upgrades

[Anonymous]

Hello my name is Aaron. I own a 1968 Mustang 200, and I'm looking to start upgrading my car. As of now it's in pretty good running shape, and is all stock engine wise. I don't have the time, or resources to be doing heavy mods such as on the intake, but I would like to do some stuff here and there.

I have been reading up on upgrades people have done here, and did order the ford six book yesterday. Curiously I was wondering what was the first thing you all upgraded, and how well did it work? I would prefer if I could get help on finding "bolt on" upgrades that add to the car really well, but I know that won't exactly happen so anything as close to bolt on, or with as little serious modification as possible.

Particularily I just want to upgrade my car to be a really nice daily driver. I'm not looking to go crazy into racing or anything, but trying to pass a car can be ridiculous at times with the stock autolite 1100. I want at least some power so that it's there when I need it.

Eventually I would like to put on headers with a good exhaust system, but when money and time permit. For now I just want easy, relatively affordable stuff to put on. Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks!

-Aaron

 

[t-west]

Hey there Aaron, and welcome to the game of upgrades!

Ignition and carburetion -- I have a 66 block, so changing one meant changing the other (see SCV sticky if you're wondering why). You, however, have the '68, which means something different in this "connection," but I'll let others address that.

The first thing I did was add a DSII. People here go back and forth between adding Pertronix to the ignition vs. the DSII, but since I ordered the Pertronix and they sent me a V8 unit, I got fed up and ordered new DSII from my local parts supplier.

The second thing I did was order a H/W 5200 and adapter from Stovebolt, the latter I've recently replaced with a clifford unit.

As you can guess, these upgrades hover in the $100 range, so they can be done a bit at a time. One caveat -- prepare to do/pay more for everything you buy. I've found that as I upgrade, I create a number of "new" issues that I have to resolve. It's never as simple as it sounds. For example, even with something as simple as the chrome valve cover I ordered, I still needed to go to Kragen and buy new rubber grommets, then a crankcase breather (chrome of course).

The other mods are similar -- Sure you can buy the DSII (and "adapter," cap, rotor, and module) but you'll also need new wires because the old ones are too small, some lengths of wire to color code it/get it to fit, wiring connectors, and black wire covers to keep it clean (if you wish). With the carb, I needed a bunch of jets to get it to work right, a new drop base air cleaner with custom hold-down to get it to clear the hood, and some new linkage parts.

Another relatively inexpensive upgrade is to buy the passenger's side 1/2 of a dual exhaust setup (like Mustangs Unlimited sells -- one "section" at a time) and a turbo muffler and weld it up to your stock exhaust. That's just a little over $100.

I bought a C7 250 head with the valve job and milling already done to it. It was a bolt and go deal, but that was a bit more expensive. Really easy to do, and I've never cracked open a motor before (unless changing the pan gasket counts).

I do kick myself that I didn't put in a cam when I had the engine out. Now it'll be that much more difficult.

I've been very happy with the performance of my six. I'm just bothered that I have had so far to go with other issues on the car. I should have bought one already much further along, but that's another story.

 

[CZLN6]

Howdy Aaron;

And welcome to the journey.

Knowledge is "Power". This Forum is a gold mine. Search and read, read read.

Your first purchase should be a shop manual for your year. It will be about $50. Next study and assess what you want when you are done. Then create a plan. T-west makes a great observation. Two of the rules of chasing improved performance are- what ever it costs, it costs more, and however long it takes, it takes longer. Plan for these rules too.

Each part of an engine is part of a complete system. To be most effective all parts must work together in harmony. Even the smallest change effects the whole team. Tuning and learning to tune are a critical part of getting the most out of the team of parts. To that end a vacuum guage, a tach and a timing light are very helpful.

Once you have a plan, research it completely. Know that the devil is in the details, so research every detail. The more thorough your plan is the more efficient you will be, both with time and money.

While you're studying and planning, get to know your car thoroughly. It would be helpful for us to advise you if we knew the casting number on the head and block, what tranny and rear gear ratio you are starting with.
It would also be helpful if we were to know what your mechanical abilities are and if you have a support staff. If this car a daily driver, or a garage queen?

And- while you're getting the plan up, spend some time and money on getting the most out of what you have. Your '68 distributor has both centrifugal and vacuum advance- which is good.
*Set it up with an additional 5 degrees of initial advance over stock.
*When it's time for a new set of spark plugs try a set one step colder and gap them at .040".
*Make sure your thermostat is no higher than a 180. Duct cold air to the air cleaner inlet.

Know that FoMoCo reduced the flow capacity on the Autolite 1100 carbs in '68, when they removed the Spark Control Valve that went with the Load-a-matic distributors. The Pre '68 1100s on the 200 engines flowed 185 cfm, '68 and '69 changed to a 150 cfm flow rating. The '70 and later 200 Carter YF carbs are back up to a 187 cfm rating. The earliest YFs have a narrower bolt spacing and smaller throttle bore then the later ones, although this is not a big problem. This would be a nice upgrade for you, next time you need a carb rebuild or work. This carb is compatible with your stock ignition, as it has a ported vacuum source for the vacuum advance.

That should get you started.

Adios, David

 

[ludwig]

1) fuzzy dice

2) if not available, then hula girl.

3) FSPP stickers