But we weren't quite ready yet, because our 5.0L engine was designed for a Fox-body Mustang. This meant the oil pan wasn't going to clear the Mustang's engine crossmember, requiring an oil pan swap. We also intend to punish this pony on the road course, so we opted for a Milodon road-race oil pan along with a new oil pump, drive, and windage tray. With our new engine parts and the V-8 crossmember, we could think about dropping the motor in place.
Tim used a set of older Ford van V-belt pulleys for the crank and water pump, but if you can't find them used, National Parts Depot offers steel replacement pulleys or billet aluminum goodies. This is not the water pump. We will replace this one with a driver-side inlet style from Edelbrock. | 
During our dyno testing, we added an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake and a Holley 750 carburetor to the 302. For this test we upgraded to an RPM Air Gap.A |
Since our original 5.0L was EFI controlled, we ordered an MSD Pro Billet distributor fitted with a steel distributor gear to be compatible with the steel gear on the Comp Cams hydraulic roller camshaft. We also included an MSD-6AL box, Super Conductor 8.5mm MSD wires, and a billet distributor hold-down clamp. | |
| PARTS LIST |
| DESCRIPTION | PN | SOURCE | PRICE |
| Edelbrock RPM Air Gap | 7521 | Summit Racing | $237.95 |
| Edelbrock fuel pump | 1725 | Summit Racing | 91.95 |
| Edelbrock fuel line kit | 81243 | Summit Racing | N.A. |
| Edelbrock fuel filter | 8129 | Summit Racing | 39.39 |
| Milodon oil pan | 31600 | Summit Racing | 349.95 |
| Milodon oil pump | 18800 | Summit Racing | 78.69 |
| Milodon oil pump drive | 22500 | Summit Racing | 20.95 |
| Milodon windage tray | 32210 | Summit Racing | 49.95 |
| Milodon windage tray studs | 81157 | Summit Racing | 37.95 |
| Milodon 180 thermostat | 16406 | Summit Racing | 15.95 |
| MSD distributor, Pro Billet | 8598 | Summit Racing | 268.60 |
| MSD Blaster SS coil | 8207 | Summit Racing | 43.10 |
| MSD distributor hold-down | 8010 | Summit Racing | 40.60 |
| MSD 8.5mm plug wire kit | 31079 | Summit Racing | 74.10 |
| Pro Products balancer | 80007 | Custom Performance Racing | 87.99 |
| Pro Products 50 oz weight | 91007 | Custom Performance Racing | 16.99 |
| Year One timing cover | FJ1701 | Year One | 145.00 |
Cobra Automotive's competition front crossmember is just the ticket to help keep the front suspension glued together when we start putting the power to the pavement. We also added a pair of V-8 frame mounts from NPD just above the crossmember.>>>
Engine Compartment
Before we could drop the engine in, we needed to tie the two halves of the front suspension together with a V-8 front crossmember that was missing when we bought the Mustang. Cobra Automotive came to our rescue with a high-strength piece that was born out of competition requirements. We also realized that the inline six-cylinder throttle linkage would not work, necessitating a trip to NPD's Ventura, California, outlet, which also had the V-8 frame mounts we needed. All we had left was replumbing the new stainless steel fuel line from Classic Tube, adding some new battery cables from MAD Enterprises, and lengthening a few wires in the charging system to retain the stock alternator (for now), and the engine compartment was ready.