1983 Fox body station wagon project car. V8/5sp swap (Page 1 of 4)
Posted: 9/15/2025 10:02:48 AM EDT
[Last Edit: giantpune][Edited]
|
I just drove 16hr to pick up this gem. Manual crank windows. Vent windows. Mechanical fuel pump on the side of the motor. Carburetor. Its a 2 owner FLA car. Under side is rust free and doesn't look like its ever even ran anything over. Interior is in pretty decent shape. It currently runs and drives. 3.8L with a 2 barrel carb, backed by an AOD. I found a video of somebody dynoing a stock 1983 mustang with the same drivetrain. It put down 150HP and 200ftlb at the wheels. This one probably has a V8 with a T5 in its future. I got it, cause I was looking for something with 4 doors for when I wanna haul around more people. There were like 6 different fox body cars available as a wagon. They weren't sold in huge numbers. So the parts that are common with mustangs are readily available. But the non-mustang parts are gonna be hard to track down. I wanted something that was simple, without all the computers and sensors and shit that I could keep running forever. RWD, easily accepts a V8 and a dozen different transmissions. Rear axle housing is the same from like 79-98, so tons of cheap parts for it. Its a foot shorter than most of the other 90s wagons like the grand marquis and crown vic. It does need the dreaded AC evaporator job on it. Supposedly that's about the worst job to do on a fox. Whole dash has to come out.   
|
|
American automotive shame and despair right there in all it's ''glory.'' How much did they pay you to take it? |
Liberals are a curious mix of communism and fascism, they want to destroy you but want to use your own money to do it.
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
|
Should make a great sleeper OP! The SN95 Mustang had mostly (exactly? It has been a long time.....) the same engine bay as the Fox, and fit anything from the 351 ('95 Cobra R) to the DOHC SC'd Terminator Cobra engine, so the world is your oyster for engine swaps. IIRC one of Car & Driver's Boss Wagon project cars was a Fairmont wagon, again the same platform, if you didn't know about it and want some ideas. |
Joined:
Oct 2023
Posts:
104
EE: 0% (0)
SC, USA
|
While not easy, taking the dash out isn't that hard. The real problem is all the wire ties and the clips holding the vents in. Did that back in the late 80's early 90s, when I built my 80 Zephyr. 377 with Tremec 5spd. Pretty much everything available in the Ford SVO catalogue went in. J and K302 heads and headers, roller cam conversion, chassis stiffeners, intake, 3.73 8.8 diff, quad shocks, with slappers 6 point cage with swingouts. Auto Meter Monster tach and gauges with SVO Mustang speedo. 77 Mustang 2 buckets, with shifter console from 4 banger stick 78 Faimont. Medium Burnt Mettalic Orange, factory original color repaint. 5 lug turbines, 4 wheel disc. Car was brand new when done and looked like Ford had made it at the factory. DUMBest thing I ever did was take car apart and sell the components. Didn't need to.... bought a new Audi and lost interest,.......temporarily. Not a week goes buy I don't think of that car. The dreams of our youth die hard. |
|
Originally Posted By fxntime: American automotive shame and despair right there in all it's ''glory.'' How much did they pay you to take it? Originally Posted By fxntime: American automotive shame and despair right there in all it's ''glory.'' How much did they pay you to take it? I've got a dozen other cars with more soul and balls. This one I got because it checks some boxes you can't do with an old 2 door coupe or fastback. At least its not a minivan or a compact SUV.  I think its just a paint job and dravetrain swap away from being something magical.Originally Posted By SubSonic1836: 460 swap! Most likely, its gonna be a small block. Those are a dime a dozen around here. I can get a 3 pedal 5.0 fox mustang for under a couple grand. That'll give me the motor, transmission, and a 8.8 rear end. |
Joined:
Oct 2023
Posts:
106
EE: 0% (0)
SC, USA
|
A 460 will fit, no headers, will still need to dent or notch stut towers, and changing plugs will require lifting engine. Whitey ( guy from back in the day) had a 460 in a full stock 78 Fairmont, chassis was cracked to hell. Asked him when was last time he changed plugs, he said never. Car couldn't hook EVER, but the burnouts were epic. Thought of doing an 85 LTD more aero look , but after 45K plus into the Zypher, it didn't happen. Had a 302 with the throttle body/carburetor contraption. Still would have been nice. We had emission laws to contend with, at the time car need to be 25 years old to be exempt. Couldn't be street legal if modded out. |
|
