I know you wanted to see the 8.1, but I've wanted to do a Turbo 5.4 4-valve for years, so I'm finally gonna do it!

Waaaaaay more excited for this than a coyote. This will be great!

Duuude, This looks like such a fun build! Thanks for taking us along on the ride. I love oddball builds and I’ve always wanted to do this but on a 6.8L V10 just to see what you could actually get out of one with a little love.

Definitely option two, build the motor while you have it out really curious what you could make naturally aspirated before forced induction

Good call on the navigator motor build. Used to be a much more popular swap and i think it's a very capable powerplant. Hoping we can see 4 digit dyno numbers outta this some day!

Glad to see that you are sticking with a FoMoCo . Also excited to see this type of engine going into a stang...who would have ever thought that you can put a truck engine into a "compact" !

This is going to be a great build and I get the budget thing but I (and I think other viewers will agree) go with option #2. You said that you have always wanted to build one so why not build it the way you want it and have some fun with it!! Lookin forward to seeing this one come together!!! Great video LT and your channel is awesome!!! :)

Go with option 2 now because it’s easier to work on it and upgrade the oil pump and timing set while it off the vehicle. I’ve built two 5.4 3v motors in frame and it was a nightmare when it came to the timing and cams. For good reference on build recipes check out Modular head shop they offer a 5.8l kit that’s good for 1200+ ponies, but like you said this could become your BOAT (break out another thousand).

truck tech used the modular setup in the ranger build.....it proved it was worthy of boost and worth the time to work with

LT is my engine swap spirit animal. In the vast number of imaginary hot rod builds I’ve thought about this has been near the top of the list.

I did something similar when I had my 2000 GT. Used a 5.4 f150 block with flat tops and forged rods, ported 03 cobra heads and boss 260 intake off an aussie car with a navigator ecm and harness. If I could go back in time with what I invested, I would have just done an LS though. This was back in 2009 and I was stubborn about wanting to keep it a Ford.

I did this last year with a friend intake options are a PITA (so glad you figured that out, didn’t think to look abroad) Steering linkage is probably gonna have to be custom and most certainly moved (we just made our own) Install the motor with the headers already on, it is nearly impossible to install with them once the motor is dropped in. Some sensor is on the driver side instead of the passenger side forgot which one. Besides that everything is pretty much plug and play

Super, super excited for the 5.4. I hope you keep it and go as far as you want. I’ve only seen these a few times and I can’t wait to see it this time.

At first I was like.. Uh-oh, it's *another* Mustang build.. Then you said "maybe put the 8.1 in it. I was like, yeah it's unusual. Love it. But, now you're using a Ford engine I've not even thought twice about. Any you're gonna boost it? Thats a whole next level of unusual and I love it! I hope your bucket list is long and every check box on it checked. It's sure fun to watch. Kudos... Greetings from the farm in South Carolina!!

Def excited to see this swap! Glad you decided to go this route instead of the other options

Love seeing this, I’ve been researching doing this swap for the last couple months, only difference is I was looking at going NA with high compression and big choppy cams. Definitely going to follow to see what else I can learn about this process 👍

Can’t wait to see the power numbers the 4 valve can make. Keep the content coming, one of my favorite channels.

I didn't know this motor existed, but the Triton V10 came to mind when you were describing oddball Fords. Do option #2 but just gasket (and other maintenance items) and ring gap it, keep the internals the same.

What a great choice for engines. Please follow the budget path and juggle multiple builds. I think this will give you some good results because there might be other things along the way that will need to be upgraded to realize the full potential of the build. Cant wait to see how much more adding boost will give you with stock bottom end, rebuilt heads, and some modded cams. I think I would have opted for the SHO motors with hella boost and maybe try for an AWD caged build. Looking forward to the outcome.

