ok...well now that i know im going to restore my 4 door mav and turn it into somthing that blows some of these punks off the road. who should i ask to do it for me? i mean...do you think i regular shop would put the new V8 in and do the manual trana swap? im also going to have my steering and brake systems completly redone! what kinda money am i looking at for somthing like that? i have alot of money to put into this thing...and i want a pro to do it for me....im good with the body work but thats it...so what are your guys thought on this? thanx-james
not sure where you are located...But sounds like a fun project. Doing this to a car requires a lot of money, especially when you are not doing most of the work yourself. Before you start, you have to be 100% sure that you have the car you want to restore--example, is is smog exempt, 2 door vs 4 door, does it already have a 302??? If this is the car you are going to do, and you have plenty of cash, take it in to a WELL know engine builder and have them do all the work. I amagine you are going to build up a 302. No matter where you live, you should be able to get some good suggestions as to a shop to go to. Make sure you post pictures! BTW, don't send it to a "regular shop" they won't give the car the attn and detail it deserves--Like I said, take it to a shop found from word of mouth and bring it to someone who specializes in older cars
If you are going to have a motor built or rebuilt, I would suggest going with a stroker motor.I will probably catch a little hell for this, but I would go with a 331. The 347 is a good stroker, but it tends to have oil consumption problems after about 10,000 miles or so. I know that these stroker kits are getting better with this problem. But with that long of a stroke, the piston is coming down out of the cylinder to far (in my opinion) and it starts to wobble when it goes back up, leading to premature wear of the piston and cylinder wall. I just feel it is a better kit for a daily driver. Although....... a fresh, well built 302 will run with alot of street cars. One thing is for certain, you will get alot of input on from this board as far as what to do. take all the info you get and decide what you want. Its your car, so make it the way you want it!
Although the small block Ford will bolt right in, you need the proper frame mounts and transmission mount. Also You said a manual trans conversion which means you need a pedal assembly and linkage. The linkage for a 302 is almost non existent. The cross shaft is supposed to be reproduced but I could not find one last year when I put my Sprint together. You could go with a hydraulic set up. These parts need to be procured before you put your car in the shop. Otherwise it will sit in the corner collection dust while they look for the parts. Paying someone else to do the work is going to be very expensive. You would be better off spending the money on some local community college courses and some tools.
what i want i want somthing that will give me the best acceleration i can possibly get out of my car. i will drive it daily. but i would like to to be able to race too. i do like to race my friends when i can...so what kinda V8 will allow me to do that?
