The 302 broke in 2005 when I was just starting to put a severe case of the whoop ass on a 2002 WS6 Trans Am and the valve decided it no longer needed the head on the #7 cylinder. Needless to say there was antifreeze dripping out of the 3" exhaust. That was all the excuse I needed to park the car and I did just that for over three years. I moved from OK to TX and the job change allowed me to rethink what I wanted to do with the car and I decided a more street friendly suspension was in order, bigger brakes, more motor, and to revamp the nitrous system.
Well the exhaust is done (http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?31210-Custom-Exhaust-for-the-351W), the Cobra brake conversion is complete (I have some pictures scattered on this site), the suspension has been updated (you can see the Griggs setup in the exhaust thread) and all that is left is to get the motor breathing. The last one has been kicking me in the ass with the small stuff. The motor has been built for over a year but I live over 8 hours away so I get up there every other month.
I finally located the Carb Shop again out in California and had them freshen up the carb they built for the car back in '98. I had it updated and switched over to a road race/street build and rejetted for the 351W.
I had the guys at NX rework the fuel and N02 solenoids and check the Gemini Twin plate to make sure all the spray bars were in working order and they hooked me up.
I ordered the diaphragm rebuild kits for the Mallory return style regulator for the carb and the two Holley regulators for the nitrous system. Got the Holley's rebuild at the house in about 30 minutes but the Mallory replacement diaphragm was totally different than what came out of the regulator. I few days and a couple of phone calls and I found out they changed designs a few years ago and no longer offer the kit for the one I had. Tossed the body in the recycle bin at work and ordered a new one after searching high and low on the internet for a good price.
I went home last weekend and got he carb installed with the plate under it only to find that the carb was sitting way to high to clear the hood. Remove the plate and the hood clears. Install the 14" diameter by 4" tall K&N air filter with a drop base and the hood hits again. This was solved by ordering a 3" tall K&N. I used the formulas on K&N's website and found out I was way over sized on the filter to begin with and the 3" tall unit was just about right so that made life a little better. Here are some picture with the carb on the motor and all the fuel lines installed:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_1693.jpg) (http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_1694.jpg) (http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_1695.jpg)
Here are a couple with the hood on the car:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_1148.jpg) (http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_1149.jpg)
Forgive all the dust but I have not washed the car in over five years. It will go to the body shop after I get it running to install the new TC nose and replace the Certshiznit passenger fender with a factory one.
So the dilemma was what to do with the NX system as I have four freshly rebuilt solenoids and two completely full 15lb bottles in the trunk...can you say fogger? One of my buddies has run nitrous for years and does his own installation work and I usually wire them so I gave him a call to see what would be needed. He called NX and they have a conversion kit that will work with my solenoids. Looks like the Vic Jr intake is coming off and the bungs on the intake runners are getting drilled and tapped the week of the 4th of July.
Anyhow, I am hoping to have the car fired back up that week if all goes well. Did I mention the tags are over 7 years out? Ask Vinnie how wonderful the state of OK is on that now. Most likely will get tagged in TX to avoid all the penalties.
Anyhow, I will update this as I make progress but it will be slow with the distance.
Darren
Wow, you've got a lot of work done considering the distance between you and your car. Well done with everything sir, this thing would own all comers in "the twisties".
Thanks and we will see. I am still debating the TKO being in the car but it will stay for the time being. I would really like a T-56 Magnum six speed but those things are not cheap and what I have works. I need to focus on getting the thing started before I contemplate any more changes. I still need to align the front end which should be fun when it gets up on the rack and they are just scratching their heads like they did with my Coupe. Needless to say the Firestone store did not offer any kind of warranty when they aligned my Coupe and would not test drive the car after they aligned it due to the "customer installed aftermarket suspension". I thought the quotes on the work ticket were pretty funny. The tech wanted to but the store manager was not having it.
