B RON CO":2np0csfo said:
Yup, some had low mount starters, but not all. It was compartively rare.
viewtopic.php?f=76&t=60556&p=586983#p586983
xctasy":2np0csfo said:There was no roll out of exclusive "Big Bell" 3/4 SBF low mount block 3.3's on 1980 to 1983 manual transmission Fox Fords. All the "In 1980, Ford revised the castings of the 200 to incorporate a low mount starter" statement in archive/www.classicinlines.com/V8Bell.html
is incorrect as there were concurrent highmount blocks made till 1983 model year, and they are more common than low mounts.
Low mount Big Bell blocks are probably less than half of all 1981 to 1983 Fox 3.3 blocks, the rest are the ages old dual pattern high mounts.
I qualify this because C3 transmissions are very common from 1978 to 1983. Its the default gearbox in most DSO areas. The High mount C4's are common from 1978 to mid 1982, when the C5, always a low mount, big bell block, became the standard option in some DSO areas. Then there was the continued 4 speed SROD option,concurrnet with the T4 in 1981,and each always high mount. In 1982 to 1983, you could only have automatic sixes, and the C3 is still listed, the C4 wasn't, and the C5 was. Evidence from most reports seams to favour the C5 as being more popular, but there are many 1983 C3 equiped Zephyrs, Fairmonts and LTD's.
Some 1981-1983 Fox bodies were technically the only cars with big bell 200's. All of them commonly had the football cat exhaust with 4.5" outlet.
Check for the CJ232AB front rocker decal, should be grey colored rocker and block.
Some Big Bell's were filtereed thru' on C4 and C5 equiped Fords from 1980 to 1983, but all high mount C3 auto and SROD/T4's had either the D8BE 6015 GE block casting my C3 auto 1981 Mustang had,
or this E1BE 6015 FA casting.
Lots of manual 3.3's were made between 1979 and 1981 model years in Foxes, and a heck of a lot more High mount C4's and C3' automatics. The 4.2 option from 1980 to 1982 in Fox Capris, Mustangs just made people pick up the 3.3 in line six, so it sold in H-U-G-E numbers.
Depending on which Fox you had, the Essex V6 either replaced the 4.2 V8 Granadas and non XR7 Cougars in 1982, or augemted the stanadrd 3.3 in Zephyrs, Fairmonts and 1983 LTD's. The 3.3 was last made in 82 Mustangs and Capris, but kept on for 1983 in the Zepyr and Fairmont, and was an option in the LTD and Marquis compact Foxes that year. .
A few more notes. proving just how many high mount block 1980-81 cars were made.....
In 1981, a few high mount block 3.3 T4 gearboxes came out as an option in Foxes, and look just like 5.0 and 2.3 T5's; they are just missing the over drive inside. SROD's continued to be the most common 79-80-81 manual 3.3 gearbox, again a high mount block.
Even 1981 Mustang Cobras and 1981 RS Capris came out with in line six 3.3 SROD's and T4's in them, so consequently, people think those rare 3.3's came out with T5's. They didn't. Take up was pretty low for T4's, probably less than 10000 for all 1981 Foxes. We've seen about 3341 Mustang hatches alone listed with high mount blocks with T4 gearboxes listed for 1981, and then there was the Fairmont where it was optional, and an unspecfified number of Capri and Mercury Zephyr's; just how many we don't know because the data has been lost in a "Fawn Hill-like" file trash after the Mercury division got downgraded.
At the same time, the Fox Capri and Mustang 2.3's came out with RAP U shift 5 speeds, a reworked 2.3 four speed with a wack job over and down 5th gear postion, and common option from 1980 to 1983 in 4 cylinders.
But all 1980, 1981 3.3 liter i6 manuals were high mount blocks, and all C3 autos and some C4's were also high mount from 1980-1983.[/quote}
