1966 Mustang Questions

ok, first the swap you have in mind will be costly, as you have to change the front spindles, transmission, rear end, etc. if you have a donor V8 car, you can save time and money tracking down parts for the swap. as far as using an 8.8 rearend, it can be done, but you have to remove the fox body suspension mounting points, and weld on new leafspring pads. good idea on changing to 5 bolt wheels also. for the amount of time and money you will spend on this swap, you could go out and buy a V8 car, and have two nice mustangs in your driveway.

that said, dont be too quick to dump the six, these little 200 can be made to run pretty hard, and they can surprise many V8 cars in the process. check out www.fordsix.com in the tech section, and the forums, get a copy of the falcon performance handbook, an dthen also check out www.fordsixparts.com for performance parts for the small six, including cylinder heads that will let the little six breath. either an aussie or argentine head are bolt on deals(the argie head needs a different exhaust manifold or header though), and there are NEW aluminum heads being cast in argentina for the small six that can handle 300 normaly aspirated hp, and mike is working on an american aluminum head that can handle 400 normaly aspirated hp. there are also cams, timing chain sets, full roller rocker arm sets, pistons, etc available from mike at reasonable prices, and top notch customer service. there is a guy in costa rica who is running low 14's with a modded 200 in his stang, and there are others going as fast or faster in their six powered cars.

one more thing, jack at fordsix.com has adapted the aussie crossflow head to the american block with excellent results thus far, so stay tunes to fordsix.com and see what other stuff is in the works.

if interested i have all the parts you need for the front suspension, f disk, all the steering, v-8 mtr mounts, etc. i cant help ya on the rear...allready sold.

check the add in classic classifieds.......

as for the fox rear... 7.5" lincon 5 lug axles are a direct swap.... along with the rear disk brakes. the problem is the width, unless your planning on running late model wheels..... would still need adapters on the front. IMO i would find a 9"......... they are out there very reasonable.

If you are going to run a 289 or a 302 without too many power mods an 8" from an origional 65 or 66 Mustang would be fine. If you are going with a 351 Windsor I would recomend a 9". ALL Ford 351's from the factory that I know of had a 9". A 9" from a 57, 58, or 59 Ford will bolt up and is the same width overall. This would be your best bet. A 67 thru 70 Mustang or Cougar 9" is 2"s wider overall but will still bolt up. You may have to backspace 1" on each side to keep the tires from rubbing (not sure).

wDr187 said:

Hello, I have a 1966 mustang coupe that i'm looking to fix up. It has a I6 200ci that I'm looking to swap out for a 351W or even a 302.

I plan on going with a 351W or 302, with probably a C4 tranny but i'm still not to sure on that yet and I want to go with a 8.8 rear-end. Would I need to run the rear-end from a Foxbody? I also want to convert it to a 5 lug, and i'm sure the suspension will need to be changed as well so any ideas will help. Thanks!

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I know you can get the motor mounts on ebay pretty reasonable for the 6 to 8 swap. I bought mine from a play BigD something if that helps. As far as the c4 tranny. I just finished my restoration and I put in a c4. I wish now that I had gone with an overdrive transmission. Since I was doing all that work it would have been the perfect time to do that. I am happy with the c4 (with the exception a pesky leak I can't find).

If you are going to use it as a cruiser then 302 is pretty reasonable.
351s going in a 66 are pretty tight and most like require notching shock towers etc. It really boils down to what you are going to use it for and what your wallet can stand. Good luck either way my friend...it's fun once you get it all done.

As far as the rear ends....there's quite of bit information here about that. There are alot of threads on that if you search. Explorer rear ends, Granada, Lincoln, etc.

In your situation, there's no way I would go with a 302 over a 351W. The 351W is fairly tight in the engine bay, but it is by no means unmanageable and absolutely DOES NOT require notching the shock towers. Look around on this forum. There are numerous people running a 351W without notching the shock towers, and there are even people running a 351C without notched towers, which is significantly wider than a 351W. With that being said, I would run a torque strap to prevent breaking motor mounts and having the engine possibly contact the shock towers, but I would recommend that even with a stout 302.

The reason I say I wouldn't consider a 302 in your situation is that you're not starting with a 289 or 302 car. Many people choose to build 347 strokers presumably because they already have a 289 and/or 302 car and want all of their bracketry and accessories to work with no hassle. You, on the other hand, in converting from an I-6, have to purchase all of these things and could just as easily purchase the same parts for a 351. A 351W is essentially the same engine as a 302; it just has a taller block that creates more cubic inches. Although a 347 is similar, obviously, in terms of cubic inches, you get into issues with rod ratio and the like. I'm not bashing 347's as they are an awesome little stroker, but a 351W is the more logical and inexpensive choice in your situation and does not have the fitment problems indicated in the thread above.

