[twotoots2]

Just got home and took a long shower after sticking the 302 /tranny in the stang tonite. Lots of work pulling the 302 from the junked donor car and getting it ready for the install. A little over a month of work culminated in the engine sitting in the bay of the little 65 coupe. First time its had a running engine in it in who knows how long.

My brother and the brother in law helped with the install and I couldn't have done it without them. The cherry picker worked great! I was worried the motor mounts for a 68 mustang and the 68 tranny x-member might present problems, but everything fit perfectly! Started in today at about 10am and put in about a 12 hour day getting the engine ready, then installed. Now I can nit pick away and get the rest of the stuff put on in preparation for getting the engine started.

Wow! This was a significant milestone for me and kind of reminds me of looking looking at a freshly finished paint job. Lots of hours of prep work then the final install, which took a little over 2 hours. It was hard to go home and not just stand there and stare at the newly installed engine...

 

[FordDude]

"I love it when a plan comes together" George Peppard as John "Hannibal" Smith fd

 

[kketell]

Good on you! Well done!

 

[Dean_T]

Congrats! It's definitely easier when you have another set of eyes and hands. The engine went into my dad's '65 Coupe a lot easier with my dad around than when I threw the engine into the '65 Mystery Coupe by myself.

Happy wrenching!

Dean T

 

[DAnson66]

Go go! congrats.
I see that the only thing you had attached to the motor was the alternator(adn tranny of course). That work out good? I'm trying to make all these plans like 6 months(or maybe a year and 6 months?) in advanced.

 

[blackmach]

Two Toots it surly is worth all the greif you go through when you finally get it planted in there,whens the big day to fire,oops start it up & go for burn oops ride. Certainly is coming together well done.

 

[Cruzer]

Congrats!

 

[Midlife]

Well done!

 

[yelostang]

Lookin' good, Dan! ::

 

[Gene_J]

Dan! That looks great! Having an extra set of eyes and hands sure comes in handy! It sure must feel great!

 

[68CVert]

Congrats! Looks Great! How many beers did it cost you, cause it was worth it?

 

[twotoots2]

Wow! Thanks for all those replies! As a note to some of the questions: I was kinda worried about stabbing the engine in with everything on it, alternator, tranny, filter, spark plugs. As you can see in the left pic, all this stuff looks like it won't fit. My brother said it would go in with no problem...and it it did. Didn't even remove the corner braces from the firewall. The only thing we had some trouble with was we had to loosen all the motor mounts and the motor mounting plates in order to get the long mounting bolts to align up. Afterwards, we tightened everything. Had I known, I would have left all the mount hardware loose prior to stabbing the engine.

As for beers: Had a few just before the install. Heres why... We had the engine raised over the engine bay as you see in the first pic. Now I swear all farmers have radar vision as they love to snoop as they drive. The in-laws neigbor farmer is no exception. He spotted the engine hanging over the stang from a quarter mile away with the shop door just cracked open! He slammed the brakes and pulled into the farm shop with his son and brother. They own two mustangs and the brother's is growing a tree thru it! So they passed around some beers and we talked stangs for awhile then they left. No more till we finished the job, then I was pooped!