Educating Myself Slowly But Surely

[dannystang]

OK, I have been looking on the Net for a few days and I have decided what direction I wanted to go with the car once I have one, possibly a '66 Coupe that won't come soon enough (Man I can't wait to go to the States). I'm trying to go for a sleeper, I don't want any crazy Exterior and Interior Mods, just simple, clean, and fuctional. but under the hood that is another story. I want to have a decent amount of HP maybe around (just guessing because I have no clue what I'm talking about) 350-400 HP. I don't know what engine to look into and need some help from you guys on which one I should start research on. Also please take into consideration that I am a newbie and don;t have the slightest clue about working on cars, save for an oil change here and there, and I don't want a super hard difficult one to work on. Befor I posted this I was looking into a 302 Boss or 351C at least I think that's what they were called. Thanks again and I apologize in advance because I will be posting a lot with stupid questions; you can't learn, unless you ask right?

 

[Valaraukar]

Keep in mind that anything over a 289 in a 66 coupe did not come stock, and you will have to modify more than just swapping the engine. This would involve changing suspension in the front, and probably more. Others here could explain this better.

 

[dannystang]

Yeah and that would get pretty pricey. So I suppose I should just stick with a 289.

 

[302 coupe]

for 350-400 hp, go with a 302 based 347 stroker or a 351W. It won't be super hard to work-on, just do adequate research before starting a project. You can either learn yourself or spend mega-bucks to have someone else do it(and they might not do it right). There are some good books about restoring classic stangs and even more about building high performance windsor based motors. Educate yourself, attempt it, then if you get stuck feel free to ask for help. BTW, I like your approach....I'm not too big on the flashy stuff either. So long as it performs like I want it to, it doesn't need to look fast. People 'in the know' will know whats going on under the hood.

Also, a stock 289 weighs the same as 302, which weighs the same as an aluminum head/intake equipped 351W(there's your 400 hp). And they all fit in the engine bay on the factory mounts.