91 Mustang, What Would You Do?

[Old Guy]

Guy brought in to the shop a 91 mustang from down south, very nice car no rust just sun beat. It has no motor or trans, it does have a 373 posi 8.8. He wants to make it a nice street strip car very low 12s so as to stay in the street class (bracket racing class) DOT tire with muffler. What he has is a 302 sbf flat tops BIG roller cam and stock heads and a intake and 4 barrel carb. His budget is $1000 to spend. This is to be a ALL MOTOR CAR no crutches like nos,s turbo or blowers.. He is doing all the motor and trans work himself so the only cost is for parts. 1. Does he keep the 302 and upgrade it and what ford trans to use? 2. Does he just upgrade to a 350 sbc and a GM trans. He does not want to do a LS swap for some odd reason. So the question is HOW would you build the motor and trans and still stay in budget. Swap meet and CL list parts are OK, IF you stay with in reason. WHAT WOULD YOU BUILD?

[MY FYN 79]

I would tell him to save for a few more months so he has more than 1g to spend.

[BOSS LX]

LOL at crutch! Just do the 350, it is the only way to go 12's.

[DRK]

sell it and buy a 4.3 S-10

[Old Guy]

sell it and buy a 4.3 S-10
Their is one in town here that a local dealer has for sale. Its not a S-10 its the S-15 limited production turbo charged 4.3 GMC pickup truck, many of those run low 13s with no tune. For the price they are asking it won't happen with the budget that's set. He has the car he just needs to make the budget work, hens the question being asked. What would you build. He will not be selling the platform just wanting to make it faster.

[Reverend Cooper]

1 k lol good luck with that.once he piece meals all the used parts together gets it in and running then one of the used parts fails is there a repair budget lol good luck

[jbiscuit]

Junkyard 350 and 150 shot and run 11.20s

[Lash]

Where is the s-15 at?

[Old Guy]

Maritime Ford in Manitowoc. #920-684-0261 You are taking about the turbo GMC. The other N/A fast GMC is also in Manitowoc but its not for sale this year yet. Mabe next year.

[Old Guy]

Junkyard 350 and 150 shot and run 11.20s
I know Car Craft did one many years ago with a junkyard 350 and a set of vortec heads and a Comp. EX268 that made real close to 400hp and the same in TQ. I don't think he wants to do the baby bottle thing not on a real S/S car.

[portponies]

It would be hard for me to put together a stang with a 1K budget, and I have a warehouse full of parts.

[Reverend Cooper]

Yeah Fritz,and your parts I would trust to be as reliable as a used part you can get,unlike used stuff one may find on ebay or craplist

[Old Guy]

The $1000 budget is the motor and trans ONLY. He has a good 306 on the stand BUT can you make enough power to get it where it need to be, that is the question. If he stays with the 306 what used heads and a what trans with a shift kit would be the best investment. I know with the other swap it would be very easy to do for the budget listed. For the ford its more of what used heads and trans would work. All this work can and will be performed by the owner of the car. He can rebuild the trans if need and any other work from porting heads to assembley of the motor.

[Gregor]

He only has a 1K to spend so you can forget about the blower, turbo crutch.

The transmission would be more than 1000 itself, after you figure in a gear box from fritz, clutch, and bell.


Plus if he kept the short block, and added a good set of heads he would still be +1k into it. The only way would be spray.

[animal]

I was under the impression that you don't need a power adder for a 5.0 fox to go low 12s. Wasn't the old head/cam/intake swap good for that range with traction? :confused

assuming he has a short block and trans for it... why wouldn't a set of used aluminum heads or even some ported gt40p's, aftermarket intake, and a light cam be enough for low 12's range? That could be done for close to 1k if u already had the shortblock... I would think ?

[Old Guy]

I did some checking around and found a 347 sbf for half of the budget. This is a complete long block assembley. I do not know what cam or heads or kit was used but it new and sitting on the guys engine stand and he wants it gone. I think he is doing the LS upgrade so we might be going the 347 sbf way. I have one question on the transmission, we are not using the complete 5 speed set up because of the inconsistence of a stick when racing. WHAT automatic would have a overdrive with a low first gear, something like the GM 700r4 and be strong. This car will not be a trailer queen, is to be driven to the track and raced and driven home. He can rebuild the transmission if needed with a shift kit.

[DRK]

I love trolls

[BOSS LX]

with all these sweet parts going in the car, why waste them on a terrible racing chassis like a 91 mustang? I think he should sell it off and start fresh!

[Old Guy]

Whats wrong with the 91 platform, I would think all fox bodys are the same. The guy has a wife and three kids so his pocket book is not as big as many might think. The car is a complete strip, guy wanted to paint it so it was a bare shell, it does have the glass in it so that's a big help. Started with the head and tail lights tonight so that's done. Heading to Vages for a week so I won't be picking up the 347 until I get back. Still wondering on the transmission for the car.

[BOSS LX]

Whats wrong with the 91 platform, I would think all fox bodys are the same. The guy has a wife and three kids so his pocket book is not as big as many might think. The car is a complete strip, guy wanted to paint it so it was a bare shell, it does have the glass in it so that's a big help. Started with the head and tail lights tonight so that's done. Heading to Vages for a week so I won't be picking up the 347 until I get back. Still wondering on the transmission for the car.

