Newbie here - Help me spend $5K on my '66

[Power]

1) install 289 V8 or maybe new Fuel Injection engine w/ dual exhaust.

This alone could cut into your 5k budget depending on where your getting the motor. Turn key crate motors that are appropriate for your application run into the 3k-4k range. There might be some cheaper ones but that seems to be the average price. Check some out here and here.

2) convert drum brakes to disc brakes.

This is something I also am looking into doing. Most of the kits to do this are fairly exspensive(upwards $1000), but another member here ( Rev ) has some information about a cheaper one. You might want to hold off on doing this until you can change out your wheels from 4 lug to 5 lug.

Check prices here. They also have the I6 conversion if you wanted to look at that one.

3) convert manual brakes to power brakes

This might be something you should wait on doing till you change out your wheels as well. No sense in changing stuff if your gonna end up pulling it off again.

You can also check the manual to power conversion at the above website. Just check the menu to the left.

4) convert manual steering to power steering

A couple of places to look to check prices are here and here. Hopefully that can help you out some.

5) paint it black (currently white original paint)

This question is better handled by somebody with some more knowledge of body and paint. I would guess that a really good paint job would be between $1500 and $3500. I'm not really sure about that though.

6) install 5 lug steel wheels (currently 4 lug wheels)

This is a little bit harder. The reason there is 4 lug is because of the I6 motor. To change it to 5 lug I believe(I'm not positive) that you would have to find a donor mustang(other cars might be compatable but someone else should confirm that)and pull off the 5 lug hubs and swap them out. It's quite a pain, but it doesnt stop there. You should also change out the front suspension to accomodate the larger motor and maybe change your transmission(??). I don't know what the rear-end was in the I6 but it might need to be changed as well.

To shorten the post, I personally don't believe it can be done for under $5k. Hopefully some other members on here can provide you with some more accurate details than I have.

As you can see from above, I took so long writing this that Mercury beat me to the post.

By the way, welcome to the board. How do you like that Law school stuff?

I'm starting next year(hopefully) with my Law program, majoring in Political Science.

Again, welcome to the board and good luck.
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1966 Baby blue Coupe, 289, Manual 3-speed, Edelbrock 650, Flowmaster 3-chambers, and minor upgrades. Interior work includes custom paneling, custom dash dress-up(I refuse to cut anything out of the original), Rewiring most of the electronics, Porsche 911 seats installed soon, and Stroker kit when I get to Texas. November of 2001 I will go back to Dallas.

[This message has been edited by Power (edited 05-28-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Power (edited 05-28-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Power (edited 05-28-2001).]