CHEAP 302 Doner Car?

ks65stang · Feb 1, 2011

I'm bouncing around the idea of buying a running 302 car as a doner for my 65 coupe. Pulling the 302 installing new bearings & rings, new cam, new distributer, removing the EFI, installing an intake & carb. Strip the car of its drivetrain and sell (or give) the body to a salvage yard. I do not need a rear end but I know the Jeep guys are always looking for 8.8's. I also prefer a doner car w/ an AOD till I can swap in a T5. A T5 car would be awesome but that means a Fox Mustang which I cant find for less than $1,500-2,000 in trashed condition.

Any idea what would be a good CHEAP doner w/ best sellable additional parts: LTD, Crown Vic, Explorer, Lincolns? I'm watching Craigs List for a deal. I might even drive the beater till 30 day tags run out. Opinions? Thanks!

pyroman · Feb 1, 2011

I would think the explorer would have the most amount of sellable parts. Off the top of my head

-Driveshaft
-Rear axle
-Intake
-Heads (if you weren't going to keep them)

There are probably more things you could sell.

As far as the cheapest donor car, I would think the Grand Marquis would fit that pretty well. Only thing is I'm not sure what you could sell off of it.

tx65coupe · Feb 3, 2011

If your going to keep it carbureted, which I would, you will probably want a vacuum module controlled AOD not a computer controlled one. I would look at Crown Vics and Grand Marquis first.

zookeeper · Feb 6, 2011

Be patient and keep looking. I recently bought an '89 Mustang GT for $600 off the local craigslist. It had brand new (as in ZERO miles) Cobra R wheels and tires that I used on my '88 GT, and the T5 will go into my fastback. Lots of other stuff has sold on ebay or was sold locally and I've already sold about $600 worth of stuff. The Fox-bodied Mustangs have a real following and there's lots of little parts on them that are getting hard to find.

tx65coupe · Feb 7, 2011

I agree about that. The fox body Mustangs really do have a huge following. I'm a fan of them myself.

gregski · Feb 7, 2011

I think you need to redefine your goal is your goal to get an engine for your Mustang, or buy a cheap car to drive around, and part out, sounds like you are sort of caught up in the latter, I know the feeling

if I had $2,000 to spend I would skip the hassle of buying a donor car and buy a crate engine at least a short block, a solid one I could build on.

parting out a vehicle is harder than you think, you have to compete with Pick n Pull, or you are left with only the Craigslist cheap @sses, trust me I have tried this before

heck you could buy a cheap 302 on Craigslist and use the rest of the money to rebuild it

woodsnake · Feb 7, 2011

I think parts cars are the way to go, if you can afford the space and time to get your money back. I've been through a few of them over the years, and always done well at it.

ks65stang · Feb 9, 2011

I found a running Grand Marquee for $500 w/ an AOD, but I'm having second thoughts on a donor car. My wife is gonna bitch till its gutted & gone and I will still have to rebuild the 302 sooner or later. I'm kinda leaning toward rebuilding the 289.

I already have the Performer 289 intake w/ Edelbrock 600CFM carb, I just need to buy the cam. My local speed shop which did my 9" gears verbally quoted me around about $600 for machine work on the block and crank. I really need their expertise to know this is done correctly and they will help me order the correct pistons, bearings ect. Is this reasonable? I've found rebuild kits w/ gaskets, bearings, pistons, ect for about $350-$400. My father and I can do all disassembly and reassembly as we did a few when I was younger.

I'm on the fence to either buy a running 302 for $500-$700 and drop it in or rebuild. I need to start gathering parts a my budget allows for mid-summer.

Anybody have any opinions on these Ebay budget heads? They been selling for about $440.00. Think it would be better to rebuild the stock heads or gamble on these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...witem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_710wt_1165

Sorry I know I'm getting off topic on the donor idea.

Decurion · Feb 10, 2011

I would pass on the crown vic. They have terrible heads, lousy intakes, smaller cams than the H.O., not to mention a different firing order if you wanted to keep/sell the fuel injection harness. There are very few parts that have good resale value on a crown vic. Go for either a fox mustang or 96-01 explorer.

tx65coupe · Feb 17, 2011

I think it would be cool to keep the 289. You could build it up like a HiPo.

CHEAP 302 Doner Car?

ks65stang

Member

pyroman

tx65coupe

Active Member

zookeeper

tx65coupe

Active Member

gregski

Active Member

woodsnake

ks65stang

Member

Decurion

Member

tx65coupe

Active Member

Similar threads

CHEAP 302 Doner Car?

Member

Active Member

Active Member

Active Member

Member

Member

Active Member

Similar threads

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency