Big Six in a Mustang

[Lupin398]

Hey. I possibly have an opportunity to get a pretty good condition early mustang, I've heard it's one of the ones that a 302 will fit into not a 351.
Basically all it needs is windshield, doors, motor, and trans and it should go..But, I'm not fond of a 302 at all...I rather like the Inline ford engines.

Ideally I would like to fit a 240/300 I-6 in it, what would i have to do to achieve this goal?

The donor motor would probably be out of a F-150 with EFI. I would like to stay with EFI and get a manual transmission and just go with it.

(The guys from the big six forums suggested that people over here in the small block six part may know more about this)

This probably would be a daily driver also, so I'm less concerned about having an OE-style engine and carb, though I was thinking of painting the engine up before it goes in and making it look fairly nice for the occasional car show.

 

[CoupeBoy]

I've never done it, but there is a guy on here with a '68 Mustang with a 300

68 mustang with a 300

Most information should apply to the early stangs.

-ron

 

[CobraSix]

Just remember, the early mustangs have less room then that 68 does under the hood.

a 351 can fit into the early mustangs. The 351C is apparantly a very tight squeeze and may require some shock tower mods, but I've seen people shoe horn a 351W in there without many major modifications. Only fun time is when you change spark plugs...

 

[CoupeBoy]

From reading his other posts it sounds like he has a Mustang II ('74-78). They came with 2.3 in their first incarnation, then later got the cologne 2.8bent6 and eventually they did get a 302 in the later years. Dad's got a '77 with 302/C4, my younger brother has a '74 with 2.8/4spd (swapped in from a '76). I have no idea what they actually look like for engine bay space though.

-ron

 

[rocklord]

The 65 and 66 Mustang is the one with the small engine compartment. The 351W was a squeeze, but doable. The 67 and 68 could be had from the factory with a 390 big block, so engine width was not a problem.

A 240 and 300 are longer and taller than the 250, which has a height problem in the early Mustang with a stock hood. If you moved the radiator forward, and used an electric fan and a raised hood, you "might" get a 300 installed.

Good Luck!

 

[Lupin398]

Well it's mostly stripped and as I recall has no hood, at least attached to it, so I wouldn't mind really.

It also has no radiator..but the '69 sitting in the yard has a brand new out of the box and installed before sitting radiator...so it might have to get displaced anyway....I need to look it over really though and measure.

Are there any trannies though that will hook to the back of the big six and not require any mods for the 5-lug rear?(I don't know if it came stock or not but all the way around it has 5 lugs per tire)

 

[CoupeBoy]

If indeed it is a mustang II you are fine to leave the current suspension alone, the 4 lug used on those cars is better then the early mustang 4 lug cars. And it should already have an 8" rearend in it. You can use any transmission that fits behind a small block ford (289/302/351) provided you use the correct flywheel/flexplate.

I am now thoroughly confused however. all MII's were 4 bolt, it didn't matter which motor was in it. I thought I had heard somewhere along the lines that Grenada rotors could be swapped onto stock MII spindles (with various other bits swapped or modified) but the only way I can think of that you could even get a 5 lug rear would be to redrill the axles..

Have you ever confirmed the year on your car?

-ron

 

[FALCONAROUND]

Lupins what year is this early mustang you want to put a 300 into?

 

[FALCONAROUND]

In the other post you said you have a 1973 Mustang!

That car will take ANY engine from a Stroked 460 to a 2.0L Pinto motor and not need to be cut up at all!

The 73 is the last of the GINORMOUS mustangs, they had FE's and 429's in them up to 1973 I think... 1974 is then they got more uglier and pinto like...

 

[Lupin398]

I know I said '73. I've had my head in the gutter unfortunately I talked to my brother who owns it and it's actually a 1966. Sorry for the confusion

 

[CoupeBoy]

If I were you the least of my worries would be transmission or driveline. If you don't already have one (like it's missing now) you are going to have to get a driveline made, and whatever rearend is in there now is going to work just fine with your new driveline.

Plus if you go with a 300 the transmission options are abundant. I think NitrousNick had a recommendation for which oil pan to use or what you had to modify on your driveline to get it to work in a Mustang, the same rules should apply to a '66.

And since you don't have a hood, I'd recommend a 3 or 6" cowl (fiberglass) to clear the motor or air cleaner components.

-ron

 

[FALCONAROUND]

I agree. In a 66 you can fit the 300 but it might need firewall massaging.
It will definitely need motor mounts fabricated, the hood will also likely need to be cut up in order to clear the top of that tall 300 and the throttle body or air intake.

I think it's going to be neat!