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Our idea was simple on paper – take a classic ’66
Mustang fastback and replace the 289/4-speed with a 2003
Cobra-sourced blown 4.6 and 6-speed. Seems like a good
plan, right? Especially since the evergreen Mustang
celebrated its 40th birthday this year. Well, after we
got the Mustang in the same room with the cammer engine
and trans, we realized it wasn’t going to be that simple
after all. The Mustang engine bay was crammed full of
shock towers, and that 4.6 Cobra engine is pretty wide.
The T56 6-speed is much, much larger than the original
4-speed, too. Hmmmm. Say what you will about us – we’re not quitters. Or we’re not too bright. Either way, our mind was made up, the late-model engine and trans was going into the ’66 if it took every torch in north Georgia to make it happen. We even thought about adapting the Cobra’s independent rear suspension, but it was simply way too wide to fit between the rear quarters. Hey, it was going to be enough of a challenge to get the engine and trans in the car. Long story short: The Cobra engine and trans was successfully transplanted into the ’66 body. How’d we do it? Read on. We’ll be documenting the build-up process in a series of articles here on the website. As a kick-off to the series, here are a few shots of the ’66 shortly after it rolled into the shop, along with a couple shots of the donor Cobra (whose enthusiastic new owner promptly put on its roof at the ripe old age of 6 months and 6,000 miles). Each month we’ll cover a different segment of the project, including the drivetrain installation, the body mods, the front and rear suspension and so on. |
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Year One's Mustang Build
