I have a project mapped out in my mind. It starts with an 87 four banger, 5 speed coupe that I want to turn into a 400-450 horsepower sleeper. First I've been offered a 86 or 87 cougar with the non-HO motor for about $400. I plan on using this motor and just changing the pilot bearing, clutch and cable, flywheel, bellhousing, and pressure plate and keeping the 4 cyl tranny and rear. since the non-HO doesn't make much power I figure it would be OK until after the 40th anniversary tour in Tennessee this upcoming spring. First set of questions is to make this swap easier for me. Does the cougar have an 8.8? If so, can I use it and will the driveshaft fit the T-5? What about the front spindles(I want v8 brakes)? Next episode: After the show I plan on changing to mass air, a better tranny, and an 8.8 if I cant use the cougar one. Then I would use a gt40 intake and roush 200 heads, but I dont know the right size injectors, TB, etc. to use to support 400 horses. Will those non-forged pistons hold up to 400 horse? If not would it be easier to just use an 85 351W out of a crown vic ex interceptor($300)?I already know the extra cost(headers, pan, hood and lower intake). Thanx for the advice and help!!  

Of all you listed my suggestion would be to go the 351 route, and it will be a little easier and cheaper to make the 400-450 hp you are looking for. Whatever way you choose 400 horse is gonna cost you and if you use weak stock parts ( motor or chassis) with 400+ horse you are going to break something. I dont know alot about the Cougars so I wont even attempt to answer questions about them.  

Well, I can't sleep cause I don't know what to do. But I will say this, Car Craft made 405 horses with a stock cam and $2800.They used AFR 165's, Tri Y headers, Comp Cam 1.7 rollers, Weiand dual-plane intake,625cfm Road Demon Jr. carb with 70 jets and that's it. It was good for 405hp@6200 rpm and 380 lb-ft@4300rpm. The AFR's were $1300 alone. I plan on saving about $400-500 with the Roush 200 heads. So I'm lookin at $2300. I'll use the money I save to bump up the cam from stock to a E-303 which should put me close to 450hp. I also planned on saving money on the intake by extrude honing it(I've heard it will flow nearly as well as the GT40 afterwards which can support 450hp)and porting and polishing the heads. Not totally cheap but reasonable for my budget. Plus I'd really love to use a 302 and keep a stock hood for the sleeper look. Hopefully by the time I tear up the block I will have saved up for a 347 kit. Trully killer, huh? I don't know, this is my first real project and I just wanna get it right. Any suggestions? Am I wrong?  

HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! keep the non ho5.0 because you can convert it to ho i'll tell you what you need. All you need is e7te cylinder heads or better, ho upper intake or better ( dont need the bottom their the same) ho mustang computer and i guess you already got that. 19# fuel injectors, ho cam or better ( i have an e303 ) and finaly a ho throttle body or better. ( ho tb stock is 60mm i have a ford racing 65mm i wouldnt recomend going past 70 unless you have alot of other performance mods) and last but not least you will need to rearange your spark plug wires in this firing order 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8 according to the mustang ho computer

1 more thing to answer does the cougar have an 8.8 rear? well. some do and some don't it's located on the door tag or just look at it and if its perfectly round it is and if it's oval its a 7.5

And 1 more thing I own a 91gt and a 87cougar 20th aniversary

WELL IF I WERE YOU I WOULD GO WITH THE 351W. THE ONE THAT I HAVE I GOT I PUT AFR HEADS, CAM, PISTONS, AND Had the MOTOR BORED and STROKED TO A 408. IT IS PUSHING CLOSE TO 500 HP. NO NOS YEAT. and motor and all that cost me clouse to $3000.00.  

Hello, just a couple small corrections,1. stock H.O. T. body is 58MM same with air meter, and as far as picking size, it is my personal experience dont go any smaller than 70mm only cause your EFI car will only use the air it needs 2. there are big differences between all EFI intakes, the only Ford EFI intake you can swap uppers to lowers is the Motorsport GT-40 with the Explorer GT-40 style intake. These are the only two intakes that have the same hole configurations (staggerd hole rather than inline). The only real difference between these two is that the GT-40 upper has a tubed upper rather than the cast boat anchor the Explorer's upper had and you can port the poop out of the Explorer upper, the GT-40's walls are too thin to port. 3. I work at Ford's, Sterling axle, and how you can tell the difference between a 7.5 and an 8.8 is this, the 7.5 looks similar to the 8.8 but the only difference between the two, other than size, is the casting, or center section if you will, the 8.8 will look like it has a crown with a hole on each side(which holds dampner) in the webbing area on the casting close to the flange. As i stated before, I dont know much about Cougars but I know ALOT about Ford motors and rear ends.