Our X302 Crate Engine Swap Begins!
Check out the blog to read all about our swap plans and look for part 1 of the swap to come to your mailbox soon!
We've been amassing parts for a while now and we've finally got the majority of what we needed to start spinning wrenches and that's exactly what we did this past Tuesday. Our willing participant is a very clean, but very tired '65 Falcon Ranchero. Engine compartment wise it's the same as a Mustang so what we learn in this swap can be easily used by any early Mustang/Falcon owner.
Yesterday we pulled the hood off, grabbed our tools and started with excitement. The 95 degree weather took some wind out of our sails, but by lunch time the well over 200K mile 289 and C4 automatic were removed as one piece and after a couple of slices of pizza we were back at it, stripping the engine bay of all wiring, hoses, and small parts. The engine bay gets painted body color Friday and then next week we can start reassembly and wiring of our EFI system, plumbing our high pressure fuel system, and more.
For now though we thought we'd just tease you with this photo of the Ranchero just as the 289 is coming off of its mounts. Special thanks to Ford Racing, Summit Racing, Ron Morris Performance, and MSD for their help with the project too. Look for part 1 of the story in your September issue and we'll be blogging more about this build/swap in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!