I say let it live.  I am a GM guy, but I love anything as long as it's fast and/or different.  I think the orphan epitomizes the idea of taking what you have and making it work.  I found a similar idea looking around the other day.  It's a older Fairmont that they put a 5.3 LS motor in and turbocharged it.  It runs a stock 5.3 with upgradded valve springs and it runs 6.5's in the 8th mile.  Check it out.

http://www.1320video.com/fairmontdyno.php  

Nothing to see her but grass roots hot rodding guys. Putting the LSX into a Fox Mustang does both a great chassis and a great motor justice.  Good Job!

I say down with the brand prejudice Nazis!  
Their all reading Ford this or Chevy that anyway.

Next lets see an early miata with a LS2 crate motor.  These cars are everywhere, their cheap, light and have a great chassis.  

Give me a break. Does it run? Does it go down the road? Who cares what is under the hood as long as the owner is happy. Wish I had that engine in my 68 Bronco. It would plow snow even faster. Randy  

I think it's a great idea.I always liked those bodies but hated the power plant.Want to trade it for an S3 Laguna?

              J.Hill  

If I really wanted to read about this stuff, I would personally look at Super Chevy or another GM rag. Don't get me wrong, I would love to stuff an LSX motor into either an FC3S or FD3S chassis RX-7. Have an even better chassis than the fox body, great horsepower and even better economy than a stock RX-7 could only dream about.

I say just pull the drive train out of the Fox, sell the chassis, find a RX-7 with a blown motor (pretty darn easy too) and contact Hinson Supercars. *** I'd love to see an RX-7 with some American Racing Torque Thrust Ds on it. Just don't go straight line crazy

Oh and enough of the First Gen Camaros, It's getting really, REALLY, repetitive  

I say "Thumbs Up" to the Orphan!  

It's been an interesting project thus far, and it represents the true spirit of hot rodding in TODAY'S world! It's always been in a rodder's nature to swap newer, more powerfull engines into commonly available, cheap and lightweight vehicles to get respectable performance on a reasonable budget using what you can easily get a hold of! How many 40 Fords and other early hot rods from the pioneering days of the hobby were prowling the streets with Buick Nailheads, early Hemis, Olds Rockets and Caddy engines??? Quite a few to be certain, and 'brand loyalty' took a back seat to cheap and easy horsepower increases! That's the way they did it THEN...and still a viable way to do it NOW!

I say mix & match to your heart's content...that's what it's all about...making a car go faster through backyard engineering and hands-on craftiness!! Long live the Orphan...and engine swapping in general!! Ha Ha...after all, we're HOT RODDERS, not restoration geeks, right?!

 

I love it.  It's definately not the first fox-body I've seen with Chevy power, and they always haul a**, so why not?  Granted, I've seen the same cars with original 302's and stock bottom ends pushed by a 150-250 shot of gas run in the high 6's on the 1/8-mile, but why not build something stronger and faster?  Keep it up fellas, I love the mag.  

I can assure you as the NEW OWNER of the ORPHAN  I will let it live !
I intend to push it farther and get to 9.99 -10.0 times out of it .

So far it has been 10.73 at 132 and has a couple tenths left in it.  

well , it proves the superiority of the LS engines . Next a 4.6 Mod Motor in a Firebird . See how much slower it runs  

WELL AFTER SOME MORE TESTING i WENT A 10.32 AT 133 , NEXT WEEK I FEEL 9.99 WILL BE THE OUTCOME. I WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED.  

I think Bloop.Gun has it right, this is what hot rodding is all about, as long as you can get decent power for cheap, i don't see anything wrong with it.  

Spend another grand or two, see how fast it will go, that will be the project/budget baseline. Snatch the motor for the Laguna thats bound to come around. Now throw in the late model Hemi with the same budget and see what it will do. Next, a big block Chevy, theres a few of those running around here. A wicked windsor Ford, a 460, a Mopar wedge, a 302 with a Turbo vs. Supercharger, the possibilities are endless since you have a lightweight proven combo to stuff 'em in and let the numbers tell the tale for the engine combos. The orphan Mustang may not be the next Project X but it could be the most interchangeable project car in magazine history!  

Project orphan needs to die. I'm a true ford man and i dont want to see nothing but a ford engine in a ford. My first car and still have is an 89 notchback so you can see how it irritates me. Why is it ok to put a chevy in a ford but a ford in a chevy isnt? This magazine is 90% chevy so alot of guys on here are chevy idiots and like this project. If the LS engines are so great why did GM quit making the camode"camaro" and its brother? You cant tell me that the mod engines dont run ethier. Just look at the guys that run in NMRA factory stock class. There running low to mid 11's in 3500lb mach 1's. This magazine needs to change its name to popular chevy hotrodding. Hey guys how about putting a big block ford engine in a 70 SS chevelle. Lets see how many responses you get on that. But that would never happen because this magazine is chevy bias.  

It's always interesting to see how strong the chevy vs. ford debate is, and always will be.

Can't we all just get along?  

i like it, all the ford guys are mad cause it makes it obvious that the LS series are bad, those 4.6's that claim 305, i saw a dyno run with a 03 mach 1 with the shaker hood that was factory rated at 305hp, it made 187 at the wheels, 305 at the flywheel my white but!!!!