v8juice69

hey guys im thinking about buying a 69 mustang grande. it has a 302 and the guy said the car hasnt ran in 2 years and it had a rod knock so it will need to be rebuilt or swapped. the body seems like its pretty solid just needs a paint job and the interior is in pretty good shape for the year the headliner is hanging down but hes got a new one that will go with the car. anyways he wants 2 grand for the car and i just want to know how rare that car is and if its worth putting a lot of money into because i will be getting rid of my daily driver to get the car and ill be using my truck as my daily driver. It is an automatic and i would like to convert it to a manual 4 or 5 speed if that is possible if so what type of transmission would you recommend?

v8juice69

also how much work is involved in putting a 429 in it?

Nabster

Not really rare, but for that price if the only major problem is that rod, it's a good deal. You will spend quite a bit of money getting it back to show condition, but to just refresh it and make it daily driveable you'll probably spend a no more than $5-6000. Swapping to a manual isn't too hard, the T5 is probably the most common one put in there. Now, trying to put in a 429 will involve some restructuring in the engine bay and a good bit of money because the engine is so large, but again it can be done, I don't really recommend it unless you've got money to spend and time to get it done right.

nba1341

Yea you could go pretty damn fast with a stroked 351w. Like 500rwhp fast

andrewmp6

A grande was a coupe they tried to make more of a luxury mustang out of there was a lot of them made.For 2k it should be in great shape no rust pretty good paint and only small stuff wrong.I would pass on a big block if you want to daily drive they ain't easy on gas at all.

Waffles

too much money!!! That's an $800 car all day long!!!!

2+2GT

The mach1 and the Grandé had a lot in common. One was the Performance Image Option, and the other was the Luxury Image Option. Both had an extra 55 pounds of soundproofing. The Grandé even had special front eye bushings in the leaf springs to smooth and quiet the ride. The Grandé also had cloth upholstery, unique to that model. They were roughly equally rare. The Grandé is seen a lot less at shows, now.

It is a lot easier to install a 429/460 than described above. No restructuring of the engine compartment is needed. Mainly what you need is special 429/460 conversion motor mounts, 429/460 conversion headers, and a C6 crossmember for the trans. Most of the rest a carefully selected stock stuff, with not too much modification.

Here's a 'how-to':

http://www.thecurb.org/Webazine/Pits...ev-460in69.htm

Personally, though, I'd just put a nice 302 in it. Lotta fun, and can be swapped in a day. And attaching a T5 5-speed manual trans could be done the next weekend. Really. I'd use all stock linkage, it's all available, easy to install, and easy to service down the line. The only upgrade I'd go with is the roller bearing kit for the clutch pedal.

Houndstooth

It depends on your definition of rare. In 69 they made around 118,000 standard coupes, 72,000 Mach 1's and about 22,000 Grandes. In contrast, they made about 1,600 BOSS 302's. I have a 70 Grande, in 70 they made around 40,000 Mach 1's and about 13,000 Grandes. Since Grandes had the deluxe interior, many of them have been parted out to restore Mach 1's and then scrapped. Rare? maybe, more valuable? nope.

I think 2k would be a fair price, and I get a lot of attention driving my car around and still get a lot of compliments at the car shows. I dont think it will ever bring Sportsroof $$ though. I'm OK with that, I don't want a trailer queen and I don't have to worry about breaking a $50k car when I'm at the track.