Ok ok, what heads are on the 347? Just buy a used c4 trans, and it will be fine for what he needs.

[wrath]

For ~$1500 you can put together a good 383SBC ARPd together with some decent heads that you polish yourself fed by a Quadrajunk. Even a car TH400 will survive for a while behind it but I'd find one out of a 2wd Suburban so it has a fixed yoke.

I did the same thing with an S10, 390 at the rubber NA and ~650 with spray. With some other minor changes it added about 50hp IIRC.

The only thing more expensive to go fast with than a Ford motor is a Mopar motor.

[Irish]

The only thing more expensive to go fast with than a Mopar motor is a Ford Modular motor.

Edited for truth.

302 part prices are not far from SBC's.

[DurtyKurty]

5.0 "P" motors (the late 5.0 explorers) have been in the 12's for a long time in takeout EFI form. Intake and a cam will get you a little more. The ford overdrive automatics with the low first gear (2.84 first) are the 4R70W's. These are dirt cheap and you will not even come close to breaking one with a 12 second car. They are electronic, but can be converted to manual with a transgo kit.

Edit: 30 seconds of Google found that these motors untouched straight from the explorers are basement 12's with the faster guys in the high 11's.

[BOSS LX]

With Chevy motors almost free to make huge power with, where are all these local gm rocket ships?

[Moparjim]

Yeah no kidding... Mopars being THAT expensive is a myth nowadays. A stock casting Mopar doesn't cost anything more than anything else - mainly machine work cost and basic parts like pistons cam etc aren't much more if anything more. You can build a aftermarket rod/crank stroker and/or aluminum head Mopar reasonably cheap since all the "cheap" companies like Eagle etc. all make Mopar stuff now. Places like 440 Source sells hella cheap BB Mopar stuff. Heck Mopar stuff is so cheap even Prince built a nice small block aluminum head stroker for his Lil Red and he is all about the "budget build" as long as I have known him since the Valiant days!

[STANMAN]

I always thought a 340 Fox would be awesome. With a six pack of course. Just sayin.

[Moparjim]

Lol yeah... Just sayin a regular ole small block Chevy, Ford, or Mopar really all cost about the same nowadays...

[STANMAN]

I know when I played with my 71 Challenger and 73 Duster Mopar parts were still significantly higher than their Ford or Chevy equivelants. That was a long time ago now though. Longer than I want to remember, lol.

[wrath]

Edited for truth.

302 part prices are not far from SBC's.

You're not going to get the same power from a same dollar spent SBC.

There is a reason you never see a Chevy built Ford Tough with Ford stuff. It's quite common to see them the other way around.

The only time I'd pick a 302 for anything is to put in a CJ5-CJ7-CJ8-YJ and that's due to better packaging than a Chevy.

[Irish]

Like Andy said... where are all these Chevy power houses?

[FourEyedFord]

Stay away from 8.2 - 9.5 deck small block fords, even when they are cheating they are slow. Your best bet is to put a SBC in it for sure, preferably a "corvette" motor!

[-stew-]

There is a reason you never see a Chevy built Ford Tough with Ford stuff. It's quite common to see them the other way around.



That's because Chevy has never built a chassis as good as the fox chassis is.

[animal]

Whether its a ford or something slower, whatever you decide on, just make sure you order your stuff before all the sad big box brick and mortar engine stores go out of business. :rolf

[-stew-]

Whether its a ford or something slower, whatever you decide on, just make sure you order your stuff before all the sad big box brick and mortar engine stores go out of business. :rolf

And don't mention it on here. We don't want any more braggadocio around these parts.

[animal]

And don't mention it on here. We don't want any more braggadocio around these parts.

It was only to joke about how lame it is getting around here due to a few bad apples :rolf

Or maybe it just means that all the real conversations take place elsewhere now, and this place really is dead aside from the bad apples. :goof

[-stew-]

It was only to joke about how lame it is getting around here due to a few bad apples :rolf

Or maybe it just means that all the real conversations take place elsewhere now, and this place really is dead aside from the bad apples. :goof


I haven't had a real conversation since 1997.

[wrath]

That's because Chevy has never built a chassis as good as the fox chassis is.

Sadly, I'd take a thirdgen F-body over a Fox.

[DRK]

Sadly, I'd take a thirdgen F-body over a Fox.

That is sad

[FourEyedFord]

Sadly, I'd take a thirdgen F-body over a Fox.

Duh, look at all the fast turd gens out there!

[wrath]

Duh, look at all the fast turd gens out there!

They're right next to the Fast Foxes and Fast SN95... which are somewhere around where the fast TrailDusters are.

If I'm going to go slow, might as well go slow in something with room in it.

[DurtyKurty]

They're right behind the Fast Foxes and Fast SN95s...

Fixed that for ya.

[wrath]

Fixed that for ya.

Nah, I don't abuse apostrophes...

[Gregor]

Stay away from 8.2 - 9.5 deck small block fords, even when they are cheating they are slow. Your best bet is to put a SBC in it for sure, preferably a "corvette" motor!

with a 3/4 cam to be safe

[Irish]

with a 3/4 cam to be safe

Only with dual quads and a four barrel.

[Ricky Bobby]

Does it have a radio?