My '85 GT 7.5L

[7point5inafox]

Brief history: I like all muscle cars but was mostly a Chevy guy until I bought a totaled 8K mile '89 LX 5.0L 5-spd that was barely a year old to flip. Once it was on the road I was hooked and I still own it. A couple yrs later after reading Car Craft article on a big block Fox body I found an '80 at the the end of its life and a rotted out '71 Lincoln. That car was so much fun I looked for a better car to put my drivetrain in. I found this 99K mile EFI/auto car for sale in the rebuildable row of a local wrecking yard. It had a melted wires due to a previous fire, bad AOD and smashed front end but it was fully loaded with zero rust, excellent interior and no T-tops, SOLD. After 18 mos I had it ready to be in my wedding and onto the 1st of 6 Power Tours. I had a ton of my build photos and any progress being made on a CarDomain website before they royally screwed up that up with their new format. It was stock looking for a few years until my brother found a deal on the Convo Pros and it's looked the same since. After a bunch of neglect due to being a responsible adult with too many projects it needed redone badly for years. My son and I started in the spring of '13 to make it road worthy again. I'm finally fixing all the little things that bugged me all those years.

[TopGear85]

That's awesome! I love that on the surface it looks like a regular old 302.

[7point5inafox]

Thanks very much for the compliment. The most enjoyment has been so many people ask if Ford originally made it this way. I always say no but thanks for asking, that definitely was my intention. Just to keep the look I would've had Weldcraft narrow/widen those 10-holes long ago if it wasn't for the killer deal on the Centerlines.

[ZephyrEFI]

That's awesome! I love that on the surface it looks like a regular old 302.

Yeah, I love the "stock" look of it, like it belongs there! So many people are tempted to make a modified car scream it from the mountain tops.

Also, I'd put the 10 holes back on...

[Travis T]

The true definition of restomod to me. Love it.

[brianj]

That is awesome. I also like to do things that look factory stock. This one is great. I like the centerlines, but I'd still look into widening the rear 10 holes.

[grabbergreen84]

That is awesome! And air conditioning too!

[wraithracing]

7point5inafox,

I am sorry but due to the ideas your post is giving me now I will have to use my Moderator Super Powers to delete this thread in order to save my marriage!

Why Oh Why did you have to post this! Now I am thinking about stuffing my 460 into one of my Foxes after finally deciding that it was too much work and just wouldn't look right!

Ok, I have to know how you did your front engine dress/accessory brackets as that was one of my biggest concerns with the swap.

The GT looks great and the engine compartment is very impressive to say the least! Now I just need the details so I can copy all of it!

Trey

[roadkill]

I want to do a 460 based conversion someday, maybe a Cougar or Granada... wagon .

[never]

Yeah, looks like it belongs there...awesome job! Are you spraying it too?

[whyidontknow]

Very slick and clean.

[7point5inafox]

Thanks for all the kind words! I started out with a swap kit from Kaufmann w/ 1-7/8" headers. The swap kits always made the motor sit way too high because they work around the rack, which is higher than it needs to be. I made my k-member to lower the rack about 1-1/2" to bring the water pump centerline to be to the stock 5.0L location. That allowed for the 18" Flexalite fan inside the modified original shroud. The headers ended up being a little small so I bought 2" Hookers. They had such terrible ground clearance with my lowered set up that I had to constantly patch the lowest tube on each side. That was one of the things I fixed on this go round. Using the 5.L accessories wasn't too difficult. An 1/2" thick plate was cut and bolted to the head. I lined up where I wanted the accessories and drilled and threaded the holes. The 5.0L crank pulley bolts right on. The 5.0L water pump pulley needs a 1/4" spacer, the 460 bolt pattern drilled and the center hole enlarged to 3/4". The alternator bracket needs about 3/16" ground off. Last is to modify the original 5.0L front steel plate.

[7point5inafox]

Those 200+ holes in the shock towers/frame rails were something I honestly never noticed the first time until I sprayed the white paint in there. They all had to go so after a bunch of welding and grinding I got out the sandblaster. Everything so far has turned out so much nicer this time.

[ZEN50]

Awesome conversion! I remember seeing your car on Power Tour years ago and was very impressed with stock looking swap.

[7point5inafox]

Awesome conversion! I remember seeing your car on Power Tour years ago and was very impressed with stock looking swap.

Thanks! That's so cool you remember it. That seems like forever ago I was there last. Except for the time spent on I-94 I've enjoyed every bit of time in Michigan for those Power Tours. I've never seen that many cars with space saver spares and plastic bags for windows anywhere and most were passing me on the right! I took this top pic as soon as we parked in Mt Clemens in '97. Bottom pic is at Effingham, IL in '01 where Mike Yager from Mid America Direct had this old time gas station brought in and reassembled on his warehouse property.

[bluesfannoz]

That is awesome! Thanks for sharing. The stock appearance in those last pictures just blows me away! I remember seeing those Kaufman kits advertised back in the day.