Love this!!!! So glad to see people still out thier building mod motors especially someone with your following 🤙🏼 gonna be so dope and probably inspire some people to go “old school” on thier builds

I think this is a great swap. I thought about the 6.2 sohc motor as a candidate as soon as I saw the thumbnail and would like to see someone do that as well. I’d also like to see the v10 swapped into something

ive always had a thing for the 4.6L aluminum blocks in the early aviators, thought that would be a perfect swap candidate.

This is going to be amazing. I honestly was not excited about the 8.1 in the mustang, but the 5.4 will be awesome. I always wondered why I haven’t seen that motor in more mustangs.

Excited to see mod motor content! Found you channel recently and have enjoyed the LS content, but I can't wait to see everything you do with this New Edge!

Please do a blue Cobra R clone with a 6 speed and turbocharged 5.4

I like that you're swapping Ford(ish) in to Ford. I also like that you doing some 4V 4 cam stuff. Pushrods are great but rare these days.

A frend of mine had a Stock Boss 290 in his Ford Falcon BA GT. Leaves a turbo Barra in dust as long as it has only a boost increase. However he fitted cams to it and it really livened up. This time cams and boost for the full express package. it will leave the truck in the dust. 🔥🔥🔥 I would like to say a step for yours is take it out of student drivers spec and fit a manual box.

Hey LT, I admire you're not afraid to take a path less traveled......... Looks like a cool build. I hope to see the 5.4 in the stang as is and then pull it out and stuff it with the good parts and boost it when the budget allows.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. You're channel never fails to produce awesome content. I watch every video and it's always badass.

Awesome! I hear the cylinder heads flow very well. I bet it makes great power. MMR does wonders with mod motors.

I remember reading about Birdman years ago in forums, as soon as you hinted about the intake from "down under", I knew right away. I too thought of this swap years ago but never did it. Would love to finally see that intake and with a turbo!

The mod motor was also used in the Mercury Marauder too! An before you started on Trucks/Truck Tech they did a mod motor in a Mazda b series truck (rebadged Ford Ranger).

Damn I was waiting for a v10😂

Very disappointed on your engine pick. Especially after you had your viewers vote on it. I would love to see the 8.1 in a small car like that.

Better for the long term to save the 8.1 for another truck (or SUV) build. However, you've got the potential of a nice "sleeper" Mustang that puts 900 hp to the pavement. The broke guy in me says go budget, but the motorhead in me says build it right. I've gotta say Option 2 is my vote, so I can live vicariously through your build. Keep up the great work!

I’m stoked to see how it goes. I have been wanting to do something very similar. I have been wanting to do a 5.8 GT500 block and head swap into a new edge, keeping it naturally aspirated. The cost is prohibitive, but this could get close to same numbers.

Opt 1 keep the wallet closed

Bro that’s trash

Love this build!!! Very excited to see that intake under the hood.

Thank goodness you didn't put another bloody Chev in a sweet as FORD ! Good rods needed for boost and oil pump gears. You'll want new chains too. I live in NZ, and my next-door neighbor has a mint '07 Falcon XR8 with the Boss 260 (near 350hp). The Falcon GT had the Boss 290 (near 390hp). Later years had Boss 302 (405hp) and Boss 315 (422 hp) versions. I myself have a 2001 Falcon XR8 that has 220kw (295hp), from the engine the Boss series replaced in 2002....the old last of the pushrod 5 litre Windsors. These last all iron 302w's were all special hand-built engines, that kept up with the then-current Holden Commodore SS 5.6 litre all alloy LS 1 !!

5.4’s are junk

In an Aussie boss 260 with long tubes , herrod camshafts , boss 290 intake and full twin 2.5" exhaust with hi flow cats on a Falcon and went 350rwhp. Before the camshafts with all those mods it made 300 at the wheel. I know you guys somehow get more HP for same mods and mile an hour than we do. With stock r exhaust manifolds and the possibly smaller cams from the Lincoln you'd be hard pushed to make over 280 here. unless they're understated the Lincoln's have 300hp at 5000 rpm the 260 kw here is 350 HP at 5500 rpm. Unsure if it's the camshafts or the intake manifold but you may have smaller sticks again then we did. The 290's had larger camshafts than the 260's again. Interested to see how this goes with decent diff gears . We had the AOD box with 3.45's , car was more impressive 100 - 200 KMs than it was 0-100.

