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1965 Ford Mustang Fastback Modular Terminator Cobra Engine SwapWe Look At Fitting, Wirng, And Fuel Systems For Modular Engine Swaps From the May, 2010 issue of Modified Mustangs & Fords By Kevin Tetz Photography by Kevin Tetz
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The number one concern and... The number one concern and deterrent for a Four-Valve modular swap is the physical size of the engine itself. This photo shows a very clean installation of an early Four-Valve Cobra 4.6L in a '65 convertible, which actually fits under the stock hood naturally aspirated.
Modular Engine Swap
The shroud has long been lifted when it comes to the stigma of modifying a classic Mustang beyond the point of reversing it back to stock. Now don't get us wrong, we love the fact that there are so many bolt-in and bolt-on options for improving the performance of a classic Mustang, or any other '60s era machine, and the car be easily returned to its original state if ever so desired. A small-block upgrade of a tired inline-six car ups the fun factor of an otherwise basic "secretary's" vehicle, giving it a second chance at becoming what is inherent in its DNA. The same goes for brake upgrades, wheels and tires, suspension, and more. For those who enjoy a challenge when building a car, swapping one of Ford's modular engines into a '65-'66 Mustang is becoming more and more popular, but why do the more difficult mod swap when there are hundreds of versions of the traditional small-block that bolt in with little or no trouble? The shift in the hobby over the past decade from restoration to restomods, with a focus on driveability, is the first clue that this may be a very good idea and a solid upgrade. At some point all of us have appreciated being able to jump into a late-model vehicle regardless of the season, twist the key (every time) and put pedal to metal, driving to any destination with confidence. To have this type of comfort, reliability, modern efficiency, and power wrapped up in a classic design, well that's just plain gearhead heaven. It also makes for plenty of double takes when people peer under the hood of a classic Mustang at a show or cruise night. Randy Borcherding and his... Randy Borcherding and his crew at Painthouse in Houston, Texas, opted for the Martz Chassisworks frontend assembly as their solution for fitting the wide modular. The Martz kit features sanitary aluminum aprons and radiator support. With millions of Ford Modular V-8 vehicles produced over the past decade, a little research will tell you that the deals are out there and that the aftermarket performance community has indeed embraced the modular engine design, making these engines ideal candidates for transplants into classic vehicles. Although the 4.6L SOHC modular engine debuted in 1991 in the Lincoln Town Car, the 4.6L Four-Valve engines showed up in the Lincoln Mark VIII in 1993 and in Cobra Mustangs in 1996, quietly creating another performance legend with their increased efficiency coupled with a smooth and wide power band. An '04 Terminator drivetrain... An '04 Terminator drivetrain motivates this '65 Fastback, and knowing Painthouse's stellar reputation you'll no doubt be seeing this car in the future. The subframe is braced against the firewall with the provided support bars. The 5.4L Triton Series (V-8 and V-10) debuting in 1997 with its taller deck height and increased bore is no stranger to high performance, and the supercharged Harley Davidson F-150 we drive can prove it! V-8 applications such as Lightning, Ford GT, and later Shelby Mustangs provide a proven heritage of performance and reliability, but due to its increased physical size, the 5.4L takes a second chair for swap outs in our smaller first-gen Mustangs most of the time. Modular Four-Valve engines are more desirable for the potential of the deep breathing head design, and are available in a surprising array of donor vehicles, including, '93-'98 Lincoln Mark VIII, '00-'01 Qvalle Mangusta, '03-'05 MG X Power SV, '01-'08 Panoz Esperante, '03-'04 Mustang Mach 1, '03-'04 Mercury Marauder, '03-'05 Lincoln Aviator, and '96-'04 Mustang Cobras (with the '03 and '04 SVT "Terminator" application sporting an Eaton M112 supercharger with it's external air to water heat exchanger and "in valley" intercooler). Tommy Wright of Etheridge,... Tommy Wright of Etheridge, Tennessee, chose a Rod & Custom Motorsports' Mustang II front suspension kit for his '65 coupe. This system is available with several engine mount options. Tommy's came with 4.6L mounts, making this installation easier, but not without challenges-some of which are solved with a 4-inch cowl induction hood for blower clearance. The dangling carrot that this article deals with specifically, is the Holy Grail of modular engines, the hand-built Romeo '03-'04 4.6 "Terminator" Cobra engines. With power potential safely into the 800 hp range on a stock bottom end, the Four-Valve Terminator engine has become deservedly legendary in a very short time; and who among us would not lust after some seat time behind a 2,800-pound 500-800hp classic Mustang? The performance potential is staggering, putting a car like this into the realm of six-figure supercars, and just as capable with some well chosen stopping and steering upgrades; all of that with the convenience of EFI and fuel economy of a six-speed manual trans. That's called having your cake and eating it too!  