Hi, as you may have gathered the Grabber is my first yank car- and pretty different from what I'm used to as far as drums all round, leaf springs and column shift (and auto!) go. I know my stuff when it comes to car tech, but are there any really common mods done on these that make a difference, i.e. get rid of the column shift etc or is it mostly down to personal preferance and drag racing needs etc? I want to put discs on the front but thats pretty much it unless there are other things that will make much difference? It's going to get a bare shell rebuild, I'll rebuild the 302 as well, not sure whether or not to stroke it yet or leave it fairly standard (I have a big shiny nos bottle grinning at me spare too ), and I want to put a small front spoiler on that will be painted with the rest of the car. Apart from that I'm out of ideas as I dont want to go mad with it, just tart it up a touch
Floor shifter is a nice change ... I am assuming your car is an automatic? If so, you will need to get the proper shift arm for the transmission ... different than a column shift arm. Another mod you might want to search is the "Shelby Drop" ... easy to do if rebuilding the front end, and you will have it all apart anyway to put discs on it. Makes it handle better. Stroke the 302? ... better idea than swapping in a bigger motor...a much better fit. 331 and 347s are common kits for those. 347s are very popular, but the more I have studied them, I am leaning toward a 331 for my next engine. 331s require less mods to the block, have a reputation for revving well, and I get a sense they might be a bit more durable. In a light car like ours, I like the idea of an engine that really revs well as a small trade-off for squeezing out every last ft-lb of torque... which is kind of where I am at currently with my 351 swap. Don't get me wrong, it is a blast as it is now, but I just think it would be much more fun to drive. ... which will then lead into a 5 speed stick swap ... it never ends ... Mind you, this is my opinion from observations ... I am sure there are 347 lovers out there that will dispute it. It pretty much boils down to how you plan to use the car.
Shelby drop? I assume thats lowering/dropping it? Why is a floor shifter better than column shift? I think I'll be keeping it on the column as it really novel to have it there over here!- and the top of the tunnel between the seats completely clear! I like the sound of a 331, its a fairly light car so would benefit from a slightly more revvy engine than extreme torque, do you know what block mods have to be done?
do some search on both subjects the "shelby drop" is a way to improve handling by lowering the mounting points of the upper control arms. Two new holes will have to be drilled. Easy to do when the car is taken apart completely. The Mustang parts houses have a template you can buy. the 331 is a nice way to get more cubes out of the 302. it usually is done by boring and honing the block to .030, putting in a new crank, rods and pistons. make sure you get a balanced kit for that, as balancing over here in europe can be pretty expensive!
I got a price for balancing my blown V8 I'm finishing at the mo, the price wasn't that bad and I would trust it a lot more than paying for a kit that has supposedly been pre-balanced... Will search away!
If you like the novelty of a column shifter over there, by all means, enjoy it. Floor shifters have a sporty aura over here, and column shifters are very common here and thought of as being pretty pedestrian. That is why I posted that, but, I am a huge fan of "Dare to Be Different", too.
By floor shifter do you mean mounted on the transmission tunnel? If you have a manual shift kit fitted it's awesome having the stick in the middle and bang bang bang through the gears up the strip!