Originally Posted By M830A1: A 460 will fit, no headers, will still need to dent or notch stut towers, and changing plugs will require lifting engine. Whitey ( guy from back in the day) had a 460 in a full stock 78 Fairmont, chassis was cracked to hell. Asked him when was last time he changed plugs, he said never. Car couldn't hook EVER, but the burnouts were epic. Thought of doing an 85 LTD more aero look , but after 45K plus into the Zypher, it didn't happen. Had a 302 with the throttle body/carburetor contraption. Still would have been nice. We had emission laws to contend with, at the time car need to be 25 years old to be exempt. Couldn't be street legal if modded out. I'm still undecided if this one will get a mustang/aero front end on it. If parts were available, I'd keep the grandpa look. But the front of the fenders, trim, and corner lights are different than a mustang. The corner lights, as far as I can tell, only existed on the LTD and marquis in this little 2 year run. They are close to the $800 SVO corner lights. I'll swap the whole front end to a mustang before I lose any sleep looking for a rare part for it. One of the main goals is for it to be easy to repair with readily available parts. And that pretty much rules out a big block swap. The 302 is cheaper and easier to maintain. I actually took a car with a 429 down with me to FLA to drop off when I picked this one up. Big block is cool to say you have. But less cool to track down parts for or to do things like changing spark plugs. If I ranked all the possible engine swaps that might happen, this one would get an LS before it got a BBF. I also need to track down a set of the hinges for the back glass. You wouldn't happen to know if those were shared with any more popular cars from the era would you? |
|
Originally Posted By giantpune: I've got a dozen other cars with more soul and balls. This one I got because it some boxes you can't do with an old 2 door coupe or fastback. At least its not a minivan or a compact SUV. I think its just a paint job and dravetrain swap away from being something magical.Most likely, its gonna be a small block. Those are a dime a dozen around here. I can get a 3 pedal 5.0 fox mustang for under a couple grand. That'll give me the motor, transmission, and a 8.8 rear end. Originally Posted By giantpune: Originally Posted By fxntime: American automotive shame and despair right there in all it's ''glory.'' How much did they pay you to take it? I've got a dozen other cars with more soul and balls. This one I got because it some boxes you can't do with an old 2 door coupe or fastback. At least its not a minivan or a compact SUV. I think its just a paint job and dravetrain swap away from being something magical.Originally Posted By SubSonic1836: 460 swap! Most likely, its gonna be a small block. Those are a dime a dozen around here. I can get a 3 pedal 5.0 fox mustang for under a couple grand. That'll give me the motor, transmission, and a 8.8 rear end. Well, when you get er' done, I'd like to see what you can turn it into. Seriously. |
Liberals are a curious mix of communism and fascism, they want to destroy you but want to use your own money to do it.
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
|
I like it! Do something about the nose though. How is the interior? I looked into a 90s Caprice wagon but all the interiors were VERY tired and tracking down all the small parts would be a full time job in itself. Did I read you were looking to install a 5sp? How about some Turbo action for a little bit of extra oomph! |
|
Originally Posted By bmarshall1: I like it! Do something about the nose though. How is the interior? I looked into a 90s Caprice wagon but all the interiors were VERY tired and tracking down all the small parts would be a full time job in itself. Did I read you were looking to install a 5sp? How about some Turbo action for a little bit of extra oomph! The interior looks about as good as you could ask for in a 42 year old car thats never been restored. Mostly manual stuff. It does have power seats and power locks. The locks just turn into manual locks if the power motors go out. If I have to replace anything in the power seat, it'll get manual seat tracks. Maybe some mustang buckets after I drive it a bit and see how I like these. The little change cubbies attached to the seats have to come off to make room for a floor shifter. I considered an ecoboost swap. But in the interest of simplicity and reliability, I think I would prefer an old pushrod V8. ETA - The image host apparently thinks the pictures of the interior are nudity. AI being shitty AI, I guess. |
| Fox body is Fox body, in a lot of ways. I knew somebody that put a Fox Mustang GT automatic drivetrain into a Fox LTD wagon like that. He put "5.0" badges on the fenders, just like the old LEO Fox body LTDs had. Definitely a sleeper, and actually not too bad on mileage if you drive it sanely. Another source for a V8 drivetrain is a Lincoln LSc. Good luck. |
|
