- Aug 28, 2016
- 86
- 33
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I picked-up a 1977 mustang 2 with clean paint and a 302 a few weeks ago. It has almost no rust and it is a blast. It was overhauled in 1994 with a rebuilt engin, new paint, bushings and some mods. This was originally a 4 cylinder car. The 302 is from a 1978 and is modded with cam, intake, exhaust, high compression pistons, bigger valves and headers. The tranny is a 1989 5 speed with 2 gears from the 4 cyl engin in a 1978 manual bell housing and a short shifter. The differential is supposedly a 8.8 modified with a 9 inch gear kit that locks it up if I turn more than just a little. Better, wider tires and a pretty stiff suspension were all included.
Overall, the mix makes for a loud and fun ride, but for some reason I cannot explain, I would like to accelerate rly fast with it and maybe turn a little too, lol. Brakes are pretty bad also.
To sum things up, my question is, what can I run to make this thing rly go.
The motor has 10k miles on it since its last overhaul and I was thinking of a strocker kit, heads and maybe a supercharger if I could find one that fits. Can crate engins bolt up to the 1978 motor mounts and transmission bell housing, intake and exhaust?
Now If I mod the existing engin, what kind of hp can the rest of the drivetrain handle?
I think my main concern with suspension right now is getting a posi diff in there. I am nervous about taking any kind of curves with the diff I have now. Are there any options you could recommend?
My idle is kind of rough and I think part of my bad braking is coming from bad vaccum. Also tiny front discs and rear drums don't help. Is there a solution other than brigning up the Idle? The sound is rly cool at this Idle.
My tranny has 2 flaws, it doesn't downshift to 3rd due to a synchro problem and the first gear is too small. Its basically a 4 speed. Is there a better transmission to swap instead of the 1989? I am also thinking of just changing to a bigger diff, that would solved my locked diff issue and my small gear issue. Are there good options out there?
This is not a drag project or a show project, it doesn't have to be perfect, its just for fun.
Overall, the mix makes for a loud and fun ride, but for some reason I cannot explain, I would like to accelerate rly fast with it and maybe turn a little too, lol. Brakes are pretty bad also.
To sum things up, my question is, what can I run to make this thing rly go.
The motor has 10k miles on it since its last overhaul and I was thinking of a strocker kit, heads and maybe a supercharger if I could find one that fits. Can crate engins bolt up to the 1978 motor mounts and transmission bell housing, intake and exhaust?
Now If I mod the existing engin, what kind of hp can the rest of the drivetrain handle?
I think my main concern with suspension right now is getting a posi diff in there. I am nervous about taking any kind of curves with the diff I have now. Are there any options you could recommend?
My idle is kind of rough and I think part of my bad braking is coming from bad vaccum. Also tiny front discs and rear drums don't help. Is there a solution other than brigning up the Idle? The sound is rly cool at this Idle.
My tranny has 2 flaws, it doesn't downshift to 3rd due to a synchro problem and the first gear is too small. Its basically a 4 speed. Is there a better transmission to swap instead of the 1989? I am also thinking of just changing to a bigger diff, that would solved my locked diff issue and my small gear issue. Are there good options out there?
This is not a drag project or a show project, it doesn't have to be perfect, its just for fun.