Engine and transmission advice needed

[pcarlson]

Hi everyone,

My Mustang now has new suspension, brakes, and steering. The interior is all coming together and I am looking wayyy down the line at what color I will paint her.

However, in the meantime I need to start planning and budgeting for how much to spend on an engine/tranny upgrade OR rebuild.

I'm still up in the air as to what I should do. My goal is to have the car as a weekend cruiser with the occasional driver to work. I would like the engine to push out about 250-275 HP and want to keep an auto trans. This is because I've heard it is a lot of work to put a manual in a factory auto car.

With those goals in mind, would it make more sense to seek out other engine/tranny combos? Or would I be more than happy keeping my current set-up and just getting them rebuilt?

My current 289 runs OK but seems to be lacking a lot of power. The transmission needs a rebuild, pretty badly.

So... any advice?

I was thinking of looking around for a fox-body mustang setup with a 5.0 motor and auto tranny attached, but then I would still have to rebuild anyway right? Would they bolt right in, if I decided to do this, though?

If I did have to rebuild my current set-up, what type of costs would I be looking at to have a nice job done? I don't need anything super fancy and don't need a racing engine, but I do want 250-275 HP and some nice torque.

I got an estimate to remove, rebuild, and reinstall my current auto tranny (C4?) for $1100... is that a good deal?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dablack]

C4 trans: The 1100 doesn't sound bad, but I'm afraid of local shops. I would go with someone that I know knows the ford C4. I would get a C4 from broaderperformance.com and then let your shop install it.

250hp is easy. That is pretty much a stock rebuild w/ a mild cam and mild heads. Again, I would go with someone that really knows the heads. Since you already have a motor, I would let a local shop rebuild it, but I would send your heads to thumper. He can rebuild them and port them out for some good flow. He can also spec out a good matching cam for your heads. He will make sure the correct spings are on your heads for the cam he picks. Slap on a RPM intake and a 550 to 600 cfm carb or your choice, some shorty headers and you are all set. Short block rebuild from local shop: $500 - $800.
Good heads and cam from Thumper: $1000-$1200 (this will make or break your motor)
RPM intake/holley 600/shorty headers: $180/$250/$100
Good dual exhaust from local shop: $300
Nice C4 from Jay at broaderperformance: $850 (shipping $150?) (install $200)

Yes, the way I'm having you do it isn't the cheapest, but you will know that it is done right. For a little bit more money I would let fordstrokers build you a shortblock 331. Then you are looking at 300hp and a very pro build-up for about $800 more. (if you can swing it, I would go that way)

Note: It cost about the same to put a AOD in a classic as it does to put in a T5.

Austin

 

[pcarlson]

Wow. Great response!

Now, a few questions for you:

The c4 rebuild and install quote was from a mustang resoration shop, so I believe it would be trustworthy.

However, is an upgrade to a different transmission worth it? The way I see it is that if I will end up changing out the tranny later on anyway, I should do it now (or wait until I can).

As for the engine... it looks like you are saying it will be about $2500 (roughly) for the engine I want, exhaust included?

What type of install cost would I be looking at for an engine/trans/exhaust combo? If I had to guess, I'd say that would be about 4-5 labor hours (x $75) but I don't know what is standard.

 

[runawayabc123]

You could swap your C4 for an AOD transmission. This gives you an overdrive gear. This is a pretty straight forward swap your mustang shop should be able to do (provided it isn't an AODE; e for electronic). This tranny was behind V6s and V8s alike, just make sure it is rebuilt for a V8 within your application (but that is the same deal with your C4).