mod motor in 69 mach1??

there is an old mustang monthly from the early 90's where someone did that. METRIC TON of WORK. Start by removing the shock towers....

I hate to preach, but you'll need a cutting torch with lots of gas. Think about the future, they don't make 1969 Mach 1s anymore. Those are IMHO the best looking vintage Mustangs made, period. Why do you want to put yours on the butcher block? There are SOOOO many good parts available for the 351W that were never available before--including stroker kits and excellent cylinder heads.

Your car *will* be worth more to you and to any potential owners in the future. No one wants a hack job.

Vic

2kGT 5m blk suspension upgrades

Victor DiMichina wrote

As the other posters have pointed out, you'll have to remove or trim your shock towers to do this. I would not worry about originality. I would not do this to a 428 or a Shelby, but there are plenty of small block '69 Mach 1's out there in showroom condition for those who care. It's your car, do what you want with it. If you want to keep mods reversible, get a set of replacement shock towers right now and put them away for the future. Save the numbers matching motor and tranny too.

To remove the shock towers, use a Heidt or Rod & Custom Motorsports kit (

or ). These kits replace the whole front suspension with Mustang II type parts, including rack & pinion steering.

To trim, you can go with a Total Control coil-over setup (

), or a Fatman ( ) kit that replaces the front suspension with a Fox-style strut kit. These kits do away with the large diameter coil springs that fill the shock towers in the stock configuration, giving you a few inches to trim away without interference with the suspension. This is the way I would go, because they're stronger than the Mustang II conversions.

Any one of these three choices is going to run $2000-3000, maybe more, all in. That's not counting the 5.4 and the 6-speed, and all the other mods -- clutch linkage, wiring harness, brackets -- needed to make them work.

180 Out TS 28

I won't get into the "why?" discussion but let's just say you should get the torch out and make sure your tanks are full...

Yet another $.02 worth from a proud owner of a 1970 Mach 1 351C @

C'mon Vic. Where's that "Helmut Roner Gut It 'N' Mod It" spirit? LOL I think I'd have to side with you on this one, too.

Gary '88GT

Ask these guys. StuK

Cool. It can be done, but it's tough. The mod motor is very wide. It's as wide as a cammer. I'm not really sure of the specs on the

5.4l. But if they are like the Windsor motors, you need to think about this carefully. In 1990, the Mustang had a 302, and the trucks had a 351. Both Windsor motors, and both pretty much the same in apperance except for displacement. However, the truck motor was not well suited for performance work - lower compression, different cam, different EFI. The 351W was a good place to start, but need some work to be performance oriented. The new mod motors may be similar in that respect. Do your homework. But, that being said, it would still be a cool restomod. The shock towers have to go. That means you'll need to spring for the Mustang II front suspension - coil overs, R&P, disc brakes. Bonus. The 5.4l is kind of tall, so the hood will have to be modified. There's no such Ford animal as a 5.4/6speed. So that may take a little work. I could be wrong, but I think I think the bellhousing bolt pattern is the same as the 4.6l. It may physically bolt up with stock parts. But I don't think the balance is the same as the 4.6l. There's a shop in Canada that races the 4.6l and I bet they would know all that stuff. They make a lot of slick stuff for the mod motor. Can't remember the name off the top of my head, but I'm sure somebody here does. I think they even sell a stroker kit to make a 4.6 in to a 5.4????? Might be cheaper and easier that way, to just start out with a Mustang donor car. While you're at it, consider changing the rear to IRS. That would be some slick car. I love the '69 FB, and a good restomod like that would be sweet. If you can get your hands on a damaged 2003 Cobra, you'de have nearly all the parts you need. Go for it.

Bill,

This is a bad idea on so many levels. Not only are you going to have to be a master welder/fabricator, you're going to have to design a completely new front end for which a simple Mustang II conversion will fall way short. You're going to have to work out electrical and electronic issues (read rewire the car) and I hope you have a new hood figured out because clearance will be a major problem. All of that and I have serious doubts that you can get that engine-tranny combination together, much less fit the tunnel on the '69.

That said, I wish you luck and hope you have deep, very deep pockets.

would probably be easier just to have a whole new chassis made up that looks like the mach1 and has all the room for that motor