460 In 68coupe

I am wanting to upgrade from FE In a 68 mustang. I just recently discovered the header/engine mount kits available. This has gotten me looking at the 557. Has any one out there done this combo? At least the 460 block part. Looking for some insight on will an aftermarket starter fit with the headers, am I stuck with the factory heads? If at a later date decide to upgrade to head with raised floor will they hit, etc. etc.

The fartherest I have got so far is letting the donor engine hang in there. No doubt it is TIGHT.

I think a 68 is basically the same as a 69. I had one with stock type front end. Headers and starter was not a prob. I forgot the name of the swap headers I used. The company was in Mi. I had stock type heads. My best advice if the bays are the same would be to cut and narrow the shock towers and use a motor plate. Otherwise they are miserable to work on. I don't know about aftermarket heads. Hood clearence becomes a problem quickly prob not a issue on a race car. I had trouble finding a oil pan. Best I found was a CJ pan. Hope this helps.

not going to cut shocktowers. that part doesn't look any worse than a 390 to me. It's the length and height where it gets really tight. And you're right, I'm not worried about the hood part.

Probably going to be solid mounts for this one, Shooting for 800 HP min. Overall I am transforming a street car to mostly track or pro street style car. Have not picked a class or anything like that. Looking for a 5.00 pass.

I have done this swap a few times, hooker makes a header, stock starter works fine

dr's wife racing wrote:I think a 68 is basically the same as a 69. I had one with stock type front end. Headers and starter was not a prob. I forgot the name of the swap headers I used. The company was in Mi.  I had stock type heads. My best advice if the bays are the same would be to cut and narrow the shock towers and use a motor plate. Otherwise they are miserable to work on. I don't know about aftermarket heads.  Hood clearence becomes a problem quickly prob not a issue on a race car. I had trouble finding a oil pan. Best I found was a CJ pan. Hope this helps.

That Michigan header company is www.maddogheaders.net  by Mark Delcamp, They now have an outlet in Georgia.

Part #8008 will fit 67-70 Mustangs with a 429/460 Wedge engine and using the Ford Racing oil filter adapter.
2" primary tubes with 3 1/2" collectors having the rear tube on each side , crossing sides underneith.

rmcomprandy wrote:

dr's wife racing wrote:I think a 68 is basically the same as a 69. I had one with stock type front end. Headers and starter was not a prob. I forgot the name of the swap headers I used. The company was in Mi.  I had stock type heads. My best advice if the bays are the same would be to cut and narrow the shock towers and use a motor plate. Otherwise they are miserable to work on. I don't know about aftermarket heads.  Hood clearence becomes a problem quickly prob not a issue on a race car. I had trouble finding a oil pan. Best I found was a CJ pan. Hope this helps.

That Michigan header company is www.maddogheaders.net  by Mark Delcamp, They now have an outlet in Georgia.

Part #8008 will fit 67-70 Mustangs with a 429/460 Wedge engine and using the Ford Racing oil filter adapter.
2" primary tubes with 3 1/2" collectors having the rear tube on each side , crossing sides underneith.

Randy have you used these & if so how much ground clearance do they have?

res0rli9 wrote:

rmcomprandy wrote:

dr's wife racing wrote:I think a 68 is basically the same as a 69. I had one with stock type front end. Headers and starter was not a prob. I forgot the name of the swap headers I used. The company was in Mi.  I had stock type heads. My best advice if the bays are the same would be to cut and narrow the shock towers and use a motor plate. Otherwise they are miserable to work on. I don't know about aftermarket heads.  Hood clearence becomes a problem quickly prob not a issue on a race car. I had trouble finding a oil pan. Best I found was a CJ pan. Hope this helps.

That Michigan header company is www.maddogheaders.net  by Mark Delcamp, They now have an outlet in Georgia.

Part #8008 will fit 67-70 Mustangs with a 429/460 Wedge engine and using the Ford Racing oil filter adapter.
2" primary tubes with 3 1/2" collectors having the rear tube on each side , crossing sides underneith.

Randy have you used these & if so how much ground clearance do they have?

The sump on the required front sump oil pan will be closer to the ground than the header tubes.

rmcomprandy wrote:

res0rli9 wrote:

rmcomprandy wrote:

dr's wife racing wrote:I think a 68 is basically the same as a 69. I had one with stock type front end. Headers and starter was not a prob. I forgot the name of the swap headers I used. The company was in Mi.  I had stock type heads. My best advice if the bays are the same would be to cut and narrow the shock towers and use a motor plate. Otherwise they are miserable to work on. I don't know about aftermarket heads.  Hood clearence becomes a problem quickly prob not a issue on a race car. I had trouble finding a oil pan. Best I found was a CJ pan. Hope this helps.

That Michigan header company is www.maddogheaders.net  by Mark Delcamp, They now have an outlet in Georgia.

Part #8008 will fit 67-70 Mustangs with a 429/460 Wedge engine and using the Ford Racing oil filter adapter.
2" primary tubes with 3 1/2" collectors having the rear tube on each side , crossing sides underneith.

Randy have you used these & if so how much ground clearance do they have?

The sump on the required front sump oil pan will be closer to the ground than the header tubes.

Thanks Randy.

How much hp is it going to take to get that car into the low to mid 5's? 1/8 mi. Oh, and thanks for the input, going to check on mr. mad dog now.

It is worse than a FE. Plugs are difficult to get to not alot just a little here and a little there The headers are fine as far as install clearance was fine. It was just difficult as far as maintenance goes. Be careful when you fitting everything up. Valvle covers ect. or you find yourself having to take the valve covers off to do almost anything. Some are harder than others i font the morso stamped to be easiest for tall covers factory type CJs for standard height Sounds like no big deal but is a challenge at the track when every thing is 300 deg. And your in a hurry. Plugs, plug wires ect. One of the most helpfully things I found was the shock tower braces that have heims and quick pins.