Darren
lol, same thing happened when I took my car in for an alignment. I don't have anything aftermarket like yours but they were still uneasy when I told them it had Mustang spindles & brakes on it. I am sure they thought I was some nuckelhead who didn't know what he was doing.
If you ever decide to "throw away" that TKO let me know, it would be a fine upgrade for me! lol. I am sure I would really need it with my stock HO motor (not). Well now maybe if I added a fogger system like you then I may need its enhanced power handling capabilites for a few brief seconds, just before my motor splits in two!
Great work I love your car I want to get some ac in mine. If I had it to do over I'd go with the t56 in a heart beat. Have fun.
Well lets still hope the AC works! All you need is the 351W bracket for the AC compressor and power steering pump. I got mine from Summit a couple years ago but they still have them:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FMS-M-8511-B351/
They have gone up about $20 so I would snag one if you need it. All the rest of the serpentine setup from the 5.0 HO 87-93 Mustangs just bolt on.
Darren
Your motor looks great, as does your exhaust. Was checking out your subframe connectors also, think I might try to bend some up for mine. Any idea what alignment specs you are going to have it set up with?
I had the Coupe set up to the "street" specs that were in the instructions for the Maximum Motorsports caster camber plates and I really like how it handles so I will most likely do the same to the Bird as it has the MM CC plates as well and both cars have the SN95 spindles and bumpsteer kits.
We have a thread on the subframe connectors here if you are interested:
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?32834-Seat-Bracess-For-Global-West-Sub-Frame-Connectors
Darren
Thanks for the info. I think I will have the same set up also when done. Have 03 spindles installed now, but am going to try the 94/94 spindles to get a little more clearance to the fender.
The '03 spindles are 8.1mm wider than the Fox spindles per side and the 94-95 spindles are 3.1mm wider than the Fox spindles per side. If you have a stock K-member then run the 94-95 spindles due to bump steer reasons. If you are running a tubular K-member run the 96-99 spindles again to bump steer reasons.
I am running a set of '99 spindles due to the Griggs K-member and have no tire issues.
Darren
Well I made some progress on my week off from work but it was slowed with having to remember how all of it went together. The taller and wider 351 had also factored in slowing things down but it looks like it will run now. I still have to install the distributor and plug wires but I am waiting on that to finish up the fuel system. The fogger only needs one fuel regulator where the two stage plate it had on it previously required two fuel regulators. The fogger plumbing also killed my feed setup to the carb so it will be getting dual AN-06 lines straight from the regulator. Had to order fittings yesterday so it will stay like this until I can make another trip up here. All and all I got quite a bit done but now the nickle and dime stuff eats up time.
Couple shots of the intake after some plumbing work:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_1770.jpg) (http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_1776.jpg)
Couple of shots of the motor with the intake installed:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_1786.jpg) (http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_1783.jpg)
Darren
Sweet!
Looks Good
Sweet looking intake!!
Thanks guys! I was really disappointed that I did not get the car started but with all the changes the whole fuel system from the regulators over to the carb and NX system has to be completely reworked. I have all the parts on order so now its just finding the time to get back up there and finish it. The only thing I can say is I am glad Texas has visual only when a car is 25+ years old. I don't think this one would pass a sniffer test here in the Houston area.
Darren
I'm glad we don't mess with inspections at all here in Indiana. I know mine would fail (no EGR, no smog pump)!
Take more pics next time you are up working on the car! I can't get enough!
Porter and Lake counties both have the sniffer and visual inspections. Yet LaPorte county doesn't have either.
Hmm, didn't know that. I guess we are too redneck down south to justify having any type of inspection. Sometimes I wish they would have a safety inspection of some sort. Some of the vehicles I see driving down the road are totally unsafe (busted windshields, bent frame, broken lights/signals, etc).
Alright, nuff cluttering up my build thread...actually I am just jealous.
Darren
Sharp lookin' car, as always. I hear you on the emissions, I am not so lucky. The last couple times I only made it through with one tail pipe being checked! Definitely need to get EFI on mine this year so I don't have to take it through 8 times(No joke) before they pity pass me.
