68 Mustang Project - Questions

1954 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Houston54, Jun 15, 2009

Houston54

Discussion Starter · Jun 11, 2009

I would like some advice on a new project which will be for my wife.

The project is a 68 Mustang that was a 6 cyl, automatic car. Drivetrain is gone, 4 lug running gear still in place.

I have a 351W and C4 in stock that could be used but was thinking a more modern and fuel efficient engine/trans could also be an option as well but am not that familar with late model Ford engines. Thinking a fuel injected 6 cylinder and automatic would work well for her. Is there a motor from a Ford product that might work? The wife would drive it around town for errands and to the Sat night cruises. She is not interested in smoking the tires.

I will also need to upgrade the front suspension/steering/brakes. What vendors supply a kit for upgrading to discs, 5 lug, better suspension?

Since the car was a 6 cylinder, do I have to upgrade the rear axle to accomodate a V8 or other powerplant? I would assume I should upgrade the rear brakes along with the front. What about the rear suspension?

If anyone knows of a website that documents such a build please point me to it.

I appreciate any constructive advice on this. I have pics of the car but cannot find an editor to reduce the file size for posting.

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matt167

· #2 · Jun 11, 2009

being the car is a 6cyl car, there are many diffrent things between them and the V8 counterpart.. steering box, rear end, spindles/ brakes.. most conversions don't get things like the V8 steering box, but they should for it to be done correctly..

my suggestion would be to put in another 200/ C4 auto.. it'll be cheapest and easiest, and there pretty decent on gas in good tune ( 20-25 MPG, some can squeeze 30 )... could add a TBI fuel injection using the CFI setup off of a 3.8 from the mid 80's... a 250/C4 would be even better but you would need Granada/ Monarch 250 engine stands for it to sit down in the engine bay correctly...

you could do somthing like a 3.8 V6 from a Thunderbird and that would be neat too.

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KoTT

· #3 · Jun 12, 2009

you should keep the 6 cylinder thats standard on the car. If not, then you should be able to use a 3.8 v6 from a 80 or 90-anything stang. as for the transmission, stick to the c4 if you already have one for sure.

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jcoby

· #4 · Jun 12, 2009

Houston54 said:
I would like some advice on a new project which will be for my wife.

The project is a 68 Mustang that was a 6 cyl, automatic car. Drivetrain is gone, 4 lug running gear still in place.

I have a 351W and C4 in stock that could be used but was thinking a more modern and fuel efficient engine/trans could also be an option as well but am not that familar with late model Ford engines. Thinking a fuel injected 6 cylinder and automatic would work well for her. Is there a motor from a Ford product that might work? The wife would drive it around town for errands and to the Sat night cruises. She is not interested in smoking the tires.

I will also need to upgrade the front suspension/steering/brakes. What vendors supply a kit for upgrading to discs, 5 lug, better suspension?

Since the car was a 6 cylinder, do I have to upgrade the rear axle to accomodate a V8 or other powerplant? I would assume I should upgrade the rear brakes along with the front. What about the rear suspension?

If anyone knows of a website that documents such a build please point me to it.

I appreciate any constructive advice on this. I have pics of the car but cannot find an editor to reduce the file size for posting.

There are about a dozen different ways you could go with this car, and it's totally dependent on how much you want to spend.

the easiest and probably cheapest way to get 5-lug stuff is to buy the disc setup from http://www.discbrakeswap.com/. your 7.5" axle will not last behind a more powerful engine. 8" units out of a '67-68 are easy to come by and are usually $150 - $200. 5 lug is pretty much required if you want to change out the wheels. there are very, very limited options when it comes to 4-lug.

you can upgrade from there to all sorts of things up to 13" cobra discs or 14" wilwood discs. or you could just swap out your drums and hubs for 5-lug and use drum brakes.

as for engines, you have a choice of the 200, the 289, the 302, the 351w or a fe series big block. if you want something more modern and can do some fabrication, you can put a modular 4.6 (sohc or dohc). i've also seen a 2.3 turbo engine in one.

if you want efi, the 302 out of an '86 or later mustang will bolt right up.

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GypsyR

· #5 · Jun 14, 2009

There's all sorts of ways to accomplish what you want to do and any number of people have done so. A Mustang specific forum could be very helpful. There are quite a few of them out there, This one is pretty active. And lots of people there have done "V8 swaps".
The basic way to shape up your chassis is to buy a rear end and front disk brake setup from a 1970's Ford Granada/Mercury Monarch. And there are all sorts of aftermarket solutions for brakes.
If I had a 351W in hand, I'd use it. A stock 351W isn't all that impressive and it will fit a 68 about as easily as a 289/302/5.0 engine will. For just cruising and putting around, there's nothing wrong with the stock six, particularly in the fuel mileage department. You can even warm the engine up quite a bit. These guys can help with that.
Even staying with a six, upgrading the brakes to "V8" status is still a very good idea. This involves mostly the front end but you'd still want to swap the rear end if for nothing else so that you'd have 5 lugs in the rear too. 5 lug wheels are rampant while it's tough to find anything at all other than stock for a 4 lug car.

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Houston54

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jun 15, 2009

Thank you for the responses. The 351W I have would work well but this car would be for the wife and she is more interestedin mpg. I will try to run the 6 banger down when I go to pick it up. It is probably laying close by the car.

Here are some pics of the Mustang.

Thanks for the links to the other sites. I knew someone would be able to point me towards them.