71-73 engine swap

hossdoc said:

Can you simply convert the mod to a front sump pan? What is your best guess as to the modifications required to the crossmember and the steering components? A little nip and tuck to the crossmember is no real issue, however reworking the steering system is not something that I want to trailblaze. I know just enough about suspension and steering geometry to know that I am not the one for this task. If there were a front steer rack and pinion, double A arm, coilover setup on the market for this car I would soooo be there! Oh Griggs, where is your conversion kit for the '71????

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you can change to a front sump pan, but you will have to mod the pan yourself, and move the oil pump pick up as well, and yes both of these mods are harder than they sound on the surface, but easier than changing the big body to a front steer system with all its attendant geometry changes.

71-73 mustang 4.6 swap

I've been reading this tread and thought I'd share my brain. I have been into the 71-73 stuff for a while and love the restomod cars. I'm currently working on a website with all my pics and info. I'm in the process of building a really cool restomod 71 mach 1. I'm dropping a 4.6 2v PI crate engine into the car. I have a canton front sump style oil pan and pick up,tinman universal 4.6 engine mounts and telorvek wiring harness to make it run. Comparing measurments,the 71-73 front frame rails are 4" wider center to center. so,subframe connectors that list for 65-73 wont fit 71-73's The rear frame widths and cross measurments are identical 65-73. Only thing that changes in the rear is the rail heights once the rail goes past the rear axle. so,all the fancy rear coilover and airride set ups will bolt right on or work with minimum modification. Biggest issue is the stock gas tank interfering with an optional sway bar or wattslink that is offered with alot of those kits. Looking at the mod motor measurments,it looks like it will pretty drop in with minor trimming. the brake booster and master cylinder might be an issue. If so,that will be relocated under the dash. If the towers have to be cut back,I'll probaly do away with the upper control arms and use the fatman fab front coilover conversion which deletes them and the front strut rod crossmember(making more ground clearance) I'll keep you informed once I have it mocked up,should be in a couple weeks. The only reason i decided on this motor was because I was looking for efi and overdrive trans and by the time I built the cleveland,bought all the parts,tranny and all related parts,massflo efi,etc. I would have been over $15K. I found a whole entire new 4.6 engine and trans crate combo for a quarter of that. Now,with this engine the I've opened a ton of options for aftermarket turbo and supercharger set-ups. I have considered using a logan motorsports intake which resemmbles the 3v intake and locates the throttle body to the front of the engine(for looks). There is also the edelbrock 4.6 intake/tb and massflo efi set up that resemmbles the old school carb look with the breather sitting up top. This set up would allow me to adapt the factory style ram air breather. hope this info helps. I'll keep you informed.

Where are you located? AJE Racing would like to work with you on a new frontend for the 71-73 if you are in the Indiana area.

I'm acually in MD. I checked out the AJE racing kits before because that would have made the engine and suspension swap a breeze. But,the 70 mustang kits wouldn't be wide enough for the 71-73's. I would have definately been interested in working with them but,I'm already too far along to turn back. -Jeff

hossdoc said:

Pushrod Power: To the best of my knowledge the 71-73 never came with a 460. The only engine options listed in any of my reference guides; 250 (6c), 302, 351, BOSS 351, and the rare 429CJ. I had heard that the 71-73s were designed with the BOSS 429 in mind but never got the engine. I had figured that if a 429 fit with no mods that the new mod motors would be no issue. I wanted to verify that before dropping any money on one. I am building a street/open track car and don't want all the extra weight of a big block up front. I am sure a pushrod would be cheaper in the long run to build from the ground up but am still kicking around the possibility of efi and eventually a turbo. Just checking all my options. Thanks for the input though.

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The "385" engines, 429 and 460, are externally identical. Use aluminum Ford Cobra Jet heads and aluminum intake and you're down to smallblock weight. Such an engine would easily produce 600 hp, no need for turbo.

mod motor swap

hello everyone! Been a while since I've been on here. I finally finished the install of Ridetech rear 4 link airbar setup. A few minor modifications and it fell into place nicely. The 4.6 2v Mod motor fits like a glove with plenty of room to spare. I have the motor tucked back and up for ground clearance. Being that its sitting much higher now,I will have to raise the driveshaft tunnel an inch or so to clear new larger aluminum driveshaft and the brackets for the console/lever style ebrake(from an 04 mustang) The stock brake booster is retained,will need to use explorer style master cylinder because brake lines will need to exit on drivers side to avoid valve cover. The stock exhaust manifold fit perfectly on passenger side but,drivers side just touches the steering box. So,right now,I'm looking at either building some custom headers or building my own rack and pinion setup to work to allow more room. I want to go with TCP front suspension with shockwaves and that is next on the list aswell as finishing my exhaust system. I'll keep pics posted as I go along. should have my site up and running soon.

