'92 SHO in '70 Cougar (questions)

i forgot about that t5 swap with the toyo bellhousing

you will need to make an adapter plate to bolt between the aerostar bellhousing and the t5 tranny...easy enough...I made a cardboard template, and cut it out of 1/2" aluminum plate....the pilot bearing is a pita, you need an old 289 pilot bushing machined(turned down) to fit inside the SHO crank....the clutch(other than being hydraulic) needs to use a SHO throwout bearing(you have to make a collar to retain it inside the aerostar throwout bearing assembly) you also need a SHO flywhee, Mustang II V6 clutch disk, and SHO pressure plate...in other words, the swap is a pain in the ass, but I was able to complete mine for the most part(except for the pilot bearing) at home in my garage. One note(other than a 70 cougar being a bit heavy for the SHO torque to easily move) is that SHO parts are discontinued and when you find them they are expensive...for example, a full gasket kit for the engine is $700...the cost of 2 rebuild kits for a 302...you may want to consider a duratec engine, 3.0 or 3.5, you can use the 5 speed from a lincoln LS I think?(or t-bird, cant remember which offhand) the duratec is still in production, parts are relatively cheap, and there is some aftermarket

As a fellow Cougar owner, I'm curious about your motivation. Why not stick with a traditional V8 in that platform? Why go through the hassle and headache of it all, when a 351W will waaaay outperform 3.5 liters of anything........