Bought a 69, need some guidance on getting it running
01-30-2017, 02:44 AM
#11
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Nebraska
Posts: 55
I see this is a fairly old thread, but being new here I am doing a lot of reading and remembering the old days of building cars.
If this were my project, I would do what everyone says and start with the brakes and suspension, which sounds like you have done. I would upgrade what I could, including switching to disc brakes. Personally I would go ahead and pull the engine out. It sounds like you don't have a transmission in it now? Pull the engine and it will be a lot easier to do the front end steering and suspension work. These engines are easy to pull, with the transmission in the car it is about a 3 hour job for me to do alone. My personal preference would be to build the factory engine, but I always prefer to do that to keep the numbers matching. Something about building my own power out of these old machines has always been a thrill to me. It is easy to buy a huge built engine and go, but much more fun to build. Either way, once the suspension work is done drop the engine back in.
My old Mustangs I have built, and a 69 cougar I built both were fairly easy to do the automatic to manual swap. Look down where the pedals attach, you might have a mounting point for a clutch pedal. All I had to do was find a clutch pedal off a similar car, slip it in and clip it on. These days if you can do a hydraulic clutch it will be much much easier than messing with linkages for a manual clutch. I cant say much for these engines, but we converted a chevy 402 big block from automatic to manual. We had trouble with some bad vibration in the engine. The automatic was balanced on the flex plate where the manual flywheel was balanced differently. I never had this problem with the small block Fords, so I'm not sure if this will be an issue. Also, the drive shaft on the swaps I have done did not fit. The manual transmissions were shorter then the C4 automatics. This was not a big problem, you can weld up a driveshaft to work or have your machine shop build a drive shaft if necessary. A lot has changed in the past 20 or 30 years since I have been into the hot rods, so I am sure there are more options out there for doing these power swaps.
The last small block Ford I built back in the early 90's was a fun project. My old 1970 Mustang, I pulled the 302, had it bored and stroked. On the top I used 351 Windsor heads ported and polished. I don't remember what valves or cam I used. I never put it to a dyno to see what it was putting out, but it had some go to it. One of the first times I hit it I snapped my rear U joint and dropped the drive shaft. I also cracked my windshield when the front end lifted and twisted off the line. Should have joined the frame!
The main thing about project cars is have fun while your doing it. Building it is half the fun, plus you will have something to show for all of your work.
If this were my project, I would do what everyone says and start with the brakes and suspension, which sounds like you have done. I would upgrade what I could, including switching to disc brakes. Personally I would go ahead and pull the engine out. It sounds like you don't have a transmission in it now? Pull the engine and it will be a lot easier to do the front end steering and suspension work. These engines are easy to pull, with the transmission in the car it is about a 3 hour job for me to do alone. My personal preference would be to build the factory engine, but I always prefer to do that to keep the numbers matching. Something about building my own power out of these old machines has always been a thrill to me. It is easy to buy a huge built engine and go, but much more fun to build. Either way, once the suspension work is done drop the engine back in.
My old Mustangs I have built, and a 69 cougar I built both were fairly easy to do the automatic to manual swap. Look down where the pedals attach, you might have a mounting point for a clutch pedal. All I had to do was find a clutch pedal off a similar car, slip it in and clip it on. These days if you can do a hydraulic clutch it will be much much easier than messing with linkages for a manual clutch. I cant say much for these engines, but we converted a chevy 402 big block from automatic to manual. We had trouble with some bad vibration in the engine. The automatic was balanced on the flex plate where the manual flywheel was balanced differently. I never had this problem with the small block Fords, so I'm not sure if this will be an issue. Also, the drive shaft on the swaps I have done did not fit. The manual transmissions were shorter then the C4 automatics. This was not a big problem, you can weld up a driveshaft to work or have your machine shop build a drive shaft if necessary. A lot has changed in the past 20 or 30 years since I have been into the hot rods, so I am sure there are more options out there for doing these power swaps.
The last small block Ford I built back in the early 90's was a fun project. My old 1970 Mustang, I pulled the 302, had it bored and stroked. On the top I used 351 Windsor heads ported and polished. I don't remember what valves or cam I used. I never put it to a dyno to see what it was putting out, but it had some go to it. One of the first times I hit it I snapped my rear U joint and dropped the drive shaft. I also cracked my windshield when the front end lifted and twisted off the line. Should have joined the frame!
The main thing about project cars is have fun while your doing it. Building it is half the fun, plus you will have something to show for all of your work.
