1st off a little update, in the last year I had to move twice and I had a newspaper route that had caused the 78 Wagon to blow a headgasket, I then had to sell my gas guzzling 71 so I could fix my Mustang II to run it (MUCH cheaper in gas).
After a few months I finally got around to installing a new head gasket and come to realize that 1, I've missed the acceleration I get with the Pinto 3.00:1 rear instead of the Mustang's sluggish 2.79. And two, this engine's age is showing more and more, oil pressure hovers around 20psi and will not go past 30 no matter what the RPM. Valves are starting to rattle and you can barely climb a hill in third gear at 50mph, too steep and you gotta bring it to 2nd all with a 4 speed.
While my Mustang (2.3 also, c3 auto) on the other hand is a major SLUG from a stop but once over 3000 rpm she screams without hesitation.
So I've been thinking about swapping rear ends with the wagon and making my II better all around. And since the Mustang has an 8 inch rear... may be time for a V8!
I already have a 5.0 ho and 4 cyl t5, with all Mustang II hardware I've collected just wasting away in my 78 Cobra II that I can't drive, the guy I bought the body from was supposed to get me the title and never did And NC won't issue a bonded title for a car purchased from a junkyard.
Now to clarify I'm no stranger to v8 swaps, I've done it to my 74 Mustang II (before the 2.3 "downgrade") which is very close in size, using no Mustang II specific parts, but with this engine I have the mounts, oil pan and exhaust manifolds.
But I do have a few questions before I jump into this,
1st. I'd love to keep the 3.00:1 rear but I doubt the little 6.75 would last with a 5.0 (though I did run one in my II for a while before I installed the 8'' with no problems, but that was an old worn out truck engine), so would the 2.79 gears combined with the low 1st of the 4 cyl t5 give it more of a 3:1 feel? And would 5th gear practically be useless?
I also have a 3.55 rear in the Cobra but it has a mini spool and I do a lot of driving in my Pinto so I don't want to buy a new set of tires every 3 months.
2, Could I keep my factory clutch cable or would I need something else?
3, The engine has a weiand x-celerator intake and edelbrock 4 bbl carb, would that setup fit under the hood?
4,Anyone running factory 4 cyl front springs in their Pinto? How low does it sit?
5,I see a lot of v8 Pintos with the inner fenders cut out is there a necessary purpose for that?
All opinions and advice welcome.