nickpohlaandp

I've done a few searches online for V8 swaps into these little beauties and I've found one site that keeps popping up for engine mount kits and other parts that will be needed, I believe it's northwestoffroad.com. It looks to me like they cater to mostly 4x4 guys, but that's not a deterrent, I understand there will be a lot of fab work with this project, and I'm up to the task.

My plans are to wedge in a later model 5.7 Chevy (Vortech heads most likely), do a forged rotating assembly, stout roller cam, single plane intake, Holley HP carb, and 200-250 shot of nitrous. Backing that will either be a Powerglide or a TH350 (I haven't decided yet). I figure with the light weight of the truck, that ought to be more than enough power to achieve my goal. I'm also pretty dang sure I'm not the first guy in the world to undertake a project like this, which is why I'm here, to get some info, tips, and advice along the way. For those of you who might suggest a LS based engine, I'm kind of steering away from that to keep build costs down and I confident I'll be able to easily meet my power goals with a traditional 350. (Edit: This has changed, I think I've talked myself into a LS swap, now my biggest engine hurdle will be exhaust and do I want to still go carbbed or do I keep fuel injection).

The engine and trans I plan on being a fairly straightforward installation, possibly having to fab up a trans mount, but that's no big deal. I most certainly want to ditch the leaf springs and go to some type of control arm/coil spring suspension in the rear, and I'm toying with the idea of redesigning the front suspension to take some weight and complication out of it. I'm curious to know what others have done in regard to the front and rear suspension to get them ready for an endeavor such as mine, because let's face it, why reinvent the wheel?

Some other things that I'm on the fence on is headers (are there any outfits out there that make a good set for a swap like this) and the rear end. I'm only guessing and going off of previous experience, but I doubt the stock rear end would handle the type of abuse I plan on putting it through (or would it?) If I could get away with replacing the axles for some heavier duty units that would be great, but nothing is that easy. Any thoughts on a good rear end to swap in? I was thinking a later model (around '99 or so) Mustang 8.8 with either 3.73's or 4.11's.

Well, I suppose that's a good enough introduction. Hopefully I'll get some good information and dialog started out of this. I'm really looking forward to it. Thanks in advance for all of your replies.

P.S. If anyone has done something similar to this and has pictures, I'd love to see them for inspiration.