I bought an 84 SVO a few months back because I wanted a cool cruiser. The car is rust-free from Cali originally, 85k miles, and in overall good shap aside from needing a paintjob and a little TLC in the interior. Unfortunately, it got a visit from Uncle Rodney right away. I started looking into rebuilding the 2.3, but didn't want to spend a ton of money on something that would always struggle to make good power(500+). I also considered a 2JZ and a Ford Barra(I may do this down the line), but either route would have been relatively pricey.
So instead, I'm going to ruin it by sticking a 5.3 LS motor in it, just like every other asshole with a Mustang out there. However, I am going to keep the factory suspension/brakes/etc and do as little "damage" to the car as possible. I also want to keep the stock wheels and appearance.
The 5.3 will be a basic cam-only setup with an s475 turbo and an MS3 Pro for EFI. I already have a nice th400 with a brake. I also have an 8.8 that I'm going to stick some good axles and a spool into, and then swap over the SVO rear disks. The goal is 550rwhp and something that I can cruise and have fun with. This car handles awesome, so I want to keep all of the factory suspension and brakes and forego the tubular/coilover shit up front for now.
So instead, I'm going to ruin it by sticking a 5.3 LS motor in it, just like every other asshole with a Mustang out there. However, I am going to keep the factory suspension/brakes/etc and do as little "damage" to the car as possible. I also want to keep the stock wheels and appearance.
The 5.3 will be a basic cam-only setup with an s475 turbo and an MS3 Pro for EFI. I already have a nice th400 with a brake. I also have an 8.8 that I'm going to stick some good axles and a spool into, and then swap over the SVO rear disks. The goal is 550rwhp and something that I can cruise and have fun with. This car handles awesome, so I want to keep all of the factory suspension and brakes and forego the tubular/coilover shit up front for now.