dahens1

I recently bought a 1964 1/2 Mustang that's had quite a few modifications, making it VERY confusing to work on.
- It has a 302 with a 3-speed A/T (lord knows what transmission).
- It has A/C (looks original, probably isn't).
- 3.73 POSI rear end off of a '99 or '00 Explorer (yeah, it screams like it's going to blow up if you go over 65 mph). The guy said he put it on there so he could have 4-wheel disc brakes.
- It has Flaming River power disc brake kit for the front - the brakes seem to work fine, but seems like there's a potential for the "mismatch" to cause problems later.
- It has a Flaming River rack & pinion manual kit (FR300) that steers like a log truck.
- It has a Flaming River tilt-wheel steering column (which I think is too long, possibly leading to the "log truck" condition).

QUESTIONS:
1. Is this a normal mod, or is this car totally jacked-up?
2. I'm thinking of changing the rear end to 3.05 or so. It should be better on the highway, but will it add too much wear to the 302?
3. Is there such a thing as an electric power steering system that can be adapted to this? I have a 2007 Mustang GT, and had a 2003 MINI Cooper - both had electric power steering and it seemed to work fine.
4. Can anyone recommend a good mechanic in the Tampa area to take a look at this car?

Thanks!

JMD

All of those mods have the potential to be very good, and if done right will be very good, but the devil is in the details...

If the brakes work very well, then they are fine, they wont "wear into" a mismatch.

There is an electric steering kit available for street rods, whether it would work on a stang, I can't say. BUT, if you have a flaming river rack, you should be able to upgrade to power for some $$.

Check your alignment to see if it is set to MANUAL specs, as excessive caster will make the car harder to steer than it needs to be. Also, if you are running monster wide tires it will take some effort to turn those tires.

My son is running a F/R manual rack in his 66, with a F/R column, I find it easy to steer, but I guess I am kind of a big guy.

I can't say much about Tampa except I like to vacation there....

andrewmp6

I would keep it simple the more high tech stuff on it more problems when things break.I have a tcp manual rack on my 68 only time its hard to turn is at a dead stop driving its no problem.To me i wouldn't buy that car i don't trust people some do showy work and try to hide it.Plus with a virgin car i can build it my way and enjoy doing it all myself.

LCC

The 3 speed trans is probably the original C4, not very highway friendly with 3:73 gears. You can change the gearing or trans to an overdrive. Like JMD said you have good mods, you just have to do some research and set them up properly, lots of fun. Don't get discouraged because you don't know all the in's and out of your car yet.

dahens1

Thanks for the great answers! Now I need to figure out whether it's going to be better to swap out the C4 for an A/T with overdrive to match the 3.73, or swap the ring & pinion in the 8.8" to 3.55, 3.31, 3.27, or 3.08 (from what I saw online, those will swap cleanly).
- The more I dig into the car, the more "issues" I find, mostly with bodywork. I'm replacing the doors (they re-skinned the doors and they're both warped and impossible to align). I would bet that it's been hit on the driver's side at the front of the door because the post has a small wrinkle and some torn (not cut) metal on the edge.
- The hood has all sorts of little dips & dimples, and if you look at it in naked daylight, you can see where someone bondo'd over a hood pin kit in the front. That's getting replaced, too.
Thank goodness sheet metal is readily available. Next time, I'm doing this myself from start to finish!

Thanks again,

Dave

JMD

Well, the great thing about working on Mustangs in general and particularly early Mustangs is the availability of lots and lots of reasonably priced parts. At the moment I can't think of another car with such an advantage. (not even Chevy or Honda!)

The rear gear swap would probably be the least expensive and certainly the easiest solution, an AOD for the C-4 swap would give you the best compromise to maintain the "off the line" pull while increasing fuel mileage, but will in most all cases will be the more expensive option.

http://www.transmissioncenter.org/cl...conversion.htm

As for me , I like the "screaming" tightly wound V-8 sound that somewhat low gears provide, but I know it isn't for everyone....

rbinck

If it were me I'd opt for the 3.27 gear. I have a 3.55 in my Falcon and the driveshaft speed is very high on the highway. I have an AOD so the engine speed is ok, but even 3.55 gears are not very highway friendly.