electrorc
Well-known member
Hey everyone, I posted a few months ago about some major problems I was having with the 200 in my '65 Mustang. I eventually came to the conclusion that it would probably be best to just rebuild the engine, and it's about time for me to be having the build started and what not. I wanted to get some opinions on some things first, though. This is going to be fairly long.
First, plans for the car: It's going to be my daily driver and will also be making 800 mile trips between home and college a couple of times a year, so I'd like fairly decent gas mileage (in the mid-20s, hopefully) and it needs to be reliable. I'd also like a little bit of power, but nothing crazy. 200hp at the flywheel would be great, but it seems like I'll be lucky to get 150 without going to the aluminum head or a turbo.
1) I'm having a lot of trouble deciding between the 200 and 250. The biggest problem is I can't find anything consistent on what is involved in putting the 250 in a '65 Mustang. I've looked at the swap page on FordSix and read the pertinent part of the Falcon Six Handbook on swapping it in a Falcon.
a) Just for reference, I'm mainly looking at the 250 for the extra power and torque potential, as well as the easy availability of clutches, flywheels, transmissions, etc.
b) Since the Mustang has a longer engine bay than the Falcon (I think?), will I still have problems length-wise, and need to go to an electric fan or move the radiator forward?
b) Motor mounts--are the stock 200 mounts going to work or not? I keep seeing answers all over the place on this. I'd rather not drill holes in the frame if I don't have to.
c) Hood clearance--I'm guessing this will vary based on the motor mount situation. If I go to a low profile air cleaner or carb hat, should I be ok or do I need to lower the mounts and what not?
d) Something I haven't really seen mentioned anywhere--the clutch linkage. Since the z-bar goes into a mount on the engine block, will the factory setup still work on a 250 or is the mount in a different place or not even there?
2) Parts: This is tentative and I may change things based on specific prices I find, but here's the plan right now:
264/274-110LC hydraulic cam from CI, STY springs, adjustable rockers if I can afford them, direct mount H/W 5200 2brl, basic rebuild kit from CI, 1.75/1.5" valves, double roller timing chain if I keep the 200, zero decked block, and I might try a little bit of head porting if I have time. Head hopefully will be a late 70s 250 head, depending on availability.
I haven't really decided on compression--I'd like to keep the possibility of a turbo later on open so that I can add one if I'm not happy with the power. However, I don't want N/A power to suffer too much. Would somewhere around 9:1 be a safe bet for a small turbo later on and decent performance now? Or should I just go ahead and bump it up to 9.5:1 or so and hope I'm happy with it?
Would all of this make a decent combination? Thanks for any input!
First, plans for the car: It's going to be my daily driver and will also be making 800 mile trips between home and college a couple of times a year, so I'd like fairly decent gas mileage (in the mid-20s, hopefully) and it needs to be reliable. I'd also like a little bit of power, but nothing crazy. 200hp at the flywheel would be great, but it seems like I'll be lucky to get 150 without going to the aluminum head or a turbo.
1) I'm having a lot of trouble deciding between the 200 and 250. The biggest problem is I can't find anything consistent on what is involved in putting the 250 in a '65 Mustang. I've looked at the swap page on FordSix and read the pertinent part of the Falcon Six Handbook on swapping it in a Falcon.
a) Just for reference, I'm mainly looking at the 250 for the extra power and torque potential, as well as the easy availability of clutches, flywheels, transmissions, etc.
b) Since the Mustang has a longer engine bay than the Falcon (I think?), will I still have problems length-wise, and need to go to an electric fan or move the radiator forward?
b) Motor mounts--are the stock 200 mounts going to work or not? I keep seeing answers all over the place on this. I'd rather not drill holes in the frame if I don't have to.
c) Hood clearance--I'm guessing this will vary based on the motor mount situation. If I go to a low profile air cleaner or carb hat, should I be ok or do I need to lower the mounts and what not?
d) Something I haven't really seen mentioned anywhere--the clutch linkage. Since the z-bar goes into a mount on the engine block, will the factory setup still work on a 250 or is the mount in a different place or not even there?
2) Parts: This is tentative and I may change things based on specific prices I find, but here's the plan right now:
264/274-110LC hydraulic cam from CI, STY springs, adjustable rockers if I can afford them, direct mount H/W 5200 2brl, basic rebuild kit from CI, 1.75/1.5" valves, double roller timing chain if I keep the 200, zero decked block, and I might try a little bit of head porting if I have time. Head hopefully will be a late 70s 250 head, depending on availability.
I haven't really decided on compression--I'd like to keep the possibility of a turbo later on open so that I can add one if I'm not happy with the power. However, I don't want N/A power to suffer too much. Would somewhere around 9:1 be a safe bet for a small turbo later on and decent performance now? Or should I just go ahead and bump it up to 9.5:1 or so and hope I'm happy with it?
Would all of this make a decent combination? Thanks for any input!