Alright, hate me if you want. I'm a Chevy guy and love my Mustang, but I'm soooo fed up with it. This 351W engine swap as been the biggest pain in my A$$. Nothing has gone right. There have been many lessons learned... but none would make this project any easier, just showing me never to work on another Mustang. Ford has changed way too many things over the years and it has driven me nuts in finishing this project. It's always one step forward and two steps back. Just when I think I'm about ready to wrap it up, something else pops up. I had a 68 Chevelle and that thing was so easy to swap an engine, my buddies 70 Monte Carlo, another easy job, this Mustang... A PAIN IN THE ::bleep bleep bleep:: I'm ready to sell this car. That's what this engine swap has driven me to. Right now I could use a nice boat to take out to the gulf stream and do some amazing fishing. Ok my venting is over... FOR NOW[:@]

 

Im 6 years into my engine swap, don't sweat the small stuff...

 

See I don't have six years is the problem. Long story, try to make it short. One here this coming weekend I'm supposed to go for a cruise with other Mustang owners, it's part of a club I'm a part of, but we're not kids, so it's not gay. Another is, on the 17th of this month I'm going to be proposing to my girlfriend. We're going to be having a bunch of pictures taken that day and I told the lady who is taking the pictures that I would like to incorporate the car in some of the pictures, so it would be nice to have it all done for that too... Just nothing ever seems to go right, and I figured it would be as easy as it is on a Chevy, but I was dead wrong, thank God I didn't bet my life on it.

 

Chevys are easier and so are GMCs. Our engine swap in my dads GMC truck was easier than working on the ****ing R-Model Valance. Also easier than trying to make a mustang run again. I wanted to sell my car when my carb went out and it took almost 2 weeks to get a new one and put it on. Pretty bad when you get 3 carb orders canceled for a mustang.

 

If you expected it to be easy, you should just sell you car...

Not trying to bust your ***** or anything, just saying..

 

I tried to sell mine.

 

Screw it, if anyone wants to buy it, make me an offer. I'm fed up with this car. I want another Chevelle.

 

And yes I did expect this to be easier, my old 68 Chevelle was a piece of cake. I was in the same situation as I am now. That was my first engine swap and I did it myself and it took me all of about two days. Everything that could go wrong with this install has. I'm tired of making things work. I haven't been taking short cuts, but this has been a royal pain in my a$$.

 

That's an unfortunate viewpoint. All of your troubles probably have very little to do with it being a Mustang/Ford and a lot more to do with the fact that you're trying to swap something into a car that didn't come with it originally.

I swapped a Chevy ZZ4 crate into my friend's 71 Chevelle and that was the biggest nightmare I've ever run into while working on a car. Motor mounts, exhaust manifolds, power steering bracket, a/c bracket, timing cover, nothing went the way we expected. Not including engine build time, I had my engine pulled and dropped back in my car in about a week days (minor hickup with not being able to find 67 motor mounts, or it would've been 2 days). It took us literally 3 weeks of wrenching every day after work until midnight to get the damn engine in and hooked up, and there are still portions of it that are halfassed. You'd think dropping a GM 350 into a car we pulled a 350 out of would be simple, but noooooooo. The problem is that the GM 350 has changed so much in 40 years that just about the only thing the same is the block.

Are you trying to swap into an I6 car? If so, that's kinda just what you have to deal with. Nothing in the drivetrain is the same between early V8 and I6 Mustangs, and much of the suspension and steering is different as well, depending on the year.

 

See, I had a 68 Chevelle back in high school. It was originally a 307, bought a 350, and had NO troubles. Everything went smoothly, and like I said, that was my first engine swap in which I did it by myself. Even with a buddies help, this original small block car, which started out with a 289, when I got it it had a 302 which was just taken out, and now has a 351 sitting in it. Everything on it has been a pain. I honestly think the Chevy guy in me is coming out, because I would much rather have problems throwing in a motor on a Chevelle then this Mustang. I mean it doesn't even look like a muscle car to me. It's my opinion, and this car and I have a love hate relationship. I saved it from a life of sitting and this is the thanks it's giving me. I'm really not happy with the way things are going. I mean this car has manual steering, and no A/C, and about 5 wires, so I mean this should be going alot smoother. I'm hoping to be about 2 days away from being done with it. I need to order the pulley system for it, since nothing wants to bolt up and the alternator bracket.

Hey does anyone have a picture of what their 89 and newer 351W alternator bracket looks like? There are so many and the old one that everyone wants to keep giving me is not matching.