74 engine swap

Get a 5.0 drivetrain for that car!

A couple of questions for you to think about while making your decision:

-How important is originality vs. performance?
(i.e are you more likely to show or race your car).

-How good are your mechanical skills?
(i.e. can you do the work yourself or will it be farmed out)

-How much money do you have available for the project?
(related to the previous question)

And here are some options in rough order of expense and difficulty:

1. Hot rod your current 2.3L engine
2. Transplant a Turbo 2.3L EFI engine
3. Transplant a 302 or 5.0L 4bbl engine
4. Transplant a 5.0L EFI engine

Your 1974 has an additional issue in that the radiator support is too close to the location of a 302 engine to get a radiator in the usual place, requiring either placing the radiator on the outside of the support or changing the support to the '75-'78 type. This makes options 2. and 3. a lot closer than they would be for the later MII's. For the later MII's I would reverse these two options.

Another way to bypass the engine compartment issue would be to choose a more exotic (i.e. untried ) engine swap. The 3.0L or 4.0L V6 and 3.8L engines would fit without moving the radiator support. But all three pretty much require EFI.

The easiest way to do any engine swap is with a donor car present to remove parts from. The MII is a pretty easy car to swap engines in because all three factory engines used the same basic front-end parts, with only wiring, springs and the engine stands being different.

Let us know which option you would be interested in and we can discuss in more detail.

hey, i have an original 76 cobra II w/ a 2.3L from factory, I am seriously debating swapping it out for something else... but im not sure because I dont know how many cobra II came with them in 76 or how many are left out there... also I wouldnt mind modding the engine in there after a rebuild to make it more powerful because the stock 4banger isnt enough for my enjoyment but it will be just fine if I decide to show it as original if there arent that many out there like mine. plz advise...

Im just finishing a 351W swap into my '74. Its been a 6 year project, and its cost about 3 grand (me doing almost ALL the work) so, judge for yourself..... Do you have all the time needed?? Do you have the funds?? (I did rebuild the motor, and the auto trans (AOD)) ......and the cutting, welding, hammering, general frustration, trying to find headers, upgrading the rearend (if needed) etc.
Plus with a V8, your front end is quite a bit heavier, you may need new springs and maybe brakes. then the car wont handle as well.
If you want a manual tranny, your best bet is to find a MII bell housing. Ive seen one in my life!

Im not trying to discourage you, but its a LOT of work. Where I think a turbo 4 would be a lil easier. of course, its a lot more wiring.

There are a bunch of folks hotrodding the 2.3L for dirttrack use. A good one can make in exces of 250HP, but at RPM's (7000-10,000) that would not be useful on the street.

I scanned an old magazine article on hotrodding the carb'd 2.3L which has some good advice on levels of tune that would be usable on the street. I am working on a combination of their Stage1 and Stage2 which should be worth 150HP or so at a more streetable 5500RPM.

I'm basically looking at about 10:1 compression, a 4bbl carb and intake, a hotter cam, and a header. Should be OK in a 2800 lb car with a 4-speed.

Here's the link: http://www.dpo.uab.edu/~bmclean/pages/m2_faq2.htm

There are several folks that have installed the carburated 302 or 5.0L in a 1974 Mustang II. Here is a link to one: http://www3.sympatico.ca/craig.robertson1/

The '74 MII has a radiator support panel that is straight across the engine bay. The '75-'78 radiator supports have an extension towards the front to provide more room for the V8. You can either mount your radiator to the front side of your current straight-across radiator support, or transplant in a '75-'78 radiator support, or build something custom. With the last 2 cases you will need a new method of holding down the hood as the stock hood latch will no longer fit. I've seen several folks using hood pins.

This amount of custom work is not a lot (considering that you are putting a V8 in a car not designed for it), but its why I asked about your skill level and resources. The MII is relatively easy to swap engines in. You just have to mind the oilpan sump as the rack and pinion cannot be moved.

Remember...doing an engine swap with a donor car makes it MUCH easier. I'd be looking for a '75-'78 V8 MII that's not running to pull the parts you need.

Good luck and let us know what you decide!

I did the 302 swap in a 74 Mach 1 that I had. You CAN use the original front end and radiator support. I'll tell you how I did mine and you can decide from there. You have to get a custom radiator built that is actually longer than the original for cooling purposes. (dont do the radiator until the 302 is in) When you install the 302 either omit the fan entirely and use electric on the front of the radiator, or do what I did and remove the fan spacer and use a HP flat flex fan. bolt it directly to the water pump. This leaves an amazing 1-2 inch gap between the fan and the radiator. The bite is this, if your in a fender bender the fan IS going grind the snot out of the radiator. Which is exactly what happened to my poor 74, may it rest in pieces.
But since it was totalled anyway it didnt matter. Sooo as everyone else has said you have to decide but my vote is for a V-8!!
Theres no replacement for displacement!!

Hi everybody, i just had to join the forum because i stumbled upon this thread when looking for engine swap stuff on google.

I bought my 1974 stang after someone already did the engine and trannyswap, but what i didn't know was that there was some small (but anoying) problems i (still) have to work out to get it through swedish inspections.

My biggest dilemma is that the exhaustpipe connected to the original ford exhaust manifold, shafes against the steering column (see picture).
My question is: What type of headers did you guys use on your engineswaps?



Can you recomend blockhuggers? And would i have to tinker with my enginemounts to get those to fit?



Heres my baby in its present condition: http://www.metasyntactic.se/mustang

Laslo, V8 blockhuggers will not work with the crossmember in a Mustang II. You will need to use Hooker or Hedmann headers. I bought my Hedmanns for around $150 from Summit. I am surprised to see that the pipe interferes with the steering column; I've never seen that before. It makes me wonder if your exhaust manifolds are not stock. The manifolds were specific to the V8 Mustang II.

Naw, those are probably not from any stang.
More likely they are from a galaxy or something like that, not sure actually
Do you have any part numbers on the headers you got, i would appreciate it.

Well, I got my thumb out and browsed around on SummitRacing a little.
Are these the headers in question:

Hedman

Hooker