200 L6 to a 289 v8

poohbertino · May 24, 2005

289 v8?

I just bought myself my first 68 mustang coupe!! And it came with an l6 200cid and I wanted to buy something a little bigger for crusin so I was thinking in getting a 289 that is also a redone 68. My question is how much would it cost me( an approximate), if I were to go to a shop, to take the old engine out and put in the 289 ? and will my original 3 speed tranny work with new engine? any advice would be nice!!

krash kendall · May 24, 2005

It's a little more than just swapping motors (which would take a good shop about a day). You have to get a new torque converter, possibly upgrade the tranny and rear end, and definately upgrade the front end with V8 (five stud) brakes. Having a donor car is almost a neccessity. Do a search on this site for more details.

The cost can vary so much depending on how resourceful or inclined you are, so I will leave to somebody else to dare give an estimate. I don't feel like playing "The Price Is Right" with half the world's mustang owners!

geostang351 · May 24, 2005

I've done the conversion and it involves alot of leg work that MOST shops won't do. WHy use a 289? They are no longer produced and the 302 is so much more available. Granted, there isn't much that seperates the two but......

It is a lot of work

poohbertino · May 24, 2005

Thanx for the advice! So instead of changeing the engine, do you there any upgrades that I can put onto my L6 so as to increase its performancea bit? I am not trying to race it, I simply want something a little stronger so it could sound and run better when I ride it!

geostang351 · May 24, 2005

I'm not trying to scare you out of it. I could give a quick price for all upgrades with motor as long as u do all the work. Do you have the motor already? Do you want to upgrade that at all? Give a little info and I'll be happy to help

krash kendall · May 24, 2005

It all depends on how many miles are on the engine. A good condition I6 motor may show a little more life with a tune up, while a high miler' may need anything from a new carb to a ring and valve job or a full rebuild.

steel1212 · May 24, 2005

Its not complicated its just knowing what all you need before you THINK you have what you need. I could try to give you a list but I've long since forgotten a lot of little things that I have put into it but you can do some research, google and here, and get a good idea. I can tell you a few things you will need:

engine mounts
frame mounts
new rear
all new suspension ( I do mean all, you can use your control arms but I just got new ones instead)
new steering if your going to use headers (I replaced all of this as well)
I would switch to a t-5 or tko depending on your hp output (there are several kits for this)

krash kendall · May 24, 2005

I also agree with geostang (as usual), in that you shouldn't be afraid to do the swap if you have access to some basic tools and parts. I've done the conversion on two cars and I will say there is no magic involved. It's a lot of bolting and unbolting components with some sweat equity.

302 coupe · May 24, 2005

swap to a 250 6 cylinder. Its a direct swap, and will offer more hp and torque than you currently have. With a split header and a mild cam, it should be pretty easy to get 175-180 hp from it.

fastdave · May 24, 2005

The gas pedal linkage is different & the fuel line is longer for the V8 too.

poohbertino · May 24, 2005

302 coupe said:
swap to a 250 6 cylinder. Its a direct swap, and will offer more hp and torque than you currently have. With a split header and a mild cam, it should be pretty easy to get 175-180 hp from it.

Forgive my ignorance on this subject, but I was unfamilar of the 250! This sounds like a good Idea, maybe someone could give me some more info on this engine and where I could get one! I checked ebay and I had no luck!

By the way this is my first car as you can tell!!

geostang351 · May 24, 2005

Um., I'm no genius and don't claim to be one, but do they still make those? I don't think there is market for this motor thus not much out there to modify with.

poohbertino · May 24, 2005

I think what I am going to do is tune up my L6, keep it for a few months and save enough to get a nice 302. I really appreciate everyone for their advice!!

rbohm · May 25, 2005

check out www.fordsix.com for information about hopping up the little ford six. the 250 is not a direct bolt in, but it is close. you would need to swap to the 69-70 250 chassis and engine mounts, and use the V8 bellhousing and transmission, but you need a zero balance flexplate or flywheel depending on the transmission. as for part for the small six, check out www.fordsixparts.com mike sells a number of performance parts for the six, including cylinder heads from australia and argentina that have removable intakes. he also heas headers, cams, full roller rocker arms, full roller timing chain sets for the 200, and coming soon an all new aluminum head that is supposed to support 300 normaly aspirated horse power!!

steel1212 · May 25, 2005

fastdave said:
The gas pedal linkage is different & the fuel line is longer for the V8 too.

I knew I would forget the small stuff like fuel line

red65 · May 25, 2005

Before I actually did this conversion (I6 - to an EFI V-8), I had a set of headers from a company called 'Clifford' (don't know for sure that they're still around), and I had a custom 2" dual exhaust system bent for the car with Dynomax Super Turbos. It didn't convert the car into a rocket ship by any means, but it seemed to run a little better and it sounded much much better than the stock putt-putt exhaust note.

From a distance at low speeds, you could have mistaken the sound for a mild V-8. It made all the difference to me with the 6-cylinder. I hated the way the stock engine sounded and the new exhaust note made it tolerable - for about 12 years, anyway, when I got tired of it and did the V-8 conversion, including front and rear end, braket, trans, etc, etc, etc. As these guys have said, doing the I-6 to V-8 conversion is a heck of a lot of work to do correctly... worth it to me, but not to everybody.

krash kendall · May 25, 2005

Offenhauser used to make all kinds of products for sixes that I didn't know existed untill I had a 250 in a '69 chev pick up.

200 L6 to a 289 v8

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