Sounds interesting.

yay for the wide body...............i would love to have rack and pinion.....i hate my steering, but there is nothing readily available to upgrade to.........

well,there are choices for rack and pinion for 71-73 mustangs. Trust me,I've been doing extensive research and talking to alot of people in the business. The cheapest one would be from Fatman Fabrications which comes as a kit which includes a new lower cradle to support a-arms,99-04 stang spindles ans struts and an escort steering rack. upper control arms and strut rods are deleted. Cost is around $2k and you'll need to supply,the rack,spindles,struts and a few other misc things. Plus,you'll need to invest in an aftermarket steering column although, the stock column will work with a ton of modification. The things I don't like about the kit are,its throw together with parts from other cars and can't possibly be engineered properly for the car. Which means you won't know what to expect until after you've bought it and put it on the car and or lose control while driving because of Bumpsteer,loss of turn radius,Ackerman effect,etc. I Highly recommend you contact them for the install sheets before purchasing because after you see all the hacking you need to do to the column and shock towers,the escort steering rack needs to be modified,ties rods have to be extended and threads have to be extended,spindles turn arms have to be cut off and lower boss' have to be ground to keep lower balljoint boot from tearing and the list goes on. Once you see all bullcrap you'll have to do,you'll most likely change your mind.
The second choice is,RRS (australian company) has just announced a rack and pinion set up for the 71-73 mustangs in either left or right hand drive configurations. Cost is $2500 plus shipping and doesn't include pump,lines,etc.,thats all extra. Haven't asked them if the kit if designed for they're strut suspension or if it will work with stock suspension. I'm hoping it will work with stock suspension but,waiting to hear back from them to confirm. At this point,I want to stick with a readily available header so,I might buy the RRS kit for my car. I don't want to make custom headers and then if they rust or break down the road,I have to build another set. I don't like the idea of spending $2500+ for rack and pinion either.....

ok,well I broke down and bought the RRS power rack and pinion set-up. The prices were aus dollars and with shipping to usa came to $2300 us dollars. Kit comes with complete rack,all mounting brackets,hardware and a special shaft and u joints to connect to my existing column. Should be here in 3 weeks. Also ordered my aluminum driveshaft,should see that in 3 weeks aswell.

71-73modstangs said:

ok,well I broke down and bought the RRS power rack and pinion set-up. The prices were aus dollars and with shipping to usa came to $2300 us dollars. Kit comes with complete rack,all mounting brackets,hardware and a special shaft and u joints to connect to my existing column. Should be here in 3 weeks.

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did they confirm that it worked with the standard front suspension ??

it sounds like no serious mods are required to install this???


please keep us posted about this,,,,,,,steering really is the only thing that i want to do something about.......

thanks

yes,its made for stock style suspension and or they're suspension setup,etc. They're strut suspension setup does away with the upper ca's but,steering attachment locations are the same as oem. I just throw on my oem outer tie rod ends so,they the rack can attach to my existing spindles. Kit includes mounting brackets which utilize factory steering box and idler arm mounting holes. Then I will have to modify my oem column to fit the new steering linkage. At this point,I may just go ahead and buy an aftermarket steering column which is already set up for rack and pinion. Plus,my aftermarket wiring harness is set up for gm columns anyway.

71-73modstangs said:

Then I will have to modify my oem column to fit the new steering linkage.

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what mods have to be made?? i sort of like my column..........

i wanted a tilt wheel, because my seats are kinda high, and the only thing i could find was out of a 72 cougar,

i had to remove the lower interface, i have no idea what it's called , but it is splined and we had to use a dead blow slide to remove it.....

then we pressed in my original spline thing....

i also had to splice in every wire because the plug was different//////

so, i'd like to keep it if possible...........

mudbilly said:

i wanted a tilt wheel, because my seats are kinda high, and the only thing i could find was out of a 72 cougar,

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Should be no problem, since Mustang and Cougar had the same column.

2+2GT said:

Should be no problem, since Mustang and Cougar had the same column.

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well then, it must have been the difference between the 72 and my 73......

in order for it to bolt up, i had to remove the splined bottom end from the 72 and re-install the splined bottom end from my 73, it was the only way that i could make the column attach to the steering mechanism under the hood.....

it bolted up fine inside the cabin..

and the electrical plug was different, so i had to plice in all the wires...

but , all is good,,,,,,,,,,

mudbilly said:

well then, it must have been the difference between the 72 and my 73......

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Yeah, Ford made changes each year. Annoying.

I don't have the directions in front of me but,from what i can tell,you'll have to either cut or replace the existing shaft in your oem column to allow for a DD shaft and universal steering ujoint. If I go with an aftermarket column,I'll probaly sell my tilt column. The tilt columns for 71-73 stangs are the same,the only thing that changes is the switches. The 71-72 ignition switch harness is shorter than 73,or vise versa. The 71/72 turn signal switch has different plug than 73 and hazard button on 71/72 switch is alittle round button,73's used a rectangular button clearly labeled "hazard". I have a 71/72 tilt column,NOS 71/72 ignition switch and a good used 73 turn switch. Probaly unload all together on ebay.

well, i know how to replace the lower shaft..............

the only problem i have with my column is that it has some up/down play in the tilt mechanism.........but it doesn't seem to affect turning.........

please keep us posted......

71-73 Mustang rack and pinion update

Well,Just wanted to inform anyone who may be considering the rack and pinion set up for the 71/73 mustangs, offered by RRS.....DONT WASTE YOUR TIME!!!! Their website clearly states that they are offering bolt in 71-73 power rack and pinion set up. I ordered the kit back on september 6th 2010. I was told 4 weeks or less to complete and recieve order. Once week 10 had past,I had enough and threatened to cancel my order. so,they sent me a kit and once I tried to install it,I noticed they sent the incorrect mounting brackets. so,I was basically sent anything to keep me from cancelling my order. The owner kept calling my telling me the brackets are on the way,etc. He keeps giving me the run around and he we are at 4 months later. From what I have been reading they are like this with every order. I don't know how they expect to stay in business. What pisses me off more than anything is how much this kit cost. They also charged me for shipping,then sent the item to me with a COD for additional shipping costs. So,now the US customs sais i owe them money plus,whatever it cost to ship it back to them. This company knew exactly what they were doing and completely ***d me. I didn't have a choice because they are the only company offering 71-73 rack and pinion and I need it in order to clear my Mod motor swap. If I would have known this,I would have built my own Mustang II front end.