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Will a 390 fe motor bolt up to a 351 cleveland transmission in a 73 mustang

8K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  ScoTFrenzel 
#1 ·
I have been working on a 73 mustang for my nephew, the car had sat for 5 years and he had not heard run, so i got it running, so long story short motors got a bad knock, and burned valves, so he found a 67 390 out of a thunderbird that runs like new, low miles, body of thunderbird is junk, for the price he can sell the body for scrap and make money, steel is $9.00 a hundred pound in N.C. car has a good c6 tranny, if the fe motor wont bolt up to the tranny in his mustang, how much trouble would it be to put the c6 in the mustang as far as tranny tunnel space, being able to use factory shifter, motor mounts fitting, Your help is needed Thanks Wormy.
 
#2 · (Edited)
Mr. Wormy said:
I have been working on a 73 mustang for my nephew, the car had sat for 5 years and he had not heard run, so i got it running, so long story short motors got a bad knock, and burned valves, so he found a 67 390 out of a thunderbird that runs like new, low miles, body of thunderbird is junk, for the price he can sell the body for scrap and make money, steel is $9.00 a hundred pound in N.C. car has a good c6 tranny, if the fe motor wont bolt up to the tranny in his mustang, how much trouble would it be to put the c6 in the mustang as far as tranny tunnel space, being able to use factory shifter, motor mounts fitting, Your help is needed Thanks Wormy.
The 73 should accept all the T-birds stuff including the C6. You might run into rear mount and driveshaft issues but factory parts if still out there will solve them. The shifter will work.

Mounts should be available, the 429 with C6 was an option for that chassis and the 1969 and 70 version of the 'stang which uses a kissing close chassis to the 71-73 mounted 390s, 428s and 429s so FoMoCO parts ought to be available and usable with minimum modifications at worst.

You'll need an engine matching radiator in there to cool that monster.

Headers and exhaust manifolds are available but pricey.

Bogie
 
#3 ·
You're actually in for a lot of work stuffing a 390 into a 71-3 Mustang chassis. While it will fit you will need some one off custom stuff, motor mounts, and exhaust for starters. The FE series (390-427-428) never came in those years from the factory, by 71 they had been replaced with the 429 series of engines for the Mustang. It's not a common swap (the only one I ever saw was in a magazine about 20 years ago) since there aren't any factory parts for doing it.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for your help, my nephew will have to make the call on the swap, If it was easy it wouldn't be rodding. He could sell the 390 and get a good Windsor, and have money left over, but the FE looks mean with the factory chrome valve covers- POWERED BY FORD-plus it has a 31 spline, 56 inch wide, flange to flange 9 inch, my nova is 54 1/2 seems like a good labor trade :pimp: Well thanks everybody i will keep you updated Wormy.
 
#5 ·
gregb said:
You're actually in for a lot of work stuffing a 390 into a 71-3 Mustang chassis.
:nono: It's a bolt-in using '67-'70 mounts for a Mustang that came with an FE w/ C6, which is the automatic that would have come behind one. If the T-bird trans is a column shift though, the lever on it will have to be changed to work correctly with a Mustang floor shifter.
 
#6 ·
Mr. Wormy said:
Thanks for your help, my nephew will have to make the call on the swap, If it was easy it wouldn't be rodding. He could sell the 390 and get a good Windsor, and have money left over, but the FE looks mean with the factory chrome valve covers- POWERED BY FORD-plus it has a 31 spline, 56 inch wide, flange to flange 9 inch, my nova is 54 1/2 seems like a good labor trade :pimp: Well thanks everybody i will keep you updated Wormy.
Yeah, this should be too hard if you can find the parts from the generation just ahead of 73. Ford really didn't make too many fundamental changes between these. A little wider stance for exhaust clearance and bit more frame stiffness were the big changes and that kind of stuff is outside the powerplant/driveline envelop. The chassis is designed to accept production line differences in engine mounting from the base inline 6 to the 429 Super Cobra Jet.

The one thing I'd highly recommend with the 390 is an aluminum intake. This engine is quite heavy and the somewhat odd design of the FE where the intake is almost a third of the head makes at least a 50 pound difference over the cast iron intake. The Edlebrock Performer FE would be my choice as it really hangs onto the power curve in the upper revs. The stock cast iron unit and the Edlebrock Performer 390 aluminum job both die very quickly above 4000 RPM. You'll be pleasantly surprised with the Performer FE it really wakes up a 390 even without a cam change.

Bogie
 
#7 ·
The edelbrock intake sounds like a winner, a new cam lifters and all seals and gaskets, will be replaced along with a new fuel pump, water pump, new dizzy did you know you can get a replacement dizzy for a 390 for 40 dollars from, O rileys comes with a new vac advance new points and all, cheep insurance, new seals in tranny and new filter. I think i have a good tranny cooler somewhere, nephew is gona owe me :mwink: Thanks for all the ideas my nephew will be over saturday morning to pull the 390, supervising while having a beer will be hell but hes family Wormy
 
#8 ·
Mr. Wormy said:
The edelbrock intake sounds like a winner, a new cam lifters and all seals and gaskets, will be replaced along with a new fuel pump, water pump, new dizzy did you know you can get a replacement dizzy for a 390 for 40 dollars from, O rileys comes with a new vac advance new points and all, cheep insurance, new seals in tranny and new filter. I think i have a good tranny cooler somewhere, nephew is gona owe me :mwink: Thanks for all the ideas my nephew will be over saturday morning to pull the 390, supervising while having a beer will be hell but hes family Wormy
I think we're in a position to appriciate what you're doing for your nephew than he realizes at this point in his life.

I think back to the guys that taught me whan I was a kid, like most, if not all, kids thinking I knew the answers I'm sure I was a PITA to them.

Bogie
 
#9 ·
FE's are kind of touchy engines, get a good manual and follow it to a tee, especially when removing and reinstalling the rocker shafts. I could never really ever get used to pulling the rockershaft, arms and pushrods just to remove the intake manifold. One other thing I have noticed on FE's is the distributors like to stick and are sometimes very difficult to remove.
 
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