band. Shortly after leaving the paint booth in a fresh coat of Sahara Tan, the timing guides broke! Replacing the timing chain and guides on a 4.0 is fairly simple and straight forward process. Timing is crucial in any motor, just as it is with a well timed punchline when telling joke. Right after he repaired the timing system Jacob says, "The motor started telling me a very long knock knock joke...". It wasn't a very funny joke. |
|
|
|
|
Gleaming with a fresh paint job from Loteck Customs of Clarksville Tennessee, the car sat in his garage while deciding how to address the blown motor. Since Jacob is using the car to promote PTSD awareness it was important that car stand out and be special.
The idea of rebuilding the SOHC Cologne 4.0 did not seem befitting of such a build, so two extra cylinders and one more liter of displacement were decided upon to fill the space under the hood. Now, with a solid build plan in place, he began hoarding cash and researching the long parts list for the conversion.
The idea of rebuilding the SOHC Cologne 4.0 did not seem befitting of such a build, so two extra cylinders and one more liter of displacement were decided upon to fill the space under the hood. Now, with a solid build plan in place, he began hoarding cash and researching the long parts list for the conversion.
At best, sourcing the proper parts for converting a V6 car to a V8 is a real pain in the ass and takes some serious time. Although many companies sell long block kits with wiring harness and brackets required for a bolt in job, no one sells a complete turn key kit. It's pretty common to have to order parts through a few different vendors to get everything you need to complete the job.
|
When it comes to a 5.0 liter 4V swap there are 3 options:
1. Buy a crate motor new or used and source your own parts from catalogs or junkyards. 2. Buy a wrecked 2011 or newer GT which already will have the majority of the parts required for the swap. 3. Go to a tuner or local speed shop and have them do custom work to your own required specifications. No matter which route you choose, plan on a few weeks of down time and spending at least $10k. |
Jacob found a wrecked donor car, which is usually the easiest and cheapest way to go. There is always some risk involved when going to a used car for parts but there also some serious upside too. The major advantage to buying a whole donor car is that you can upgrade to a nicer, newer interior for free. Plus you'll have a pretty healthy supply of spare parts that are interchangeable like power window motors etc. Once you've turned Somali pirate and looted the donor car for parts, the leftovers can be parted out to recoup some of your investment.
The newer style six gauge cluster from the 2011 is a huge improvement over the earlier models. The 5 liter mill redlines at 7,000 rpms but it's a well known fact that the 4V will easily spin beyond 7,500 rpms from the factory with no problems. It took five years, but Ford finally moved the tachometer to right side gauge pod like the on the Shelby GT500 in 2011.
|
The new interior bolts right up without any serious modification required. Wiring is the most tedious part of the swap and number one complaint of everyone who attempts this job. Jacob is a few months into the swap, although the car is running and already turning heads on the street, he still has some wiring left along with a few odds and ends to clean up.
|
Huge improvements were made to the S197 interior in 2010 and later models. The center circular vents were replaced with rectangular ones, the arm rest is lower, and the overall materials are better quality than prior models. The center stack controls are a little more complex and busy looking, but Ford added radio controls to the steering wheel which makes this engineering oversight easier to forgive.
|
Here is what the finished interior will look like when its done.
In a very condensed nutshell, the typical 4.6 to 5.0 liter bare bones swap only requires the motor, modified brackets for accessories (A/C and power steering) , FRPP wiring harness along a with tweaking some other parts to fit.
Swapping a Coyote into a factory V6 equipped Mustang chassis presents an entirely different set of challenges on the other hand, but is well worth the effort for almost double the horsepower. |
Adapt and overcome...
Dropping a Coyote into a V6 chassis using a well equipped shop and lift is a huge job, but doing it in your own garage with four jack stands and a cherry picker is total bad-assery! Becoming a bad ass doesn't happen over night and neither did this transformation. Jacob began the motor swap in August of 2016 and over the last seven months, has done most of the work himself. Impressive for a garage side project.
Another major hurdle of performing a 6 to 8 conversion lies within the weaker V6 drive train. For starters, the stock 7.5" rear end needs to be upgraded to the 8.8" or better to handle the additional power. The V6 transmissions will also not handle the added output, nor bolt up directly to the bell housing. There are adapters on the market for this but they are becoming increasingly scarce. Now that used 6-speeds are coming into the market, upgrading to 6060 or MT-82 is much more affordable. Jacob's Mustang had manual transmission from the factory, so installing the MT-82 cog box from the donor car to spin the drive shaft was a no brainer. Speaking of drive shafts, the stock two piece shaft will not hold up to the extra torque very long, so switching to an aluminum one piece unit is pretty much a requirement as well as upgrading the flanges and U-joints.
Another major hurdle of performing a 6 to 8 conversion lies within the weaker V6 drive train. For starters, the stock 7.5" rear end needs to be upgraded to the 8.8" or better to handle the additional power. The V6 transmissions will also not handle the added output, nor bolt up directly to the bell housing. There are adapters on the market for this but they are becoming increasingly scarce. Now that used 6-speeds are coming into the market, upgrading to 6060 or MT-82 is much more affordable. Jacob's Mustang had manual transmission from the factory, so installing the MT-82 cog box from the donor car to spin the drive shaft was a no brainer. Speaking of drive shafts, the stock two piece shaft will not hold up to the extra torque very long, so switching to an aluminum one piece unit is pretty much a requirement as well as upgrading the flanges and U-joints.
Did you know that 5.0 Coyote weighs the same as the Romeo 3V 4.6 found in the 2005-2010 GT?
The most common misconception with a V8 swap is that the V6 suspension needs to be reworked to accommodate the Coyote's extra weigh, but this is false. The weight difference between a dressed 4.0 V6 and 5.0 Coyote is less than 20lbs, due to the fact that the German sourced V6 is punched from iron as opposed to aluminum like the 4 valve V8. This means you can keep the softer more comfortable ride of the base car if you like, but adding a panhard bar and upgrading the rear control arms is a wise idea to accommodate the extra power.
The most common misconception with a V8 swap is that the V6 suspension needs to be reworked to accommodate the Coyote's extra weigh, but this is false. The weight difference between a dressed 4.0 V6 and 5.0 Coyote is less than 20lbs, due to the fact that the German sourced V6 is punched from iron as opposed to aluminum like the 4 valve V8. This means you can keep the softer more comfortable ride of the base car if you like, but adding a panhard bar and upgrading the rear control arms is a wise idea to accommodate the extra power.
|
|
The car's motor is mostly stock with the exception of a Bama tune, catless X-pipe and Bassani Axel backs. Jacob as also added drag springs and panhard bar to aid in painting dual stripes of rubber on the pavement. Future mods include hood and bumpers along with a vinyl scheme to promote PTSD awareness. We seriously doubt he will stop there though.