To feed the basically stock...  To feed the basically stock Terminator, Tommy used a Rock Valley customized stock fuel tank with an integrated late-model Corvette fuel pump and sender. Since the Vette pump is a return-style,....  ....but the Terminator engine...  ....but the Terminator engine utilizes a returnless fuel system, Tommy's solution was a Delco fuel filter with dual inlet, single outlet feed line to match up with the engine's requirements.  With LPGT, we wanted to enhance...  With LPGT, we wanted to enhance handling and braking to match the awesome power potential of the '04 Cobra engine. After much research, the product that made the most sense for the project was the Muscle Up Performance full chassis that provides its own rigidity and multiplies it with the '66 coupe's unibody stiffness, creating a very crisp, corner carving combination. The Muscle Up chassis comes with high quality Heim joints, unequal length control arms with radius rods, late-model Mustang power rack-and-pinion steering, solid link sway bars, QA1 adjustable coilovers and your choice of engine mount options.  Out back is an adjustable...  Out back is an adjustable triangulated four-link with a 9-inch housing, but you can custom order a number of options including Ridetech's air suspension, depending on your project plans.  One of the best features of...  One of the best features of a full chassis is the ability to remove the body and work with easy access from the top to fabricate plumbing, exhaust, driveline, and suspension, or even make the chassis interchangeable with several different bodies. The 18-inch Rocket Racing Booster wheels we chose for the project are modern, but still classic looking.  The '66's unibody is attached...  The '66's unibody is attached to the chassis with provided brackets that get welded to the floor and toe boards, as well as T-links that utilize the front leaf spring perch as a rear mounting point. Although not necessary with... Although not necessary with the Muscle Up chassis, we opted to fabricate a removable tube frame front apron assembly, built using replacement '66 rear apron/hinge supports and a '68 radiator support (with larger opening) from Mustang Depot. This eliminates more than 150 pounds of OE unibody and offsets some of the added weight of the bloated 4.6L. So now with the "why" question answered, the "how" lurks ominously. If you've got a wider '67 and up car, it's an easier swap, but our early cars are narrower and shorter, needing a lot more trimming and shoe-horning to squeeze a 4.6L or 5.4L in between the towers. So much for the reversible restomod; the physical size of the new design is simply put "a square peg in a round hole" in an early Mustang. Before you think we're trying to talk anybody out of this swap, think again. It's very cool and visually stunning when you open the hood, and thanks to awesome aftermarket support, the Four-Valve swap is accessible. Shaving a little off the shock towers to fit a larger engine into a Mustang is nothing new at all (can you say Boss 429?). Besides, more and more options are surfacing every day in regards to fuel delivery, electronic engine management systems, and fitment, or as we'll refer to them, the "big three" challenges. A top view shows the hand... A top view shows the hand made symmetrical aprons and the surprising amount of room on the sides of the Four-Valve cam covers with the shock towers gone. Cooling will be handled well with a Griffin radiator made for a '68 Mustang with an integrated 17-inch cooling fan and shroud. Note the '68 core support has the same hood profile as the '65-'66 unit, but different stamping and latch mount location. Read on as we'll show you some great options for the big three challenges of installing a DOHC 4.6L modular EFI engine into a classic car, and some new and interesting alternatives for customizing and improving on the decades-old engineering inherent in our wonderful, but aged cars via our exploration into building a '66 Mustang with a dual fuel capable 4.6L Four-Valve drivetrain. The project, dubbed LPGT (Liquid Propane GT) is something we first turned our readers on to in the Aug. '09 issue's "Hot Off The Press" column. Hopefully we can provide future updates as the project progresses.  Another modification you'll...  Another modification you'll have to consider is the extra girth of the T56 transmission if you plan to keep the six-speed found behind the Terminator's modular. We solved this by removing the bottom brace and moving the stock tunnel up and over 1 1/2 inches to the passenger side, and grafting the donor '04 Cobra's shifter mount into the '66 floor; something easily done when you have the '04 donor Mustang just sitting nearby in the shop.  BBK is well known in the late-model...  BBK is well known in the late-model Mustang world and many of its performance parts are carrying over into the EFI engine swap world of our classics. BBK offers this 65mm throttle body to replace the stock 55mm unit, which will help facilitate the future performance upgrades we've got planned, while keeping the same external dimensions....  ....We also used BBK '04 Cobra...  ....We also used BBK '04 Cobra ceramic-coated long-tube headers, (PN 16405) which thankfully fit very well within the chassis, and offer good ground clearance as well. The driver side is pre-formed to allow steering shaft clearance.  