The '68 Cougar (same engine as the Mustang one) 302 ran until the block cracked one night when I lived in San Diego at 217,000. Sludge on the dipstick!! This was back in 1982. Being a "starving artist" back then, I got a junkyard used 289, and put it in all by myself at a friends house (they should make a patch for that), and that lasted for about 120,000. The current motor was a rebuild 1965 289 ci. from Jim's Mustangs I've had since about 1984. It has the same Cobra intake and Holley 600, and runs strong. I religiously change the oil at 3K miles and use Castrol 10-40.
I also once "fried" a C-4 tranny going up the grapevine (Hiway 5 going south to L.A.)--a 6% grade for miles....and when they opened it up in San Diego, they said that it only had 10 miles left on it. I HATE HATE HATE the smell of burnt tranny fluid!!
I tell people that I've been "everywhere twice" in my GT/CS, from Canada, to Mt. St. Helens, to Oregon, and ALL of California! From the snow of Donner Pass and Lake Tahoe to the beach at the Hotel Del in Coronado, to the Craters of the Moon Natl park and Yellowstone!
Paul.