Power brakes gota go,relocate the oil filter,crossmember had to come out on mine also and tall Motorsport valve covers make plug changes a pia,pull them off its easier! The 3/8 hose for plug removal was great. I ran that setup for years but damn if I'd ever go through that again!

I bought the motor and trans mounts and dropped a core motor/trans in to take a look. In the end, I went with a stroker Windsor for this car.







The Windsor fit much better.

I ran my first 460 combo in my '69 Mach 1 without cutting back the shock towers. Checking/changing spark plugs meant removing the valve covers. Obviously on a drag car where you want to be on top of your tune up this gets old pretty quick. The factory shock towers started tearing out due to the wheels up launches as well. Cut them back 1.5" on each side and welded in 5/16th steel plate, reinforced it all, and installed a bar that ties the shock towers together. MUCH easier maintenance and no more strength issues. My .02.

IWe have done this swap a couple times.One w/71 maverick and 2 w/67 mustang. We used Tubular automotive 10 piece headers.The driver side was worse because of the steering box is in the way.The oil filter adj. adapter will work for the filter. The Mustang was a real pain because we didn't plate the towers.The maverick was a breeze after we plated the towers and moved the steering box over inside the frame to get it out of the way.Don't waste your time w/Crites M Mount kit.Drop the engine in and get the headers and all in place and fab your own mounts up. I wouldn't doit again w/o installing aftermarket front suspension. its a pita.

Shave the towers.  My 69 has MPG mounts and headers, puts the engine down and forward.  Still have to pull off the valve covers to change plugs, and had to use the early T-bird short water pump.  Probably could have gotten the carb under the hood if I had used a Torquer 2.  I had power brakes on it at first with a notched FMS valve cover, but the cam was too big for them to work anyway, so I went manual.

bbf-falcon wrote:IWe have done this swap a couple times.One w/71 maverick and 2 w/67 mustang. We used Tubular automotive 10 piece headers.The driver side was worse because of the steering box is in the way.The oil filter adj. adapter will work for the filter. The Mustang was a real pain because we didn't plate the towers.The maverick was a breeze after we plated the towers and moved the steering box over inside the frame to get it out of the way.Don't waste your time w/Crites M Mount kit.Drop the engine in and get the headers and all in place and fab your own mounts up. I wouldn't doit again w/o installing aftermarket front suspension. its a pita.

Rick,your Maverick was cool i bet you miss it sometimes!!!

fordguy69 wrote:Shave the towers.  My 69 has MPG mounts and headers, puts the engine down and forward.  Still have to pull off the valve covers to change plugs, and had to use the early T-bird short water pump.  Probably could have gotten the carb under the hood if I had used a Torquer 2.  I had power brakes on it at first with a notched FMS valve cover, but the cam was too big for them to work anyway, so I went manual.

Very nice and clean looking what air cleaner set up is that?

Its made by Air Raid. Found it on Summit when I was poking around looking for something that would allow me to make the smallest hole in the hood.

that is one of the big questions I had was if the tall valve covers would fit at all. You are correct, reading plugs would be time consuming if you have to take valve coversoff.

Couple pics of how I did mine.  You can kind of see the plates where I notched it. Old single stage setup.

stanger68 wrote:that is one of the big questions I had was if the tall valve covers would fit at all. You are correct, reading plugs would be time consuming if you have to take valve coversoff.

You might try the same deal I did on a buddy's car.  Take off the front tires and use a holesaw to put a couple of well placed holes in the shock tower from the wheelwell side.  Plastic snap in body plugs will fill the holes until you want to pop 'em out and slip a socket through the hole and onto the spark plug.

Mark Miller wrote:

bbf-falcon wrote:IWe have done this swap a couple times.One w/71 maverick and 2 w/67 mustang. We used Tubular automotive 10 piece headers.The driver side was worse because of the steering box is in the way.The oil filter adj. adapter will work for the filter. The Mustang was a real pain because we didn't plate the towers.The maverick was a breeze after we plated the towers and moved the steering box over inside the frame to get it out of the way.Don't waste your time w/Crites M Mount kit.Drop the engine in and get the headers and all in place and fab your own mounts up. I wouldn't doit again w/o installing aftermarket front suspension. its a pita.

Rick,your Maverick was cool i bet you miss it sometimes!!!

Yes,everyday

Shaving the towers like that is what I was talking about. Those are some good looking set ups. I kept mine a long time. I skined a lot of hands on mine. Good luck with it. I'll be watching your build up. Ive seen some aftermarket k members similar to fox bodys wonder if something like that might be helpful.

fordguy69 wrote:Its made by Air Raid.  Found it on Summit when I was poking around looking for something that would allow me to make the smallest hole in the hood.

Thanks

bbf-falcon wrote:

Mark Miller wrote:

bbf-falcon wrote:IWe have done this swap a couple times.One w/71 maverick and 2 w/67 mustang. We used Tubular automotive 10 piece headers.The driver side was worse because of the steering box is in the way.The oil filter adj. adapter will work for the filter. The Mustang was a real pain because we didn't plate the towers.The maverick was a breeze after we plated the towers and moved the steering box over inside the frame to get it out of the way.Don't waste your time w/Crites M Mount kit.Drop the engine in and get the headers and all in place and fab your own mounts up. I wouldn't doit again w/o installing aftermarket front suspension. its a pita.

Rick,your Maverick was cool i bet you miss it sometimes!!!

Yes,everyday

That car made many passes down National Trail Raceway in the time you had it!!!!!