D. Hearne and others, junkyard help please!

Hack · Aug 11, 2005

I bought a parts car this winter for the T5 trans. Well, the motor runs great and I'm having trouble selling it, so I've decided I'm going to toss it in my '70 vert as cheaply as I can. Many of you know that my plan is for a 351C in the car, but I'm going through a divorce right now and $$ are tight.

So...
The motor is from an '89 Mustang. I'm going to run a carb in it. I have a cast iron 4 bbl intake from an 80s pickup. I already have a 600 cfm Holley I plan to use.

I think I need an '85 Mustang distributor (steel gear, vacuum advance), but I am unlikely to find one in a local junkyard(at least not cheap). I have a Pertronix set up, so I could use an older points dist, swap in a gear and go. Any recommendations on the best cars to find the gear and distributor from?

I think I need a new oil pan (front vs. rear steer)? What can I pull that out of?

I'm going to use the existing C4 for now, so I need a flex plate with a 50 oz balance, I believe. What are the common sources?

Will my existing motor mounts work? If not, where can I get some? Anything else I will need for this swap?

I'm looking to do this as cheaply as possible. I prefer not to buy anything new, and I don't have access to cars much older than about '78. The local junkyards seem to think anything more than 30 years old is made of gold. I guess it must be to not have rotted away up here!

ashford · Aug 11, 2005

for the dist go to napa and ask to look at the book. they have an option for a steel gear dist on all years, don't know why but they do. it cost about $65, with any duraspark core its cheaper. they even had one on hand when i bought mine.

to the best of my knoledge you can pull an oil pan and oil pickup off of any 302-289 with a front sump, there are subtle differences in them but i dont think it will matter as long as it cleares the drag link.

you will need new motor mounts, and to locate the motor mount brackets.

as for the tranny you will need a different bell housing, possibly a different torque converter(c-4's confuse me) and a flywheel of an 83 up 302

D.Hearne · Aug 11, 2005

If the car already had a small block in it, the mounts will work, even if it had a 351C. As for the flexplate, you're going to have to buy an aftermarket one, Ford never offered the C-4 with a 50 oz/in balance flex. The AOD's all used a 164 tooth bell. If your C-4 had the larger bell then you're set. As for the dist. gear, you're also going to have to buy that new. The ones on the EFI roller motors have a larger diameter shaft than the points distributors used.

Hack · Aug 12, 2005

Thank you guys for the feedback. So..
1. New/rebuilt distributor is $60 + $30 core locally
2. New flexplate about $100
3. I'm going to buy a Holley electric fuel pump $100 (forgot to mention before)

The oil pan should be cheap. Then I need exhaust. I think I've been told before that my 250 motor mounts are compatible with V8 mounts.

This stuff adds up fast! Oh well, I think it's worth it to get a V8 in the car.

cougar_68 · Aug 12, 2005

You can get a chrome oil pan off ebay for like $30.00. Atleast you could when I got mine.

302 coupe · Aug 12, 2005

Hack said:
Thank you guys for the feedback. So..

The oil pan should be cheap. Then I need exhaust. I think I've been told before that my 250 motor mounts are compatible with V8 mounts.

This stuff adds up fast! Oh well, I think it's worth it to get a V8 in the car.

I don' think the 6 cyl mounts will work, not sure on a 69, but they don't in early models.

Yeah, it does add up fast! Its hard to do this stuff on a tight budget unless you have a lot of resources at your disposal. I think you'll come out pretty good on this swap though.

D.Hearne · Aug 12, 2005

Hack said:
Thank you guys for the feedback. So..
1. New/rebuilt distributor is $60 + $30 core locally
2. New flexplate about $100
3. I'm going to buy a Holley electric fuel pump $100 (forgot to mention before)

The oil pan should be cheap. Then I need exhaust. I think I've been told before that my 250 motor mounts are compatible with V8 mounts.

This stuff adds up fast! Oh well, I think it's worth it to get a V8 in the car.

Check the classifieds here on SN for a flexplate, there's occasionally one there. Don't waste your money on that Holley pump. You can source a low pressure electric pump locally. The one I've got on my 89 Ranger is a Purolator 30 gal/hr electric and cost me $25. Yea, it's not a super high volume, but so far it's kept my 331 fed, even though full power runs in the 1/4 mile and up to 145 mph. And that's with THREE carbs.

krash kendall · Aug 12, 2005

Isn't the torque converter on his C4 with the existing I6 different from what he needs for the V8? Isn't the ring gear on the torque converter in the I6 cars?

Hack · Aug 12, 2005

krash kendall said:
Isn't the torque converter on his C4 with the existing I6 different from what he needs for the V8? Isn't the ring gear on the torque converter in the I6 cars?

