[Stallion18]

Hey this is my first time on this site.....thought I'd ask some expericed people about my car. I'm 18 and have had my 65 Mustang coupe for 2 years. My car needs a bit more get up and go. Right now its being pushed by a 289 2v. I'm planning on making it into a 347 stroker with 351w heads which I have already purchased from [censored]. One question is should I get aluminum heads over steel? I was just affraid they wouldnt hold up but Im a young guy and still learning. Also what size Carb would suit this new motor well? I was thinking a 670 holley street avenger. And finally and input on gears for the rear end? My acceleration......is lame. Just keep in mind its a daily driver.....not a drag car . Tired of the rine rockets thinkin they are the only fast guys on the block Thanks for any input/suggestions

 

[javierruizleon]

Do a search for every one of those questions, you'll find the answer here. By the way, welcome to the VMF!

 

[2bav8]

Welcome to the VMF.
Sounds like you've got a lot of ambition!
I know I sure did when I was 18 ::

As for cylinder heads (and the 347 motor in general)....
You need to sit back and think about how much money you will be able to spend on the motor. Aluminum heads are nice (real nice) but are expensive.

Off hand, a 670 CFM carb would work very nicely on a stout 347 while providing reasonable milage. If you go with iron heads you're really going to have to keep an eye on your compression to prevent detonation. Strokers tend to increase the compression alot due to the extra cubes being crammed into the same sized combustion chamber. Here's where your cam choice and gears also become very important as they can help or hurt the situation.

Gears, what transmission are you going to use? A low set of gears will provide great accleration but poor milage and higher RPMs on the freeway if you don't have overdrive.
A set of 3.50 gears is usually considering the most any sane person would want to run on the street without overdrive. 3.50s with overdrive is incredible as it provides the best of both worlds, lots of accleration and good freeway crusing.

I have about $6500 into my 347 stroker and I used Aluminum cylinder heads from AFR.
To help save costs and assurance that everything was built correctly my friend and I did the assembly of the motor as well.

 

[Stallion18]

Well with me being young meaning living at home, and single Im actually gonna start having money soon. I should start work in October and start bringin in reasonable cash working as a correctionall officer so I play on dumping my $$ into my stang since as of now I have no girl to take it . I dont understand cams like what lift and duration I would need I am 100% clueless. Right now I have a 3 speed automatic tranny. But I hear a c-5 I think was the name.....is an excelent transmission......definately open to opinions on that. I kinda wanna make the car into a manual but I am told that is a lot of work......muscle cars should be sticks in my opinion but where I live you take what you can find! So with the 347 do you recommend aluminum heads? If so what kind.....spec etc. Thank you very much for your help.........oh just like to add I just threw some shelby tri y headers on it......wow they sound good! haha but the paint lasted maybe a few hours.

 

[Gatlin69]

For a 347 stroker, you may want some alum heads (tfs edelbrock or afr would be great) and maby a 750 cfm carb. As for gears, if its not driven on the freeway often, just mostly around town, some 4:11's would help your acceloration a ton.

 

[paingiver]

Funny you should mention you wanted to convert an auto into a manual... ITS GOINg to take a load of money. At least a thousand or so.. I just met a guy who did that with his 66 and he said it took a lot of money and its not easy to do either. I believe you have to change the transaxle and install a clutch. If you have unlimited funds fine. but if you don;t C-5 are nice. Just remember you need max Torque on the tranny or else you will likely break it with the power your stroker engine is going to be putting out. I'd go with everyone's advice on alum heads. As for camshaft, i am no expert, but i do know that the higher the cam lifts the more fuel it will consume and the faster you will go.

 

[paingiver]

sorry i think you are thinking of a C-4 auto... I am not sure about the auto tranny code for fords.

 

[2bav8]

My car was originally a C-4 automatic as well (3 speed auto). I spent about $2500 in parts to convert it to a 5 speed. Of course I used a lot of quality stuff along the way since a healhy 347 can chew up stuff quick.

As for the cylinder heads, ya I really do recommend Aluminum heads on a stroker if you have the $$$
They flow better than most aftermarket iron heads and way better than 351W castings, even if ported. Also, the Aluminum heads work better with the higher compression that a 347 will usually see. I run 10.8:1 compression and am still able to get by one 91 octane fuel. Not likely with a cast iron head. My preference for Aluminum heads is Air Flow Reasearch (AFR). Their 185 heads are perfect for a stout 347. They run around $1300.

 

[moneymanager]

Welcome young Stallion.

I have a 347 stroker with highly modified aluminum heads in my '65 with a TKO 5 speed and 3:70 rear end gears. It's a tremendous combination and I love it. I run a 750 Holley w/ vacuum secondaries with a pretty stout cam having a total of .555 lift. Lots of power, even with the A/C running. Take a look at it here if you like http://jmichael.info/SHELBY

I may have what you are looking for and need for your setup. Depending on how much you want to spend and which direction you want to go. I have a NEW set of AFR aluminum heads (still in the box) FOR SALE, see them here: http://www.inficad.com/~moneymanager/partsforsale.htm

As you can see, I also have a nice used original Shelby 4 speed and all the necessary stuff to convert your car to a 4 speed FRO SALE as well. BORG WARNER T-10 4-speed, with: bellhousing, clutch, pressure plate, through-out bearing, clutch lever, and HURST Competition Plus shifter, complete.
Including the clutch arm from the frame to the bellhousing and spring. All you would need to find is the clutch pedal itself to add to your under dash setup.

Since your new to the hobby and a young guy, I'd like to help you out as much as possible and I'll sell you the whole setup for your car for $750 plus shipping. Or you can come get it in person.

Doc the moneymanager

http://www.inficad.com/~moneymanager/carshow4.jpg

 

[topless66]

You say your acceleration is lame. Are you running the stock exhaust? You'd be amazed at the difference it you open it up with some 2 1/2 " pipes. It's a pretty cheap way to get a lot more power.

Have fun!

 

[Stallion18]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Right now my cash flow isnt very great. But I'll keep in touch with you about the parts. The only thing is Im not tryin to be rude or anything but my Dad got screwed over on a random internet transaction.....he sent the money and never recieved the product and well pretty much could do nothing about it. I'm not saying this is going to be the same circumstance but you can see where this is a lot of money or at least it is to me. As far as the exhaust compliment went, yes I have started working with the exhaust I got Tri Y headers on it that are left open for now. I'll have pics soon. Once I upload them to a hosting server. I think I am definately going to save up for the aluminum heads now because Im gathering that they are important. Thanks for your time.

 

[theokponycorrall]

as somone else said do a search. and welcome!!