Well I decided to upgrade the cooling system with a Griffin Dominator radiator...which means I have to uninstall what I spent a bit of time doing but I think it will be worth it. Here is the link to the radiator:
http://www.griffinrad.com/buy_online/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/32/products_id/225
The Mark VIII install with the F-150 3 core Godan HD unit from Autozone is here:
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?31690-Mark-VIII-Electric-Radiator-Fan-Install-with-DC-Controller
I ran this radiator with a stock fan, clutch, and radiator shroud and it never overheated but it would run 190 in the summer. Hopefully this will be a straight up swap out as the Mustang guys run this Griffin quite a bit and they say its a good fit and easy to install. A lot of them are running the larger stroker motors with it and it cools just fine.
Darren
Just got the radiator today and here are the shots right out of the box:
Back
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/DSC00224.jpg)
Front
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/DSC00227.jpg)
Top
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/DSC00226.jpg)
I think it will cool the 351W like a champ and hopefully I will figure out how those guys are getting the Mark VIII mounted to it so everything clears.
Darren
Looks like a nice piece.
Wouldn't the hoses technically be on the back side though? ;)
Again, if it works as good as it looks, your engine won't ever get hot! :)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was looking at it from the driver's seat. Makes more sense if you are looking from the front of the car so I corrected it.
Darren
Finally made a trip back home this past weekend and got the radiator and Mark VIII install completed. Brought the custom made radiator hold down back with me to touch up the welds and get it powder coated. Should be headed back up to OK in two weeks to finish it up and try like hell to get the motor fired. Here's a couple of pictures of everything installed but the radiator hold down is obviously raw metal at this point:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/0afa6932-cc42-4a97-8227-af06c3de6ccc_zpsa5dbf4c3.jpg) (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/dbrune_83/media/0afa6932-cc42-4a97-8227-af06c3de6ccc_zpsa5dbf4c3.jpg.html)
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_2590_zps4221f42e.jpg) (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/dbrune_83/media/IMG_2590_zps4221f42e.jpg.html)
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_2589_zpsc6d0b272.jpg) (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/dbrune_83/media/IMG_2589_zpsc6d0b272.jpg.html)
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_2592_zps92f55153.jpg) (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/dbrune_83/media/IMG_2592_zps92f55153.jpg.html)
Darren
Nice, clean bracket.
It might look cool with the (proper '83) TBird logo cut into it, or a nice die-cut decal.
What color you going to coat it?
Its down at the shop right now getting the undercutting in the original welds filled with a mig and I will finish filing and grinding on it this weekend. I am just going to have it powder coated black like the other hold down I had on the car as it looked good and most powder coaters run black all the time so its pretty reasonable in cost and wait time. I'm not big on logos and what not hence the reason the only T-Bird logo left on the car is the one on the passenger side of the dash. I had everything else removed from the car when it was painted back in '98. I could definitely see a logo on it being pretty sharp but its just not my thing.
Darren
Yeah, I get that. Should look good when completed.
Awesome job on that bracket. I need that radiator.
With that radiator I had to trim 5/8" off the Mark VIII shroud and mount the shroud upside down to get the offset I needed to clear the water pump pulley. I had already drilled the rivets that held the old motor in to install a new motor that I got off of Amazon (Siemens/VDO brand) so it was easy to rotate the motor to get the connector to face in the downward position. I did this just to keep any moisture from collecting in that connector.
I'm pretty sure you could trim a Taurus fan to fit as well but I am not 100% sure on that.
Darren
Nice radiator and fab work. Powder oat always makes for a clean looking and durable finish. I had a friend of mine powder coat my valve covers (his Dad owns the Hi-lift Jack company and they powder coat their jacks). They were done probably 10 yrs ago and still look good.
I need to change the Title to "9 Years Later...". Anyhow, I finally got some time to spend on the car and it was mostly remembering where I left off on everything.
