Matt_50

My wife now has a 66 mustang hardtop. She says she now understands why I want to work on my 50 Chevy 3100 all the time lol.

We have kept an eye out for a while and found one yesterday. Missing the engine, has factory auto shifter and I assume trans. Dual exhaust, and mounts for a v8. 5 lug drums. Vin shows it as a C code.

I do not know as much about Ford's so I'm doing my research.

My wife wants a daily driver, wants it to stay auto, add P/S, safe, a/c, decent gas mileage, to start right away(mine sometimes need a pump or two of the gas.. She doesn't like that), and she wants to get on highway now and then.

Where should I start? Should I get a 302 with efi? A trans with o/d? Change rear end? I'm just not sure what to look for, or if certain years for these parts are better than others.


Thanks guys,

Matt

Matt_50

Am I on the right track, should I look for a donor drivetrain from an 86-93 fox body?

Gun Jam

whats your budget and why would you look for one thats been gutted? Is it because you want to make a lot of changes and it was a good starting point?

I daily drive mine and have done so since 2000. I have a t5 5spd trans but the C4 3spd auto is fine too.

If you want to daily drive it and be safe then the following are pretty much mandatory
1) Ditch the drum brakes and single master cylinder. SSBC and Wilwood make excellent 4 wheel disc brake options for a good price and excellent dual res masters.
2) rebuild the steering box (usually this is sent to someone) to remove the backlash from it ...OR better yet switch to power rack and pinion since PS is mandatory in your case. Its not cheep but total control products makes an excellent power rack and pinion conversion that is very easy to install and very high quality I recommend it over any alternative if you can afford the 2.5 to 3k price.
3) go to global west and get their performance upper and lower control arms (the tubular ones), anti swaybars and lowering springs (talk to the techs about this) excellent quality and performance increase I dont use their shocks but they should do. I use maier racing bilstein shocks shocks custom valved for 650lb rate springs.
4) 17" wheels for 2 reasons 1) they let you use the large brake kits that are very quality units with exceptional stopping capability and even more important is they allow you to use Ultra High Performance tiers...alllll the above items dont amount to much improvement until you run them through a set of Michelin pilot sport 4s, pilot cup 2 or pilot super sports (UHP Tires)...serious if you are thinking well... "**** that I'll just skip that" quit now on all the above sell what you picked up and buy a more complete stock mustang and drive it on the weekends.
5) a good carb like a QFT 600HR double pumper or Vac on a 302 or 347 would be excellent and I would recommend and AFR wideband to go with...I would also recommend over EFI. this is more of a personal opinion vs the above 4. EFI can be great but ive got my QFT HR 600 DP running really well and its way simple, no computers and I get 14 to 16 highway with a 302 producing 290 wheel HP. The guys with the EFI always seem to bitch about something and Im like nawh mine runs great.

some optional but excellent upgrades

1) Truetrac torsen dif by Detroit they come in 8" works like posi with no clutch pack but also acts as open diff until needed then acts like posi..very excellent street option
2) roller perches for front coil springs
3) Electric or clutch fans on AL radiator
4) LED headlights (almost mandatory)
5) MSD Ignition system complete (almost mandatory)

Matt_50

It was a great price and yes I expected to do a lot to it. My buddy has a 66 that I've gone through all the suspension, upgraded to front disc and put a dual MC in. He drove it stock but he said stopping with disc is so much better.

I want to upgrade the 5 lug drums on the front to disc and install a dual MC. What about a booster?

My wife does not like driving standard, so that option is out. She wants the best gas mileage she can get without spending to much and still get on highway. I was thinking might as well get o/d.

She does want p/s. I'm assuming the p/s that is in it isnt stock or if it is its not great. Lines from pump do not go to gearbox, but down to the drag link. Pump is just hanging in the engine compartment.

My truck is carburated and she so far sounds like she's willing to see how she likes a carb. I think it's the having to give the pedal a pump or two sometimes that she doesn't like. She wants a quick start, but I bet she will get used to it.

