My first and last cars were both Fords. Black. Peppy. Small. In between them I had about 20 other Fords including 5 Mustangs and 6 Rancheros. I am partial to the Falcons, Fairlanes and Mustangs of the Muscle/Pony-Car Era. For me, putting a V-8 in the ’63 ½ Falcon was one of Henry’s greatest triumphs.
I’ve owned at least one of every V-8 made by Ford from the ‘50’s to the ‘90’s. My first two Fords both had flathead V-8’s, compact, and powerful for their time. I’ve had Windsor small-blocks in every shape and size, 221. 260, 289, 302/ 5.0 and 351. I’ve owned a Y-block (292), an FE (390) and a Lima (429) powered Ford. I’ve had 2 Clevelands (351) and 2 400M’s along with an OHC (4.6). It would be a tough call to ask me which ford V-8 I liked best. Like Henry, I think 6-cylinder engines suck.
with my ’77 Ranchero.
I learned early on to change the timing chain on an early Windsor engine at 80,000 miles. I can tell you how to swap an anemic Falcon 6 for a small block V-8. I can do a disc brake conversion on an early Mustang. Need a better tranny for your Torino? I can walk you through an AOD conversion.[1] I can look at the top 2 bell housing bolt holes on a transmission and tell you whether it is meant for a Big Block or Small Block engine. (Except for those pesky 351M’s that are drilled for both patterns.)
in a couple of weekends
People who drive X-brand cars (Chevy’s) sometimes joke that Ford means Fix Or Repair Daily. Indeed, I have always enjoyed working on Fords. Over time, one develops a familiarity with the brand. There are little tricks that only a Ford fanatic knows. Like the screws hidden under a piece of weatherstrip that have to be removed before the windshield is replaced on a Torino. Make damn sure you don’t use the original factory spacer when installing an aftermarket timing gear on an early Windsor. If your late-model Ford won’t charge, turn on the ignition, pull the headlight flasher back 5 times and step on the brake 3 times. You have just re-set the battery monitor system.
It cost me a $90 dealer scan to learn
about the Battery Control Module.
Over the years I have gotten good at swapping parts on old Fords. Trips to the junk yard were usually preceded by memorizing a section of the Parts Interchange Manual. Did you know that most old Ford starters are the same? All you need to do is swap out the nose piece to get them to work with a different engine or transmission. V-8 Falcons are built much stronger than their 6-cylinder counterparts, but the bigger brakes, more robust V-8 transmissions, differentials and suspension parts are easily swapped into them.
Others have found that swapping Ford parts is pretty eas as well.. My ’39 Coupe had a bigger ’48 engine and column shift transmission in it. Someone swapped an awesome 429 into my ’77 Ranchero. I was once overhauling what was supposed to be a 351 Cleveland engine in a ’73 Mustang. The crankshaft looked kind of big to me. Upon checking it turned out to be a 400M engine, never installed on any Mustang by the factory. I popped a ’67 Mustang 200 CID 6 cylinder and heavy duty 3 speed manual transmission into a ’62 Comet, making it a much better car. A 289 V-8 doubled the power on my ’64 Ranchero. Thanks to the US Forces Junk Yard in Wiesbaden, Germany, I replaced an ailing automatic transmission in my ’73 Ford van with a manual tranny in our parking lot. (I had to use a 928 Porsche to fetch some of the parts.) My ’70 Ranchero came from the factory with the highly desirable 351C 4-barrel engine. By the time I got it, it had a different Cleveland block with 351/400M heads on it. I got some of the lost ponies back by adding an aftermarket 4BBL and a mild cam. Then I swapped out the clunky cast-iron FMX transmission for an AOD from an ’88 Mustang. Adding to the confusion was the fact that the car had a ’71 Grill and late ‘80’s Lincoln wheels on it. It ran well on regular gas.
My Fords rarely let me down. When they did, it was usually bad gas or a dead battery. I once drove my ’63 Fairlane from Omaha to Utah without using the starter which kept sticking. I got pretty good at roadside repairs and have only been towed twice in my Fords. My ’62 Pickup broke a flywheel flex plate on the aptly-named High Lonesome Trail and our ’00 Mustang GT Convertible had the battery die on Interstate 25. I used to carry a spare ignition module for my late ‘70’s Fords. One cold morning I flooded out my ’69 Mustang after it stalled at stop sign. Then I got into my ’77 Ranchero and flooded it while trying to rescue the ‘Stang. It took our Mercury Zephyr to jump start the 2 of them. (Note to self: Keep good batteries in your cars.)
IH -35 in New Mexico 2016
My driving days are now over thanks to bad vision. I hope my Uber driver shows up in a Ford. Meanwhile, I still bleed Ford Blue.
-and yes. that was me with the “I’d rather eat worms than drive a Chevy” bumper sticker.
LDT Dec 18, ‘21
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Outlaws, Outrages and Outright Lies 
If I’d have hung out with you much, I’d probably have been a convert. Only 2 fords in my life…unless you want to count my English Ford, too! I can barely imagine putting all that energy into changing your car, but then, it’s sorta important to follow through and be able to check out theories and say “I did it!”
Loved this post!
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