Coyote Swapping a New Edge Mustang

How Difficult Is a New Edge Coyote Swap?

Compared to doing a Coyote Swap on a Fox Body Mustang, putting a new Coyote engine into a New Edge Mustang is a breeze.

The reasons a New Edge Coyote Swap works so well has to do with the engine setup. Even with every available modification, your New Edge’s stock engine would be lucky to make it up to 400 hp. Meanwhile, the Coyote by itself is at least 412 hp with many easy modifications available that can take it even further.

Additionally, while New Edge Mustangs have become relatively affordable, they also tend to have engines and transmissions that have seen better days. By buying a used New Edge Mustang with the intent of replacing the engine, you can easily design an affordable Mustang with a lot of horsepower.

New Edge Coyote Swaps are also some of the easiest simply because you’re swapping similar engine styles. While the Fox Body had a pushrod engine, the New Edge had already converted to a modular engine. This means that many of the engine components won’t require additional modifications.

What Makes the New Edge Mustang a Good Coyote Swap Candidate?

The New Edge Mustangs produced between 1999 and 2004 are underappreciated. New Edge Mustangs have a good suspension, less body flex than some of their predecessors, and they’re more likely to have some modern features that you may want, like power brakes and additional safety equipment.

Even with all those extra bells and whistles most New Edge Mustangs average out to be only three hundred pounds heavier than the Fox Body’s curb weight to start with, and still a solid 700 pounds lighter than a modern Mustang.

The best part about using a New Edge Mustang for a Coyote swap is that things like mileage, engine condition, transmission condition, and fuel line condition don’t matter since you’ll be removing all of those parts anyway. This makes finding an affordable Mustang for your project much easier. Just make sure the chassis itself is in relatively good and rust-free condition and watch out for door sag.

Preparing For a New Edge Coyote Swap

Before you begin a huge task like an engine swap, it’s important to get prepared. No one wants to get halfway through a project and then realize they don’t have everything they need to get it finished, or that there are unexpected costs that seem to show up at the last second. Though the tiny details of every Coyote Swap are different, there are a few constants that you can prepare yourself for.

Getting the Right New Edge Coyote Engine

There are a lot of different Coyote crate engines to pick from, and they all have strengths and weaknesses. Some swaps even use the F-150 Coyote engine, though it comes with the downside of needing to make a few additional modifications to get all of your parts to fit. The Mustang Coyote variants also tend to have more horsepower.

There is a bit of a cost to power ratio here that needs to be managed. Obviously, if you’re just going for power, the Aluminator is your go-to, but honestly, all of the Coyotes are pretty strong in this regard and all of them are going to be an improvement over your New Edge Mustang’s engine.

Updating Your Mustang’s Transmission

This is where we start to get into the cost that people aren’t always expecting. Yes, Your existing New Edge transmission should bolt to the Coyote. Unfortunately, a stock T-45 or TR-3650 transmission cannot handle the torque of the Coyote engine, and wouldn’t be the recommended transmission for any kind of performance applications. The best TR-3650 transmission at the time could handle right around 390 lb-ft of torque. Even in its first year, the Coyote produced up to 390 lb-ft of torque and if you plan on adding additional mods you'll appreciate the extra capacity.

On the automatic side of things, the factory 4R70W is rated to at least 506 lb-ft of torque with a speculated and unconfirmed 700 lb-ft potential torque rating. This is a convenient side effect of Ford using the same automatic transmission for their Mustangs as for their SUVs.

If you think you will want to race with your Coyote-swapped New Edge, then you should definitely consider this a good time to go ahead and invest in a performance transmission. Honestly, matching the transmission and engine together gives you the best compatibility and performance. There are several great transmissions that you can pick that will work well with the new Coyote.

Clutch and Flywheel Considerations

These won’t be necessary if you’re going to an automatic transmission, but if you’re looking at a manual transmission and especially if you’re thinking about keeping your New Edge Mustang’s existing transmission, you should strongly consider getting a new clutch and flywheel.

Installing a Return Fuel System to Your New Edge Mustang

You will need to modify a few things on the New Edge itself in order to accommodate the Coyote engine. In particular, you will need to change from using a return-less fuel system to a return fuel system. While this can be time-consuming, it’s actually another opportunity to really improve the existing components of the New Edge.

