Swaping a 200 into 1971 bronco

[rae61]

I have found a 200 from a 82 Fairmont and want to put it into my 71 bronco which has a 170 and manual trany. Will my bell housing bolt up to this motor?
This year of Fairmont has a low mounted starter will this be an issue? Are there any issues, good or bad with using a motor from this year?

Thanks.

 

[rbohm]

8) no your bell housing in the bronco will not bolt up to the fairmont block, the patterns are way different. you need an 80 or earlier 200 block if you want to keep your current manual trans. that said if you are willing to do a trans swap, you can use a modified V8 bell behind the late 200 block. check out the tech articles on the home page here on how to make the V8 bell work.

 

[bmbm40]

rae61
The guys on this forum are a wealth of information. Get the Falcon Performance Manual.
I replaced the 170 in my 66 Bronco with a 1979 200 and the added power was a nice improvement. The 3 speed trans was always a drawback as I live at 4200 feet elevation with lots of mountain passes. So recently I put a 250 and a five speed (NV3550) in my 66 and have been very pleased. The 250 six has the v8 bell housing opening up more choice in transmissions. I remember considering an 80-82 200 and the bell housing mods to use v8 compatible trans at one time but decided to just look for a 250. My point is you may want to consider that 82 200 and a different trans. If you live at lower elevation with not to many hills or mountains a good running 200 and five speed would perform well. One drawback is the NV3550 swap is kind of expensive, mine was about 1700 with trans, adapter kit, flywheel, clutch etc. There is some info on classicbroncos.com about six cylinder broncos and alternative transmissions. Good Luck.

 

[rae61]

That is very good information, thanks. I will look for a pre 1980's 200 as I really don't want to change the tranny at this point. I agree that the 3 speed leaves allot to be desired, I do live close to the rocky mountains. I'm hoping that with a 200 and some engine mods I won't have to be looking over my shoulder when I hit the hills. If I could hold 55-60 mph on moderate hills I would be happy for now.

 

[Explorer]

Your 3-speed will be fine, just don't go overboard on the tire size. Most four speeds are still 1:1 in high gear till you get to the overdrive's which will be no help, you'll just be shifting into 3rd gear anyway. Plan your engine mod's carefully for what you want. Building a 200 for a Bronco and 4:10 gears, is different than building one for a Mustang or Maverick. Torque is your friend, not horsepower.

 

[rae61]

I think I found a donor 200CID for my Bronco, it's a 78 Fairmont I believe this has the small bell housing and high mounted starter?
The motor has 80k and is running in the car,so I can check it out. The car is in excellent shape both inside and out, it's a daily driver right now.
I can pickup the whole car for $650. So this is my crazy idea, instead of pulling the motor and sending the rest to the junkyard I would swap my 170
into the car and sell it for a few hundred and drop the cost of the engine. I'm thinking that this sounds to easy and there is probably
a reason why the 170 won't work in the car..........any thoughts?

 

[Explorer]

Sounds like a plan. Plus that 78 will already have a DSII ignition. More money saved.