It does not require a Swiss bank account to change over from a I6 to a v-8 just the knowledge to do everything right the first time and not redo it. Most people change all the suspension parts anyway do to them being 40 years old to start with and then switch to a T-5 or AOD to get the over drive. That then just leaves you with engine, drive shaft and rear EASY. 302/351s can be had for nothing if you find the right yard and can rebuild them yourself. The rear, I would suggest a 9 inch especially if your going to go with a 351. I personally don't think a 65-66 really needs a 351, but where not talking about need right. When I build my next engine it will be a stroker not a 351, basically because what was said above, all my stuff will move over.

steel1212 said:

It does not require a swedish bank account...

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Do you mean SWISS? Not sure all those Krona will be any use to you...

Yeah, thats what I said Swiss errr thats what I edited lol

Your money, get what you want. 351 has it's pros and cons, just like anything else. So many guys in here seem to want to stuff the biggest engine they can find in the car and that's fine for them, it's just not my thing. If you are cruising, then go 289 or 302. I am new as well and don't know much but I think my reasoning is sound. If you want to go cruise from gas station to gas station, then go with the 351.

66newbie said:

Your money, get what you want. 351 has it's pros and cons, just like anything else. So many guys in here seem to want to stuff the biggest engine they can find in the car and that's fine for them, it's just not my thing. If you are cruising, then go 289 or 302. I am new as well and don't know much but I think my reasoning is sound. If you want to go cruise from gas station to gas station, then go with the 351.

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What are the pros and cons you're speaking of with the 351W? A 351W is definitely not the biggest engine you can find; as I stated above, its just a 302 with a taller deck height. It's certainly no big block.
I'm not trying to be rude here, but what is your reasoning? You say it's sound, but I'm not sure what it is. The original poster said he wanted "a 351W or even a 302." If you are interested in a pretty good upgrade of power over a comparably built 289 or 302, a 351W is a very logical choice as you don't have to build it nearly as radically to get the same power. It is much more streetable at the same power level.
Insofar as your comment about gas mileage, the difference between a 351W and a 289/302 is negligible at most. In fact, for the same or similar power output out of a 289 or 302, you will likely get the same or better gas mileage out of the 351W because, once again, it doesn't have to work so hard.

65up2d8 said:

What are the pros and cons you're speaking of with the 351W? A 351W is definitely not the biggest engine you can find; as I stated above, its just a 302 with a taller deck height. It's certainly no big block.
I'm not trying to be rude here, but what is your reasoning? You say it's sound, but I'm not sure what it is. The original poster said he wanted "a 351W or even a 302." If you are interested in a pretty good upgrade of power over a comparably built 289 or 302, a 351W is a very logical choice as you don't have to build it nearly as radically to get the same power. It is much more streetable at the same power level.
Insofar as your comment about gas mileage, the difference between a 351W and a 289/302 is negligible at most. In fact, for the same or similar power output out of a 289 or 302, you will likely get the same or better gas mileage out of the 351W because, once again, it doesn't have to work so hard.

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I am not saying you are wrong for suggesting a 351... I am simply saying that he wanted a cruiser and that's what I was basing my logic on. Cruiser to me may mean something different than it does to you. I don't have to mention the pros sense you obviously know all those.... the cons....having to spend extra money on headers, exhaust manifolds. Shock tower sag on the car before you even put the engine in there. It's already tight to begin with in my opinion...but that's just an opinion....not a law. Spark plug acccess etc isn't what I'd want, but again, that's me personally, I realize you don't change them all the time, but when you do, I doubt you are saying, I am glad I put this 351 in here with a shoehorn.

And as far as the comment earlier about the shock towers. I saw a guy putting a 351C in a 65 coupe. I am not saying it's impossible to have that engine in there...it obviously is, but I think the shock towers on his particular car wish he didn't put it in there. If he'd had custom headers/exhaust he probably wouldn't have had to do that...I don't know.... I just know when I saw what he did, I didn't want the headache. Once again that's me personally.

That's my logic and it's all about priorities....there isn't a wrong answer in this situation, just different points of view. Everything has pros and cons. If it weren't there'd only be 351s running around in these cars.

I got this from someone and it seemed to work. Try this for your swap.

When changing from a 6 to an 8 it is more involved than people think because the suspension is different. To answer your questions directly:



-You need V8 spindles, upper and lower control arms are the same. You will also need V8 coil springs

-V8 uses different tie rods and there is a difference between power steering and manual steering tie rods.

-You cannot simply change rear axles, the rear end housing and differentials are completely different from a 6 to 8. You’ll have to change the entire rear end, including leaf springs.



There are other things different: radiator, sway bar, accelerator linkage, exhaust hangers, idler arm, engine mounts, engine wiring, brake assemblies, etc…