Finally decided what I want. Where should I start?

[Crazynate]

Ok. When I first bought my car I had dreams of drag strips...Then I started daily driving my fathers 03 BMW in the sweeping hills of TN. Now I love love love twistie's. So with that in mind I want to make my car handle and stop VERY well. It's pretty much a roller right now since the 302 with cracked heads is apart/interior is gutted and I'm highly considering taking my time and just doing a 351 swap. Also it's AOD so build that up and put on a shift kit or t5 swap? It's gonna be a car just to drive every now and then and possibly autoX with so..what should I do first?
Save for the motor? susp/brake work? other?

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Considering the motor is dead there is no point putting suspension or any other chassis performance mod into the car before you get it running. W/ the exception of a total rebuild where the objective is to have a completely redone car when it finally runs.

Appears to me that you are still undecided about many aspects i.e 302/351, aod/ T5.

A 302 will make enough power to have fun w/ and will/can be made to have even more. You already have one of those, So unless the entire engine is junk, you have a starting point. I would think the auto would go in favor of a 5 speed, but again, up to you. For me an auto is more of a DD trans, or more suited for drag racing than what you said you intended to use it for so I'd say your saving for a 5 speed conversion as well.

A budget typically goes hand in hand w/ a build, and makes the objective a little more realistic. for instance if you knew that the 13" front, 12" rear discs and commensurate 5 lug conversion was gonna cost you over 1500.00 to do completely, you might factor that in. ( or decide against it)

 

[Crazynate]

I guess il fix the 302 then as it only needs around $400 to run healthy. My uncle built several fox's when I was younger and they all had 351's so it just kinda feels like it "should be there", but they were drag cars so the power was where it counts. That's also where I got the shift kit idea from.

 

[ID89GT]

If its a street car I would do the t5 swap. Lot more fun imo. As for the 351 or 302, that all comes down to how much you wanna spend and about how much power you want.

 

[Boosted92LX]

I've been sitting on a 351 for about a year now, but decided against putting it in my car simply because it's not going to be a drag car. It's eventually going to be like what you've described. The fox has a reputation for being heavy on the front already, a 351 would just make this worse, and if you are making a corner carver, the 302 is a better bet. It can be built up to 500 hp give or take a little before it breaks, and that's typically all you need to auto cross.

Also, in my opinion a 5 speed is the only way to go unless you are drag racing. I believe most people here would agree.

 

[Crazynate]

My original idea was to get around 400hp with a novi 2000 and some decent heads. Would that be fine or would a n/a route be more suited for autox?
After some reading def swapping out for a stick.

 

[Boosted92LX]

My original idea was to get around 400hp with a novi 2000 and some decent heads. Would that be fine or would a n/a route be more suited for autox?
After some reading def swapping out for a stick.

It all depends on what you like. If you are going to drive it on the street on pump gas, the blower may be a better bet. I have a friend with a 400 rwhp auto x car that is a dedicated race car and has 12:1 compression ratio. He has to run race fuel because of the C.R.... and that would suck if you were driving it on the street...

I'm not really up on all of the latest tech, though honestly. Some of the younger guys around here could probably tell you how to get 400 n/a hp on pump gas...

 

[Crazynate]

thanks for the info