There comes a time in ever gearhead's life when he feels the need to hang a picture in the garage of himself in a Nomex suit, leaning against a car caked in salt, squinting in the sun, with a silly grin on his face.
I had a 1984 Volvo 242 sitting around that I paid $170 for and sold the drivetrain out of, and found a 5.0 roller engine out of an '86 Lincoln Town Car on the local Mustang forum for $40. I have been scrounging, trading, haggling, and recycling everything I can to keep on an income-induced budget, and hope to meet everyone on the salt in 2012.
The Volvo as I found it:
We disconnected everything for the engine and trans pull in the barn, but had to push it out into the snow for the pull because the "engine hoist" was too tall to fit inside: