I was on the fence until I found this thread. Now I am two legs on one side 
@Wicked93gs The most informative post was your 1/12/21 reply to @bruinsfan27 on page 3 about engine mount, suspension and steering:
The entire swap would be far easier for someone using a Mustang-II type front suspension(or some other suspension that uses a front-steer rack and pinion and removes the shock towers), it would allow the engine to drop ..., allow the use of factory exhaust manifolds, ... issues with the strut tower braces not clearing the factory intake manifold ... you definitely do NOT want to leave the strut tower braces out ...
I have 2 questions for going with "removing the shock towers", assuming "shock tower" is "strut tower":
1. Wouldn't that also allow stock intake manifold to fit without cutting the hood?
2. With stock intake, what would you build as reinforcement to replace the strut tower braces?
Thanks
Shudda asked earlier-
What transmission are you using? Looks like a MT, but out of a Mustang? Or pickup? Think a WC T5Z would screw to the engine?
Thinking about the same swap in a 76 Capri- originally came w/ Cologne V6, built a 4.0 OHV for it, but then started thinking about a 4..0 OHC, then the Duratech 3.7. What is the distance between shock towers on the Mustang- the Capri is Mac Strut, and the vertical walls of the engine bay are a similar distance from firewall to core support
Any advice for someone thinking about it?
mc7eln said:
I was on the fence until I found this thread. Now I am two legs on one side
@Wicked93gs The most informative post was your 1/12/21 reply to @bruinsfan27 on page 3 about engine mount, suspension and steering:
The entire swap would be far easier for someone using a Mustang-II type front suspension(or some other suspension that uses a front-steer rack and pinion and removes the shock towers), it would allow the engine to drop ..., allow the use of factory exhaust manifolds, ... issues with the strut tower braces not clearing the factory intake manifold ... you definitely do NOT want to leave the strut tower braces out ...
I have 2 questions for going with "removing the shock towers", assuming "shock tower" is "strut tower":
1. Wouldn't that also allow stock intake manifold to fit without cutting the hood?
2. With stock intake, what would you build as reinforcement to replace the strut tower braces?
Thanks
Sorry, been a bit since I logged in here. Its a shock tower, not a strut tower....since classic mustangs do not use struts...they use a shock inside a coil spring(strut setups generally do not have an upper control arm, only a lower control arm).
1. The problem with the stock intake manifold is not the height...its the fact that the way it "sags" over onto the passenger side of the engine prevents you from triangulating shock tower bracing from the center of the cowl to the shock towers. If you are working with a set up that does not use shock towers(IE a Mustang-II type suspension) then you may have enough leeway in the design of your bracing that the factory intake manifold will not interfere. I have since installed a MII front crossmember(though I did not remove the shock towers) as a hanger for the steering rack for my front-steer conversion using a modified MII rack....it does not provide enough room to drop the engine significantly lower than the original setup(maybe 1/2"?).
2. If I just had to use the stock intake manifold....what I would do is use some type of engine bay gusset instead...similar to what the Miata uses:
The funny thing is that the Miata v8 sway guys actually remove these gussets for their swaps:
Of course, designing a gusset that will connect where you need it to(from the cowl lip to the shock tower area) might be a bit tricky...but it could be done(think something like the Miata gussets but at the top of the engine bay).
twentyover said:
Shudda asked earlier-
What transmission are you using? Looks like a MT, but out of a Mustang? Or pickup? Think a WC T5Z would screw to the engine?
Thinking about the same swap in a 76 Capri- originally came w/ Cologne V6, built a 4.0 OHV for it, but then started thinking about a 4..0 OHC, then the Duratech 3.7. What is the distance between shock towers on the Mustang- the Capri is Mac Strut, and the vertical walls of the engine bay are a similar distance from firewall to core support
Any advice for someone thinking about it?
I am using the manual MT82 6-speed. There is nothing wrong with the transmission once you address the poor OEM shifter assembly(I am using a Barton short shifter assembly that mounts the shifter to the trans rather than the unibody). That being said...6 speed transmissions are gimmicks for those of us who do not consistently drive 150MPH+...a T5 would be a good choice...or a T4 for that matter...but to get either of those to work you would have to make an adapter plate. I am sure it could be done fairly easily, but since the 6-speed bolts up from the factory, I didn't see any reason to do it myself.
You would not be the first to swap the 3.7L into a Capri, it will fit:
https://www.classic-ford.org/cfp/tm.aspx?m=47008&mpage=4
This guy used an early VCT(not Ti-VCT) version of the engine. I am not sure what he used for a transmission....but he could likely have gotten away running a Mustang oil pan...I don't think there was a RWD version of the engine in existence when he did this swap.
Random update here: I decided I hated the GT-style instrument cluster(its sticks out an inch from the dash and is made from plastic, it had to go) so I cut up some scrap steel and broke out the welder. The gauges will be recessed and mount from behind the panel(hence the gauge cup assembly). There is still a lot of work to go though. I estimate I will have 40-50 hours in the piece by the time I am finished. I based it off the 6-cylinder cluster which actually follows the curve of the dash(but is still made of plastic). I go to extreme lengths in this car to eliminate as many hard plastics as possible. There are a few left I don't have much choice but to deal with, but not many
In reply to Wicked93gs :
nice work on the instrument panel!
