Can You Rebuild Original 260 & Make it fun?

Yes you can. Intakes, heads camshafts and exhaust can all be upgraded for performance. You can use some of the 302 stuff as well if you use the 302 firing order. But a couple things to keep in mind with the original motor. Some sources say the 260 is an underbored 289, it’s not. If you try to bore to a 289 you’ll only create a big heavy boat anchor. The 260/289 engines are obsolete and some stuff, particularly 260 only, can be hard/expensive to get.

But before doing anything think about what you want to use it for. Stock is best if what you want to do is create a factory car. Upgrades to a create motor, which will cost about the same as a complete rebuild, don’t hurt value really. And once painted it’ll look the same under the hood. There will though be costs associated with going from the 5 bolt original block to the current 6 bolt and connecting to the transmission, plus probably cooling mods either way.

Best advice, look for guys who are stock and guys who are modified and ask about their reasons and what they get out of the car.

We rebuilt the 260 in the Tiger we have we used a comp cams kit, roller rockers an F4B manifold, and a 600 cfm carb we bored the motor 030 over and used ARP rod bolts( couldn’t find a set of 289 rods ) I’d say it was well worth the effort the car is pretty quick for what we did $ wise, probably on par with the 302 Alpine we had. just my o2s, go your own way is the motto here.

We’ve done more than a few in a variety of muscle bulges. It’s all a matter of ala carte parts & machining spending. Howz yer wallet doing? I once did a nicely stroked 260 with the usual heads/cam/breathing upgrades and surprised everyone on the road; mostly me!! My personal feeling is to sideline the stock motor for car’s value and build any 289/302 toy you feel like risking. The tranny can easily be converted to a wide ratio/lower bottom gears for a quicker start. A Tiger does not need much to turn your knuckles white. Getting the darned thing to hook up and handle is a challenge & debate for another post . . . . . . . . .amen

Were happy with what we did so I guess the answer to the question was yes,the car hooks up just fine with the suspension we have! and by the way my wallets just fine!

If your driving experience is typical British sports cars like Trimphs, Mgs, etc. then stock 260 performance is a great improvement. Plus, there is no real need to do "improvements" to the car. On the other hand if your experience is with big engine Mustangs like you say, then you probably will want to install a 302 with appropriate performance mods. In that case you will have to do some upgrading to handle the increased HP and heat generated from the larger displacement motor. Things like larger radiator, mod to rear suspension to stop wheel hop, venting of the engine compartment, brake upgrade, the list can get lenghty depending on how much you want to spend.

My 2 cents about gear ratios: If you want the car to be a bit quicker, the more economical way is to sub-in the wide ratio tranny gears and leave the rear end alone. This will give you a good jump & run without lousy gas mileage. The DANA 44 rear is a 19 splined all shims set-up. The moment that you decide to change the rear ratio, the options change to modern splined components and the $$$$$ add up really fast. Then there’s the nightmare of finding an old guy familiar with setting up a shimmed rear end.

I also don’t drive on the highway much at all, so the original close ratio gearbox meant having to drive around town with little shifting. It’s surprising how fast one can go in first gear in one of these cars! That close ratio transmission seems to have been put together for driving on long, fast straightaways, like the Nurburgring, which are not found where I live in Northern VA. Since I live in a little town, I decided to install the Mk2 wide ratio transmission gearing, which has been more fun to drive for me. My intention is to also install a 1:3.07 rear gear together with a positraction, which I am told will make the car even quicker off the line, while raising RPMs slightly on the highway, if I should ever drive any distance. That’s the small trade off, which for me is acceptable. BTW, if anyone knows who in the Tyson’s Corner area can install a positraction, please let me know!

The little DANA 44 is assembled with shims and should be done by someone with good experience in that endeavor. I get my 19 spline posi stuff from a Cali contact who does both normal and aggressive slippage set-ups. Changing the R & P to a lower ratio (3:07) will require a new drive flange on the pinion because the splines are different. SS has (had?) them. Have fun.

Look for an off road guy most of them are Dana 44" Smart" I did mine my self and found it to be pretty easy ( I made the tools needed) if you go to a later diff you will have to change the axles also and the later pinions are finer spline, everything you’ll need can be gotten from Ryder Racing in Detroit including 19 spline diff parts.

My friends car sure is fun.