Just Bought this H&M Mustang

Any update?

Yes, most likely 351w heads- which isn't necessarily a good thing. As I believe ReidP has pointed out previously, the HM's got a few of the changes JohnB noted above around '72- circ pump being the most obvious. I believe they started getting standard 351w heads at that time, as did all other marine/HO 302's of the time from other companies (Waukesha/Palmer/Conq-Crusader/etc). This likely dropped the compression ratio down into the 9's or high 8's, and you'll notice HM no longer printed the CR on the data plate. The official hp rating stayed at 235hp, but I wouldn't be surprised if its closer to the more common 215-220hp that the other marinizers were rated at.

FYI, I may be interested in those old trailer wheels if you'd be willing to part with them.

Best pictures I have for now of the H/M data plate


Its a 4V and the hour meter shows 297 hours but anything could have been done over the years. Not sure what you mean about the raw water pump?

Thanks for the thumbs up, I have wanted a H/M powered CC since I ws a teen and the Orange 1970s color put me over the edge.

I have the stringers out and pulled about 200# of water soaked flotation foam out of the hull (just like everyone else who does one of these) over the last few days. Ill try an post some pics later this weekend of the engine and bell housing.

Beautiful boat! I just took a little time to look closely at your engine and noticed some differences between it and the two I have. The most notable are yours has a circ pump, your alternator is mounted on the port side, your water inlet is very different from mine, the absence of a block off plate for the circ pump requires a different engine lifting loop, and both of my engines have a 2 belt sheave on the balancer, but only one is used and the alternator has a single belt sheave. Was this a 2V or 4V engine. I would like to see some more photos including the H/M tag located on the bell housing that includes the CR. According to my H/M book they ordered the 302s from Ford with 351 heads at some point after mine were made. One of the benefits of the H/M was it's lighter weight over the standard 289/302. The aluminum bell housing, no circ pump, the very small and light Jabsco raw water pump, and aluminum exhaust manifolds saved something around 75#. I have seen photos of H/M 351s and they look more like yours with a circ pump. The engine design could have changed sometime between the 69/70 boats and yours, or the engine could have been replaced at some time, I really dont know. Maybe someone with more knowledge will chime in. The 260/ 289/302 Interceptor also had aluminum manifolds IIRC. You can also save about 30# by using a lithium ion battery over an optima (at significant cost) too. When dry the Mustang is already a light boat. Here are a few photos of my 4V engine for reference.

I like what I'm seeing here.

The new tires are on it.

The lighting just doesnt show them well, I was trying to get close to an original look and went with these rimsRims

Tires

The whole package was about $170 shipped


A better shot of the tiresand rim setup




Note the expensive pile of douglas fir on the shop floor for phase 2

A couple more

I'm a bit late to this party but welcome to the site John and congrats on the 'new' and soon to be restored Mustang. I had seen this boat on a E-bay thread that a member posted and was seriously considering adding it to the Morfleet so that way each daughter would have a HM Mustang....One orange and One Sublime Green.
Seeing as how it was left outside in the manner that it was I doubt that you will get lucky enough to avoid stinger replacement but hey ...you don't know till you dig into it and get it cleaned up to see what you got. Dirt can be your friend as it can indicate cracks in your glass but also cover them up. Give it a hard looksee before you pressure wash it to see what you have.

Doing an inspection on my 72 I found the stringers and floor to be solid but will have to do a web replacement just in front of the battery box. It's rotten as the glass is disbanding from it and I could easily push a screw driver thru it if I tried with little effort.. I'll be sure to document it in TimBobs/Foots Mustang thread.

Glad you found us, glad to hear you're restoring it back to orginal. You'll have a head turner for sure when you get finished and after the first two WOW's you'll be glad you did. Look forward to watching this thread as you go. You came to right place for all your CC needs.!

I have seen worse and most seem to have trouble around the pylon like yours.The rest looks pretty good. Get yourself a powerwasher,clean her up try it out and see what you have.

The area around your mount doesn't show any signs of rust streaking and I don't see any areas of de laminating fiberglass. Have you tapped and poked around both stringers?
Maybe pull out a couple lag bolts from each side and see how they look/feel... Who knows till ya look!
Did the previous owner tell you it needed stringers?

The drain plug? How familiar did you say you are you with these boats?

TRBenj wrote: jake613 wrote: Great help,thanks! I am not sure I understand engine position as to height and angle. Forward, aft and port starboard seems fairly straightforward to measure. not sure on how measure angle. I re-read what I wrote and confirmed I didn't mention angle? If you get the height of the stringers correct where the engine sits, and put it back in the same place, then you will be close enough to align it. Engine angle is a function of stringer height and mount design/location. Don't worry about it.

Ok got it, If the position is exact only one angle will work.

While taking pictures I tightened all the engine mount bolts and they all seemed to hold. There is no way I should get my hopes up on stringer condition.

jake613 wrote: Great help,thanks! I am not sure I understand engine position as to height and angle. Forward, aft and port starboard seems fairly straightforward to measure. not sure on how measure angle.

I re-read what I wrote and confirmed I didn't mention angle?

If you get the height of the stringers correct where the engine sits, and put it back in the same place, then you will be close enough to align it. Engine angle is a function of stringer height and mount design/location. Don't worry about it.

a smart phone camera and someone measure everything you can with a tape and some blue tape reference marks you can revert to the phone all through the project

I would do what Pete suggested & place a (straight) 2x4 over the gunnels. Then measure directly down to the engine mounts, both L & R. Do this for both front & rear. Then 4 months later remember where you put that little slip of paper with that data!