Adding a Tubular K-Member OR a New Oil Pan/Headers

If you buy a tubular K-member, your Coyote engine’s existing stock oil pan should be able to clear the headers. Alternatively, if you choose not to upgrade your k-member you’ll likely need to buy a new oil pan and headers. This is one of these choices where it really depends on what you’re planning to do with your build and what existing parts you already have that you’d like to use. Replacing the K-member is a good move though, not just for the clearance. It’s also a lighter and stronger k-member than the existing one.

Connecting a New Control Pack

You’ll need a way to make the Coyote engine work with the existing parts of your car, and that’s where the control pack comes in. The FRPP Control Pack is relatively easy to use and comes with a lot of the parts you’ll need to finish your Coyote Swap. In this pack, you’ll get a power-train control module as well as your throttle pedal, power distribution module, inlet tube, and oxygen sensors. Though this isn’t totally plug and play, it’s very close, and as long as you pay close attention to the labels and make sure you’re grounding appropriately it isn’t too challenging.

How to Perform a New Edge Mustang Coyote Swap

This is not meant to be a complete installation guide. There are a number of additional considerations (fluids, wire placement, etc.) that aren’t covered here. These are the general steps that you should follow in order to have a successful Coyote Swap. There will be additional requirements like there are with any other engine swap. Our goal is to let you know what makes swapping a Coyote into a New Edge different from any other engine swap.

Remove the Stock New Edge Mustang Engine

The first step is going to be removing your existing engine and any and all other parts that you’re replacing. Your method of removing the engine is going to depend a little on what you have access to, but the popular method of removal seems to be through the bottom. You’ll want to be gentle since there are a lot of underhood components that you’ll be keeping.

Check out this video for a discussion of the motor mounts as well as a general overview of the process of lowering the Coyote down into the New Edge Mustang.

A lot of modders recommend moving the car’s battery to the trunk during this time as well. It’s not strictly necessary though. The Coyote is larger than the existing engine, but not that much larger. However if you want to leave space for future modifications, it’s a good move, and much easier during this stage than it will be later in the process.

Connect Clutch and Flywheel to the Coyote Engine

In this video, we’ll walk you through the process of installing a new clutch and flywheel onto the Coyote engine itself. We use an SFI approved bellhousing because we plan to race with our New Edge. If you’re not planning on racing with your Mustang, you have more options with bellhousing, but a good bellhousing is an important safety feature that will keep you safe in the event of your transmission blowing.

If you’re using an automatic transmission, you’ll have a slightly different driveline to install, but the overall steps are very similar.

Install the Coyote Engine

Once the Mustang and Coyote are ready, the next step is to finally put your Coyote into the New Edge. If you’ve set it up correctly, this should mostly be a matter of patience. Once the Coyote is mounted into the engine bay of your Mustang, it’s time to get everything connected.

Check out this video for the steps necessary to correctly install the control pack. The Control Pack is what helps the Mustang and Coyote talk to each other, and it’s another part of the installation where the most important aspect is patience. Each cable is clearly labeled with an indication of what it is supposed to operate and control. Once you’ve gotten the engine and Mustang to talk to each other, you’re almost ready to go.

Test Your New Edge Coyote Engine Swap

As soon as your throttle pedal is connected and you get the excitement of hearing your new engine come to life, it might be tempting to go see how fast you can go. There are a few other considerations both for your safety and also for the sustained life of your car.

Since you just upgraded your engine, It’s possible that your brakes may also need an upgrade. You’ll want to use a safe road to test out the stopping distance and make sure you have sufficient stopping power. If not, you’ll need to upgrade those as well.

The first few times you drive, it’s a good idea to keep the music down and even roll down your windows so that you can hear any unusual noises your car might be making. It’s not unusual for a bolt to need to be tightened further once a car actually gets moving.

Benefits of a New Edge Coyote Swap

The New Edge Coyote Swap is one of our favorites because of the added ease over using an older model Mustang. The New Edge Mustangs offered some of the best variety of any of the generations, and increasing their potential power output makes them one of the most exciting generations as well.