Originally Posted By imq707s: God that's ugly.....  When I hear Foxbody...I think of this......  https://cdn.speednik.com/powerautorax55/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2024/04/the-sly-fox-tim-lynchs-coyote-powered-mustang-is-a-boosted-beast-2024-04-19_07-42-24_043702.jpg Its just a handful of bolts to swap the whole front end. Like I mentioned earlier, if I run into any parts in the front end like trim or lights that I can't find, I'll swap the whole front end. I'd go with the aero 89 GT look rather than the LX. |
Joined:
Oct 2023
Posts:
107
EE: 0% (0)
SC, USA
| The chassis are also longer from the A pillar to the bumper, between the A pillar and B/C pillar, and in the trunk area. While technically a fox body the Fairmont Zephyr and LTD are different car as are the LSCs. The four door and LTD are superior hotrod material because of the mid door pilar and the rigidity in introduces. That being said I don't ever recall seeing one done up. I like the idea !!! |
|
I've got brakes and shocks on the way. Previous owner had a new booster put on. It looks like the correct one. But something between the booster and the master cylinder is binding up, causing the brakes to drag. I can pull the push rod back to get it un-stock. Rear drums were both dragging, which caused a bad shimmy over 40mph. I cleaned, lubed, and adjusted the self adjusters and they're acting right now. Base timing was at 7 degrees. I bumped it up to 12 which is what the sticker on the hood wants. It picked up a little more power but still pretty disappointing. It'll probably get a little peppy after I fix the hanging brake issue and replace the master cylinder so the front ones aren't dragging. The AOD transmission also shifts really low. Like 1200rpm and its on to the next gear. That certainly isn't helping the car out. ETA - Local salvage yard came through. I found a complete 8.8 rear end with the sway bar and all in a '92 GT. And he had a '96 E series 15 passenger church van with a 351w in it. I'm thinking the bigger motor just bumped me up from a T5 to a TKX when I get around to doing the transmission. |
| Rubber brake hoses are probably collapsed inside preventing flowback from the caliper pistons. |
Liberals are a curious mix of communism and fascism, they want to destroy you but want to use your own money to do it.
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
|
Originally Posted By fxntime: Rubber brake hoses are probably collapsed inside preventing flowback from the caliper pistons. The rubber brake lines have been replaced. The brakes release when I physically pull the pedal pushrod. Something in the master/booster setup is binding. |
|
Originally Posted By giantpune: The rubber brake lines have been replaced. The brakes release when I physically pull the pedal pushrod. Something in the master/booster setup is binding. Originally Posted By giantpune: Originally Posted By fxntime: Rubber brake hoses are probably collapsed inside preventing flowback from the caliper pistons. The rubber brake lines have been replaced. The brakes release when I physically pull the pedal pushrod. Something in the master/booster setup is binding. Gotcha. |
Liberals are a curious mix of communism and fascism, they want to destroy you but want to use your own money to do it.
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
We are the Knights who say Fuuuuu!
Joined:
Sep 2004
Posts:
55716
EE: 100% (665)
TX, USA
|
Originally Posted By fxntime: American automotive shame and despair right there in all it's ''glory.'' How much did they pay you to take it? Attached File You are off a bold adventure looking for parts (especially plastic interior) for a 40 year old Ford. May the Force Be With You! Bigger_Hammer 
|
LIFE'S JOURNEY IS NOT TO ARRIVE AT THE GRAVE SAFELY IN A WELL PRESERVED BODY,
BUT RATHER TO SKID IN SIDEWAYS, TOTALLY WORN OUT SHOUTING "HOLY $H!T...WHAT A RIDE"!!
BUT RATHER TO SKID IN SIDEWAYS, TOTALLY WORN OUT SHOUTING "HOLY $H!T...WHAT A RIDE"!!
|
Originally Posted By giantpune: Its just a handful of bolts to swap the whole front end. Like I mentioned earlier, if I run into any parts in the front end like trim or lights that I can't find, I'll swap the whole front end. I'd go with the aero 89 GT look rather than the LX. Originally Posted By giantpune: Originally Posted By imq707s: God that's ugly..... When I hear Foxbody...I think of this...... https://cdn.speednik.com/powerautorax55/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2024/04/the-sly-fox-tim-lynchs-coyote-powered-mustang-is-a-boosted-beast-2024-04-19_07-42-24_043702.jpg Its just a handful of bolts to swap the whole front end. Like I mentioned earlier, if I run into any parts in the front end like trim or lights that I can't find, I'll swap the whole front end. I'd go with the aero 89 GT look rather than the LX. Not sure there is a front end you could put on that thing that still wouldn't make it ugly as sin. Cool project though....definitely something you don't see very often (I didn't even know they made those!!) 
