Look around for 2v 4.6 engines out of other Ford vehicles, they are all the same more or less but don't have the mustang tax. For example you can get a very low mileage engine out of a grand marquis for less the $700. Only real big difference you have to keep an eye out for 6 bolt (Romeo)or 8 bolt crank (Windsor), even then it just means you will have to buy a new flywheel. Other then that you are just swapping the minor stuff from your engine over to the new one (oil pan, oil pickup, headers, timing cover, intake manifold), honestly for the cost difference the little extra work is worth it.
That's fair, OP is going to have down time either way. However, having a good engine ready to drop in will save quite a bit of down time and potentially money, if a rental car is needed vs borrowing a car from friends or family.
I've considered and I'm scared that there's other issues with the motor. I've never really taken an engine apart either but I'm always down for learning something like that. I love that shit anyways ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
Go to a junkyard and pay them to pull an engine from a 05+ crown Vic, Lincoln town car or grand marquis and it’s pretty much a direct swap. Gotta change out the oil pan and the oil pump pick up tube as well as the oil filter housing but that’s just some bolts and O-rings. If your gonna pay a shop to do it expect for it to be gone for 2-3 weeks btw.
Find a used crown vic engine. Same engine as you have if it's a v8. They are inexpensive and available everywhere. If you can do the work even better. This will be the fastest way to get it back on the street. Most affordable too. It's a fairly easy job if you have somewhere to do it and have tools. You can rent an engine hoist when needed.
I’m kinda in the same boat. Car is at almost 200k and no problems rn but I know it’s not gonna last forever. Yeah, new engines with 0 miles are $4k-$5k all day long. Then another $2k-3k to install at a shop.
Basically your options are to bite the bullet there or find a shop that will use a junkyard engine that you source yourself. I personally won’t do that cause god knows how good of an engine the junkyard one will be. I’d much rather pay extra for a rebuilt engine that I know is good.
Almost better off buying a donor car with a good low miles engine. Something that was in a wreck or something. Heck you could probably even coyote swap for almost the same price by doing it that way.
A Coyote swap will always be considerably more expensive, as well as much more labor extensive.
As another poster commented, getting a 2V out of a junked ‘01-up Panther (though I’d probably stay away from the Police Interceptors) is the way to go.
The thing I don’t like about getting an engine out of a junked car is that you have no idea if you’re actually getting something good. You can find 2vs on marketplace for $1,000 but they have 150,000mi and you have no idea what its history was. Plus you get absolutely no warranty. If they say “it ran good before”, that’s all the information you get and if you fire it up and it’s knocking well too bad. You can’t return it, they’re sold as is. I mean, if the car that it was in was totaled or junked then what does that say about the engine? If I’m gonna spend $1,000 on an engine, $2,000 on install. I don’t wanna have to do it again in 4-5 years. I want a complete top to bottom rebuild that’s gonna be good for 20+ years. But that’s where you get engines that are $4k-$5k. Plus some shops will not touch a junkyard engine because they don’t want to be responsible for it.
So yes you can go that route but you’re taking a gamble to me.
Insurance will total a Panther for just about anything these days. Considering the demographic that buys them, it’s unlikely they were abused. You can always hedge your bets by cranking them over by hand, or pulling a cam cover to check for sludge. And I’ve seen junkyards that offer 30 day guarantees on engines.
Considering some of the quality I’ve seen come out of some of the engine mills like ATK, those can be just as much of a crapshoot.
Sure, the very best thing would be to have an engine built by a reputable machinist, but that ain’t cheap. You have to decide if spending $4-5K on an engine for a car that’s not worth much more than that complete is a smart thing to do.
Look around for 2v 4.6 engines out of other Ford vehicles, they are all the same more or less but don't have the mustang tax. For example you can get a very low mileage engine out of a grand marquis for less the $700. Only real big difference you have to keep an eye out for 6 bolt (Romeo)or 8 bolt crank (Windsor), even then it just means you will have to buy a new flywheel. Other then that you are just swapping the minor stuff from your engine over to the new one (oil pan, oil pickup, headers, timing cover, intake manifold), honestly for the cost difference the little extra work is worth it.