[7point5inafox]

7point5inafox,

I am sorry but due to the ideas your post is giving me now I will have to use my Moderator Super Powers to delete this thread in order to save my marriage!

Why Oh Why did you have to post this! Now I am thinking about stuffing my 460 into one of my Foxes after finally deciding that it was too much work and just wouldn't look right!

Ok, I have to know how you did your front engine dress/accessory brackets as that was one of my biggest concerns with the swap.

The GT looks great and the engine compartment is very impressive to say the least! Now I just need the details so I can copy all of it!

Trey

When I first read your post I thought I actually did something wrong posting pics here. You definitely got me. I wish CarDomain hadn't messed with their format. I had hundreds of build pics that now can't be easily seen. I'll see what I can locate and post. Thanks, Trey!

[FUKAZ28]

Awesome work man to say the least.

[wraithracing]

When I first read your post I thought I actually did something wrong posting pics here. You definitely got me. I wish CarDomain hadn't messed with their format. I had hundreds of build pics that now can't be easily seen. I'll see what I can locate and post. Thanks, Trey!

Sorry about that . . . Well not really!

Hang around here enough and you will find that I do have a tendency for sarcasm. It gets even worse in person, just ask onetrackrider!

I found some posts of yours on the 460 Forum, but there wasn't a lot of pictures other than your brackets and spacers. Would love to know more if you have a chance.

Thanks!

Trey

[onetrackrider]

[QUOTE=wraithracing;1763307]Sorry about that . . . Well not really!

Hang around here enough and you will find that I do have a tendency for sarcasm. It gets even worse in person, just ask onetrackrider!


What he said....

[7point5inafox]

Nothing wrong with some sarcasm. I just got a little sidetracked as I was reading but I caught on quickly. Other than moving the booster towards the shock an inch this is such a straight forward swap. That was actually my brother's idea because I had to have those valve covers but he thought I was nuts for not minding a car loaded w/ options but no pwr brakes. The whole engine compartment is that way, close to everything but touches nothing. I did have a leaky head gasket some years back and was able to pull that head w/o removing the booster. I had to slit a hose to hold the last 2 bolts up out of the threads and wasn't able to torque them but it was all good. I'd take a plug change in this car any day over my '89 5.0L. The kit came with the Montego engine half stamped steel mounts, 3/4" thick alum spacers to adapt those to 390 70's truck rubber frame half mounts, new double hump crossmember and the headers. I took the big hump from my original crossmember and replaced the small bump to gain clearance for my 3" pipes. I had to massage the floor a little and extend the floor bracket but no biggie. Original '85 trans mount bolts right to the C6. That underneath pic also shows how low the headers were. The right side is after I redid the bottoms of the tubes. I made sure that starter can come off w/o loosening the headers. I had some starter issues early on but seemed to fix that issue by running a 10 ga wire straight from ign switch to neutral safety to the starter.

Attachment 92214

[7point5inafox]

Old pics of the homemade the subframe connectors. 2" square tubing angled to only show halfway thru the floor. I then got a little nuts and scored, bent and welded 3/4" x 1/8" strap to them to mimic the stock frame rails. That was pre-marriage/kids. Had tons of time to burn on this project. I had bought a new tank for my old '80 back when still available thru the Ford dealer. Very reasonable price too. In hindsight it was the perfect choice because it seems to be a little narrower than the '85 tank so the tailpipe/tire clearance are a non issue. I'm not sure of the gallons it held but it wasn't many. To allow for further driving distances we decided to enlarge the tank. The spare tire well was replaced with flat sheet metal and replacement truck bed crossmembers. I cut the rear body panel straight across and used 2 of the same rear tank mounts and 2 of the larger straps. My son volunteered to wire wheel the old Zolatone coating off prior to KBS Rust Seal and Upol's Raptor bed liner being applied this time. I'm hoping it will clean better than the Zolatone. That stuff held up very nice but didn't clean well at all.

[FUKAZ28]

So, from what I'm seeing this car is stout in more ways than one. LOL
Very nice work.

[JTurbo]

Awesome car. Should have been a factory option back in the day....

[7point5inafox]

Due to other commitments the '85 sat in the weather for over 6 yrs. A couple of blizzards were obvious low points but the real bummer was when I got it back in the garage and pulled back the carpet. Obviously I had a leak somewhere. I'm leaning toward the cowl but I never had wet carpet or musty smell when I was driving it so really don't know when it started. I had some water stains up by where the steering column bracket bolts to the fire wall and zero rust at the cowl just some missing seam sealer in places. Either way it needed fixed. The yard where I originally bought the car couldn't believe I still owned it and had only a few Fox bodies left and only 1 with a good chunk of the A-pillar/rocker section. As all rust repair goes it was way worse than originally expected once I got into it. I had to separate my replacement inner and outer rocker to get it welded correctly and to slide the lower A-pillar repair in place. Luckily my original A-pillar had some good metal I could weld my new bottom onto.