[Bernnstang]

Looking to buy a “new car” looking at a 66 hardtop with little to no rust a few spots on the first six inches of the frame rails and a 1/4 inch by 3 inch long cut in the floor of the front passenger side floor pan besides that it has a straight six and a three speed. anyone have any experience with the combo how slow is it?

 

[Jmo1999]

Looking to buy a “new car” looking at a 66 hardtop with little to no rust a few spots on the first six inches of the frame rails and a 1/4 inch by 3 inch long cut in the floor of the front passenger side floor pan besides that it has a straight six and a three speed. anyone have any experience with the combo how slow is it?

Mine would do ok if not going up big hills. I bought it knowing I was going to add a 5.0L 5 spd. with 3.73 gears. way more fun, better mileage and plenty of power.

 

[Flade]

The 6 is a good engine but has limited power and a small power band. Add improved carb, cam, and a T5 with decent gears can be quite fun to drive, but you wont sin any races. There are things you can do to make good power with the 6, but its cheaper to throw in a V8 If you want more power.

You can learn all about them here:

Vintage Inlines

 

[megansmustang]

That's what I have, and a convertible. I use it as a parade car and driving rural roads (winding). I don't drive it on the expressways as its not fast enough for merging and keeping up with traffic.

It has plenty of torque, I can turn-over the tires (skinny). Its happy to go 60. At 70 the front-end begins to "float".

What are your plans for the car and do you live in an urban or rural setting?

One last thing, I turn 70 this year, take that into account in my opinions.

 

[4ocious]

Looking to buy a “new car” looking at a 66 hardtop. It has a straight six and a three speed. anyone have any experience with the combo how slow is it?

Well, you could always count on whipping the snot out of a Toyota Tercel built twenty years later...

 

[myfirstcar66]

The 6 is an extremely reliable and economical daily driver with lower insurance, less likely to have been ragged-out or have been in self-inflicted high speed crashes, have a LOT of cars with great bodies that were passed up by buyers looking for factory V8 cars, and are a way to participate in an ever-expanding hobby of vintage Mustangs without breaking the bank, and yes, you can swap to a V8 without a fuss. Call it the longest and best-kept secret of the classic car world.

 

[tom991]

Straight six with a 3 speed. Fun car to drive. I used to have a 67 Vert that originally had a 289 C4 combo. The engine died, I had a I6 200 with a 3 speed and all associated linkage. Did the swap. It was a fun car to drive and although not the same power the 289 had but it held its own. I drove it everywhere including DC to Boston and DC to Key West, FL.

 

[bmcgc]

How fast do you want to go? A used Busa for under 5k will whip any Mustang on this site.

My 67 is a 200/C4. Im putting in a 250/C4. I like the six, simple, easy to work on, plenty of room under the hood. This car will never have any value, so its my fun - do whatever I want car. Ive converted it to 5 lug, EAPS is a future project and maybe a CS/GT clone. I would do a 5 speed if one came my way.

In regards to the 200. The Falcon Six handbook is $24 at Vintage Inlines, well worth the money. IMO the best bang for the buck is a 1v to 2v adapter with a Weber. It doesnt make any hp, but idles much better and is much easier to tune. If you change the carb you have to change the dizzy to a 68+ unit, a DSII is better. A set of ebay SS headers and a good flowing single exhaust. Duals look sexy but are overkill and add weight. If the head has been off an otherwise stock engine, the compression is down in the 7.0:1 range. The oem steel headgaskets were .027", replacement composites are .045'. If you can find a large log head it has bigger valves and more volume. it also has a 1.75" vs your 1.50" carb opening. The large log head, milled to boost compression makes 20-25hp over what you have now.

The sixes are fun engines, not cheap to modify since there are fewer parts and 82 was the last year Ford U.S. made one.

One of the keys with a 200 is dont add weight. On the twisties the 200/3 speed is a fun car to drive. I have both a 200 and a 289 car. the 200 is way more fun on curvy roads, especially without PS on either.

 

[Bernnstang]

Mine would do ok if not going up big hills. I bought it knowing I was going to add a 5.0L 5 spd. with 3.73 gears. way more fun, better mileage and plenty of power.

good to know...I don’t plan on doing that to it I have my other mustang you could find in the build threads. but this ones a great price so I’m more just buying it to drive around sometimes! And when the others done I’ll probably sell it or bring it to the chopping block!

 

[Bernnstang]

The 6 is a good engine but has limited power and a small power band. Add improved carb, cam, and a T5 with decent gears can be quite fun to drive, but you wont sin any races. There are things you can do to make good power with the 6, but its cheaper to throw in a V8 If you want more power.

You can learn all about them here:

Vintage Inlines

im getting it for a great price so I don’t plan on doing anything to it just driving it until my other crazy project 68 hardtop is finished...but that’s good to know about those in lines you never know!

