Diving into a 302 swap project 1970 Grabber

Check out the home-made dipstick!

 

Ran the numbers on the engine, it appears to be originally a 302 from an early spring build date 1972 Gran Torino.

3/24/1972 I believe.

 

Finally have 2 coats of Duplicolor 1606 on the engine.

 

I plan on spraying 2 more coats after a day, or so drying time.

 

The Power By Ford valve covers may be up for sale soon.
I decided to keep the Edelbrock chromies, too much blue showing.

 

Nice!!!

The D2OE was on all the '72 & at least some of the '73 engines, my orig Comet engine has same...

 

Hi Larry:
When I picked up MY seventy it had an Eight Inch.. ( pleasantly surprised) .. Drained and changed RE grease,
New Seals , Axle Bearings .. etc. just in case.
Cometized
(Chip)

 

On the 8", the 250 became a option mid year for the true '70 models, I can't see the puny little 6 7/8" being used in those... Whether they were used with the other engines at that point I dunno...

 

Mine was a June 70 build and had the 200 cid w/a tiny rear. After I put the V8 in I tried to break the rear 'cause I had an 8" waiting to go in. I couldn't break it.

 

Here is the 306, all ready to drop in...minus transmission.
I decided to stay with a mostly factory setup....for now.

Even though, the internals of the engine are wicked wild!

 

Looks great.

 

The 306 is finally in, frame mounts were a bear to bolt up "Joe Dirt" style.

I had to keep the frame and motor mounts loose, and pull the I-6 mounts down to the bolt holes.

The "engine in and mounted" process took 2 hours.

Also had to disassemble the front end to get the hoist to reach into the engine bay.

Not to mention, all the battle scars the car gave me.

The engine is either, lighter than the I-6 (believe it, or not ..the front sits high),

or the springs are stiffer on the grabber 200 six.

 

Mine was originally a 200 C-4 with a 8" rear. I think the rear gears are something like a 2.75 or 2.78, ugh, what a dog!

 

Exactly, I made the decision to do a heart transplant when I was laughed at by a kid in a suped up honda civic.

.....And that was mostly because of the sound of my 200 six exhaust,

I'd like to see the expression on his face the next time that he tries to laugh at my car on the road.

It will sound like I have an angry gorilla trapped under the hood!, hehe.

 

How are you guys making the shift and kickdown linkage work on these narrow tunnel '70 models?
I may break down and go with Lokar.