|
|
Motor and rear end are back home. I reckon this weekend I'll be getting dirty cleaning stuff up. Maybe getting some of it town down. The tag on the rear says its a 2.73 with limited slip carrier. For you guys saying how ugly the car is, this apparently isn't the worst its been. At one time, it was painted bright fire engine red. The whole car, and the steel wheels all red. With the red interior.  
|
| Ooohhhh... I had one like that - LTD II, but a little brighter read w/ woodgrain panels. I liked that car. |
Disclaimer - OP is bad at knowing things, and might catch on fire.
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
Vet - Op MMAMA
Every other species kills off their stupid......we cater to them. -- spin-drift
Nobody ever called 911&said I just did something smart. -- TheFlynDutchman
This is so awesome! I love an old hot rodded wagon. Always wanted to build one. Now hang some Mustang doors on it and move the B pillar back and fill in the back door gap with the old door skin.  I almost did this with a ‘68 Chevelle wagon years ago. I went back to buy it and I was too late. 
|
|
Originally Posted By ScottsGT: This is so awesome! I love an old hot rodded wagon. Always wanted to build one. Now hang some Mustang doors on it and move the B pillar back and fill in the back door gap with the old door skin. I almost did this with a ‘68 Chevelle wagon years ago. I went back to buy it and I was too late. I didn't want a full size wagon. Already got enough land yachts. I went with the fox ones cause they're a foot shorter than the more popular wagons. I guess that makes sense. The fox is smaller than the panther. I was considering something like the 80s malibu wagon while I was shopping. If I had seen a decent one at a good price, I'd be LS-swap-it-bro'ing.  Current status, and probably for the foreseeable future is cleaning up the rear end and stripping all the BS off the van motor. I'm not reusing the heads, so I went ahead and snapped off like 6 of the exhaust studs in them to make sure I don't change my mind. Rear end housing is soaking in some of the DIY rust remover gel. Neutralized citric acid with corn starch. I'll see if that makes a dent in this scaled up junk yard rust before I fire up the sand blaster. And I discovered why the rear end was even still there for me. Somebody years ago at the junk yard tried to pull it out, but didn't have their set of 12 point wrenches. They started cutting off the heads of the bolts. Ruined a couple of them before they realized it wouldn't work and gave up. So it sat there waiting for me to come along.  
|
I made it into the top side of the motor. Got a big ol' box of BS i pulled off itand a bunch of ziploc baggies of screws. The top side looks pretty good for a junk yard motor. The fuel rails were still pressurized. It sprayed me right in the eyes. The gas smelled like it was at least a year old. When I get into the bottom side, if it looks as good as the top, I'm just gonna swap a new filter on it and seal it back up. Top side is getting cam, intake, and heads. 
|
|
The de-rustification continues. I tried the DIY gel recipe. I think between the sun drying it out and the thickness of my rust, it would have taken a week of constant re-applications to get this clean. I switched to a trash can. Citric acid, dilluted 12x over the normal amount, and apparently a tad more dish soap than was required. Here's a shot of the progress after 1 day. I guess I'll see if that much of the citric acid was enough to do the whole housing. I may need to disassemble the thing to pull the axles so it can sit deep enough when I flip it around to do the other end. Before, my setup, and current status.   
|
I think I got the brakes acting right now. Previous owned had a new booster installed. Apparently he had a bad booster right out of the box. After replacing everything else it could have been, the issue still persisted. So I broke down and replaced the booster. The brakes act like they're supposed to now. I did a test drive and didn't get the dragging pedal. With the brakes working right and new shocks on the front, its actually road worthy. Still slower than a pregnant turtle. 
|
|
I think my mom had one. I didn't know they were Fox Bodies until I read an article a while back. I think it's awesome. I have zero desire for a flashy car and have always liked wagons. I'd love one of the big boats. I have no ability to follow through on projects so I've stopped myself from buying anything until my Bronco moves under its own power. Looking forward to how it comes out. |
BikerNut:
Normal people like motorcycles. Real people like motorcycles.
People who don't like motorcycles are just... weird.
Normal people like motorcycles. Real people like motorcycles.
People who don't like motorcycles are just... weird.
