Hello and donor questions.

[firechicken]

Greetings to everyone here. I feel like this is a bad time to join and ask questions but I am looking at a snooze and loose kind of deal and I have some questionf for the folks who have been there. I have the chance to get an 88 donor gt that has a reabuilt 64 1/2 289 in it, along with the older mustang it came out of and the 302 from the 88. Its all installed in the 88 so I am wondering if the older engine would work in the coupe as well. The wife and I are in the preocess of aquireing the work space needed with a new house and she is wanting an older stang so this would really be great for us. I am thinking that the 302 probably needs a complete rebuild and I know the the 64 1/2 coupe needs a ton of work but it would give us everything we need to get started on both projects. My thanks for your input and I bow down to what the folks here have accomplished.

[riptide motorsport]

Your logic is correct, everything works together fine. Steven

[68GT500MAN]

The 289 is a member of the engine family called "small block" Ford made at the Windsor plant. Starting with the 260 and running through the 351 over its life. Any of these blocks will fit just fine in your planned coupe. I believe that the bluse coupe in the FFR showroom had a 289 based engine in it.
Doug

[Hankl]

Firechicken,

There is never a bad time to ask questions. I saw that you posted on Andy's passing, and He would be one of the first to jump in and help if you needed it, so ask away.
Let us know a little more about your self, Location, car experience, etc, maybe we can hook you up with a FFR owner close by.

Hank :cool:

[Jeff Kleiner]

Are the 289 and T5 coupled together currently? Reason I ask is because early 289 engines (which would include 1964 1/2) require a 5 bolt bellhousing. Later Windsors (post '65) use a 6 bolt bell. The 6 bolt T5 bellhousing from the '88 won't be compatible with the early 5 bolt block. There are some workaround solutions available through Modern Driveline (http://www.moderndriveline.com/index.html) ; one to adapt the trans to an early bell, the other to mate the later bell to an early block. Just want you to be aware of some of the challenges you might be getting into.

Good luck,
Jeff

[CHAZC5ZX]

make shure the engine has the six bolt bellhousing there is a change level. the 64 1/2 mustangs and older small blocks had the five bolt with a generator all the later engines had the six bolt.
Chaz...

[skullandbones]

If the price is right and it sounds like it (if you snooze you lose), then you definitely have a great potential double project. You will have plenty of parts to pick and choose from. The 64 really has a nostalgia value that is hard to measure in dollars. Can you imagine you sitting in your roadster and your wife sitting next to you in her 64 Stang? How cool of a shot will that be!!! Can't wait to see it. Good luck! WEK

[skullandbones]

I forgot to mention that if you got your roadster going with the 289, you might consider changing it out later for the rebuild 302 or something bigger and put the 289 back in the 64 stang as a numbers matching car. That's a good thing to have. Just a thought. Thanks, WEK.

[firechicken]

WOW! What a great response. :)
Steven, Doug, thanks for confirming what I was thinking.
Hank, would be GREAT to meet up with someone and get an up close look at one of the cars. As for myself, I am semi car educated in that if I have instructions in front of me and its a bolt on (or off) type job I can make it happen and will do so in such a way as to ensure it is correct. I believe in using the right tools for the job and doing it once and doing it right. I am located near Ft. Lewis Wa. JBLM (pronounced JaBLAM! now) and my wife and I are both military. I am origionally from Mass (go pats!) but consider myself a Wa. state resident for the long term. Due to recent health issues, it is looking more and more like I will no longer be able to do my job as a deployable infantryman so I may need to reclass or medically retire from service. :( The good news on this is that although pain will be a permanent fixture, I will have time to spend with my wife and time to commit to an undertaking like building a coupe.

I have helped to work on a friends chevelle, a beautifull go go green challenger with a 318 in it, an old beater ford fairlane and am nearing the finish line on my 73 firebird wich you can see as my avatar. I would say the interior is about 50% done and then it will be declared "finished" even though it will continue to recieve tweaks and polishings. A master mechanic I am not. I have never completely rebuilt an engine or a transmission and although i have done some body work, I am not currently capable of doing the sheetmetal work myself. Bondo and fiberglass I can do wich is another appealing thing about these kits.
Jeff, they are together and I believe he did use an adapter, not sure wich method was employed. When/if ican still get it I will take pictures and post them up.
Chaz and WEK, good points. A lot of food for thought here. Kari is wanting to have a realitively fuel efficient ride so I am kinda thinking the resto mod route for her build and not worrying so much about everything being correct, that said there is something to be said for numbers matching. The mustang in question is a coupe and is in a shell state. It has a rollbar installed and is pretty far from all origional as it sits so.... Kinda her choice when it all boils down to it. Her main concern is that the "pony" gets to be large, shiny chrome, and located in the middle of the grill. No 1969's for her :( I like that it has a rollbar and will probably keep it if it is functionally safe. Like my firebird, we wont be building it with the resale value in mind but more to make it fun and what we want. I think using the modern powerplant for hers might be the way to go.

THanks again everyone for the responses and help- John
ps, here's the bird, not perfect but back from the rusty dead and all mine. 350, edelbrock performer intake and 750 cfm carb, hedman headers, flowmasters. A fun car.
4422
Heres my LP I put together from parts, again, not correct but MINE and a good example of how I do things.
4423
and while we are on the subject of putting things back together, heres a pic of me getting my cat scanned :)
4424

[Hankl]

John,

Your resume has all that is needed to build one of these cars, so welcome to the club. Keep asking questions, and we'll continue to pass on along any knowledge that we have. If you have any build specific questions, just ask.

Hank :cool:

[GloP]

Hey John,

I'm in WA state too. Up in Issaquah a little north from you. Considering building a 65 Coupe with a friend. Pretty close to pulling the trigger. I would most likely get a crate engine for my mine though!

Good luck with your project!

Julien

[firechicken]

Thanks Julian, still working the deal for the 88 stang with the 289, unfortunately he sold the 64 1/2 allready. Going to try to get it tomorow and hoping that he still has the now spare 302. Issaquah is not to far. I would be glad to donate a little of my time to help out, especially if you are a lil ahead of me in the build ;) (no alterior motive for that whatsoever)
There is a car show this weekend that I may enter in spanaway at sprinker rec center. I dont plan on winning anything but it would be fun to park my bird there, talk with folks and maybe meet some new friends. If you go, look for the guy in the wheelchair with the digital camo and skulls pillow on the leg rest, that'll be me.

[firechicken]

So after some negotition and some unfortunte additions the seller made to the car to make it more apealing to a normal driver, I snoozed and lost :( The hunt goes on and I'm sure that a suitable donor will find its way to my garage within the year. I am giving the whole project 2 year timeline. I'm sure that I can accomplish this both financially and labor wise. Thats the goal anyways.