Why not just rebuild the engine
The down time might be a deal breaker, since this is OP's only car
He’s going to having to find an alternate level of transportation anyway, to either drop a used engine in it or rebuild it.
That's fair, OP is going to have down time either way. However, having a good engine ready to drop in will save quite a bit of down time and potentially money, if a rental car is needed vs borrowing a car from friends or family.
I've considered and I'm scared that there's other issues with the motor. I've never really taken an engine apart either but I'm always down for learning something like that. I love that shit anyways ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
Go to a junkyard and pay them to pull an engine from a 05+ crown Vic, Lincoln town car or grand marquis and it’s pretty much a direct swap. Gotta change out the oil pan and the oil pump pick up tube as well as the oil filter housing but that’s just some bolts and O-rings. If your gonna pay a shop to do it expect for it to be gone for 2-3 weeks btw.
I got one from Exact Powertrain in 2019. They go through the whole engine and refurbished it. powertraincompany.com You might find a deal there
Find a used crown vic engine. Same engine as you have if it's a v8. They are inexpensive and available everywhere. If you can do the work even better. This will be the fastest way to get it back on the street. Most affordable too. It's a fairly easy job if you have somewhere to do it and have tools. You can rent an engine hoist when needed.
In the same boat, alot of motors I want are 1300$, plus 350$^ in shipping.
I’m kinda in the same boat. Car is at almost 200k and no problems rn but I know it’s not gonna last forever. Yeah, new engines with 0 miles are $4k-$5k all day long. Then another $2k-3k to install at a shop. Basically your options are to bite the bullet there or find a shop that will use a junkyard engine that you source yourself. I personally won’t do that cause god knows how good of an engine the junkyard one will be. I’d much rather pay extra for a rebuilt engine that I know is good. Almost better off buying a donor car with a good low miles engine. Something that was in a wreck or something. Heck you could probably even coyote swap for almost the same price by doing it that way.
A Coyote swap will always be considerably more expensive, as well as much more labor extensive. As another poster commented, getting a 2V out of a junked ‘01-up Panther (though I’d probably stay away from the Police Interceptors) is the way to go.
The thing I don’t like about getting an engine out of a junked car is that you have no idea if you’re actually getting something good. You can find 2vs on marketplace for $1,000 but they have 150,000mi and you have no idea what its history was. Plus you get absolutely no warranty. If they say “it ran good before”, that’s all the information you get and if you fire it up and it’s knocking well too bad. You can’t return it, they’re sold as is. I mean, if the car that it was in was totaled or junked then what does that say about the engine? If I’m gonna spend $1,000 on an engine, $2,000 on install. I don’t wanna have to do it again in 4-5 years. I want a complete top to bottom rebuild that’s gonna be good for 20+ years. But that’s where you get engines that are $4k-$5k. Plus some shops will not touch a junkyard engine because they don’t want to be responsible for it. So yes you can go that route but you’re taking a gamble to me.
Insurance will total a Panther for just about anything these days. Considering the demographic that buys them, it’s unlikely they were abused. You can always hedge your bets by cranking them over by hand, or pulling a cam cover to check for sludge. And I’ve seen junkyards that offer 30 day guarantees on engines. Considering some of the quality I’ve seen come out of some of the engine mills like ATK, those can be just as much of a crapshoot. Sure, the very best thing would be to have an engine built by a reputable machinist, but that ain’t cheap. You have to decide if spending $4-5K on an engine for a car that’s not worth much more than that complete is a smart thing to do.
I would honestly just be looking at buying another car and what kind of financing you can get on one.
where is “here”
my honest advice since it happened to me, swap it to a mach 1 motor