Warren, my 5 Mustangs were as follows...
1966 GT Convertible with 289 "K" motor and 4spd. I did the Shelby suspension mods to it (relocated control arms, upside-down mounted Traction Master's, etc), installed a Melling comp cam, and a Shelby aluminum intake with a Holley, plus a set of headers.
1967 Shelby GT350. I paid $650 for this car after the owner lost his license and his wife threatened divorce. It needed a complete strip and refinish of the paint, and a total cleanup of the interior, but only had about an hour on the engine after a rebuild. It had the optional, dealer-installed Shelby dual quad intake and headers.
1969 Boss 302. This car came in as a trade-in at the dealership a friend of mine worked at. It had the Drag Pack with things like an oil cooler and 3.91 Detroit Locker in the rear. I consider it one of the most visceral cars that I have ever driven, with its manual steering and radio block-off plate.
1971 Boss 351. This one came in on trade at a dealership where I was twisting wrenches. The guy traded it on a Hurst Olds. He'd bought it while stationed in Germany to cruise the Autobahn with! Although it was quick, it was half the car that the Boss 302 was, and I soon regretted selling the '69 to buy the '71.
There was a bit of time between Mustangs number four and five. Around 1985 I bought a '72 Gran Torino Sport Coupe with a 351 Cleveland Cobra-Jet. During that summer, a friend of mine and I attended the Performance Ford Club of America's Nationals in Ohio. I wandered around the swap, figuring that I would pick up a couple of items. When all was said and done, I'd walked away with what amounted to a second motor, in bits, for a song. As I gathered the miscelaneous bits to complete the build of this super motor, I discovered that my Torino was developing cancer in some strategic places, and that replacement parts weren't available. Another car would have to be found. I liked the look of the Fox-bodied Mustangs, and asked my used car people to keep an eye open for me. Two weeks later, I got a call that somebody had traded in a clean little '80 Mustang coupe with a four cylinder and a lot of highway miles, and that I could have it for $500.00.
I bought it, drove it for a month, and then went to work. A set of 5.0 liter engine mounts and fabricated 1/2 inch spacers later, and the built 351 Cleveland was in. It was mated to a T5 and a Strange equipped 9 incher. It was a manual steering car, which was fine with me. I used custom springs for a slalom Mustang GT and a pair of Addco sway bars. BF Goodrich T/A's were mounted on American 200S wheels after the brakes were upgraded and set up for five lug wheels.
It was a fun little car!
Oh, the Gran Torino? Well, I sold the front end to a guy for $300.00. He wanted it for his kid's Ranchero. The trans brought another $300.00 and the engine eventually found its way into an '80 Jeep CJ-7 that I bought, bolted to an SM465 4 speed and a 205 transfer case. With a lift, 35's, custom-built 9 inchers at both ends, and a 4WD Parts fiberglass body, this thing could climb trees! My wife hated it though, so it wasn't a member of the family for long unfortunately.
BTW, Warren, my favorite Edelbrock manifold of all time was the Smokey Ram. It was a dual quad, cross ram manifold, designed by Smokey Yunick for Trans Am racing, and used to great success on the Penske/Sunoco Chevrolet Camaro driven by Mark Donahue.
Although the Performer is cool, I liked the old Torker better, but then who knows, it is on a 305! Maybe it will work a whole lot better on a 350.
