1966 inline six mustang noob

A

atticmustang

New member
Hi guys, I'm new to mustangs and this forum, so don't be too hard on me if I write something stupid. Also, pardon my english, I'm from Belgium.

Alright, so I bought a ford mustang coupe 1966 with a 200ci inline six engine in it. That was a couple of months ago. It is, supposedly, completely stock.

It drives decent, but the shift stick is a bit loose. When I'm not holding it with my right hand, it makes an annoying buzz that's pretty loud. Any simple ideas on how to fix this? Or should I just take it to a mechanic?

Second, it's a 3 speed manual. Starting in first gear goes well. In second gear I feel like it's doing a lot of rpm fast, so at 30-40 mph I feel that I need to shift to third gear. But when I shift to third gear, my car makes a completely different noise, it's very quiet and seems to be doing few rpm. Is this normal? When do must people with an inline six have to shift their gears?

Third, since I would like my mustang to be a pretty reliable daily driver, I'd like to upgrade a few things with a professional mechanic. (everything from classic inlines.com)

1. DUI Distributor kit for ignition (do I need this whole kit?) / 500 dollars
2. Autolite 1100 vaporizer (without hot air tube, I don't need this right? It seems to be a cosmetic upgrade) / 420 dollars
3. Cam Package, lobe center: 112, cam profile: 264/264 Hydraulic, spring: 302 (up to 270 dur) / 270 dollars

In total for about 1000 dollar upgrades. Is this a good investment? Any other suggestions that could give me more bang for my buck? I suspect it to raise my hp a bit and also give me some extra mpg. Later on I hope to be able to get a T5 transmission in there. But for now, that's too expensive and it seems too soon to do such a heavy mod.

I know that I have a lot of questions, but as a noob, I need to learn a lot. ;)
 
Have you thought about getting some head work done?
You could probably find a cheaper route for the spark and fuel, and put some of that money into having the head milled, ported, and valve back-cutting.

I'm not a transmission guy, but it sounds like it's time for a rebuild or replace, go to a real transmission shop, not a general auto service shop.
 
To do the cam in these engines you have to remove the head so thats the time to do head work. When you replace the cam you replace lifters. When you are doing that stuff you might as well get a timing chain set. If you have it that far apart I would just pull it out of the car and have a good look at everything else. This is also a good time to do cleaning on both the engine and engine compartment.
 
Thanks guys, I'll look into that.
Maybe it would be better to get a good T5 now as a first upgrade since I don't want to put a lot of money and time in the old one if I want to replace it in the long run.
 
Howdy!!

Welcome to FFSP!

DUI: get it, it's way simple, and not much hassle at all. Run a relay is what I recemend.
1100v: it's cosmetic, I got it because I want to push it's limits, but I am even thinking of switching to a MegaSquirt II system... 3x1 45mm ITB's
CAM: if your sticking with the 1bbl, go 108 lobe for torque, then advance the range to be at 1000 for the min, you'll need the new timing chain set. Some cams are ground up, so you'll need to advance it 4* to make it 'normal' then 2* to lower the range by ~500rpm at a time... so my cam for example is 1600-5200 rpm and 2* more would put it at 1100-4700rpm range... the more narrow lobe center gives more low end power, great for torque. and more lift helps torque also, so mabye a higher ratio rockers.

That's a penny for my thoughts... warning, save 3x time initial guess and spend it all, you won't be disapointed. and take time to understand it all before you 'dive in' by asking redundant questions, it saves money and you'll know exactly what your getting.

Good Luck!!!

Richard
 
get the falcon handbook.it has lot of info on these engines and which parts work best.it also details swapping other transmissons in.the falcon is very simular to the mustangs.it won't answer every question but i have a good understanding of the small six from it.i reference it about once a week.it tells things like which year head will give the most power.
 
atticmustang":2xm85jtj said:
Hi guys, I'm new to mustangs and this forum, so don't be too hard on me if I write something stupid. Also, pardon my english, I'm from Belgium.
Click to expand...

dont worry we dont shoot foreigners here :LOL: :LOL:

Alright, so I bought a ford mustang coupe 1966 with a 200ci inline six engine in it. That was a couple of months ago. It is, supposedly, completely stock.

