Subframe / driveline swap questions ... ?

[S_Mazza]

SHO owners, please bear with me here. I own a '94 Sable (SLO), and the transmission seems to have the same problems that many owners here have (bangs into 2nd gear, seems to rev freely or slip out of gear sometimes). I think I will need to fix this soon, but I don't want to replace it with an equally crappy AXOD. So I am weighing my options.

I have considered swapping with an SHO engine/tranny/subframe, but then I still have an AXOD, and maybe the same problems. So I am also considering swapping in a newer splitport V6 from a Windstar. I think a 3.8, 3.9, or 4.2 would move that Sable almost as well as a Yamaha, plus it has the newer tranny (AX4S?).

Can anyone tell me how feasible this is? Can I swap the Windstar subframe, engine, and tranny as a unit, or is the Windstar subframe incompatible? Also, feel free to suggest other ideas. Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[S_Mazza]

I looked at an underbody photo of a 96 Windstar and one of a 95 Taurus, and the subframes look very similar, perhaps almost identical. I guess I will have to get down in the dirt with a tape measure to find out for sure. I am definitely considering the 4.2 swap ... I'd like to see how that would pull in a Sable.