I need some advice here guys. I just bought a 1970 Mustang Fastback (automatic) this weekend with a 289 for $1200 but it needs a lot of front-end work. But my girlfriend’s brother-in-law is a 5-star mechanic and he told me he would rebuild my engine and transmition for $500 on his spare time to help me out. He told me it may take him awhile but that's no big deal. While he's doing this he suggested this would be a good time to add a kam, new carbirator and hearders if I wanted them and he would do it. He suggested I go to a 4-barrel Holly carb or maybe just a bigger 2-barrel carb. Anyways I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions. I was also thinking about some glasspacks also but by no means an expert. What do you guys think? The body is in great shape and only needs to be painted. I'm going to paint it silver with maroon racing strips. The interior is white with maroon trim so I think it should look pretty sharp when it's done.
Well the rebuild will be $500 and I'm not sure about the paint job yet but I'm not going to go cheap on that. I am not on a real budget persay but I'm not going to go crazy either. Right up front on parts I'm figure around $500-$800 plus what he is charging me to do the work. And the interior stuff I need like new carpet, new console, etc I am unlimited. I want the car to look nice!! I'm really wondering what I should get done to the engine while he has it apart and working on it. I want to take him up on the rebuild offer now because if I have learned anything from this board it's that realationships don't last forever
Buck, I don't think youll be able to get a new cam, carb and headers for that price. Maybe, depending on where you look. Is that all the engine needs?? On the paint, be prepared to pay $1,500-$2,000 if you are looking for high quality.
Yeah I know headers can be expensive but how much should I expect to spend on a carb and cam? If I go to a 4-barrel will I need to do anything else to the intake? A buddy of mine suggested that a 4-barrel might be too big and end up stalling. I figured about $100 for the cam and $300 or so on the carb, but I might be way off on that. Any suggestions on a brand (I know Holly) or types? Like I said this will be my first time trying to rebuild a car.
289...Hmmm... You can find a cam for under $200. and the intake should range about the same. Holley Flowtech Longtube Headers can be found for $89 new, (Summit p 64), but can range past $300. New 4 barrel carbs typically range between $200-$400, with the price increasing even higher as performance increases. What is going to cost you are the heads. Decent performance heads easily cost upwards of $1, 000. Here's the kicker...the cam and intake swap won;t wake up your engine until you slap on some higher performance heads. Another thing is that you can kill any performance with a miismatched combo. Do your research, maybe even sticking to a proven combo like Edelbrock Performer combo. As far as the glasspacks...they are loud. A toned down but still aggresiv muffler is the Dynomax Ultra Flo Race Bullets. A nice mild and strong sound is the Dynomac Super Turbos. That's what I have on my 92 GT. Flowmaster typically annoy you with their "drone". Dynomax also flow better than most mufflers, and they are very cheap. The auto tranny is going to bleed hp that you are putting into it. Maybe you should look into a performance tranny or at least a shift kit and up the gears in the rearend...4.10 for auto, 3.73 for stick. (about $189). Good Luck. Visit me (Red92GT) at South Texas Mustang Club website...www.STMC.WS, or http://www.stmc.ws/cgi-bin/yabb/yabb.cgi for the forums. Gotta be a paid member to see the hangout forums, but you can access the tech help just by registering. Good Luck.
BTW...http://classic.johnsmustang.com/ Located at 5234 glenmont Dr in Houston. Not big on Engine parts, but accessories warrant a look.
Hey Lynus...About 3 weeks ago, I finally made it out to the track and ran a 13.6 at 101. Pretty good for the 1st time I've ever been to the track.
Falcons Talons' advice is solid. Especially look into joining a Mustang club asap. It makes no sense to get a 4 barrel carb and hi pro cam if your manifold is the original set up for a two barrell. So, either go all original or at the very least make sure you change out all three. An Edlebrock Performer package would be relativly inexpensive and provide solid performance.
Holly 4 Barrel carb Accell Dual point distributor Eddelbrock offset manefold Headers Glasspacks. And, away you go !!! I have had 3 Mustangs in my life, my 1969 with a 302 was my favorite, but my 68 with a Hi-po 289 was my fastest. The other was a 67 -- 6 banger. I may have to get another one. They are very easy to work on and have tons of room under the hood. Have fun, and keep us posted. DD
Anyone know of a good place to take my Musatng to have the engine work done. My orginal plan of having my girlfriends brother-in-law do the work fell through. I have called a few places but they don't seem to want to do the performance work...just the rebuild. The one place I found (Scroggins Machine, Inc.) will do it for $1,100 plus the price of the performance parts. Any suggestions but I don't know the quality of there work.
Bolt ons are a piece of cake. Get the rebuild and buy an edelbrock package. Iif you're an entry level enthusiast, this is the way to go. Edelbrock heads/intake/carb. Call up some cam businesses and they will ask you what you're interested in so you can choose the right cam. BTW, I'm no longer with STMC. Breaking off and trying to start a Brownsville Chapter of Mustang Club of America.
jegs.com has a new (C-4) TCI trans for $740 usually cheaper than getting one rebuilt, and good luck finding an honest transmission shop...i'm not even sure they exist I've never quite grasped why they make sports cars with automatics but that's just me lol You might be better off picking up a long block than having your existing one rebuilt, everything will be new central coast mustang has great prices (300hp long block for $1700) but I've never dealt w/them before if you've really got some money burning a hole in your pocket, www.dssracing.com is THE way to go imo whatever way you go, make sure your fuel system is up to the task of supporting your new found horsepower, as lean engines tend to go boom
