O.k so recently my grandfather passed away and he bought a 1987 SSP Mustang back in 1991 when it was de-commissioned. This car was his baby and his project car and he started by building the suspension as he pulled the rear out of the car and installed the suspension out of a '93 Cobra, 8.8 inch rear with c-clip eliminators, Strange 31 spline axles, Strange 3:73, diff girdle, aluminum drive shaft, and full length subframe connectors.
Shortly there after he got sick and eventually passed away and my father got the car and started piecing parts together here and there but then lost interest in the car and it literally sat for about 10 years. I finally convinced him to sell the car to me and brought the car home last weekend.
My question is this motor for the most part is basically stock. I noticed that it has full length headers on it, MAF and upgraded alternator as the alternator looks like it was just installed. The motor has never been replaced but has about 135k on it, most of it put on the vehicle by the police who I am sure laid a serious beat down on it.
I have a box of spare parts of it along with a PA AOD with converter, and a brand new gear drive.
Well I am planning on re-building the motor as this motor smokes quite a bit and I can tell it's on it's last leg so I need some advice on what to do. My funds right now are a bit tight as I have invested quite a bit of money in real estate so I am going to build this motor slow. I have searched several times and see a lot of people saying to just buy an already built shortblock but I can not afford that upfront.
Basically I want to find a good block, buy a set of pistons, have it cleaned up and bored out, properly build the solid short block with girdle and ARP studs. Install a good set of heads with cam and intake manifold and 100 shot of nitrous. So my questions is if anyone here can give me some guidance on a good place to start as I would love to have a displacement of about a 331 or so but don't know where to start looking.
What block should I go with? I have to keep this motor in the car now as my wife will kill me if I am not able to move it, so boring this block out is not possible. Is there a machine shop in the Portland area that can do good work that you would recommend? I am shooting for about 350-400whp and have read while searching that the stock block is good to about that point but I want to shoot a 100 shot of NOS so is there another block other then the Dart or Sportsman block that can handle that sort of power without letting go?
Damn this got long, I apologize but would love to read your recommendations from the people who have already done it as I am going to have to buy this piece by piece and like doing things right the first time if at all possible.
Shortly there after he got sick and eventually passed away and my father got the car and started piecing parts together here and there but then lost interest in the car and it literally sat for about 10 years. I finally convinced him to sell the car to me and brought the car home last weekend.
My question is this motor for the most part is basically stock. I noticed that it has full length headers on it, MAF and upgraded alternator as the alternator looks like it was just installed. The motor has never been replaced but has about 135k on it, most of it put on the vehicle by the police who I am sure laid a serious beat down on it.
I have a box of spare parts of it along with a PA AOD with converter, and a brand new gear drive.
Well I am planning on re-building the motor as this motor smokes quite a bit and I can tell it's on it's last leg so I need some advice on what to do. My funds right now are a bit tight as I have invested quite a bit of money in real estate so I am going to build this motor slow. I have searched several times and see a lot of people saying to just buy an already built shortblock but I can not afford that upfront.
Basically I want to find a good block, buy a set of pistons, have it cleaned up and bored out, properly build the solid short block with girdle and ARP studs. Install a good set of heads with cam and intake manifold and 100 shot of nitrous. So my questions is if anyone here can give me some guidance on a good place to start as I would love to have a displacement of about a 331 or so but don't know where to start looking.
What block should I go with? I have to keep this motor in the car now as my wife will kill me if I am not able to move it, so boring this block out is not possible. Is there a machine shop in the Portland area that can do good work that you would recommend? I am shooting for about 350-400whp and have read while searching that the stock block is good to about that point but I want to shoot a 100 shot of NOS so is there another block other then the Dart or Sportsman block that can handle that sort of power without letting go?
Damn this got long, I apologize but would love to read your recommendations from the people who have already done it as I am going to have to buy this piece by piece and like doing things right the first time if at all possible.