[BBA]

First of all I would like to say hi to all. This is my first post and was wondering how much i can do on a stock tranny. The car is a 65 coupe with a 289 v8 and a auto. Its not in to great of shape right now the car has been sittin for a few years now. My grandad has givin me the car and were going to fix it up together. He is going to get it running and get the body work dont for me and im going to do the interior and any performance stuff that I want to do. But I dont want to get in to far with the performance and realize its to much for the tranny and then be out of money because I have to do a rebuild without expecting it. I know it will need it one day but If it would be better to do it before the perfomance stuff is put it then I might go that route. So can anyone tell me how much the stock tranny can hold? Sorry for such a long post.

Kevin

[jlp66stang]

A lot, they use them in mud racers around here and they are running more hp that you.

[BBA]

So I would be ok with a decent cam headers and good exhaust and intake? What all else can be done to these motors with out having to tear into them pretty good?

[jlp66stang]

You will have to tear the top off to put a intake and cam, might as well put some different heads and then headers, I mean there has to be a stopping point if you don't want to completely redo everything. If I was going to do all that, might as well freshen up the bottom. Especially if you don't know what kind of condition the motor is in. Have someone rebuild the trans. It is up to you how far you want to go. If you don't want to spend any money, get it running and go from there!

[BBA]

Well I was thinking that whenever we have it the bodywork done that we will pull the motor and do a small rebuild on it. Then If I have the money in order by then I can go ahead and put a cam and intake on it. Just curious im more of a diesel mechanic than gas motor but do yall put studs like headbolts or what? IM just curious what is done to make the motor a little stronger? Also what size cam should I put in there? I dont want one to big that isnt anygood for stret driving but I want a pretty good sized cam.

[andrewmp6]

It depends on how well its been taken care of and driving style i seen stock ones take a beating and seen stock ones gernade under normal driving.

[BBA]

Well my grandad is the 3rd owner. The second owner was my grandads cousin and the first was his cousins good friend. The only one that drove it kind of hard was my grandads cousin and he only got to keep it for about 3 months until he ran into finacial troubles and sold it to my grandad. The car has about 110,000 miles on it.and been sitting for about 5 years now is what I think my grandad said. The car was not kept under anything it just said outside and rusted up some so it needs some work just dont know how much will need to be done on the motor and tranny.

[jlp66stang]

The worse thing for a gas engine is to sit! Find out if the motor will rotate. Was the radiator hooked up, did it have antifreeze in it. You need to find out if you even have anything to work with.

[BBA]

Well we have it in a shop right now. They are fixing the brakes and changin the oil and draining all the gas out of it so it will have better gas. Not sure if it had the radiator hooked up or not but it had anti-freeze for sure because my grandad is a freak about making sure a car has enough anti-freeze. After it gets out of the shop and we will work a little to see if we can even get the motor running and if not we are going to try and find a 302 to put in it.

[jlp66stang]

If you change out the motor, if the 289 is still a good builder, do not get rid of it. They are still worth some money. If you go with a later model, you can use the pulley and bracket system of the 289. If you want a 302, I would look for a roller block.

[BBA]

Where wouold be the best place to look for a new crate motor? Or would it be better to try and find a 302 used but runs?

[jlp66stang]

It is going to cost $4 to $5 grand for a crate. You can rebuild your 289 cheaper. If you want a 302, look for a late 80 to 95 roller block. Have you tried to get you motor running yet, it may be good.

[BBA]

Well were getting new brakes put on it and the lug nuts were rusted so we couldnt get the wheels off to put different ones on so as soon as we get it back i will see.

[BBA]

Well got the motor running. It cranks good and everything the onlyproblem is it seems to idle to high. We put new battery and new starter on it and played with the carb a little and it cranked right up. We had to change all the fluids also. The tranny wasnt working when we tried to move it on a trailer then I thought did we put new tranny fluid in it and sure enough I didnt. SO then the tranny worked and now we have to put new brakes on it and see how it runs. So wish me luck!

[BBA]

Also where would be a good place to buy a cowl hood for it? The hood is warped and just needs to be replaced so I wanna go with a cowl...any suggestions?