I came across a Merkur with a cage and no powertrain, what is a cheap/ easy way to a V8 car? Installing an LS engine is the first thing that came to mind or maybe a supercharged GM 3.8 sawp?
The seller has been easy to deal with so far and seems to be motivated but the car is rather far away. So I am a bit apprehensive about buying a car I have almost no experience with.
Thanks, Paul
In reply to Donebrokeit :
The GRM way is to buy it first, and figure out these details later.
Indy-Guy said:In reply to Donebrokeit :
The GRM way is to buy it first, and figure out these details later.
There, that takes care of that.
Waiting for the build thread...
IIRC, there has been a 5.0l Merkur challenge car.
3.4l SHO V8!
I saw a 5.0 XR4Ti at a car show last month. I bet a whole lot of it was done with Ford parts.
Edit- a proper 5.0, with only one camshaft.
There's a bunch of stuff online. Here's a 5.0 swap: http://forums.merkurclub.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23235 Here's a Coyote swap: https://engineswapdepot.com/?p=26576
I think Bondurant had some 5.0 cars put together for classes when these cars were current. I would think that this sort of thing is pretty well documented. The magazine talked about challenges getting an lsd into the factory 3rd member.
I recollect that Ford offered a XR8 Sierra built in South Africa. Essentially a XR4ti with a 302 cubic inches v-8. That might be the easy way, as all of the engineering has been done.
5.0 swaps are fairly common, I think. The GRM way would be to go completely off the beaten path and put in an old flathead V8 or something, I suppose. 
My vote for yota power. 4cylinder or 8.
3.4 SHO sounds fun.
But I like the idea of 2.3 Duratec from a Ranger, transmission from a NC miata, Mazdaspeed 3 MZR turbo bolt on parts, and Megasquirt.
But lets be honest, a 5.0 and T-5 would be pretty awesome, even if its "been done before".
Gpz11 has a really nice 5.0 swap. Surprised he hasn't seen this thread yet.
Maybe you can contact him directly if he doesn't respond?
Other oddball ideas:
DOHC 4.6 from a FWD Continental, make a custom transmission adapter b/c it has a weird bellhousing pattern and thus should be cheap compared to RWD DOHC 4.6 engines.
300ci inline-6 truck engine , turbocharged because lol why not.
Ford 400 V8 with 351C parts to make it actually not a turd. I've read up on this a fair bit but not many people go this route.
Thunderbird SC 3.8 V6, 4.2 stroker build. Because you hardly ever see this engine in anything other than a Thunderbird SC.
Entire FWD Continental DOHC 4.6 drivetrain, cut and welded into the back of the Merkur for a mid-engine beast. Custom solution to swap in a manual transmission somehow????????????????
Oh wait the first post said cheap/easy. Whoops 
You'll need to log in to post. Log in