The ring gear is not on the torque converter on my car. I believe it would work for an early small block V8 application. AFAIK I could use the existing torque converter and flex plate if I was bolting the 351C to the existing trans. It's just that the 5.0 has a different balance requirement.

Hack · Aug 12, 2005

D.Hearne said:
Check the classifieds here on SN for a flexplate, there's occasionally one there. Don't waste your money on that Holley pump. You can source a low pressure electric pump locally. The one I've got on my 89 Ranger is a Purolator 30 gal/hr electric and cost me $25. Yea, it's not a super high volume, but so far it's kept my 331 fed, even though full power runs in the 1/4 mile and up to 145 mph. And that's with THREE carbs.

Cool! Thanks that helps a lot!

So, with a low pressure pump like that, is a pressure regulator up by the carb required?

I'm not going to push this setup (go to the dragstrip, etc). I don't expect the I6 C4 can handle a lot, so I'm going to try not to break it. My stock 8 inch rear should be fine for the moment, I hope.

Hack · Aug 12, 2005

cougar_68 said:
You can get a chrome oil pan off ebay for like $30.00. Atleast you could when I got mine.

Thank you for the advice. Just so you know, I'm REALLY cheap.

I'll probably go to the pick-a-part and get one for around $5. I don't mind too much lying on my back for a while in the junkyard. Actually, it's a good time, IMO. Hopefully I can find a pickup where the pan will come out without lifting the motor or anything.

Hack · Aug 12, 2005

302 coupe said:
I don' think the 6 cyl mounts will work, not sure on a 69, but they don't in early models.

Yeah, it does add up fast! Its hard to do this stuff on a tight budget unless you have a lot of resources at your disposal. I think you'll come out pretty good on this swap though.

I'll have to pull the I6 and check it once I find the oil pan. I guess I'll mentally prepare myself that I may have to spring for mounts. They aren't too spendy anyhoo.

ashford · Aug 12, 2005

im pretty shure that the 250 has the same bell housing as a 144-170-200 and thats different from a sbf. it's the 240-300 that share the sbf bellhousing

D.Hearne · Aug 13, 2005

Hack said:
Cool! Thanks that helps a lot!

So, with a low pressure pump like that, is a pressure regulator up by the carb required?

I'm not going to push this setup (go to the dragstrip, etc). I don't expect the I6 C4 can handle a lot, so I'm going to try not to break it. My stock 8 inch rear should be fine for the moment, I hope.

I'm using the cheapest Holley regulator with the Purolator pump simply as insurance. I had a bad experience with an electric pump on the 427 Stang back in the 80's. It doesn't take much pressure to sink the floats in a Holley and get a good flow of gas running down into the intake.

Hack · Aug 13, 2005

ashford said:
im pretty shure that the 250 has the same bell housing as a 144-170-200 and thats different from a sbf. it's the 240-300 that share the sbf bellhousing

This is one I can answer. I've had the 250 out of the car and on my engine stand. I bolted up my 351C and 302 to that same engine stand without repositioning the mounting points. The 250 has the small block V8 mounting pattern.

Hack · Aug 13, 2005

D.Hearne said:
I'm using the cheapest Holley regulator with the Purolator pump simply as insurance. I had a bad experience with an electric pump on the 427 Stang back in the 80's. It doesn't take much pressure to sink the floats in a Holley and get a good flow of gas running down into the intake.

I'll set mine up that way too. I'm too much of a newby with carbs, I don't need any extra problems to troubleshoot.

MustangMatt1966 · Aug 13, 2005

your 8 inch rear will be fine, but if you end up pushing more than like 375 horse, your gonna want a 9. i run low 13's with a built 8, and still hasent broken (knock on wood)

Hack · Aug 13, 2005

MustangMatt1966 said:
your 8 inch rear will be fine, but if you end up pushing more than like 375 horse, your gonna want a 9. i run low 13's with a built 8, and still hasent broken (knock on wood)

I guess I have nothing at all to worry about if an 8 can take that much. I think this motor made about 200 when it was new. It's probably around 150 now, being that it has 110,000 miles on it. It still broke the tires loose in second with 2.73 trac-loc gears in my parts car.

Hack · Aug 19, 2005

I thought of another question. I want to install an inertial shut off switch with my electric fuel pump just in case I'm ever in an accident.

I think a full-size Ford like a Crown Vic would be a good donor, as they are very common in yards around here.

Any one know where the shut off switch is located in common Fords? And what does it look like?

Thanks!!

TheShagg · Aug 19, 2005

Check out ebay for the flexplate, they are around for $50 or less if you shop on there for a while. You need the 157 tooth 50oz version.

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