3v 4.0 to 4.6

[Caydenl910]

Okay, so I bought a 2005 4.0 automatic, first car. I've had my fun with it and now I am ready to upgrade. I really want to engine swap to a 4.6. I am going to buy a donor car with working engine and a manual transmission. I know I need to upgrade suspension, drive train, etc. Which is why I am going with a donor car. How hard is it to swap everything and what exactly do I need to swap? It won't be for a while but I am trying to do my research on prices and tools. Thank you!

 

[Racer47]

Its not worth the work. Sell the v6. Buy a v8.

 

[Dino Dino Bambino]

Its not worth the work. Sell the v6. Buy a v8.

Agree with that as plan A.
However if he wants to keep the 05-09 body style, plan B could be a transplant of all mechanical parts with associated wiring harnesses, sensors, and ECU from a totaled 11-14 GT. That would require weeks if not months to complete if you're a hobbyist but for many, the early S197 body style combined with a Coyote engine is a match made in heaven.

 

[Racer47]

For a kid with his first car, a coyote swap is a project so big that its likely to never be completed. Just like many other projects started on this forum that were never finished. Some one asks a bunch of questions. Takes pics of his starting point or maybe of a disassembled car and then disappears without ever showing us his completed car.

Everyone has to start somewhere but this is not where I would start. 05-09 V6s are going for 8-12k, 4.6s 12-18k. Lets say that's a 6k upgrade for a complete running car that is now a very good base to be further modified.

 

[freeloader1969]

If you can do all the work yourself with a full donor car, it's easy. If you simply want to swap your engine, transmission and rear end out and call it a day, you'll need to get a 2005 or 2006 donor car. The 2005 and 2006's are very similar with the exception of one connector, C110 from the body harness to the engine harness. 07 and up are completely different harness wise and you'd have to swap everything out to make the 07 up cars work in your 05. You'll also need to have PATS disabled in the new engine computer unless you transfer over the cluster, transceiver ring and SJB. The SJB will have to be transferred over anyhow if you're going from auto to manual as they're different. I swapped out 2006 V6 to a turbo charged V8 a few years ago. I cost me $2500 all in.

 

[whitmanink]

i did the swap ,, g0t my car from copart,, ,, alot of people,, and i ,mean alot of people thought i was full of it , and it would never happen , or i was just trying to justify having a v6 to swap it in a later date,, but i did it,, took a year longer than i wanted to, but i got it done,, it took alot of money,, and quite a bit of time,, oh yea and my garage had two apart s197's in it for about 2 months,, so my wife wasnt too happy but hey , guys gotta dream right?> now as much as i would love to do the 5.0 swap,,, at this point,, it makes more sense to just throw some 5.0 rods in it , new rings, and throw and on3 turbo,, or cx racing turbo on it,, and if money wont allow all that,, ill skip the rods and rings , and run a stock spring which willl put me at around 450ish rwhp,,and than at that point its ,, internals , new or stronger trans , and built rear to go past the 650 rwhp mark

 

[TexasBlownV8]

Okay, so I bought a 2005 4.0 automatic, first car. I've had my fun with it and now I am ready to upgrade. I really want to engine swap to a 4.6. I am going to buy a donor car with working engine and a manual transmission. I know I need to upgrade suspension, drive train, etc. Which is why I am going with a donor car. How hard is it to swap everything and what exactly do I need to swap? It won't be for a while but I am trying to do my research on prices and tools. Thank you!

See my writeup (link is in the how-to section as well):

4.0L V6 to 4.6L V8 swap how-to - 2005-2010 - MustangForums.com

Motor Swap Section - 4.0L V6 to 4.6L V8 swap how-to - 2005-2010 - (this is a copy of my writeup from How to Do 4.0 to V8 swap - on Mustang Collective (http://www.mustangcollective.com/showthread.php?t=38141)) This thread is intended to be a comprehensive how-to on doing a 4.0L V6 to V8 swap...

mustangforums.com

 

[XJCasper]

Love the enthusiasm. These are angles you must look at:
Abilities: are you doing the project or paying a mechanic to get it done?
Money. Relative to abilities. How much money do you have to spend on this sort of project
Time: presuming this is you daily. You will need a second set of wheels to get you around while the project is being worked over.

If it were mine? I would avoid the 4.6 swap. Move to an LS (sacrilege, but very popular) or a 1st gen coyote from an F150. Yes, yes, not as fancy as the gen 3 mustang coyote. But cheaper and rebuild appropriate for the power you want.

Have you looked at superchargers, turbos, or NOS? Believe there are options for the chargers on the V6. Nitrous can go on anything, just be smart about it.

If you are dying to have a 4.6? I would sell the 6 and buy a GT. Or save up more pennies and move to a coyote version.

I am sticking to my 4.6, after debating swaps. Will build a new one if I can afford it when the time comes. I only plan on turbocharging and restoring my baby back to her original glory.