advice on putting a new motor in my 1958 ford fairlane?

Question

okay so im only 17 so car guys if i sound retarded, im sorry but im learning. I have a 1958 ford fairlane, inline 6, 3 speed transmission, right? Okay, well, i wanted to get a new motor, and my dad told me that the 292 and 312 will go in.

well he's asleep now and he's hard to talk to.. but anyway, i found this motor on ebay, a 289 out of a mustang. would it fit in my car? i didnt know what he meant by the 292 and 312 fitting perfectly... why wouldnt a 289 fit perfectly?? if i get that engine, what would i have to do to make it fit besides new motor mounts? sorry if i sound retarded, cut me some slack

Answer 1

To put in a 289 you will need to fabricate a frame crossmember to bolt the motor mounts to. You will need a bell housing and clutch assembly for the 289 & I'm not sure if the transmission will bolt up to the newer bell housing.

Personally, I would try to find a 302 out of 1983 or older car & get a mustang 5 speed. There should be plenty of room under the hood & performance parts are easier to find than for the 292/312 .

Answer 2

I have a 1957 Thunderbird with a 292. Many 1958 Fords came with 292 and 312 cubic inch engines and the swap is quite simple. If you fit the 289, you'll have to modify the motor mounts, the clutch rigging, the radiator hoses. Then you'll have to contend with getting all the fan pulleys in line for the generator, water pump and power steering pump if it has PS.
Either go for the 292 or 312 or else rebuild the 6. If you can get get enrolled in a good mechanics class at school, the rebuild will be a good class project and will teach you a lot about your car.
If you lived close to me, I would help you. I've rebuilt many engines and it's really quite simple with a little know how.

Answer 3

You will find that for example you can exchange a 305 and 350 C.I.D. engine and use the same transmission. When you starting upgrading to bigger engines you have to use a different transmissions. Then with a different transmission you may have to alter the drive shaft but then that is not a big problem.

Now you know that the 289 is a V8 and I know you will not be able to use the same transmission in it. I would go with the 289 in that if I remember it was developed later and is more widely used. I can not really say anything, but I know you will have the work cut out. The biggest thing will be the motor mounts and remember different tranny too. ANd if you do put the 289 in. is it used too. It might be better to look around your local junk yard for an engine. Cuz if the engine does not work right, think of the hassles of trying to ship it back to the ebay supplier.

Also, try and see what is the cost of buying a long block 289. Then the core charge probably around $150, you can buy a cheap one somewhere to trade that in. Decisions, decisions.

Answer 4

Hey, guy, you don't sound at all retarded. There are tons of questions on here that are so garbled you can't even figure out what the person wants to know!! As to your question, what your dad probably meant about "fitting perfectly" was that they are engines that that car was available with when new. You can put almost any engine in almost any car, but the cost to do so can be out of sight. Believe it or not, when I was a kid, almost fifty years ago, people were putting big V8's in volkswagen beetles!! I always wondered WHY? Same question applys here: You have a nice old Ford that would get great fuel mileage with its origional set up. Why change it? Surely you aren't thinking about drag racing a fifty year old vehicle? If you still want/need to swap engines, this is one time when your dad has it right. Find a compatible engine with the same motor mounts, bell housing bolt pattern, radiator hose hook ups, etc. Even when the engine is a good match, its an excellent idea to try to buy a complete parts car, so you have all the little pieces that you always end up needing, plus, (a BIG plus), you can hear it run so you know youll have a decent engine when you are done. Nothing is more irritating than to spend a bunch of time and money and work putting in a different motor, only to have it run as bad or worse than the one you took out. (P>S> MY dad was a little hard to talk to sometimes, too, but I still wish he was still around so I could try.)

Answer 5

You will need motor mount adapters. A 292 or a 312 are the same size block but are wider and lower than a 289. Either of those V8's just make noise and are not that much more powerful than your 6 cylinder. You'll need different exhaust and a transmission adaptor or bell housing and maybe a fan extension or shroud. Fix your 6 cylinder.

Answer 6

Nice car.

The '58 Fairlane came with 292 cid, 332 cid, and 352 cid V8s as well as the inline 6 you have. A remanufactured 292 cid V8 is about $2200.