New Guy kinda owner

Hi all,

OK so I am getting into cars and since I can not afford a Mustang, I did the next best thing... I bought a 302 engine with an automatic transmission and it just so happened to be from a 1975 Mustang II (or so I think).

The goal is to try to get it to run outside the car. All that's missing is the starter solenoid, fan, radiator, alternator, and mufflers.

I hope to buy some basic gauges at Harbor Freight and get some readings.

I can do basic things on cars, but I want to learn what it takes to start an engine, do the timing, tune the carburator, etc... I don't really care for all the SMOG crap and hope to remove it.

Will turn to you guys/gals for help I'm sure,
Greg
Sacramento, CA

thank you all for the advice, since I paid $100 bucks for the engine and transmission I can't afford over $1,000 on an engine stand, that would be just wrong, LOL, though it is a top of the line unit

I am going the wood route, I feel comfortable with wood, I wish I was that comfortable with metal, so stayed tunned and I will post some pics of the progress, in the meantime here are some pictures of the beast

by the way YouTube has some good examples of the poor man's test engine stand