Since it is ready for a v8, I figured I'd keep an eye out for a 302. I know it came with a 289 but so far what I'm finding local is for performance.

What rear end would this car have?

Gun Jam

1) I am personally against boosters I feel that they are not needed, bulky and take up precious space and limit cam choices BUT I am not your wife nor do I know her strength level.. I'm a slight built individual but I am still male and that biologically puts me at an advantage / bias on an overwhelming average. To me is totally perfect with no booster on 13" rotors with 6 piston calipers. Its stiff enough that extra adrenaline won't cause me to easily lock up the wheels and give me the ability to maintain threshold braking in less than ideal situations. I dont have a scale but I would estimate it takes maybe 70 to 90 lbs of pedal force to lock up the fronts. I hear F1 cars are closer to 300lbs at 5.6G of de accel

2) If you get OD that gets you into AOD territory....I know little about this. I do know the C4 is a tough little guy abet a 3 spd no OD but with 17" tall wheels with 25" total tire height you could run a 3.00:1 with the 8" truetrac and not need OD and spin 3,000RPM at 75 to 80 mph...quite acceptable for okay to good fuel mileage.

3) Stock PS always leaked. Rebuilt or not it was a ****in mess in my experience. It was over responsive with minimal road feel with a large bulky pump and massive PS components under the car that got in the way of exhaust and other stuff and a bunch of steering slop to boot. I was much happier with my MS flaming river box and WAY happy with my TCP power rack that is clean, compact, fully adjustable feedback with zero backlash and doesnt leak a drop ever... worth every penny (and it was a **** ton of them)

4) the 289 and the 302 are the same block and probably heads same with the 347 all 3 should fit exactly the same. What were your desired WRHP values? you should shoot for at least 240 if you want it to be safe thats enough power to get out of trouble but with a slight bit of caution not too much power to get into trouble.

5) should have an 8" with 2:75 gears

Matt_50

If she could drive stick I'd get her to drive my buddy's 66. If I had a good v8 I'd drop it in, do the brakes and see what she thought and go from there.

It'll be a bit before she cruises highway, and I'm assuming a c4 is easy to rebuild if it's no good? But if I could get a good drivetrain I'd replace it all at once and save extra work. With an AOD, I would need driveshaft modified?

barnett468

17" wheels are overkill unless you want it to ride like a truck and corner like an indy car. if she wants comfort and moderately decent handling, put 6" wide 15" rims on it with 215/60 tires, then lower it around 1 1/2" from stock if you like that look.

most stock suspension parts are fine for a decent handling car. lower the upper control arm mounting point 1" like shelbys have. install a sway bar from a 65/66 gt. 610 lowering coil springs, monroe matic shocks, reverse eye rear springs if you want to lower it or get some from eaton spring.

i would not run a stock 5.0 efi system or complete engine but some people do. it's just a cluttered mess. i would run stock pulleys and an aftermarket efi if she has to have one.

if she drives 70 mph and has 215/60 tires and an aod, i would run 3.25 gears, otherwise the engine will be lugging a bit too much at 70 if it has numerically lower gears.

stock 5.0 p heads or 351 windsor heads will give it a bit more performance on a budget if needed.

i would use the stock power steering. no point in trying to reinvent the wheel but some people do install the chevy style units.

for front disc i would use wilwood. use the optional thick rotors if she stops hard, otherwise the standard ones are fine but use radial calipers. these are by far the best ones wilwood makes. their rotors for 15" rims are also larger than fords so it will stop far better than a stock mustang with disc brakes. power brake boosters are fine unless you use a fairly large cam as gun jam mentioned but can be a bit of a pita to set up. they sometimes make the brakes too sensitive.

i would also tun 2 lb residual valves in the front brake lines. you also need a proportioning valve. the stock one often works best but an additional aftermarket one is sometimes needed as well to balance the brake bias properly. the wider shelby rear brakes are also a good upgrade if you can find some.

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