Making bezels from schedule 40 aluminum pipe. I used my wood mini-router to bevel the inside and outside and the little HF tabletop wood bandsaw to back-cut back-cut them to the face plate before some sanding. After I finish the last large one(or rather re-do the one large one and make another) the plan is to polish the bezels up to the end of the bevel inside(and all the outside) use panel bond or JB weld or something to attach them to the panel, sand and fill the inside of the well before painting it black right up to the end of the inside bevel. I actually plan to use vinyl on the face. I have some bedliner-like testured vinyl wrap...will either be that or real vinyl cloth:
I tried just bending the bexels to the face of the panel first...but it resulted it too much bezel distortion.
Bezels all cut now. Time to move on to polishing and attaching them. What is the best way to attach them to the steel? I would go with JB weld for something like this...but its too much of a liquid and seems like it will leak out onto the concave panel face where it will be virtually impossible to clean up once it sets(dont care if it leaks into the wells since the wells will require more grinding and sanding and filling anyway)
Rodan
UltraDork
7/11/23 11:46 a.m.
Not sure if this would work for you, but it's incredible stuff:
Back when I was building scale R/C helicopters I was introduced to Aeropoxy: BVM Aeropoxy
It's a two part epoxy designed for aircraft use and it doesn't run... stays where you put it. It has a long cure time (24+hours), but it's incredibly strong and durable. I've used it to bond fiberglass to wood, fiberglass to aluminum, both to carbon fiber, aluminum to plastic... I've never tried it steel to steel, but I have no doubt it would work.
It's a standard Hysol product sold under their brand name, but it's not really cheaper anywhere else and their applicators work pretty good. I've lost the info on the Hysol #, but that shouldn't be too hard to find.
It would have to be painted if visible, as it's kind of a tan color. Here's a pic of where I used it to support the cracked dash in our track Miata by bonding aluminum tabs to the underside of the hard plastic dash. 6 years of track use later and it's still going strong.
I would use flexglue. It applies as a caulk consistency, and once dry is very strong.
Whatever I use has to be sandable and paintable, otherwise some silicone would work just fine. In the end though it will end up filling small gaps here and there inside the wells(inevitable when doing this by hand with all the angle changes involved)
Re-doing my console for the 2nd time. I didn't care for how the previous one interfered with the hand brake. This time I used a '67 Mustang console as the ideal to copy...so I reverse engineered the base from some '67 console trim I cut up and modified based on my needs. This is far from done(still needs a padded armrest that will sit on top of the trim, need to cover it in vinyl, add a cubby, etc) but gives a basic idea of what I will end up with. I did end up having to cut the dash of the '66 to inset the console trim...but I like it a lot better than just sitting up under the dash like the previous version. I will also have to move the radio down to the console area, add some new HVAC controls and install some dash AC louvers in place of the original radio(more dash cutting). In the end though I think the result will be a lot better
I sent my Marshall Blueline SCX gauges back to Marshall and had them print up a new "upside down/top-sweep" set of dials. The idea here is that with the cluster I am building a top-sweep design makes them easier to read because I am looking down at the gauges and they are going to be "undermount" at the bottom of the well:
(Forgive the rough look the cluster currently has, I stripped the vinyl face off in preparation for 3D scanning. I plan to scan it into a CAD file, do a few modifications in the design and cut the final revision from billet aluminum)
Doing some finish work for the console v2.0. Finished cutting some new trim...not too far to go now to be finished. I do still have to cover the "camera-case" finish areas with vinyl cloth, finish up the shift boot, cover the console lid(and add hinges) make the center cubby, and finish stripping the chrome from the outer trim and polish it instead(the chrome just has too much pitting after 50+ years and its aluminum, so may as well strip and polish instead)...and of course....fabricate a new tambour door with new rails. So...50% done I guess? Every part of this is turning into quite the task.
Moving on to fabricating the roll-up console door. I plan to mount the AFR gauge and my HVAC controls behind this(this is what happens when you can't use the factory HVAC controls because you cut that part of the dash away):
Modifying and extending the factory tracks. Thin 22 gauge metal means even these tacks have a tendency to overflow into the tracks and require needle filing to clean them out.
The new tambour door(which I still have to brush) I used 1/4x1/8 aluminum flat bar backed by ballistics nylon cloth that I used contact cement to glue the slats to. All functional and working(though I will need to grease these tracks I am pretty sure)
Will look something like this behind the radio plate.
An earlier mockup of the radio faceplate itself. You know what? Its a real PITA to try to approximate all this little factory trim pieces and figure out mounting systems for them that keep them perfectly aligned.
Wicked93gs said:
Moving on to fabricating the roll-up console door.
this was always one of my favorite features of the higher-trim cars
You know what? Its a real PITA to try to approximate all this little factory trim pieces and figure out mounting systems for them that keep them perfectly aligned.
yeah, but it's details like this that blur the lines (in a good way!) between the vintage and the modern. thanks for sharing the in-process pix.
That gauge panel could also work well with 3d printing, if you want to skip the cnc expense.
In reply to Shavarsh :
I re-did the gauge panel a bit. This is my current mock-up made from a plastic reproduction bezel that I then sculpted with bondo and fiberglass to get what I wanted. The new version will have the bezels as separate pieces that slide down into the holes which allows me to try several different bezel designs to see which I like best. It also corrects the gauge angle which I got wrong the first try. I did get this prototype 3D scanned and have the STL file for it(that I need to convert to CAD still) but 3D printing doesn't hold much appeal...at least not in plastic. I just don't like plastic as a material and one of the purposes of this little project was to eliminate one of the few remaining plastic pieces in the car. I guess aluminum 3D printing exists, but I am sure its not any more affordable than CNC machining. If only Ford chose to cast this piece from aluminum to begin with like they did the glovebox door it would save me a lot of trouble. Sandcasting is another option I have considered but not sure if this shape is condusive to that process.
