Dropped her off for the V8 upgrade!

So here we go, I dropped her off at the mechanic this morning in El Cajon, CA. The guy's shop is called Dad's Garage. He's gonna do the V8 upgrade for me. Probably will have her back before January 1st. I'm really excited to see how it drives with a V8 after that 200ci.

 

good luck with that ,i think if the job is done rite you will be very happy with your new power and preformance ,let us know ,cheers friend :Handshake

 

I'n certain you will enjoy the car when you get it back. Besides the engine swap are you preparing to make some other upgrades? The first thing that comes to my mind is brakes. The car will be a little heavier and if you still have the 4 lug wheels, it might take more pedal pressure to stop - if you also have an automatic trans, there is more power trying to move the car or keep it moving.

I got my car 2 months ago and it already had a lot of power (5.0, cam, headers, intake) and I haven't changed the brakes yet but I will be racing it at the local drag strip. You'll have to be the judge of what stopping is like after you get the car back. I'm not trying to dampen your spirits, just giving you something to check out when you get the car back. Anyway - hope you have a whale of a time when you get the car back!!

 

to me a v8 upgrade includes:
brakes...transmission...rear gear...5 lugs...
getting the engine in is a big part...:Handshake

...Frank...

 

Exactly.

And exactly what I'm currently doing. Front 5 lug disc brake swap. Rear end swap with a 3.50 gear. Rebuilt trans with shift kit.

Good luck with your build. You will have fun with it.

 

3.90 gear is too much gear if you don't have overdrive. With a 3.70 I had to spin 4000 rpm to go 65 mph. I now have a 3.25 gear and it takes 3000 to go 65 mph. This is with 25" tires. 3.90 will be fun redlight to redlight but a 20-30 mile trip won't be fun.

 

front disk brakes will be a must ,if you have any kind of hp with out disk brakes you will need a strong left leg for pushing hard on the brake pedal ,im going 4 wheel disk brakes in the race car

 

Good luck. Hope it all goes well.

 

you'll notice the torque right away, i've driven both a 200 ci and a 302 cars that were around the same weight and both had a c4 and 2.79 gears.

remember to have fun:bananaman but be safe

 

I mean I don't like to flat out disagree but it has nothing to do with the engine guys... It has everything to do with the torque/stall converters in these cars... I have has 3 6 cyl Mavericks and 3 V8 Mavericks and all of them stop about the same.. Matter of fact Right now my 73 V8 Grabber is running probably between 250 - 300 HP and it has stock drum brakes and it stops better than the 6 cyl that I drive everyday.. Just make sure the brakes are adjusted properly from the get go and make sure the auto adjusters are working to keep them in adjustment....

When you put a V8 in these cars you have to put in a V8 torque/stall converter and that is the majority of what keeps the car stationary at a traffic light.. when you come to a stop and the RPM's go below a certain set limit the tranny quits pushing the car down the road really similar to pushing in the clutch on a manual tranny. Like I said I have had 3 V8's and all of them had stock drum brakes and I NEVER had any problem stopping any of the 3 and they were anywhere from a bone stock 2bbl engine up to around 300 HP two were automatics and one is a 4 speed. You guys must just have a light brake pedal foot. Jeez how did they bring all those big block mustangs and torino's and galaxies to a stop before the advent of disc brakes... hehehehe.

edited to say... don't get me wrong.... disc brakes are certainly a nice addition but I just don't really feel they are a necessity like some people do, V8 or not...

You'll love the additional HP from your V8 swap

 

Oops :16suspect Meant 3.50 it was between that and the 3.90. Ended up going with the 3.50

 

Update!

So thanks to Craig Selvey, I have got all my V8 parts over to the mechanic (thanks for shipping them there for me Craig!). Craig sent him the V8 belly bar, the tranny crossmember, the accel cable and frame mounts. I sent him the engine mounts I got off of ebay. David from this board sent me the V8 bellhousing. My mechanic is just waiting for the A/C bracket to come in and he should be able to drop in the V8. I don't know if he has inspected the V8 yet or not but he said he would inspect and make sure it's in decent shape before dropping it in..........

stay tuned for more!

 

That's great. Let us know how it turns out.

 

Always happy to help out a fellow Maverick enthusiast.

 

That car is beautiful! You're parting it out?????