I'm really glad to have found this forum. It's always great to have a collection of knowledge from a group of others who work on the same things. I just rebuilt the engine on the car and did an engine compartment/component restoration in the process. It has 174k+ miles on it and is in great shape. We took many trips to California in this car. My mother bought this new and I inherited it when she passed in 2004. Over time, I have replaced the lame spicer rear end with a drop out from a '67 and converted it from manual 3" drum to Mercury power disc brakes as well as other minor improvements. It has a 302 with an FMX auto trans.
looks good and thanks for sharing, glad that you were able to keep the car that must have so many great memories.
`69 Country Sedan owner here, your car is an inspiration! Welcome. Any interior pics? My car seems to have '68 arm rests.
Welcome! Nice job on the wagon - engine compartment looks great! What did you do when you rebuilt the 302? I'm thinking about yanking mine this winter and making it a stroker 347.
I wanted to do a 334 stroker but economomizing on the job won out. .030 over, dish pistons to use regular gas (have the closed chamber 4V heads), roller chain timing set, a Comp Cams 260 cam and rail roller rockers, already using a Mallory Unilite and a Holley 7448 2BBL, and added an electric choke and an MSD. With paint and other misc stuff $1500-$1600. Also adjusted the trans bands and replaced the seals, and redid the distributor to give more mech. advance. Still playing with all that stuff to fine tune. The machine shop guy told me that strokers have no problems but I had read that the 347 had the wrist pin bore partially in the oil ring groove due to the increased stroke and that it caused an oil problem.
Thanks - I'll look into the oil problem you noted. I haven't looked into what all is involved in stroking the 302 to 347. Maybe I'll just skip the stroker and go to the new Boss 302 engine!
If you are going new anyway, go for the 351W. MUCH more torque, and a nice heavy duty AOD from a late 80s F-150 slides in behind it with no problems, and no mods to the car. Fantastic fuel economy is really possible with this combo, too; enough so that regular highway driving will make your wallet think it is a 4 cylinder.