I have a1977 Maverick Got rid of the straight 6 got a 302 with an AOD tranny. My question is do I need what some guys call a belly bar to install the 302. I have the V8 frame monts and am getting the tranny cross member and frame mount insulaters. Is there a belly bar or croos member that I need to get for the V8 ?
The belly bar bolts between the frame rails to help strengthen them up. It helps but is not needed. You will how ever need to buy a AOD crossmember off of Frank (71Gold) to install the AOD or do some custom fabricating on one of the stock ones. :Handshake
The belly bar keeps the sides of the car from spreading at the bottom and stabilizes the front subframe. You can run without it just like you can run without the shock tower supports. They spread without their supports too.
i plan to do the same swap soon, a while back i had my first wreck and bent the frame under the hood where that inch or 2 wide hole is on the drivers side of the frame. its been fixed and all long since then but do you think that would nearly require me to have a belly bar, and where would i find one?
