1965 Mustang L6 Engine

[199]

Hi I found a reasonably priced 1965 Mustang Coupe, 3 speed manual with the L6 engine. I have a few questions and concerns.

The car might have the 170 or 200 engine im not sure which one, but they should have around 120hp. My question is the power adequate to enjoy the car as a weekend/cruiser car I prefer a v8 but i dont have the option for that at the moment as im not in the US and the only affordable mustang I found was a L6. What type of performance parts can add to the car to boost it to around 150 or more without losing the reliability. Will the car drive 75mph comfortably.

The car is complete but needs an overhaul, paint and interior are okay. Car has rust but repairable i think, under body rust.

I thought of an engine swap at first but after reading about it, I realized it will be a headache as a lot of parts have to be replaced if it was just a direct swap without changing the rear end etc... then im might reconsider.

 

[rbohm]

you can tell quickly which engine you have, the 170 has three freeze plugs and the 200 has 5. while the power is adequate with both engines, you can build more from them with a little work. the 200 is the best platform to start with, but the 170 will do fine for the street also. you can get performance parts from Classic Inlines Performance Parts - Home including an aluminum head with removable intake that will blow the stock log head out of the water. the head and intake package runs about $2000 complete but it bolts on and uses the same heades that the stock head does.

i do however HIGHLY recommend that you dump the stock three speed trans, and swap in a T5. it is a fairly easy swap and you get a much stronger trans as well as two extra gears in the conversion. i also suggest upgrading the rear axle to an 8" from a maverick. if you want to keep the four lug wheels, find a maverick that has the 250. if you want to change to 5 bolt wheels then use a granada of V8 maverick rear end. you can update these at your lesuire though, including the brakes to front disc, four or five lug pattern as your desire.

if you want to get a lot more information from a bunch of us sixers, check out Ford Six Performance: The Web's Leading Resource for Ford Inline Six-Cylinder Engines and Cars! we have a tech section you can check out as well as forums where us six cylinder nut cases dispense solid advice on building the six.