New Member from Staffordshire, England. U.K.

[S62351CUK]

This is the first forum I have joined so I'm new to all this.
In 1994 I bought a 1981 Ford Mustang Ghia Coupe (notchback) which was converted to RHD by a previous owner or the original importer/dealer to suit our British roads. It came with the 200ci straight six & automatic box and was termed by a parts specialist over here as "a gutless wonder", he was not wrong but I thought the car was great looking so I stuck with it even though I was quite often a subject of derision when a legendary Mustang turned out to be so underpowered.
Around 1996 I took it off the road for some vital maintenance and the more I got into it the more appalled I was by the state of the vehicle.
Basically the car had a sunroof and I bet most of you know what that means, leaks & rust. Also the RHD conversion was a mess & the engine needed a major overhaul.
You all know what comes next. Strip more strip until it's a shell waiting for the upgrade.
I was a bit undecided in which direction to go as I didn't want to go back to the embarrassing gutless wonder state but one day a bloke knocks on my door and says he has a 1973 Cleveland 351C-2v with auto box he pulled out of his Mach 1 which he wrecked a few years ago.
It turned out to be virtually scrap but cheap & American V8 engines aren't easy to find in the UK so I bought it and set myself on a course that is still on-going. The process of getting this engine into a RHD car are stupendous especially without a garage, limited time, money & space.
I have been at it now for an incredible 20 years and it's still a shell although half that time has been winter & around 50% of the rest the time I had to spend on it, it has been wet, then there's work etc,, etc. Most of the rest of that time has been recovery work that the weather has taken out of it the previous winter.
The 351 was completely rebuilt in my living room (fortunately no wife to moan) with Mass-flo injection & connected to a new TKO600 gearbox. The Back axle is a Ford 9" with a POWERTRAX unit & disc brakes. I obtained a pair of 1987 front spindles to carry the extra weight. New fuel tank for the injection system etc., the list goes on all imported at much cost due to the duty & taxes on top of the parts & shipping.
As the injection & gearbox have different electrical needs than the original power train and the engine now has a one wire alternator I decided recently to buy a DekotaDigital instrument cluster as the old ammeter was redundant & the old unit was dowdy so at the moment modifying the electrical wiring to accommodate these parts. This is the motor at the moment, depressing isn't it!

[Broncojunkie]

I couldn't imagine trying to restore one of these cars with the limited parts availability and cost that you guys have! I think it's difficult enough finding some of this junk here in the states! Regardless of how long it's taking, it looks like you're doing it right.

My older cousin had a 79 pace car when I was a kid. It had a 351c 4v swapped into it with a c4. It was the first fast car i ever rode in and I've been hooked on foxes ever since. I have a Cleveland block sitting on a stand right now, along with a pair of 4v heads. Not sure what will become of it, but there's a good chance it will end up in one of my cars some day.

Good luck with the build!

[1982GLX]

Welcome to FEP... Wow great story.. Very impressed that you have stuck with your project. I hope you get to complete her soon, looks like you are doing a great job so far. Good luck and keep us updated.