1969 Mustang Coupe Albuquerque, NM

[quarkdude 13]

Hello all,

Just joined the forum and have recently picked up a 1969 Mustang coupe here in New Mexico for $2500. Back in High school I had a 1970 coupe that my dad and I squeezed in a 460 - you could burn tires on the freeway. Needed to change the rear end gearing back then but never had a chance to. The Mustang I just picked up is in pretty good shape - the motor that was in it blew a head gasket ( I got the motor with the purchase). I am in the process of putting in a 302 from a 1988 Lincoln town car ( roller cam/lifters ) motor. I have an Edelbrock 289 intake on it with a Holley 4160 vac. secondary 4 barrel. Seems to be working pretty well accept for one of the heads sounds like a sewing machine. Gettting ready to take it apart and remove the noisey head and see what's wrong. Got an engine stand and am going to mount the engine that I got with the deal and take it apart as well. It doesnt look too bad, just got water in it of course. Some cleaning, cleaning and it should be salvagable.

I'll get some pics up soon, it is white with a wide black stripe down the middle and on the trunk.

quarkdude:thumbup:

 

Edited December 7, 2010 by quarkdude
adding some pictures of the car

[70mstang 11]

Welcome Quarkedude!

 

This is a great place to ask folks for tips & tricks. I know I've got a list of questions for everyone coming up now that I am in re-construction mode!

[flight96 14]

Welcome !!! The more the Merrier !! Post some pics, let's see the ride !!

[quarkdude 13]

[rangerdoc 22]

Looks like you picked up a nice car.

[quarkdude 13]

Well, my dad brought me a 302 from an '88 lincoln, a roller 302 which is good. Got it all together finally and it just isn't running very good. I think the motor has more miles on it than the odometer on the car showed. So plan B is in motion. The original motor that came with the car when I bought it has a blown head gasket, so I have been tearing that engine down and everything looks to be not in bad shape. This weekend I'm going to finish taking to short block now down to an empty block and get it to the machine shop to clean it and check for cracks - should be a good one I think. Then it's polishing the crank bearing surfaces and checking the line bore on the crank. The heads were good, I'm just gonna use those the way the are. The cam - I have no idea what it is, I'll check for lift/duration stamps in the end of the cam when I get it out. Hopefully I have something there that is better than stock.

quarkdude

[Daves69Coupe 10]

 

great buy for 2500 bucks. Anytime you can get a classic car that runs for that price its a steal. (as long as there isnt hidden issues) that is. Your car looks very clean though. Is that also a 69' Camaro in the garage? A lil cross branding going on huh? Good luck with the car

[quarkdude 13]

Thanks for the great comments on the Mustang. The Camaro is a friend of mines, also his garage. I have to admit I did have a 1998 Camaro Z-28 before this Mustang but it is gone now. Can't wait until it gets warm here in New Mexico for some Mustang cruisin and a good engine of course.

quarkdude

[quarkdude 13]

Hello all,

Well, I got a new (used) motor here in town, a complete 302 for $125.00. Don't know how well it will run, it was bought as a short block with all the parts to put it together. I have been cleaning the heads a block meticulously and finally yesterday came and I was able to paint the thing. I went with the good 'ole Ford Blue high temp engine paint. I must say, it sure looks pretty good. I'll post some pics after work. The motor is a 1980 302 block with 351W heads. The engine did run before at some point. I was told the engine came out of a competition rock crawler. We will see when I get it all together and running. I'll take a video of it alive when that time gets here. Getting pretty excited to drive the 'stang for the summer as it is getting nice and warm here in New Mexico.

quarkdude

[70mstang 11]

Sounds good quarkedude! Get a good vid of the start up! I love to see videos on youtube of the first start ups. Always gets me ready to get mine started.

[quarkdude 13]

Hello all,

I spent a bunch of hours this weekend working on assembly of the 302 for the 'Stang. I am almost done putting it together. This is the motor I bought from a guy locally - he said the motor came out of a competition rock crawler. Here are some of the parts on the motor: .040 over flat top pistons, 302 block, 351 heads, Edelbrock performer 289 dual plane intake manifold, holley 4160 600cfm carb, and the thing I was curious about is the Elgin Cam P/N# E951P. I found on the web that that cam has a lift of .449/ .473,

Duration of 280/289,

Duration @ .050: 204/214

Lobe seperation: 112 LC

 

Sounds like the combination of things will be a pretty strong motor what do ya think. I am kinda new to building Ford engines.

 

Thanks, quarkdude

Edited May 5, 2011 by quarkdude

[quarkdude 13]

Hello all,

Been busy trying to get this project finished for some summer driving. Here are some shots of the motor so far. I just need to fit the radiator - need to file the mounts slightly to get it to fit square, hook up the 16" electric fan wiring, clean the engine bay with some degreaser, and get the transmission lines lined up to the radiator bottom and then I'll be prepped to drop the engine in. I am hoping for a good breathing 302 with those 351 heads and .449/.473 cam.

 

quarkdude:clap:

[quarkdude 13]

Hello all,

Been busy trying to get this project finished for some summer driving. Here are some shots of the motor so far. I just need to fit the radiator - need to file the mounts slightly to get it to fit square, hook up the 16" electric fan wiring, clean the engine bay with some degreaser, and get the transmission lines lined up to the radiator bottom and then I'll be prepped to drop the engine in. I am hoping for a good breathing 302 with those 351 heads and .449/.473 cam.