Love the build idea! Ive wanna do a weird one too where i take an sn95 mustang and drop a 4.2 v6 from the F150 with a standard transmission… ive heard they can make up to 350hp with a racy cam and higher compression but i think just bumping it up half way from that (275-280hp) with a standard transmission would be a lot of fun too especially with removing some of the limiters and a custom tune

I am part of a mod motor group we have a guy that custom specs cams for around the same price as off the shelf cams. The cams are where a alot of power is to be had with the older 4v motors. I found a build once of a guy that big bore and added a little bit of stroke with 11.5 compression custom cams ported heads and a modified fr500c intake to fit the 5.4. I believe he was around 600rwhp

While I was in high school a teacher of mine had an Acid green Falcon Boss 290 with an aftermarket shaker hood. Was a dream of mine to build one just like it. Glad to see you pursuing your dreams !

Great direction to go. Can’t wait to see how much power you go for in this build.

Love this! These engine was such a cool and limited treasure from ford. Cool that they put them in Lincoln's, mach 1's, cobras, gt40's. It looks so good all cleaned up and under the hood of a Mustang. Will be cool and fun.

It’d be a really cool build to see it done NA. A little porting on those heads, a bump up in compression, a set of big 4V camshafts, your planned intake would be perfect, and a good exhaust. It’s a build for a Foxbody I’d have liked to play with if I had the space to expand my fleet, time to keep building around my family and work, and money to do these sort of builds. As it is, 2 hotrods, 1 mild 1 wild, is all I can manage. Build it because everything else you mentioned has been done over and over again and there’s not a lot of variance in those mostly junkyard engine builds. I’ll also make my opinion known that doing just another turbo junkyard motor build will be less-than exciting. Make it tough. BTW the Coyote motors are 12:1(!!!) thanks to the DI fuel injection. The older gen I/II port injection engines were 11:1 though and trucks still got 10.5:1.

Excited for this build LT, thanks for taking us along!

When I was building my 6.0 formy G8. My machine shop was telling me about the motor he does the heads for this other speed shop local. The speed shop had a 5.8 V8 from a F250 and sleeved it to get it down to 5.4 liters. It was running twins and made I think 1500 horsepower or more. This was roughly 5 years ago

Wow! Great idea for a swap. I'm totally with you for oddball engine swaps. I'm looking forward to seeing how this goes. BTW, I don't think you can do it. LOL Just kidding, I know you can. Gauntlet thrown. I dare you to pull this off! I have my own oddball swap project and my friends and neighbors think I am nuts. I'm doing a 1983 Nissan Patrol with a 1995 Gen II LT-1 from an Impala with a TH400/NP205 twin stick transfer case on 1-ton axles (D60 front and 14 bolt rear) with links and coil-overs. Possibly the only one like it in the world. Dare to be different!

This is why I love your channel, you make things your own way! This is going to be a fun one to follow!

When I had my 1st 1996 Mustang GT I wanted to swap a 4V 5.4L into it. At the time there wasn't any good intake manifolds and on the early SN95's there was clearance issues with the drivers side valve cover and the master cylinder. I look forward to seeing the progress of this build.

Awesome , I want to do this to my truck from a 4.6 2v single cab to 5.4 intech 32v It will be a less complicated vs a Coyote or LS swap. Some intake adapters from MMR with a coyote intake 🔥.

I have a 5.4L Triton from a F-150 in my Grand Marquis. All I did was freshen it up and added some cams. It makes 350 whp. I am very happy with it.

I had no idea you had a KZfaq channel. I never missed any of your episodes when you were on Powernation and tonight one of your videos popped up in my feed and I said Holy smokes....that's LT!!!!! Loved this video and hope you choose option 2. Looking forward to seeing this build. New subscriber bud!

