Questions first before the story
-How much does this thing weigh?
-What rear end does it come stock with (I've googled and come up with 2.35 which I thought was wrong, and 3.08, which sounds plausible).
-What should it run in the 1/4 stock? One thing said 16.04 but I really expected it to be a bit faster.
Long story short, my dad likes to take on projects, start, get rather far, stop, and never finish.
I have decided to confiscate one of them. He has an 83 Mustang GT 4spd that has been sitting for at least 18 years, if not 20. WHY, you ask? because it was a black on black car, and he wanted to switch it to grey, got the black out, and never put the grey in...
Yes, 20 years later, I'm fairly confident I could put an interior in it ;) Well, and I'll be going through the suspension, brakes, varnish (I mean gas) tank, etc.
I don't remember a lot, but I know it's got an 85 front bumper, around 100K miles, engine has been rebuilt, and it's in pretty nice shape.
My problem is that I am torn on this project and what to do. One the one hand, I can keep it all original (If I can find the original black interior, and front bumper), enjoy it as is, maybe just some mild mods that can be reverse (like a rear end change, maybe a cam swap, headers, etc). Or I can do whatever I want with it. Which would either be a mild build 302, or even a 351.
I almost hate to take a relatively all original 83 and mod it. You really really don't see many of those cars running around these days. It may or may not be worth any money, either now or in the future but I almost feel I should keep it stock.
Or I would love to have something that runs 12's in the 1/4, sounds sexy, and looks nice to drive down the road. I also thought about pulling the original 302/4spd, setting them off to the side, and swapping in either a 351/5spd, or an 89-93 GT 302/5spd. (either engine will have some work done on it).
In my possession right now, I have the following potential goodies laying around.
Stock 302 in it
A stock 351 out of an 89ish E150
Eaton M90
I was really considering the 351 swap until I read it was much heavier than a 302, usually requires a cowl hood (I DETEST cowl hoods btw), and needs a lot of specific parts to work. I'm sure I could get enough power to satisfy my person with a modified 302, but I thought I'd get some opinions.
I've pretty much settled on a 3.73 or 4.10 rear end gear. It would really wake it up with the 4 spd, and still be a decent choice for the 5 spd swap (I'd be towards the top of 4th depending on what cam/RPM I shift at with either rear end gear) I won't lie and pretend I know a lot about fords or 302's in general (I am normally a GM guy) But for a free car I'll sport a ford, that, and ford V8's sound SO MUCH sexier than GM's V8's.
In my limited knowledge of fords I have a guess of what might make a decent engine.
-89-92 GT engine
-GT40 aluminum heads (I've heard they are a great inexpensive stock explorer item, don't know what years though).
-aftermarket cam (not sure which, but I'd like to be able to rev to 6500, or 7000 RPM).
-Full exhaust (headers, H-pipe, and all)
-Raise the comp up to say 10, 10.5:1 more if anyone says I can
-I've read, that using longer rods will get you more power/reliability. Reducing piston speeds, and increasing dwell time if I remember correctly? I don't know what rod choices there would be if any to accommodate that, but if there are I'd love to know.
-Balance the rotating assembly
-Don't know if I'd go EFI or carb. I've never dealt with a carb, (mine has carb presently), I'd prefer EFI just because I'm used to it, and with todays technology I'd think getting a stand alone I could program would be easy for a V8.
What kind of power would an engine built like that make? Obviously cam choice, and carb/efi would make a big difference but a ball park would be swell.
What will need done to the stock T5 to make it last?
Will the stock 7.5 rear end survive (I have no idea if it is strong or not).
I will take any and all suggestions you may have. Thanks
-Brandon
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