[crliwa]

Hello, this is Craig Jr, Craig's son. I have a 72 GT and im shoving a 5.0 ford small block in the gt. Im not sure what im gonna do to put it in but ill make it work. For me a V-8 is the only way to go im a all american ford boy. The question I have is what should i do about the rear suspension im wither goin with a ford 9" or ford 8.8" rear. My question is should i use the stock mounting brackets or should i start over with a new suspension system like a ladderbar setup. If anyone can give me some points it would be much appreicated. The car is goin to be a street drag car. Also i need to know how to remove the rear axle from a 73 gt so i can the one in my dads black gt.

Thanks

Craig Jr

P.S. If you like u can e-mail me a my direct e-mail address at [email protected]

 

[jordan]

do a search for "v-8 conversion" you may learn very quickly that its nothing that you want to do. the front and rear suspension will have to be beefed up to compensate for the extra weight. you braking system as well will have to be more powerful. with the possibly more than double the HP the body (unibody) WILL flex and break windshields and other not so good stuff. From everything I have read there is basically nothing you can do to stregnthen the frame other than to incorperate a really beefy roll cage. welding flat stock to frame rails wont last. also the car will never handle the same, no matter what you do to it. poor handling = a car thats not fun to drive unless you just want to smoke the tires in the dairy queen parking lot to show off and get a $35 unsafe start up ticket....... my $.02

 

[Old Hippie]

You can try the old ugly Mustang II setup, but your gonna have to work hard and pay to get a V8 in there. I'm a old Ford man myself, but I wouldn't drop one in a GT. You can try the Mustang II V6 engine if you want the Ford "thing". But your gonna have to be creative and extremely careful in alignment, engine castor and suspension mods.
My 2c's

 

[GT-Freak]

You need to "frame out" the car. Otherwise, the body will flex and you'll pop all the glass out. Car will look like a corkscrew. The stock mounting points aren't strong enough to resist the torque. So... do whatever you want to, it'll be from scratch. 8.8" weigh slightly less than 9" and you can use all the modern Mustang hardware. The rearend needs to be narrowed (not cheap). I suggest you get a good book on suspensions if you want it to stick. Otherwise, it'll just spin the tires. Planning is #1. The only V-8 rearend I've found that's the right width is a Dana 44 from early '70s USPS trucks (Jeep). (I have one.) Or try a beefed up 300ZX rearend (which is a lot of work). Even with good donor parts expect to pay a bundle. The engine and tranny are the cheap parts. You can buy full tube Opel frames (NHRA style) for under $2000. Also check VW buggy builders for a custom frame. It's a lot of work to install, which is extra (double). Except a lot of cutting and welding no matter what. Ford V-8s have the dizzy in front, great for Opels, and the 302s are narrow enough to allow shorty headers. Good luck.