This looks awesome! I've watched some of your LS stuff, but I'm subbing because of this build! I would like to build another newedge Mustang (already have an 04 Cobra in the garage) but I've been going back and forth on if I should do a 5.4 4v with an Aussie intake or a Coyote. This will be cool to see.

This great. Im Ford and general knowledge after and my buddy is a Chevy/ford combo guy. Ive tried to tell him for years how the mod motors are all interchangeable. How you can gwt any of them and they fit right in on any car that had one. Less the intake and maybe oil pan but the motor itself goes. He argues they are different motors all the time. They was youre using the Nav motor direct to cobra parts is just beautiful. Simple showing how I was right. Plus i have a Nav I want to gut and do something similar with the engine.

Very excited for this build! I have always wanted to do a 5.4 dohc swap in a mustang as well!! I have now subscribed for this one!

Look into porting the exhaust side of the heads. If I remember correctly, on the navigator engine, the ports on the exhaust are a little on the small side and could benefit from porting. I could be wrong. It’s been years since I’ve looked into these engines. Also, The boss 290 manifold is awesome but if you ever wanted to experiment with coyote intake manifolds on that engine, I believe MMR makes adapters to put a coyote manifold on the 5.4.

dude i love the ford mod motors, i really appreciate you building one.

Great swap option! Should be an interesting build, would be cool to see you go through it and beef up the internals, but it's going to be a rabbit hole

found this channel yesterday and im loving it. Keep it up!!

Excited to see the 5.4 swap, but would like to see a 7.3 Godzilla swap on the channel at some point too. Oh yeah, I vote build it now, option 2.

I was thinking more of a parts bin special 5.4L 4v but the navigator engine is easier being complete, when you can find them. gonna be a cool project, I like it.

Back in the 90s John Coletti stuffed a 10.0L big block in the SVT Boss Mustang and went up against Jon Moss with a 572ci Camaro. What a match up.

Option 2 sounds like a BLAST. I'm finally coming into my own as an adult, making friends, making ways to work on projects. These videos inspire me to do my own projects.

Hell yeah Brother!!! As a Ford guy, it was always my dream to stuff a Navigator engine in a Crown Vic. Great engine!!! And they sound AMAZING!!! Nice choice.👌🏻

Awesome 👌 5.4 Have all of your internals WPC treated. You are the MAN

800 to 900 hp is fairly simple on a turbo 5.4 4v. The connecting rods and pistons would prove to be the weak point. Also I believe the intake you want was designed to go on a 5.4 with c heads, like an aviator or cobra. The navigator ports are a bit too big, but it can mostly be done.

here in Australia we got two 5.4L for our Falcons from 2003-2010 the first was the triton V8 which made around 220kw (300hp) and 470nm of torque, the second one was the Boss line up of motors (not to be confused with the Boss engines of old) they were a 5.4L block with 4.6L heads and a unique to Australia intake manifold (a few guys from the states were actually getting in the Boss 260 intake as they breathed better than Ford US designs), the first guise were the Boss 260 for the XR8 Falcons and Boss 290 for the FPV Falcon GT the numbers represented their power 260kw 290kw around 350hp and 380hp respectively over time the Boss lineups gained more Boss 302 and Boss 315 the last of the 5.4s were the Boss 315 was in our FG model FPV Falcons from 2008 untill 2010 when the engine no longer met Euro IV Emission compliance, a comparison i currently have a 2016 S550 GT mustang and it makes 306kw from factory, our Falcon GT with a 5.4L in 2008 made more power and torque than the S550 Mustang GT untill the update 2018 model, Ford Australia then ended up supercharging the Coyote V8 in 2012 and renamed it the Miami V8 and it too made more power than the S550 coyote (as expected) i owned untill about a month ago a 2008 BF Falcon XR8 which had the Boss 260 5.4 in it and it was an absolute cracker of a engine, strong mid range and top end power and torque but very lacking down low esp against the coyote, great choice of engine look forward to seeing further builds of the 5.4 a highly under-rated motor

Golf Course Applause for not going with another me too LSx, Coyote, Hemi, etc . . . I wasn't expecting an exotic 4v variation but that's nice too. 🙂👍

I like the mod motor. I installed a vortech supercharger on my 2012 5.4 3V expedition. Side note, a supercharged expedition turns heads at Pikes Peak when everyone hears that blow off valve spitting out boost when idling down the mountain.

