Rabitz

Always wanted to say that...
I have been given the green light by my wife, and allocated funds to start a V8 build!!

It will be very low cost ( I have three kids) and built over time...

I am a Industrial welder/fabricator by trade ( I build Barges for a Company here in Portland, OR. , so I will be doing almost everything myself.

The car is a 94 R package. I will get in to the details whn I start my build thread.

I have been researching what I want to do, for about three years...and over the past four months very seriously. I have really been waiting for the right (read inexpensive) engine to cross my path, so I have been open to whatever maunfacturer, and then decide on everything based on that.

well...I have come across a ford 302 in my price range, and everyhting sounds great about it. the thing I am not sure about is this: it comes out of a 94 ford van. I am going to switch it to carburation, so I am not too worried about the harness and stuff. what I am unsure of is this (finally) does the vehicle the engine comes out of matter? will a van engine form 94 work?

most likely, ill replace the heads, and of course the manifold, but do I need to worry about the internals? im sure I am going to change the camshaft too. is there anyhting I need to really look out for?

it turns over no problem, and looks great. has 120k on it.


thanks for any help...as soon as i pull the trigger, and get the engine, im puling the car in to the garage and starting. im excited, but dont want to be overly eager, and start out with the wrong core engine.

Jason

tbone heller

Welcome. The van engine will work, but you may find that all of the little things that you will need (flywheel, oil pan, dipstick, oil pump pick-up, front drive brackets, ect.) can add up in price. I would look for an engine from a Mustang, T-bird, Cougar, or Explorer. They each have their own pluses & minuses. The Mustang should have everything you need. T-bird/Cougar has no standard flywheel, but has short front drive as does the explorer which also has better heads from the factory than the Mustang. A V-8 T-bird/Cougar donor with a L3.27 would be nice to find.

Rabitz

Thanks Tbone! will definitely narrow my search pattern. thank you for that info. it really helps a lot. There is a picknpull around the corner from my house- ill start lookng.

side note: he is only asking $375, so I figured with that savings, it would make up for the other parts I would have to get...any thoughts at that price point?

Sunshine Guy

As much as the additional money, actually figuring out what additional parts you need and locating them (mostly used) can be a bit of a challenge. Going with a carb rather than EFI does simplify things though.

Are you planning on buying a kit from Martin? If you do, as tbone suggested, the '89-'93 engine, flywheel, bellhousing, clutch and transmission becomes closer to a drop-in package.

Rabitz

i wont be buying the kit from martin...would love to, but I figured id make it a long term project and work it out. will probably buy his manual though.

Rabitz

talked to a buddy of mine, that is willing to sell/part out his 93 cougar...we are unsure of how to check what gear ratio it has, other than pulling the diff/or counting drive shaft rotation... any label in car, or stamp on axle?

thanks again

tbone heller

There should be a tag on the rear cover.

cvx_20

There's a code on the label on the door jamb under "AX" I think.

Hopefully this link will work, it has a handy little chart of the codes, I printed it out and keep it in my wallet:

TCCoA Tech Articles

Mike

Rabitz

wow cvx, that was perfect! it shoes that it is locked, with the 3.08 gears...everyone has been so helpful, I am really thankful for your input so quickly.

Rabitz

here is the dilema: the 93 cougar is available, driveable ( so I can use it while stripping and selling off miata parts) and not bad in price (under 1300)

my friend is also tempting me with a 95 mustang GT parts car. non running - engine works , but stictly parts car. for about 1k...what would you do? both are automatics unfortunately.

as dilemmas go, im kind of happy.

Rabitz

just a quick update.:
I had a lot of issues with people flaking out at the last minute when it came to getting donor cars. I guess that was a good thing, because I found a guy selling a 94 Mustang GT convertible real cheap. went over, drove it, talked him down some, and drove it home!

I have spent the last 3 weeks bringing the engine back to running condition, and right now it runs great. The gentleman I bought it from was the second owner, had the original window sticker and every piece of documentation of work that he had ever done with/to it. oil changes, tire changes, transmission work and apparently about 5 years ago, he brought it to one of the machine shops here and had it converted to a 347, with a bunch of other work done to it. The shop is still around, and the owner remembers the car, and is getting paper work on what he did to the pistons, cam and crank... ill keep you all posted on what it is.

as soon as the holidays are over, I am going to get hte garage cleared out, and bring in the miata to start stripping her down and getting her ready.

thanks again for everyone that has been helping me out in PMs and emails.

Jason

charchri4

Congrats on the find! Sounds like it is going to be a really nice engine for the car. Merry Christmas!

Gator Bait

nice find!

Rabitz

Thanks! Excited to see how this is gonna turn out, now.