Which Would You Start With For A Build?

[The Shape]

I have been looking at building a 4eyed car, nothing fancy just a solid N/A 302 in the 250-300ish HP range,
T-5. Something that needs minimal body work just want to completely redo the interior, weather stripping ect. and go with a basic paint job. The question is this, I have found a few 4eyed 5.0 cars in driving but rough condition for the 2-2.5K range, but I have found a couple of rollers and one driving 4 banger car in the $500-$800 range.

If I am going to have to pull and rebuild the engine and drivetrain anyway would it be wiser to just go with the cheaper roller or 4 banger car? I mean I wouldn't a have an engine core to rebuild that way, but explorer engines are still pretty cheap and plentiful at the salvage yards and I would probably invest in a new transmission anyway. What would Stangnet do?

 

[Boosted92LX]

I would say it depends on what you want and what you have available. An efi car? Better to buy a complete car because chasing down all those components is a task. I just did one and it was pricey. I had most of the stuff already, but just buying the iac, tps, iat, o2 sensors adds up. Also even if you are going carbed you still need all of your alternator, ps, ac etc brackets and components. If you already have all of that, it makes buying a roller easier.. but having it all there is better IMO unless you plan on going really bare bones.

 

[The Shape]

It will be carbed and very bare bones, not a DD by any means. Just a hobby car to play with and drive occasionally. Thinking FR manual rack, no A/C. So accesory brackets shouldn't be a big issue. I would make sure the roller had all the dash harness and Headlight harness, but as for ignition I would most likely just go with an HEI setup

 

[Boosted92LX]

Well, there you go. A roller may be what you need.

 

[A5literMan]

As long as the roller has all the wiring and you can source the "little" things I'd go that route. If it were an EFI build I'd go the opposite direction and grab the "complete" car.

 

[jrichker]

Keep in mind that 4 cylinder cars had different front brakes, rear axle and a whole bunch of other parts that really aren't suitable for use in a 5.0 powered car. If you buy a 4 cylinder car with the intention of converting it to a 5.0, you need a 5.0 roller chassis to rob parts from. Otherwise, you'll spend a fortune in time and $$$ at the junkyard getting all the little odd parts. Some yards and neighborhoods aren't good places to have a roller and a project parked in the yard/driveway.

Some help right here at Stangnet...
Technical Thread index - all sorts of conversion tech tips
http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/technical-thread-how-to-index.808661/

4 cylinder to 5.0 conversion
http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=516785

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

^^ What he said. Seems everybody wants to upgrade everything to make it go w/o thinking about vwhat their gonna do to make it stop. If your plans are for a 5 lug conversion using SN 95 stuff then that becomes less of a problem,( Cause you'd have to do it on anyone of them) but if you want to keep it stock 4 lugged, 4 cyl brakes are weenie, and the rotors already smaller than "smallish" rotor that comes on a V8 car already. Trying to scrounge a correct length 8.8 is also sometimes a challenge, as the one you're getting out of a JY could have a bagillion miles on it, and you can hear it run if it's on a dead mustang in a junk yard. Getting a decent factory V8 platform as a start point would be my recommendation for that reason.