Even if this car was all original...  Even if this car was all original with a conventional wiring harness, there would still need to be an engine management system to control the various aspects of a modern EFI engine. Jeff Dunne at Dunne-Rite Performance had the best solution for our Mustang hybrid with his Four-Valve Cobra system, which can be ordered for naturally aspirated or forced induction setups like our '04 Cobra engine, and trims unneeded items like anti-theft, EGR, and more from the system. Jeff is an avid gearhead and former engineer at Ford Racing who still works with Ford Racing's R&D department developing products; needless to say Dunne-Rite is up to speed when it comes to modern Ford EFI engines.  The Four-Valve system ships...  The Four-Valve system ships with the harness, connectors, and clear labels for all connections, and installation is surprisingly simple. To quote Jeff Dunne, "you can put a modular engine in a shopping cart with this system." All the harness requires is 12V battery power, key on voltage, and chassis ground. That way the engine management is "stand alone" and independent of the other vehicle systems, making it truly simple to stuff a modern Terminator (or any modular) into a classic Mustang.  Fuel delivery can be handled...  Fuel delivery can be handled several different ways, but it must be handled properly. We called Rick's Hot Rods to have it make us one of its stainless steel tanks that drop into a classic Mustang. This tank has a 22-gallon capacity and fits '65-'70 Mustangs. On top of a beautiful brushed stainless finish and show quality precision welding, it's also race-ready with internal baffles so we won't have any gaps in fuel delivery at autocross events or in the twisties.  Our Rick's tank was made for...  Our Rick's tank was made for a Fore Precision Works Cobra fuel hat with dual fuel pumps. Fore also offers a three-pump Ford GT hat if you need massive amounts of fuel; both of which are machined to the highest level from billet, and show quality beautiful, a plus for setups like ours where you can see the top of the tank in the trunk. The Fore Precision hat drops in and seals with an O-ring flange and Rick's outfitted our tank with a 75-ohm fuel level sender that will work with the aftermarket gauges we plan on using.  We'll install at least 3/8-inch...  We'll install at least 3/8-inch ID fuel line from the tank, but to facilitate the goal of more than 500 rwhp, we're not going to neck down to the factory 5/16-inch fuel rails. These Fore units are solid billet rails with a 56 percent larger bore than stock, and easily fit with the Eaton blower and most aftermarket twin screw blowers.  Since we're starting with...  Since we're starting with a clean slate in every respect, a new wiring harness is a given. The ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System is a brilliant option for any restoration that involves modern upgrades. This is part of the ISIS three-cell system consisting of a master cell and two power cells. ISIS communicates from the master cell to the power cells with a data link cable, keeping the connections simple, lightweight, and short. You'll see a full installation with Editor Houlahan's Generation Gap Fastback, and after talking with ISIS President Jay Harris about the benefits of multiplex technology, its competitive pricing, 40 percent weight savings, less than half the regular installation time, and infinitely programmable circuits, an ISIS Multiplex system was a simple choice to make.  The XS Power AGM battery has...  The XS Power AGM battery has been relocated to the right rear of the trunk to help with balance, and will live comfortably with the rear ISIS Powercell, handling all the rear vehicle and battery connections.  After several conversations...  After several conversations regarding the design of LPGT, our friend Steve Longacre created these renderings utilizing '06 Mustang GT headlights, giving this coupe an updated look that still captures the classic Mustang's nostalgic appeal.  The execution is arguably...  The execution is arguably more difficult, since the '66 and '06 Mustangs are vastly different in shape and construction. A weekend, a welder, a sacrificial fender and radiator support from an '06 GT, as well as some serious measuring and test fitting netted the correct result, with proportions that actually work with the classic car's lines.  The back end of Steve's rendering...  The back end of Steve's rendering is no less aggressive with Shelby styling cues a-plenty. The topcoat color will be a deep Highland green borrowed from the late-model Bullitt Mustang. A graphite center stripe with red accents will create a nostalgic, but unique detail.  The real thing utilizes sequential...  The real thing utilizes sequential LED taillights from Mustang Project, as well as the rear fiberglass components of the E-2 kit from Mustang Depot. A custom valance to match the rendering and a pop open gas cap will complete the rear view. Hopefully with the blessing of Editor Houlahan, we'll be able to continue to bring you updates and finally the finished version of LPGT through the Modified Mustangs & Fords online blog or a possible feature in the magazine (hint, hint). Ultimately, we think a heads-up jaunt down a track, or timed autocross event up against Project Generation Gap would be a fun contest. What about you?
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