I ended up with a 68 Mustang coupe in a trade with a disassembled 289. A friend has a a 72 LTD with a low mile, strong running 400 C6 he will give me for free. What will it take to swap this into the Mustang. I know most of you will tell me it's a boat anchor motor lol. I don't care, it runs good and the price is right. I want to get this car going and don't have lots of extra money to spend. I am a GM guy and have experience with odd engine swaps, but know very little about Fords. I just need to know what mounts and headers will work and any other suggestions you might have. Thanks

 

Not calling it a boat anchor, but it is a pretty obscure swap. I don't know of anyone who has done this.

 

+1, I say assemble the 289...

I was not thinking a 400 was available in 72, but in any case, I assume this is an "M" engine, if so, it WILL NOT bolt to the "W" bell housing/tranny.

And, I don't think the C-6 will fit without floor firewall mods, almost positive about this 64 -66, and pretty sure 67 - 68..

I would avoid the M in a classic Mustang.

 

yeah the 351m/400 are still small blocks but they are odd ball using big block motor mounts and tranny bolt patterns.


they are signifacantly bigger then the 351 Clevelands, which uses the regular small block mounts and tranny.


although the 400 is a torque god, the suffered from the emissions era. with flat top pistons and some 4v head they will come alive... stock they suffer low compression as low as 7.2:1 if i remember correctly and severe detonation due to the dish pistons and open combustion chambers

 

7.3:1??
I never knew it was that bad!

 

Thanks for the replies. Hmmm sounds like I might need to rethink this plan. That compression is pretty pathetic, boost it till it blows lol. This was just going to be a temporary thing, until I get something better put together. I'm not going to get into a lot of beating and fab to just run it for a summer. All I have is a disassembled 289 short block with no trans, that's why I'm not putting that together. If I decide to be "that guy" that ignores everyone's good advice lol. Sounds like I could get 429/460 swap mounts to put the 400 in. I can also get a 429, that I have to build and from what I understand the C6 from the 400 has the same bolt pattern. If the trans will actualy fit in the car,that might be something I can make work down the road.

 

That engine and tranny will fit in the 68 chassis and you can get a driveshaft to connect to your existing rear pretty easily. Your biggest obstacle is the headers. There may be a set out there that will fit, but it will be trial and error. You may need to make your own or do what I did when I put a 460 in my 1970 Mustang convertible, make your own. If you are handy with a welder, not a big deal, just time. If not, it can get pretty expensive. If you are up for it, you can notch the shock towers and get a set of headers like these to fit (the first ones listed from Summit are cheap and may be a good starting point):

http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...115+4294799365

I guess it just depends on how much time you want to put into it.

 

i wish i had an LTD

 

that wouldnt be long with the detonation problems

 

Yeah forget about the 400m they are good in trucks but kinda suck in a car.