One big thing was that I has the wrong MSD dizzy for the Edelbrock Victor Jr intake which was nobody's fault but my own so here is the low down on that. I had P/N 8584 and what I needed was P/N 85805 so I will be putting the 8584 up for sale when I get some pictures of it (forgot to do that when I was working on the car).
I also has to order a new throttle cable as the 351 is wider and taller than a 302 so the cable was too short even though I had a 1" thick nitrous plate between the carb and the old 302W Victor Jr intake. I also has to get a new throttle cable bracket as my old CSI bracket has the return springs running underneath it to the rear of the intake which is now taken up with the NX fogger system. The new allows the springs to be run on top and to the front of the intake. I got the valves run which took twice as I did not trust myself since it has been awhile since I have done it.
The Valvoline oil got drained out of the motor (sad as it was like brand new since the motor has yet to be fired) and replaced it with Brad Penn 10W40 (http://www.penngrade1.com/)as I have had excellent results with this oil on the new 331 that is in the Coupe. Not cheap but with all the additives its so much better than regular off the shelf stuff. You have to be careful though as from what I have heard this oil will not play friendly with coverters due to the zinc in it which is also why it is so good. Got the trusty cordless drill out and primed the motor via the oil pump shaft but I it took me a minute to remember it is reverse rotation. It was a good thing I did this as one of the push rods was completely plugged up with assembly lube so I blew that out. My dad came over and saw all the green oil and asked me what I was using which prompted more questions and finally that statement that we would be using that on the stoker in his 69 Fastback... I love that guy!
I finally rewired the 3G alternator in that I never put a 4 ga wire on the back post over to the the starter solenoid on the inner fender. I also used a 125A wafer fuse to protect the wire and mounted that in the nose of the car. This will definitely help out with the lack of juice I was experiencing with the stereo.
I also had to extend the wiring for the WOT switch for the nitrous system, water temp sending unit, and the oil pressure sending unit as well as finish wiring in the keyed hot 12V+ and AC hot 12V+ to the fan controller for the Mark VIII fan. Its the small stuff that takes up all my time but its getting there.
I pulled the wheels off and washed the inside of them which should have been done a loooong time ago. Finally got the hood bolted back on the hinges and pushed the car out into the daylight for the first time in several years. Washed it off and found all kinds of small micro scratches in the paint but it was never buffed out so all of those will go away when it goes back to the body shop for the TC lower bumper cover and the right fender replacement. Never and I mean never get Certifit parts for these cars, they are junk. I found a cherry fender off an 84 Cougar and that will be getting painted and put on in place of the no body line matching Certishiznit one that is on there now. They are also going to fix some small paint chips and then wet sand and buff the whole car. Should look like a new paint job when its done but that is months from now.
I missed firing or attempting to fire the motor by one heater hose fitting and the ignition coil being damaged down in the secondary tower (where the coil wire goes). Somehow or another the metal piece that is down in the secondary tower got damaged where the new coil wire would not do down into it. I removed it and it appeared to be old damage so who knows. I got with MSD and they do not have that part to sell which is kind of shiznitty but I am going to see if one of the parts stores has a cheapo coil that I can use that part off of it.
Anyhow, here are a couple of pictures of the car to date in front of my dad's shop. It was around 75 degrees that day so it was a great time to wash it up for the winter:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_3563_zpsceef19b1.jpg) (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/dbrune_83/media/IMG_3563_zpsceef19b1.jpg.html) (http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_3566_zpsf88610e6.jpg) (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/dbrune_83/media/IMG_3566_zpsf88610e6.jpg.html) (http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_3569_zps794b348e.jpg) (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/dbrune_83/media/IMG_3569_zps794b348e.jpg.html) (http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_3577_zps95f47fb7.jpg) (http://s786.photobucket.com/user/dbrune_83/media/IMG_3577_zps95f47fb7.jpg.html)
Going back down to work on it and hopefully get it started over the Thanksgiving week. Hopefully I will hear the motor come to life and be able to drive it for the first time in over nine years.
