It is actually a pretty sensible swap. The 302 is lighter, narrower (I think) but length of these engines present some things to deal with. You can use special short water pump kits to lose about an inch and a half or two, and that helps.

The '50 engine room presents some issues too, most notably the tie rod assembly. These usually have to be dropped down to clear the oil pan, but once again, these are available to do the job. Commercial motor mounts are available, but you may have to build one for the transmission you choose......very simple to do.

Your rear axle is fine, but the ratio may be a little deep, since it came with a stickshift. You can solve that by running an AOD from a early '80's car, they are non electric. I used one out of an '84 Lincoln Towncar to swap a 5.0 into my Jeep truck, and it couldn't have been more simple to hook up. The later ones are designated AOD "E" and are the electric units that entail some hook up/ computer work.

You can start by looking at Speedway for some swap parts.......I think I saw some mounts in there, etc. Also, look at Hot Rod and Custom Supply at
http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....hPage~cadefeex

They used to be right here in Cape Coral Florida, but moved to Michigan. They had a full line of this stuff back then, and suspect they still do. There are probably other sources for these parts, and some other members may be able to provide these names.

Go for it, this will make it a great driver, and very dependable.


Don