 

quarkdude:clap:

[quarkdude 13]

Hello all,

Got the motor in this Memorial Day Weekend and tried to start it. Got it going once, turned the key off, shortly after that tried to start it again and it just went rrrrrrrruuuhhhhhhh one time. No cranking just the solenoid click then like a 1/4 rotation or so of the starter and then a plume of smoke from the Alternator area. I turned off the key and went up to the front of the car and noticed that the insulation from one of the alternator ground wires was just gone - got too hot. The wire was still very hot to the touch. It also melted some insulation on one of the wires going to the voltage regulator. I thought maybe my ground reference was not good so I took a set of jumper cables and clamped one end around the starter mounting bolt and the tranny. The other end I put directly to the negative terminal of the battery. This should now be the best ground you could get. I turned the key and the same thing happened - just the starter going rruuuuhhhhhh. I am thinking the starter might be bad, so I am going to pull it tonight and take it to Autozone for testing. I hope they find it bad - at least that would be a known issue. I charged the battery overnite to rule that out

Any insite to what could cause that? Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks guys,

quarkdude

[quarkdude 13]

Hello all,

Got the motor in this Memorial Day Weekend and tried to start it. Got it going once, turned the key off, shortly after that tried to start it again and it just went rrrrrrrruuuhhhhhhh one time. No cranking just the solenoid click then like a 1/4 rotation or so of the starter and then a plume of smoke from the Alternator area. I turned off the key and went up to the front of the car and noticed that the insulation from one of the alternator ground wires was just gone - got too hot. The wire was still very hot to the touch. It also melted some insulation on one of the wires going to the voltage regulator. I thought maybe my ground reference was not good so I took a set of jumper cables and clamped one end around the starter mounting bolt and the tranny. The other end I put directly to the negative terminal of the battery. This should now be the best ground you could get. I turned the key and the same thing happened - just the starter going rruuuuhhhhhh. I am thinking the starter might be bad, so I am going to pull it tonight and take it to Autozone for testing. I hope they find it bad - at least that would be a known issue. I charged the battery overnite to rule that out

Any insite to what could cause that? Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks guys,

quarkdude

[TexasEd 188]

No idea about your problem but keep the updates coming.

[TexasEd 188]

No idea about your problem but keep the updates coming.

[70mstang 11]

I hope it's just the starter too

[70mstang 11]

I hope it's just the starter too

[Fordrevhead 29]

Sounds like a starter drawing way too much current but you were right to check the grounds! Check the battery to engine ground and while you're at it make sure you have a good ground from the body to the engine as well! Oh and the Voltage Regulator must also have a good case ground or it will be smoked immediately.

[Fordrevhead 29]

Sounds like a starter drawing way too much current but you were right to check the grounds! Check the battery to engine ground and while you're at it make sure you have a good ground from the body to the engine as well! Oh and the Voltage Regulator must also have a good case ground or it will be smoked immediately.

[quarkdude 13]

Well, I got the starter out and took it to Autozone and had them check it out and they found that the starter had an internal short in it somewhere. The negative connection on the machine was sparking with power applied and no load -Weird:mellow:

So I got a new one there along with a new postive battery cable and solenoid. Put it all in and it still wasn't starting. Then the idea came to me to go check my 1978 F-100 truck and see how the wiring on that was, it is a 302 as well. Then the light bulb went on - the negative battery cable goes directly to the engine block - I had it near the motor mount. This was causing the high current situation. Chevy guy not knowing the basic Ford electrical connections I guess. So I moved the negative battery terminal to the block and Whaaalaaaaa it starts now. Whooohooooo! Now I just need to finish putting the cooling system in and should be driving soon.

quarkdude

Edited August 1, 2011 by quarkdude

[quarkdude 13]

Well, I got the starter out and took it to Autozone and had them check it out and they found that the starter had an internal short in it somewhere. The negative connection on the machine was sparking with power applied and no load -Weird:mellow:

So I got a new one there along with a new postive battery cable and solenoid. Put it all in and it still wasn't starting. Then the idea came to me to go check my 1978 F-100 truck and see how the wiring on that was, it is a 302 as well. Then the light bulb went on - the negative battery cable goes directly to the engine block - I had it near the motor mount. This was causing the high current situation. Chevy guy not knowing the basic Ford electrical connections I guess. So I moved the negative battery terminal to the block and Whaaalaaaaa it starts now. Whooohooooo! Now I just need to finish putting the cooling system in and should be driving soon.

quarkdude

Edited August 1, 2011 by quarkdude

[quarkdude 13]

Hello all,

Here we go again, Starter is good now. Engine starts up right away and idles great but I hear a ringing knocking noise now. I cant pinpoint where it is coming from exactly. I put the new starter in and am wondering if it is hitting the flex plate (automatic transmission). I wonder if I need to space the flexplate into the tranny a little with spacers between the flexplate and rear bearing where the flex plate bolts with 6 bolts to the back of the engine. I'll make a video of it running tomorrow and post it here, maybe someone has heard it also.

Thanks, quarkdude

[quarkdude 13]

Hello all,

Here we go again, Starter is good now. Engine starts up right away and idles great but I hear a ringing knocking noise now. I cant pinpoint where it is coming from exactly. I put the new starter in and am wondering if it is hitting the flex plate (automatic transmission). I wonder if I need to space the flexplate into the tranny a little with spacers between the flexplate and rear bearing where the flex plate bolts with 6 bolts to the back of the engine. I'll make a video of it running tomorrow and post it here, maybe someone has heard it also.

Thanks, quarkdude