THE REBUILDING

The engine I went with for the swap is a 302w about early 80's that I got in parts about a year and a half before I even got the stang (now thats thinking ahead haha). I got it as a block with crank and pistons still in it, two heads and a bucket of bolts....on reflection this was not a good way to go because it meant endless time in scrounging up parts and bolts, anyone wishing to do a swap....please get a long block and save yourself a lot of grief. Anyway I got the local machine shop to check it out, it was fine but had to bore it out to 60 thou over to get one bore to clean up (bummer). They balanced it and assembled the bottom end and I got it back as a short block with the cam and timing chain to be installed. They did not give me the specs on the cam but I told them to give me something more than mild but yet still reliable and reasonable idle, I know its a lunati with about a 480 to 500 lift. The timing chain is a double roller and a std Melling oil pump.Anyhow enough gabbing, here is the pics and I will explain as I go.

The pistons are new flat top with valve reliefs.
The alternator is the original 6 cylinder, I pulled it apart, disc sand the case and polished it. I then installed new inside parts from a reman from car quest and it tested great.
The heads bolted on. These are the original heads off the engine and have big valves, I got them fully rebuilt but had to take one head back off because they missed a broken intake bolt (me too). The fan is tempory, it is too big and hits the top radiator hose.

More parts on, The intake is a Edelbrock 289 performer with a Edelbrock 600 CFM 4 barrel with electric choke on top plus a 3/4 inch carb spacer.I relocated the dipstick from the side to the front which makes me think the engine was out of a F150. The valve covers are also temporary cause after start up they leaked on the lower corners, so I went with cast polished covers. I was not happy going with the std ignition system, I wanted to delete the coil, wiring and module to give the engine a more less cluttered look. I found a new billet HEI dizzy for a great price and boy it is big but looks great....looks like the 14inch air cleaner is bye bye too lol.

Getting engine ready to lift in.

I had to take a few things off to make it easier to drop. The headers are Tri-Y's for that nostalgic sound and more lower end torque.

Its in and all buttoned up, you can see the big dizzy and the ten inch Edelbrock air cleaner to clear it, I could have used a spacer between cleaner and carb but was worried about hood clearance.On the right is the block off plate for the fuel pump, I fitted a electric pump on the front of the tank and ran 3/8 fuel line to the back of the engine with a pressure gauge and regulator for a cleaner look again.

A good shot of the flex fan and thermal clutch, I had to space out the water pump pulley to line up the fan belt, apparantly the vintage mustangs timing chain covers are one inch wider then the early 80 ones. The water pump is for a 68. The right pic shows the polished stainless steel power booster, it is brand new and the master is rebuilt and they came as a unit.

Here is the HEI billet distributor. Only problem here apart from the obvious 14 inch air cleaner clearance henceforth the use of a 10 inch, is the amount of room for adv/retard movement.One way it hit the intake and the other way hit the heater hose outlet. There is enough room for any fine tuning but I was forced to have the dizzy vac hose close to the top radiator hose. I may try to pull the dizzy around one tooth but I think the ignition leads will be too short to allow much rotation(unless I rewire the cap).As it stands it works fine.

Shot showing the billet accelerator linkage I made out of 1/4 hex allumium with Heim joints left and right male threads so I can adjust it while in place.

Left pic here shows the radiator overflow tank, it is stainless steel and the radiator is a 3 core. All hoses were stainless steel braided (hint...use silicon spray to get them on without wrinkling the braid). I also fitted a chrome Monte Carlo bar(Caliifornia Mustang) for strut tower bracing for the extra weight of the V8 (They like to cave in and crack on stangs).