I have fallen in love with '80 mustang coupe,problem is the previous owner put flat top pistons in the 2.3l Turbo (carb)....Hence the need of a new head and block (the bottom of the block was honed out so the sleeve may drop right out,another previous owner stuff up ).Due to postage costs and the want of a V8 i would like to install a carb 302/331,i realise this means a fox crate conversion kit,new tranny and i have a 9",but what i would like to know is are the 8's and 4 's the exact same cars eg. mounting points for engine/tranny from a V8 model the same as a 4 cyl.

Any web sites with this info would be greatly appreciated,fox bodied stangs are quite rare here,and there is little knowledge of them as far as engine swaps go....also need tail lights (lens and assembly) for the car,anyone know where from (shop preferably)

Thxs guys for any help

Johnnie@iinet.net.au    Perth Australia

The trans crossmember frame boxes and crossmember appear narrow on the 4, I believe more so than the 8.  I don't know whether the 4 has the same "k" member either(the chassis/frame piece where the "engine mounts" bolt to).

Aside from those two points and coilspring rate I believe the rest of the chassis/undercarrage is the same.

Since you probably don't get alot of fox coupes in the wrecking yards try:

www.50resto.com

UPDATE:

I just looked at my friends 4-banger and compared it to mine.  It appears to have the exact same k-member and crossmember boxes.  The crossmember itself is different though.  Might have to drill a hole through the driverside box for the crossmember through bolt though.

Your a legend Coupe's!!!

I'm still reserved to go ahead with the V8,but i'm hoping that your advice is good,if not...i'll have to give a few more $ to UPS  lol , but i will wait for a few more replies b4 i decide to go or shelve,because postage and taxes will add 50% to the price of what ever i have to buy.

I can get a double hump crossmember from the catalogs and if the K member goes pear shaped then i know that too can be sourced from the US.

Other plans for my 'lil Right hand Drive Stang are Airbags,HoK Kandy Paint,17'Billets,Chrome Grill.

Hope ya like the photos (Front high due to no engine)

UPDATE:  Looked at web site....only go as far back as '83,the '79-'82 ones are different and look alot better than what i have on there now .    Alas the search continues

I didn't know they made Stangs with right-side-drive......

Do vehicles down there go exempt after "x" amount of years or you blokes even have emissions?

Ps- I wouldn't airbag the thing, just extra weight to pull around.  I think it's fine how it is, just needs some wheels/paint and a stout 5.0 stroked.

Hey Coupe's

I am lead to believe that alot were exported to Japan and converted to RHD,this is the case for mine, the twin headlighted models are as rare as hens teeh to buy and non existant in Wreckers yards,but there are 2 running around here in Perth (population 2 million).

I rang Racer Walsh and asked about the V8 fit....they assure me it's an easy swap,no k-member change,double hump crossmember for dual exhaust,crossmember tunnel will fit C4 but not C6,engine bay will fit everything upto 460.

Next step is to talk to our law makers about how big i can go ,(because they dont know anything about these either that may or may not work in my favour...lol)

If i run Leaded Super (95cents/liter)there are no emission rules but they are still phasing it out and it is more expensive than ULP(88 cents /litre).If i want to run ULP i must have CATS,ULP fuel system ,ie. small outlet filler,ULP tank (rather expensive).So the plan is to Gas it,hide the gas tank in a fake Drop Tank,no CATS,cheap as chips(35 cents/litre),no power loss(alot of ppl have got right into performance gas setups)no emission problems and an easy green tick from the law makers.

Any car after 1989 (i think),must have all the anti-pollution ADR's (Australian Design Regulations) attached to it,Unleaded cars fall into this catagory,we only just took the lead out of our leaded super about 6 years ago ,but there  are a growing number of ppl saying the substitute,lead free super, doesn't agree with the older pre'90 engines(those without hardened valve setups)

The Airbags are just a personal thing...the car will be a mixture of show and go,and i love the airbag look and if i can pull one over the rego boys,a 460 should compensate the weight...lol

Thxs again Coupe's for ya replies

photos

Right hand drive engine bay and my original '72 HQ with a Holden 308

Just spotted a couple of ads for ya to gauge what price these cars are....:

'79 5.0 h/b engine needs reconditioning,no tail light l/h/s, left hand drive,body mostly straight (damage to hood,rh fender),needs tlc, unregisted A$5000 (about US $4000) Melbourne

'85 5.0  silver/black stripes,a/c,p/s,left hand drive (thats seen as a bad thing over here...lol ), good condition A$16000

www.carpoint.com.au/uniquecars   lots of good aussie cars there for sale...but mainly do a search for ford falcons,holdens and valiants.....do you guys have the same kinda mag that specialises in modified car sale that has a web site?