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Cariboospeed

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Mar 13, 2008
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Thought I'd better introduce myself here.

I'm about to set into the restoring process of a '78 MII. The car is owned by a very dear friend of mine, and I've got a year to get it done. The body is pretty decent, a few dents. Need a rear bumper and a new set of rear/quarter window louvers, and a front spoiler.
The floor is a little sketchy, going to need some welding, but nothing major.
Suspension needs every bushing, ect. probably rear springs, and will maybe look at tube a arms.

Driveline is 302/4speed. I want to update it to something injected and 5 gear. I'm going to assume that even the newer 3.8-4.0 v6 make more power than the original 302. With gas prices today, I'd prefer v6 over a 5.0, but if a 4.6 swap isn't too complicated, I'm game for that idea as well. I'm not concerned with making a ton of power, more with 'easy to drive' and reasonable economy. Don't want to get into an engine for this, prefer a lower mileage wreck.

Interior is all there, I'll swap in some better seats, new carpet, kicking stereo....

Lot of sentimental value in this car, and it needs to turn out nice, and will share a garage with a Solstice when it goes home. Look forward to tearing into it and hope you all can help with your advice and experience.

View attachment 320473

Aiming for something like this as the "After" Open to different wheels.
View attachment 320474

Cheers, Tom
 
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Welcome aboard!

Looks like a nice project. A few bits of info for ya...

The quarter louvres shouldn't be a big deal. Still somewhat reasonably priced and available. The rear bumper may be a bit of a bear to dig up. Your best options would be: 1) Find a good used one, and possibly pay through the nose for it, 2) fiberglass reproduction, or 3) fabricate a replacement steel support and hope that the bumper cover can be made to fit and look right. The King Cobra airdam like in the second pic you posted? Ouch! I've seen JUST the airdam sell for anywhere between $450 and $1600!:jaw:

The easiest swap if you want EFI and 5-speed would be to buy a later-model Fox Mustang and swap the engine, tranny, and wiring harness as a unit. You'll need to keep some parts from the original engine (like the oilpan/pickup tube), but the later 5.0 is basically the same block. Another option would be to just build the engine that's in it now. Sure, its stock output was rather pitiful, but the torque was still far better than most (but not ALL) V6's, and the same hop-up parts that bolt onto the earlier 302 bolt onto the II 302 just as easily (with some exceptions, like headers)

4.6? Yeah, it CAN be (and has been) done, but it requires a LOT of "making stuff fit" and would also require ditching the brake booster. Lots of go=not much stop is a bit of a scary mix...

Wherabouts are you located?
 
I'm in Quesnel. And you, the hemp basket, Surry perhaps? (I'm from the Island) :nice:

After some reading/surfing, I find you are right, a 4.6 looks like a bit more work than this car needs. Will likely make a deal with a wrecker for a whole driveline. At the very least, swap in a T-5 and some bolt ons for the 302 thats in now.

I do some fiberglass stuff once in a while, if I can't find one, I'll have a go at making one. Might not look exactly the same...rear bumper too.

Suspension bushings....only ones I can't seem to find are the leaf spring bushings. Any ideas?
 
Well, when I first put my location in, I was referring to Burnaby (1 in 7's a grow op...), but I moved to Newton last fall:D

I spend a fair bit of my spare time over at Forgottenpony's shop in Poco

What part of the Island? My mom lives in Port Hardy.

If you want to go with the 5.0/T5, I'd look for either a recent write-off or a rustbucket runner. That way you KNOW you have a complete donor, and there's no surprises when you start fitting it together and find missing bits...

Check out the fiberglass airdam Tony (Forgottenpony) posted on the other site from the car show. Apparently, the guy will reproduce them.

On the suspension, I think the rubber leafspring insulators are like V8 engine mounts. Best you can hope for is to find a decent used set, fabricate replacements, or delete them and modify as needed.

Definitely try to make it down to the coast for the show in June, man. Tony's hosting a BBQ the day before, as a kind of meet & greet for the II owners. His shop is right across the street from where the show is held.
 
Duncan's more a suburb of that Nanaimo town, eh?:D I'd like to move to that area before I retire. I'll probably end up more remote, though, up near Port McNeil.

Yeah, the one where he posted the fastback drag II with the pink stripes, his wife all cuddled up to Chip Foose, and the coupe with the airdam. I can't remember which thread, but it was recent...

Last year's show only had I think three II's, but Tony posted a video in his "sounds of summer" thread. In the video, you can see part of the fence near his shop:)

For this year, we're muscling in on the action a bit more, just to remind the rest of . the Mustang crowd that we exist, despite them and the hotrod butchers :devil:There should be more than a handful of .net members showing up, so it would make a great way to get to know some of us. There's a few I've been looking forward to meeting myself.
 
lol, Duncan is half way between Nanaimo and Victoria. Just opened the biggest walmart in Canada there. Kinda glad I left, its right across the street from where I used to live. Development has been crazy there. I used to be able to do a 3-4 block burnout right through town back in highschool. Now its gridlock for a few hours every day with all the traffic. Even places like P McNiel and Jordan River are getting pressure and developed. Have to be careful, lots of times the infrastructure isn't there to support the increasing population and things like "Running out of water", happen.

Can't find the thread, will have another look later.
 
Well, I've been told that I should be inheriting a building lot in Sointula one day. I can't imagine EVER dealing with gridlock there, eh? At the moment, I deal with a commute Newton to Annacis Island to Burnaby and back every day:(

I'll be over at Tony's this evening, so I'll find out which thread he posted the pic in...