I used AJE Racing's K member to get a 1 inch drop to clear the brake booster. By changing just the plates it can adapt to almost any engine. Also the 5.4 piston sits .120 in the hole. I'd get a zero deck piston to keep the wristpin out of the oil control ring while giving you alot of crown thickness for boost. Diamond makes a self stock zero deck 5.4 piston that gives about a 9.3:1 compression ratio. If you want to use any of the 03-04 Cobra stuff in between the heads like crossover pipe, the 5.4 is an 1.625 wider. Also if you ever need to change the crank, use a super cobra jet crank. Tested to 1500rwhp.

I shoved one of these in an 02 f150 I had. Was a fun swap! The intake manifold is something crazy to behold in a truck.

I always wanted to do this swap. It’s more bolt in than any other out there using factory parts . Boosted 5.4 make incredible power using stock parts. Stock crank easily handles over 1000hp. The heads flow good and have so much potential.

finally some love for the 4v dohc! i would definitely at least try to rebuild the whole motor or at least refresh it up, boss 302 rods are great and don’t break the bank, definitely get the head cooling mod as well.

I was comparing measurements with other smallblocks and the 4.6 is bigger in dimensions than most small blocks out there, so you should have a good amount of room to work with... it is very long and very wide. That being said, I am swapping a Mustang 2 K member and independent front suspension into an 87 Chevy Sprint (1500lb Geo Metro daddy,) The car will only be around 2000lbs with a small block in it and I think the suspension will be way too stiff, so maybe a heavier big block is what's needed to make it ride right! You sir get a subscribe. I like the way you think and the way you got me thinking.

Almost finished putting one of these in my 06. Your making life a hell of a lot easier skipping the headers... what a nightmare that was. Good luck

Option 2 sounds awesome, but it's definitely NOT a budget build option; for a budget build you'd have to go with option one. With that said, I would think you'd want to open up that engine and see how everything looks in there... and while it's opened up you'll start looking at things and changing things here and there and it'll turn into "Option 1.5" Can't wait to see you do your magic on the Stang and that Ford engine.

As much as I wanted to see the 8.1 I've also wanted to play around with these mod motors I cant wait to see what's to come🤘

This is actually a build I've been curious about for a long time as well!!! I can't wait to see the outcome 👍👍😃😃😃

My favorite modern mustang too! And my favorite GM engine is also the 8.1 496 ci vortec w the Allison trans i had in my 2001 crew cab 4x4 short bed GMC SLE, but mine had a vinyl floorboard and cloth seats someone ordered it that way from the factory down to the color which was the silverish grey color whatever color it was it was my fav truck so far that I’ve owned and I sunk it once drained the motor over night ran thicker oil through the engine to flush it and filled it back up w 10w-30 and it crunk right up didn’t take plugs or anything out just held it and played with the throttle till it cleared out drove it for almost 2 more years and no other changes except having to put a different throttle body on it cuz it siezed shut from being sunk 3 months prior so it’d just go in & out of reduced engine power and finally I took it in had it looked at and that’s literally all that was wrong! Toughest motor that I’ve owned and it would run like a mf I out ran newer body style half ton chevys fords etc. only thing that got me was a newer 5.0! And all I had was a CAI and true duals cats back necked down to 2.5 at the back bed all the way out the back tucked and almost turned to the side almost 90d them but it was the best sounding truck ever lol

If you love oddball swaps, please consider putting a 3-53 or 4-53 Detroit diesel in something. You can rev them up to high RPM's and it'd be the only one on the planet in a sports car.

