This is a works in progress at the moment, please let me know if something needs reworded.

I will admit that I am a “cheap bastard”  Before the modular was ever installed in a car I used to swap parts between 289, 302, and 351 motors to get the best “junkyard combo” I could for my 66 Mustang, and this was before any aftermarket heads were available that weren’t more than a months check from the military.  When the Dart iron head was released I got one of the first sets, but that “cheap bastard” inside of me was still there.

 Now I was recently asked, assuming someone was willing to pull whatever parts needed at the local junkyard, what could they do with a modular that would not break the budget?  Well my first modular Mustang was originally intended for the Grassroots race where you are limited to a $2000 budget for the entire car.  I collected the car and all the parts and was well within budget including an aluminum shortblock, aftermarket cams, and PI heads, not to mention I picked up a roller 96GT for $1300 that already had a Cobra IRS swap.  I never made it to the event, and actually the car is still sitting out back waiting for the day I install a motor in it.  So I sat back down and really though about it, used all the advantages of the stock parts and their longevity, and came up with a combo that has been done a few times already but now we will do a couple more twists to take it to the next level.  It also will run good on 93 octane and could be daily street driven (though it will probably not pass a tailpipe sniffer test)  The following assumes that you are willing to take apart the shortblock, and get dirty pulling it from a Mark VIII which is not the easiest task in the world.

First we need to locate a 93-early 96 Mark VIII in the junkyard.  They made Mark VIII cars up until 98 but the earlier ones have 2 things we prefer; a smaller 2V oil pump and pickup, and the earlier pistons have the top ring land located further down and this makes for a stronger piston top when we notch it.  From this car we need to take the complete shortblock including the crank damper, oil pan and pick up, and the fuel injectors, but we do not need the heads, timing chain components, or timing cover.

Next we need to locate a 2001 or newer Crown Victoria, here they are all over the place now.  From this we will take the upper plenum, PI intake manifold (if it’s the OEM Ford part not the Dorman), PI heads, timing cover and all pullies located on it, water pump, and timing chain components.  The upper plenum from the Crown vic is about a half inch taller than the Mustang one, you just need to unbolt it and turn it the other direction on the intake to make it work in a Mustang (remember we are being cheap here)

If you were enterprising you would swap these parts at the yard and get charged a complete engine price.  I did this to the tune of $85 once when they had complete motors at 50% off!  Worse case you might have $500 into this I imagine.

Disassemble and clean everything well, you will be reusing most of it.  I have reused many a stock bearing as they are very hard and typically show either no wear or are destroyed (as is the crank if the bearings are destroyed)  Remove the pistons from the rods and get them notched, if you can’t find someone local to do it send them here.

New parts list 

Stage 3 4.6 PI cams - $580

Engine gasket kit - $329

Rings - $90

Bearings - $120

Notches - $129

Curved timing guides - $50

2V dowel pins for the curved timing chain guides - $15

It comes out to just over $1300 plus the money spent at the junkyard to build this combo.  Notice we are not doing any machine work, the modular is blessed to have parts that don't wear very much and here we can take advantage of that fact.  I have seen many a 400,000 mile modular with the crosshatch to the tops of the bores,  the valve guides still within OEM specs, and the valves still sealing just fine.

 Power wise this will make an average 290-300RWTQ and 290-300RWHP in the 3500-6500 range if I had to guesstimate it.  Not peak, but average.  Peak outputs will be higher but peak power doesn’t make you the fastest at the track.  You can also get more power doing all the "bolt-ons" should your wallet still weigh you down too much.

Now for those that want to take this to the next level and run it on E85 or race gas you should do the following changes:

Deck the block 0.012” ~ 0.015” or so basically making the piston top flush with the deck surface.

Get our Stage 2 heads decked an extra 0.030”

Change the cams to Stage 3.5 (PI 4.6 NA cams)

Install a different intake manifold such as a Edelbrock, Logan, or TFS.

Get a set of 39lb take off injectors from a 03-04 Cobra.

Power wise this will make an average 300RWTQ and 325-370RWHP in the 4000-7000 range I would imagine.  We are helping Jeff Stafford put together one of these for next years NMRA season.  Only difference he will run the motor with the stock plastic intake initially then swap intakes later (as the budget allows).  Then we will learn just what the intake is worth at the track.

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