I was on the fence until I found this thread. Now I am two legs on one side 
@Wicked93gs The most informative post was your 1/12/21 reply to @bruinsfan27 on page 3 about engine mount, suspension and steering:
The entire swap would be far easier for someone using a Mustang-II type front suspension(or some other suspension that uses a front-steer rack and pinion and removes the shock towers), it would allow the engine to drop ..., allow the use of factory exhaust manifolds, ... issues with the strut tower braces not clearing the factory intake manifold ... you definitely do NOT want to leave the strut tower braces out ...
I have 2 questions for going with "removing the shock towers", assuming "shock tower" is "strut tower":
1. Wouldn't that also allow stock intake manifold to fit without cutting the hood?
2. With stock intake, what would you build as reinforcement to replace the strut tower braces?
Thanks
Shudda asked earlier-
What transmission are you using? Looks like a MT, but out of a Mustang? Or pickup? Think a WC T5Z would screw to the engine?
Thinking about the same swap in a 76 Capri- originally came w/ Cologne V6, built a 4.0 OHV for it, but then started thinking about a 4..0 OHC, then the Duratech 3.7. What is the distance between shock towers on the Mustang- the Capri is Mac Strut, and the vertical walls of the engine bay are a similar distance from firewall to core support
Any advice for someone thinking about it?
mc7eln said:
I was on the fence until I found this thread. Now I am two legs on one side
@Wicked93gs The most informative post was your 1/12/21 reply to @bruinsfan27 on page 3 about engine mount, suspension and steering:
The entire swap would be far easier for someone using a Mustang-II type front suspension(or some other suspension that uses a front-steer rack and pinion and removes the shock towers), it would allow the engine to drop ..., allow the use of factory exhaust manifolds, ... issues with the strut tower braces not clearing the factory intake manifold ... you definitely do NOT want to leave the strut tower braces out ...
I have 2 questions for going with "removing the shock towers", assuming "shock tower" is "strut tower":
1. Wouldn't that also allow stock intake manifold to fit without cutting the hood?
2. With stock intake, what would you build as reinforcement to replace the strut tower braces?
Thanks
Sorry, been a bit since I logged in here. Its a shock tower, not a strut tower....since classic mustangs do not use struts...they use a shock inside a coil spring(strut setups generally do not have an upper control arm, only a lower control arm).
1. The problem with the stock intake manifold is not the height...its the fact that the way it "sags" over onto the passenger side of the engine prevents you from triangulating shock tower bracing from the center of the cowl to the shock towers. If you are working with a set up that does not use shock towers(IE a Mustang-II type suspension) then you may have enough leeway in the design of your bracing that the factory intake manifold will not interfere. I have since installed a MII front crossmember(though I did not remove the shock towers) as a hanger for the steering rack for my front-steer conversion using a modified MII rack....it does not provide enough room to drop the engine significantly lower than the original setup(maybe 1/2"?).
2. If I just had to use the stock intake manifold....what I would do is use some type of engine bay gusset instead...similar to what the Miata uses:
The funny thing is that the Miata v8 sway guys actually remove these gussets for their swaps:
Of course, designing a gusset that will connect where you need it to(from the cowl lip to the shock tower area) might be a bit tricky...but it could be done(think something like the Miata gussets but at the top of the engine bay).
twentyover said:
Shudda asked earlier-
What transmission are you using? Looks like a MT, but out of a Mustang? Or pickup? Think a WC T5Z would screw to the engine?
Thinking about the same swap in a 76 Capri- originally came w/ Cologne V6, built a 4.0 OHV for it, but then started thinking about a 4..0 OHC, then the Duratech 3.7. What is the distance between shock towers on the Mustang- the Capri is Mac Strut, and the vertical walls of the engine bay are a similar distance from firewall to core support
Any advice for someone thinking about it?
I am using the manual MT82 6-speed. There is nothing wrong with the transmission once you address the poor OEM shifter assembly(I am using a Barton short shifter assembly that mounts the shifter to the trans rather than the unibody). That being said...6 speed transmissions are gimmicks for those of us who do not consistently drive 150MPH+...a T5 would be a good choice...or a T4 for that matter...but to get either of those to work you would have to make an adapter plate. I am sure it could be done fairly easily, but since the 6-speed bolts up from the factory, I didn't see any reason to do it myself.
You would not be the first to swap the 3.7L into a Capri, it will fit:
https://www.classic-ford.org/cfp/tm.aspx?m=47008&mpage=4
This guy used an early VCT(not Ti-VCT) version of the engine. I am not sure what he used for a transmission....but he could likely have gotten away running a Mustang oil pan...I don't think there was a RWD version of the engine in existence when he did this swap.