I vote option 2. The 5.4 4v navi engine has always been a dream build of mine also since the cobra R caught my attention. I still want to swap one into my 2000 lightning but the S/C wouldn't fit without adapters or something.

Yes!!!! I'm so excited for the 4V 5.4!! this is going to be so much cooler than a Coyote or LS!!

Yasssss!!!! I am definitely following this build very closely. I want to do a 32v swap on my 2002 F150 off road truck!

I always wanted to build a 2001 Cobra R/ Aussie Boss 315 style 5.4L 4v from a Navigator and run it in a 2005 Crown Vic LX that I owned in 2007. I was running factory 18" 5 spoke 2005-2009 Mustang California Special style wheels on it and a custom true dual Magnaflow exhaust with the big rolled tips the way they were on a Marauder. I had the style down as though it was a Ford equivalent of a Marauder, problem was I was only rolling with a mild 4.6 2V that put 210hp and 260tq to the wheels. 🤣😂 Oh well, it was still a nice car for the time. I eventually traded it for a Legend Lime 2005 Mustang GT 5 speed because it made more sense for me on a cost basis, especially since I didn't have a proper garage or anything to undertake heavy mods like a 5.4L 4V swap.

Love it! I plan to Navi swap my 2000 Mustang. It will be good to see it done so I know what issues I am going to run into when I do it.

You forgot the 07-14 GT500 engines, but those are still pretty expensive anyways. I had one of these motors and was going to swap it into my King Cobra, but the 4.6 4v was the tallest that would fit in that configuration. But I had swapped on the navigator heads to that 4.6, but the navigator heads are the most commonly sought after 4v heads (aside from the obvious supercar and cobra R heads). You could also do a GT500 intake/supercharger set up! Those are relatively cheap and make good power. Nice thing about the 5.4 is that you can respond the coils and use the factory harness and computer!

Option 2 with standard compression pistons.. Nice cam and springs and bottom end refresh and painter up!!

Honestly had this very build in my mind for a 2000s thunderbird. The Ford GT top end on the navigator bottom was my build idea. Power to wight is spot on for a five seat chassis. Thought it could be a perfect sleeper. At least 500hp and decent mph, with no inspection issues(smog). Then my son was born our fourth, so a third row became a necessity. We lucked out and ended up with a bush estate secret service yukon xl 8.1, huge and drinks like a fish but always starts and never gets stuck in maine snow lolol. How LT is planning to punch the 500-550hp to 900 I'll love to watch as the GT with the 5.4 didn't get all that much power. Of course the Ford GT is way lighter and ment for 200mph+ LaMans racing (24 hours+straight depending on individual race). So max power is is not end goal with the GT, control is, therefore lighter with less power. At any rate always wondered how it would pull next to a big block once properly built. Happy to watch, Good luck.

Good engine choice. This should be a fun build. I've always liked this body style of mustang.

I am genuinely excited about this motor and this build! Way to think outside the box LT.

Thank you, mod motor stuff is getting hard to find now days and it’s underrated.

Man this is gonna be awesome. I’m not a ford, Chevy or even a dodge guy but the 2000 svt cobra type R is one of my top five cars of all time so this build is already cool in my book.

Cool engine choice. People have made plenty of power out of the lightnings with the same engine. Can’t wait to see the progress 👍

Those 4v 4.6/5.4 Motors Sound Amazing! Ide put some Bad Axx Headers Exhaust, Cam & Supercharge it.Terminator 5.4 But thats my opinion & an idea ive had For a while now. Nice project you Have!

Definitely build it now. Rods pistons cams springs. Don't forget to upgrade the secondary timing chains.

Very cool! Used to watch you on Powernation and your show was my favorite. So glad to have found your channel, LT! May I suggest you swap a Ford V10 into a Town Car or Crown Vic next?