I flipped the axle over in my trash can. The diluted citric acid seems like it had enough balls for the first half. We're gonna find out if there's enough left in it for the second half All the rust thats left on the first half just wipes right off.
|
|
@giantpune I really like where you are going with this. I tried visualizing in my head what one of those wagons would look like with a mustang front end. Evidently people have done it, and I would totally rock one, here’s two I found online Attached File Attached File |
|
Originally Posted By turtlemaster: @giantpune I really like where you are going with this. I tried visualizing in my head what one of those wagons would look like with a mustang front end. Evidently people have done it, and I would totally rock one, here’s two I found online https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/530992/IMG_0732_jpeg-3629882.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/530992/IMG_0733_jpeg-3629883.JPG See? Thats what I'm sayin'. Its just a classy looking chromed out 4-eye mustang up front. My list of stuff to do on it has plenty before I get around to anything related to looks. I think my order of operations is going to be TKX 5 speed swap first. I can rebuild things and prepare, but for the drivetrain swap, transmission first. The long tube headers for the 5.8 all say manual transmission only. That pretty much means I can't do the motor without doing the trans before or at the same time. My rear end actually has a worse gear in it (2.73) than whats in the car now (3.08). So I don't want to swap that in and make it even more dog shit. The 2.73 gear won't be a problem with the TKX, cause they offer it with some gear ratios that play nicely with the lower numbered rear end. I actually prefer that combination. A 2.73 pinion is bigger and stronger than a 3.73 or 4.11. And in the TKX, the gear set for the lower number rear ends is more evenly spaced than the one for the higher number rear end. As far as progress goes, I managed to get some performance out of it. Previous owner had a carb installed. I guess the shop or whoever did the work did not know the different between an old school transmission and the AOD. Old transmissions used a kickdown rod and a vacuum modulator. AOD setups used a TV rod that looks a lot like the kickdown. There are different carburetors with different linkages. They used one for the kickdown. That had them unable to get the TV rod adjusted correctly. As a result, the transmission shifted early and kept the motor down where it had no power. I'm not gonna spend $200 replacing the carb on a motor I'm gonna pull out anyways. But I do know what the issue is and how to MacGuyver something together. With the TV rod setup better, the transmission is shifting closer to when it should. The car is more usable now. It can actually accelerate uphill. I think I can rock it like this while I save up my pennies for everything I need to do the TKX swap. |
|
Originally Posted By whiskerz: Just for fun a 4.11 gear set on Rockauto was $110 when I bought one for my sons Lincoln. If this was just going to be a fun toy, I'd do something silly like that. Its gonna be a daily driver. Here's what I'm looking at with my stock tire size, stock 2.73:1 rear end, and the TKX with the 3.27 first gear. It should be able to cruise on the highway without winding it out. 75MPH @ 2000rpm. I'm still looking for half decent MPGs out of this PoS. The weather hasn't been playing very nicely. Every day, raining just enough outside to get the rear end wet. Then dry off and start rusting again. I got it torn apart and toted it inside. Using my lift as a paint booth. I hit it with some of the rustoleum farm implement paint. Its at least black now. Should keep it from rusting anymore for a while.  
|
Joined:
Aug 2023
Posts:
8186
EE: 0% (0)
NC, USA
Watched Nivlac57 swap this wagon not long ago ;  Everyone Laughed at This Engine Until They Saw the Time Slip |
|
I could use some input from the hive for the motor. It's gonna get this roller 351w. I'm trying to figure out how to build it. Its currently got the F4TE cam in it, which is the truck/towing cam. Keeping in mind I want this to be more of a daily driver build and on somewhat of a budget, what top end parts would you guys go with? I want a smooth idle and decent fuel economy that'll run on 87 octane gas. I don't want it bucking at the stop lights, trying to stall out, and spitting raw fuel out the tailpipe. I'm not looking to run 10 second quarter miles, or hop a coke can off the line. Lets say $1500ish for the heads and $400 for the cam. It will spend 99% of its life cruising under 3000rpm, pulling a 3000lb station wagon. I think I'm pretty well settled on - bbk long tube headers (not many other options for the 351w swap) edelbrock performer RPM dual plane intake (supposedly one of the shorter intakes and hood clearance will be an issue 4 barrel carb now, swap it to a terminator stealth TBI down the road For the budget heads, I'm looking at the AFR 1341 enforcers. There's some other budget heads like blueprint, promaxx, and flotek that have smaller chambers to get the compression up. Stock heads are 64cc chambers, and make for 8.8:1 compression with the stock pistons and 0.039" head gasket. Aluminum heads are gonna happen. If nothing else, for the weight savings. I'm not running the stock ones. There aren't really any options for GT40P swap headers anymore. And I'm not going through the trouble to swap heads just to put basic bitch cast iron ones on it. For the cam, I'm at a loss. For my intended use, the truck cam probably isn't the best. There's a whole world of cams out there geared towards guys who want max power, and they want it at 7000rpm. I was looking at maybe the SUM-8904 one. No clue if it would be better for me than whats in it already. |
|
Originally Posted By giantpune: I made it into the top side of the motor. Got a big ol' box of BS i pulled off itand a bunch of ziploc baggies of screws. The top side looks pretty good for a junk yard motor. The fuel rails were still pressurized. It sprayed me right in the eyes. The gas smelled like it was at least a year old. When I get into the bottom side, if it looks as good as the top, I'm just gonna swap a new filter on it and seal it back up. Top side is getting cam, intake, and heads.https://iili.io/KYuq6ZB.png https://iili.io/KYuq4jV.png |
Don't be so open-minded that your brains fall out.
