Ford 1965 Mustang V8 Engine Model Kit - Working Model Motor with Collector's Handbook

Great gift for car people, Ford mustang fans, or anyone interested in the way engines work! The engine kit arrived right on time in good order and my son and I had a blast putting it together. He’s 11, but pretty much knocked it out on his own. The Book that comes with it is beautiful and goes into the history of the car and a bit about American car manufacturing. The finished model is mesmerizing when it’s running, and the level of detail is amazing. All the parts went together and moved smoothly. We both learned a ton about how engines work by actually assembling one and seeing just how all the insides move . Super educational and very very cool. 5 out of 5 stars!

I like the detail in the model and the fact that it is a working model. I would like to see additional items added to the parts list such as the Starter Motor, add the Thermostat Housing for the top Radiator Hose and the connection on the Water Pump for the Bottom Radiator Hose and include the Hoses, A separate and accurate Intake Manifold and Carburetor, the Coil, more accurate detail in the Air Cleaner Filter, Optionally add the 1965 Shelby GT350 Cobra Small Letter Intake Manifold, Cobra Open Letter Valve Covers, Cobra Open Letter Oil Pan, and Holley 715 Carburetor for us 1965 Shelby lovers.

My husband wanted to build a engine kit with his boys, since he did with his father at a young age. He was so impressed with how wonderfully built this kit was and how technology has vamped up these kits to such an impressive level. This truly was an experience.

Very good model over all but once together it worked for three revolutions then stopped moving. Troubleshot the problem to part number 28. With it off the model works fine once on and screwed in works for three revolutions and then stops. As stated good kit but very frustrating that there is this kind of problem for the price.

misaligned parts ,will have to add spacers to made the actual motor turn the moving parts , for the price one would think it would be right from the start.

I found this to be a great model and glad that I purchased it and in general it went together easily and everything fit well with one exception. My heart sank when I carefully finished the model, cleaning up all the bits of plastic as I went, and it would only run part way and then quit! I could get it to continue running if I manually assisted turning the crankshaft. It turns out (as noted by another reviewer, thanks for the tip!) that there was interference between the "timing belt" and part #28. I dissembled the motor to troubleshoot the issue and then sanded down the surface above the timing belt (see attached photo) and reassembled and viola, it works! Also it seems the instructions had the right and left heads mixed up but it was easy to determine which one went on which side. Now that's it's all working I think it's great!

Boyfriend enjoys building engines because that’s what he does for a living. I thought that it was pretty easy to put together. Though if you don’t know much engines (like myself) and can’t look at a part without knowing it is. Probably isn’t the best for you. Though they do have numbers on each pence so if that’s how you learn go for it. We’ve built other engines, and they’re all the same, plastic have the little wiring to see things move. But this one the wires on the outside and I feel it looks sloppy. Still makes a nice roar. The provided book is very detailed and does give a nice history of the Ford engine. However the boyfriend and I are both Dodge fans lol. But overall this was very fun to build and learn about!

The parts were fairly easy to identify and the pieces are quite accurate and go together without interference. I did take some time with an Xacto knife to trim off mold flashing and, on moving parts, lightly sanded the remaining mold lines to promote good operation.