PI Head Opportunity

[TbirdTim96]

New Here: I am re-posting this from the other forum...... Thanks for inviting me.

So I have a stock pearl white 96 TB that has sat for 10 years. The engine long block has been rebuilt stock and sits on an engine stand in my garage for the last 8 yrs+ (yes really, I've been putting this off that long). The car also needs body paint and an interior, otherwise its a nice car. I'll have to also redo all the brakes and maybe pull the dash and clean it out and replace the heater core just for peace of mind.

I also was given a 2002 Crown Vic that has sat since for 4 years. It has a blown head gasket, (thanks to my son fooling around with it in a corn field and overheating it).

So this coming year I will finally have time and the shop space for a project and I'm thinking of taking the PI heads and intake from the Crown Vic, having them done, and junking that car. I'll pull these first to make sure they are usable.

I have the opportunity to do this swap with generally little extra effort or just go ahead and install the long block I've done already.

If I do the heads I will also do short or long headers and maybe the rear gear. That's about it. I'm a little concerned that the long block has sat so long so I would likely replace the head gasket and bolts anyway to avoid issues later.

Not interested in speed but just better acceleration and as a weekend or occasional driver.

Another option is to find a donor Thunderbird or Mercury Cougar where the car is in much better condition than the Thunderbird I have. A V8 donor car that needs a new drivetrain. They show up every now and then for a couple of grand or even less. Are there more issues if the donor is a non 96.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

If I do this I'll set up a thread and post photos as we move forward.

 

[XR7-4.6]

New Here: I am re-posting this from the other forum...... Thanks for inviting me.

So I have a stock pearl white 96 TB that has sat for 10 years. The engine long block has been rebuilt stock and sits on an engine stand in my garage for the last 8 yrs+ (yes really, I've been putting this off that long). The car also needs body paint and an interior, otherwise its a nice car. I'll have to also redo all the brakes and maybe pull the dash and clean it out and replace the heater core just for peace of mind.

I also was given a 2002 Crown Vic that has sat since for 4 years. It has a blown head gasket, (thanks to my son fooling around with it in a corn field and overheating it).

So this coming year I will finally have time and the shop space for a project and I'm thinking of taking the PI heads and intake from the Crown Vic, having them done, and junking that car. I'll pull these first to make sure they are usable.

I have the opportunity to do this swap with generally little extra effort or just go ahead and install the long block I've done already.

If I do the heads I will also do short or long headers and maybe the rear gear. That's about it. I'm a little concerned that the long block has sat so long so I would likely replace the head gasket and bolts anyway to avoid issues later.

Not interested in speed but just better acceleration and as a weekend or occasional driver.

Another option is to find a donor Thunderbird or Mercury Cougar where the car is in much better condition than the Thunderbird I have. A V8 donor car that needs a new drivetrain. They show up every now and then for a couple of grand or even less. Are there more issues if the donor is a non 96.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

If I do this I'll set up a thread and post photos as we move forward.

I wouldn't bother with headers unless you do aftermarket cams to take advantage, plus your options are limited anyway, Kooks are the only drop in option worth a damn but they've very expensive and Mustang headers don't fit without modification. Shortys don't flow much better than manifolds and have all the troublesome aspects that come with tubular headers

If the heads don't have gouged up cam bearings I'd definitely use them and the cams(the cams and intake manifold are where the PI power comes from anyway) the heads on the 96 block will net you a compression bump worth a couple extra horsepower too

Use the torque converter and flexplate from the Crown Vic as well, it's an upgrade

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Welcome!

Looking forward to following your project.