It drives decent, but the shift stick is a bit loose. When I'm not holding it with my right hand, it makes an annoying buzz that's pretty loud. Any simple ideas on how to fix this? Or should I just take it to a mechanic?
Click to expand...

the stock shifter is a simple one to deal with. if you pull back the shifter boot, you will see two bolts that hold the handle in place. there are supposed to be a rubber grommet under each bolt specifically to eliminate that buzzing noise you are complaining about. there are also two spring loaded cups on each side of the handle to stabilize it as well. remove these two bolts, and replace the grommets and the spring loaded cups. national parts depot as well as many other mustang parts suppliers have a kit that runs something like $6 or so plus shipping.

Second, it's a 3 speed manual. Starting in first gear goes well. In second gear I feel like it's doing a lot of rpm fast, so at 30-40 mph I feel that I need to shift to third gear. But when I shift to third gear, my car makes a completely different noise, it's very quiet and seems to be doing few rpm. Is this normal? When do must people with an inline six have to shift their gears?
Click to expand...

likely then you have a set of 2.83 rear gears. that means that your car is set up for cruising the highways rather than around town driving. you have a couple of options i will describe later.

Third, since I would like my mustang to be a pretty reliable daily driver, I'd like to upgrade a few things with a professional mechanic. (everything from classic inlines.com)

1. DUI Distributor kit for ignition (do I need this whole kit?) / 500 dollars
2. Autolite 1100 vaporizer (without hot air tube, I don't need this right? It seems to be a cosmetic upgrade) / 420 dollars
3. Cam Package, lobe center: 112, cam profile: 264/264 Hydraulic, spring: 302 (up to 270 dur) / 270 dollars

In total for about 1000 dollar upgrades. Is this a good investment? Any other suggestions that could give me more bang for my buck? I suspect it to raise my hp a bit and also give me some extra mpg. Later on I hope to be able to get a T5 transmission in there. But for now, that's too expensive and it seems too soon to do such a heavy mod.
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I know that I have a lot of questions, but as a noob, I need to learn a lot. ;)[/quote]

good choices, my advice though is upgrade the ignition system like you want, and then upgrade the head with a two barrel carb conversion and porting. that way when it comes time to rebuild the short block, you can add the cam at the same time with a minimum of expense, and the head package will be a better help than a cam at this point. i do like the cam you selected, the 112 lobe centers will improve low speed torque nicely.

now as to your transmission/ rear gear issue. your options here are;

1: live with what you have

2: change the rear gear to a lower(higher numerically) ratio, say a 3.50:1, but you will lose top end speed.

3: change over to a T5 with a 3.50:1 rear gear. use the V8 T5 as they have a better gear ratio spread imo.
 
atticmustang":3nzoefwo said:
(without hot air tube, I don't need this right? It seems to be a cosmetic upgrade)
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If you’re referring to the heat tube that feeds hot air to the automatic choke, then you’re definitely going to want that functioning correctly if it is not currently, or you can switch to an electric choke. Either way you’ll want a functional choke for drivability.

I agree the Ford Six Performance Handbook is a great place to start. It will not only teach you a good deal about what you have and it’s potential versus cost, but it also has tons of great info regarding the various upgrades and performance enhancement possibilities along with what type of results to expect from each when done in isolation or combination.

My fortune cookie’s worth of wisdom:
It’s important that you take stock of your long run goals for the car in terms of affordability, safety, efficiency, performance, purpose, etc, and then be as informed and honest with yourself as you can about those goals. It’s not that your plans can’t or won’t change over time, but the last thing you want to do is invest too much time and money only to realize later that you didn’t end up with the results you truly wanted.
Welcome aboard!
 
Wow, thanks guys.
I'm definitely ordering the falcon performance book.

Seems like fixing the shift stick is a simple issue, so that will be done today.
I am getting more interested in the T5 since it will fix a lot of things at once for me.
 
Frankenstang":3m48lt72 said:
...It’s not that your plans can’t or won’t change over time, but the last thing you want to do is invest too much time and money only to realize later that you didn’t end up with the results you truly wanted.
Welcome aboard!
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X2
 
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