 

[Bernnstang]

That's what I have, and a convertible. I use it as a parade car and driving rural roads (winding). I don't drive it on the expressways as its not fast enough for merging and keeping up with traffic.

It has plenty of torque, I can turn-over the tires (skinny). Its happy to go 60. At 70 the front-end begins to "float".

What are your plans for the car and do you live in an urban or rural setting?

One last thing, I turn 70 this year, take that into account in my opinions.

I'm pretty rural more suburban but still pretty rural out here still (thank god) but that’s good to know the car can do 60 I was thinking it might not make it that fast glad to hear that! As for the 70, age is just a number!!!!

 

[Bernnstang]

How fast do you want to go? A used Busa for under 5k will whip any Mustang on this site.

My 67 is a 200/C4. Im putting in a 250/C4. I like the six, simple, easy to work on, plenty of room under the hood. This car will never have any value, so its my fun - do whatever I want car. Ive converted it to 5 lug, EAPS is a future project and maybe a CS/GT clone. I would do a 5 speed if one came my way.

In regards to the 200. The Falcon Six handbook is $24 at Vintage Inlines, well worth the money. IMO the best bang for the buck is a 1v to 2v adapter with a Weber. It doesnt make any hp, but idles much better and is much easier to tune. If you change the carb you have to change the dizzy to a 68+ unit, a DSII is better. A set of ebay SS headers and a good flowing single exhaust. Duals look sexy but are overkill and add weight. If the head has been off an otherwise stock engine, the compression is down in the 7.0:1 range. The oem steel headgaskets were .027", replacement composites are .045'. If you can find a large log head it has bigger valves and more volume. it also has a 1.75" vs your 1.50" carb opening. The large log head, milled to boost compression makes 20-25hp over what you have now.

The sixes are fun engines, not cheap to modify since there are fewer parts and 82 was the last year Ford U.S. made one.

One of the keys with a 200 is dont add weight. On the twisties the 200/3 speed is a fun car to drive. I have both a 200 and a 289 car. the 200 is way more fun on curvy roads, especially without PS on either.

I didn’t mean for it to come off that way... I’m not looking for speed... I’m actually the slow very slow driving type (According to my wife). I’m just looking for something to cruise around with just wanted to make sure it would be able to keep up in the highway!

 

[Magnus]

The 200 will do 70-80 all day on the highway. It just takes it a little while to get there.

 

[bmcgc]

RWP is probably under 100 as the car sits now. The sixes were economy cars and Ford pushed them as 289 production couldnt keep up with demand. I drive my cars and enjoy them for what they are. Going fast is not even on my list of things to do in a 55 year old car.

 

[hsvtoolfool]

Cruising country back roads on a Sunday afternoon is lovely. But the Sprint 6, 3-spd manual, and tiny manual drums are not a fun combo in modern traffic. You are slower than a Prius with a "Handicap" parking tag. Driving among the texting idiots is very stressful. You can't accelerate from a stop signal quickly enough to keep away from Mr Tailgater Honda behind you. Once you get up to 60, you can't stop when Mr Lane-Changer dives in front of you and slams on his brakes at the last second.

 

[Bernnstang]

RWP is probably under 100 as the car sits now. The sixes were economy cars and Ford pushed them as 289 production couldnt keep up with demand. I drive my cars and enjoy them for what they are. Going fast is not even on my list of things to do in a 55 year old car.

RWP?

 

[Bernnstang]

Cruising country back roads on a Sunday afternoon is lovely. But the Sprint 6, 3-spd manual, and tiny manual drums are not a fun combo in modern traffic. You are slower than a Prius with a "Handicap" parking tag. Driving among the texting idiots is very stressful. You can't accelerate from a stop signal quickly enough to keep away from Mr Tailgater Honda behind you. Once you get up to 60, you can't stop when Mr Lane-Changer dives in front of you and slams on his brakes at the last second.

Good to know i appreciate the truthful answer

 

[Mustangerbob1]

The 6 cylinder 3 speed trans was a TERRIBLE trans. It was unsynchronized in 1st, and a lot of them blew up shifting while rolling backward from R to 1, or downshifting while moving from 2 to 1.

Just very weak and very cheap design, that worked OK in a column shift Falcon but was toast on a floor shift Mustang.

The solution is to install a V8 3 speed using parts from a 1967 (Ford converted the 1967 and up to a "V8" 3 speed or put in a T5.

If it's not broken, it will be soon.

 

[bmcgc]

RWP = Rear wheel hp

 

[22GT]

My first Mustang was a 66 Sprint with a 3-speed. Drove it all over the east coast pulling a small racing boat, including the hill made famous by Harry Chapin in 30,000 Pounds of Bannanas. Car got 30 mph on the highway (a little less with the boat).