Darren
Looks really nice. Your patience is paying off. :)
If patience is lack of time or when I have time lack of desire then it's been all about patience. I still need to test the fuel pumps since I put rebuild kits in them (Mallory Comp 140's) and the fuel lines for leaks being they are braided lines and have sat for all this time. I could have when Inwas down there last week but I kept distracting myself with other things to do. Will have to do it here in a couple of weeks.
Darren
Looks good
It looks beautiful man. I have the same "patience" problem with mine lately. I know what it needs to run now, so there's no drive to figure it out. I just have to do it.
Gonna head back down to Lawton this weekend and get the fuel system pressured up and pray it does not have any leaks. I've got the regulators capped off so with the AN-10 return it should be good to go and I can preset the fuel pressure to the Carb Shop modified Holley 750 that is now an 840. Once that is proved out I can connect up the lines to the carb and the nitrous and test it again to make sure there are no leaks up to the solenoids and the rebuilt carb is good to go. Once that is verified I can move on to setting the nitrous regulator under flowing conditions...kind of a pain in the ass but that is the way Mike at NX told me to do it years ago and its worked well. If all that goes well then its on to the heater core lines, adding coolant, and then a quick trip to a Catholic church to get it blessed before I try to fire it up.
If it runs and everything looks good then I will move on to the brake line rerouting as the custom headers are just too close to the line that passes down and around the K-Member. I am going to route them like they are on my Coupe and this will solve the problem. From there is just some small stuff that I have noticed crawling under and over the car. The biggest thing after all of this will be a custom instrument cluster with some Autometer Ultra Lite II gauges but that will most likely be another thread as that one is going to take some time with the 83-84 dash.
Darren
Got the heater hoses installed so my $8 fitting from eBay worked well. The fitting is the one that goes in the front of the intake which is a 1/2" NPT thread and I needed a 3/4" barbed hose fitting opposite of that on a 45 degree angle. Moved on to the fuel pumps and gritted my teeth...hooked up the fuel pump relay and turned on the key. The pumps fired right up which was a huge relief seeing how I replaced all the seal, bearings, and brushes. The problem now is that they will not prime as they are higher than the fuel sump in my factory tank. My dad and I did some basic trouble shooting and confirmed that I do have about 3/8 of fuel like my gauge was showing so that was nice. He swears up and down we used the shop air and a rag stuffed in the filler neck to pressurize the tank to about 5-10 psig to force prime the pumps and filters the first time I built the car back in '98. I am going to use an old gas cap and rig up a fitting on it so we don't have to use the rag this time.
Through the trouble shooting on the fuel pumps I discovered that I completely hosed the internal pressure bypasses when I first installed the pumps. When using a Mallory return style regulator with a Mallory Comp 140 pump the installation instructions suggest that the pump pressure bypass be modified. This basically consists of removing the spring portion of the bypass and installing a spacer in its place. The spacer only comes with the Mallory regulators which I think they should include them with the pumps. I just removed the spring in each pump and never installed the spacer and could not find the spacers. So I got online and found a couple of threads on forums where guys just made their own as the Mallory spacer measures 0.311" in diamter and 0.377" in length. They all used a 1/4" brass or aluminum round rod and cut it to 0.375" long. So I found some round rod and made the spacers and have them installed as well. With the spring removed and no spacer it was like having the pressure bypass wide open where as with the spacer installed it would allow the pumps to build their maximum pressure of 14 psig but with the return style regulator they cannot push over 7 psig at the regulator as long as the return line is sized adequately. The regulator installation instructions have all the info on return line sizing and how to test to make sure you have an adequate return. If you are curious the instructions are here:
http://www.jegs.com/InstallationInstructions/600/650/650-4309.pdf
Anyhow, that is all I got done today. Hoping to prime the pumps tomorrow and possibly get it started. Then it will be on to the custom instrument cluster.