General education should not be mere job training, but training in how to be fully human.
General education should not be mere job training, but training in how to be fully human.
|
The truck cam is not a bad idea. It’s not a high RPM/power cam. Made for the torque at lower RPM. Will probably be a good match with your tall rear gear. Some reading online tells me this cam with 1.7 rocker arms to give a little more lift is the combination. Okay, carb to EFI. I never realized this but watched a YouTube video on the install of EFI on a carb intake and mistakes guys make. It was a major lightbulb moment when I saw it. Carb setups from the factory have heat riser passages from the heads that heat up the bottom of the intake below the carb. This is done because the engine needs the fuel vaporized after it leaves the carb. Bolt on EFI systems don’t need this and guys slap on the EFI and wonder why they’re not getting the claimed performance. A lot of intake gaskets come with heat riser block off plates. When you switch over from the carb, pull your intake and install new gaskets and the block off plates. |
|
Originally Posted By ScottsGT: The truck cam is not a bad idea. It’s not a high RPM/power cam. Made for the torque at lower RPM. Will probably be a good match with your tall rear gear. Some reading online tells me this cam with 1.7 rocker arms to give a little more lift is the combination. Okay, carb to EFI. I never realized this but watched a YouTube video on the install of EFI on a carb intake and mistakes guys make. It was a major lightbulb moment when I saw it. Carb setups from the factory have heat riser passages from the heads that heat up the bottom of the intake below the carb. This is done because the engine needs the fuel vaporized after it leaves the carb. Bolt on EFI systems don’t need this and guys slap on the EFI and wonder why they’re not getting the claimed performance. A lot of intake gaskets come with heat riser block off plates. When you switch over from the carb, pull your intake and install new gaskets and the block off plates. Yeah, I live down in the south where it snows once every 5 years. I run the felpro intake manifold gaskets that block off the exhaust coming through the intake manifold. They don't have anything fancy there to block it off, just no hole in the gasket. I've never had a problem with them, so its what I planned to use for this. A lot of these heads like AFR and blueprint say "heat crossover: no". So it may be a non-issue with them. RE carb to EFI, I have another 351w in one of my old mustangs. Its running the same performer RPM intake i plan on using for this one. When I swapped from a carb to the terminator stealth TBI, I used my 80% lower jig and router to machine out a big chunk of the separator between the left and right sides. That motor is nothing special, 1970s level remanufactured, with the flat tappet stock cam and iron heads. It has enough balls to light up the tires, and still cruise around at 22+mpg at 70mph. Edelbrock does list their torker 2 manifold, which is a single plane one, with the same height as this performer rpm one. Old internet posts suggest the single plane works better for TBI setups. The holley reps claim their setup works just as well with a dual plane with the divider milled out. If I could find a port injection manifold for this combo that would still fit under the stock hood, I would probably go that route. They don't make it easy to find the heights for those manifolds and throttle bodies. I don't wanna risk buying something that wont fit. The holley stealth setup seems like the safer bet even if it costs me an MPG. The calculators say with the 60cc heads and my existing F4TE truck cam installed straight up, its 9.19 static compression, 8.36 dynamic compression. Calculator says 386HP. That feels a bit high. ChatGPT puts it closer to 390ftlb/340HP. That should spice up the little grocery getter. |