Darren
Well I finally got the fuel pumps to prime only to find out all of my stainless steel braided fuel line was in bad shape. I tore all of the tank to pump, pump to filter, filter to rear distribution block, rear dist block to front dist block, front dist block to bulk heads, and bulk heads to regulators fuel lines out along with the return line. I ended up having to drive about two hours round trip to a speed shop that had the fuel line I needed (AN-08 and AN-10). I got back around 3:00 today and was able to build and install the line from the rear dist block to the front dist block and the return line (both are about 15' long), got the fuel tank back in, and clean up the shop floor under my car. Had to air the shop out from all the flashing fuel from the old lines. I should be able to build all the other lines and get them installed tomorrow so hopefully I can get fuel to the carb and get this thing started after T-Day.
The fuel lines were about 15 years old and once I saw the leaks I was just kicking myself in the ass. I knew I should have just bit the bullet and replaced them earlier but its done now and I have a piece of mind. I'll take some pics of the fuel system when its done and the new line and cleaned up fittings look purty.
Darren
Well I got the rest of the lines built yesterday in time to go eat some charred cow at a buddy's house at 7:00. Here are the pictures and some description on what you are looking at. Hope to get the pumps primed and fuel to the carb tomorrow.
This is looking down at the front right corner of the engine bay. There are three lines coming up through the inner fender via two bulk heads one of which is a 90 degree elbow that feeds the carb regulator which is a return style and the other is a Tee that feeds the nitrous regulators which are Holley not return style per NX:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/607167ba-eda3-4224-bdef-2636dd7bf139_zpsc4bbf800.jpg)
This is looking from the front of the engine back to the firewall. These are the three lines from the bulk heads to the regulators:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/cc5c4104-18d8-4293-b2a3-095e41d6fecb_zps033749cc.jpg)
This is looking down on the passenger strut tower at the regulators:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/6eeb3f02-2ab7-482c-8b78-d1644f634533_zpsf7253be2.jpg)
This is looking at the back of the passenger strut tower at the carb regulator which is the one that has the AN-10 return line:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/94c95047-2030-4fd6-afd5-4029c1253985_zps2498aa90.jpg)
This is looking into the passenger wheel well to the front. This is the AN-08 feed line to the front Y block that splits the feel to the two bulk heads (sorry for the fuzzy pic):
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/11f2c738-faa8-44aa-88c4-483aedf6d204_zpscb7ccd25.jpg)
This is looking into the passenger wheel well to the rear. This is the AN-08 feed line, the AN-10 return line, and you can see the battery lead coming from the trunk:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/7c4095bd-cae1-47db-a43e-b2f053195a47_zps06e335f6.jpg)
This is looking up from the rear bottom of the passenger wheel well to the rear of the car:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/63a86664-28e7-4b52-9154-051c8601c9f6_zpsbdfd1474.jpg)
This is still looking up but behind the passenger door to the rear of the car:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/d4ab2971-4a6a-4229-9704-04a99ee8a19c_zps84b1a436.jpg)
Again looking up but at the rear axle area:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/ec0f0a15-021a-4f41-8c57-ee1682d49872_zps3257c706.jpg)
This is looking down the passenger tail pipe toward the rear tire. You can see where the AN-10 return line crosses over and is fed through the fuel tank bracket as it connects to a bulk head on the top of the tank. You can also see the AN-08 feed line continuing back to the rear of the car:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/a164fae7-e623-472a-9d4d-157761d3bfbc_zps3d2b5e33.jpg)
This is where the AN-08 feed line starts at the rear Y block and the two Mallory Comp 140 pumps outlet lines connect to the Y block. This is basically where the rear bumper cover meets up with the rear quarter panel:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/67fa4e79-fcd9-4cdf-b405-64dd83c81383_zps109ad269.jpg)
This is a shot of the Comp 140 pumps, the Mallory fuel filters, the sump, and the Y block at the far bottom just above the passenger tail pipe:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/7c726012-2ce3-4b4e-9627-f6fa8d3afaa7_zps62c5398d.jpg)
This is looking up from the floor of the shop at the sump, pumps, filters, and exhaust tail pipes:
(http://i786.photobucket.com/albums/yy142/dbrune_83/IMG_3650a_zps86b23d93.jpg)
After that I called it a day and went to my buddy's house to eat some steak and kill a few cold ones. Overall it was not too bad rebuilding all of the lines since I already had the old ones to go by but it still sucked parting with the $$$ and the time it took to clean up the fittings as they were all reused.
Darren
Well some success but a huge step back. I got the pumps primed and fuel up to the carb, float levels on the carb set, got fuel pressure set to 7 psig, and got it filled with coolant on Friday. Went to start it and the starter solenoid just clicked so I immediately put the battery charger on the Optima and the fuel pumps went from a light hum to woke up so I decided to let the battery charge. Come to find out that after swapping batteries on Saturday morning the solenoid did the same thing. I figured the starter was hosed so I get the car up on the lift and find a puddle of coolant on the floor. Long story short cylinders #2 & #3 have water in them so now it is tear down time which sucks as the motor has never been fired. The head however was repaired after the 306 sucked a valve down into #7 so my guess is this is that repaired head that was not completely repaired.
Gonna take a couple days away from it and get back after it. I drained the coolant out of the cylinders and pulled it off the oil in the pan which was only about a half gallon so hopefully its the head and not a bad block.
Darren
One step forward, two steps back. That sucks. So it sounds like it wouldn't crank because the cylinders were that full of coolant?
Hydraulically locked up. Fortunately the battery was not fully charged and the engine could not turn over so no harm no foul. I got the head off and sure enough it was the one that got damaged when it was on the old 306 motor. I am taking the head up to Folk's Automotive Machine in Norman, OK tomorrow morning and Charlie is going to test the head to see what is going on. I think I see the puncture mark in the #2 combustion chamber that might be causing it but that does not explain how liquids ended up in #3. Hopefully he can fix it up and I can get back to putting the motor together.
Darren
THIS.
SUX!
So frustrating....
Hope it goes back together smoothly and you get it up and running soon.
I think the puncture mark I found is the issue in the #2 cylinder and the machinist agrees. He is going to pressure check the head today or early tomorrow and see where it is leaking. As for the #3 cylinder we think what happened is when I was slowly turning the motor over by hand the anti-freeze pushed up into the EGR passage which is common to all of the exhaust chambers. The overlap in the cam allowed anti freeze to flow into the #3 cylinder. With a 351W firing order if #2 is on the exhaust stroke then #3 is on the intake stroke it is a possibility this is what caused the anti-freeze to get into #3 if we cannot find a crack or pinhole in the #3.
Darren
Got word today that the area behind the exhaust valve has a crack and is getting welded up. This will require a new seat and valve job on that cylinder. Evidently when the valve dropped in that cylinder it smacked up against the casting and cracked it. Machinist is a stand up guy and I am only paying the welding for the fix. Might get it back tomorrow but most likely early next week so it may be a couple of weeks before I can get back after it.
Darren
The head got welded up so my guy ground on it to clean all the welds up and pressure tested it again to find a small leak. The welder fixed that leak and it was tested again to 50 psig and all it good. Both seats were replaced and the valve job on that cylinder was performed so I'm good to go there. The welding on the head required it to be milled just every so slightly which makes sense with the heat that was put into it to weld up the crack. This also caused the need to rework the receiver grooves for the Fel-Pro 1006 wire-lok gaskets. I'm going to head down that way to pick the head up on Monday so hopefully I can try to start the car that week as well.
Darren
Good luck! Hopefully it's running before the new year.
Aerocoupe....that is a bum deal....hope its up and running soon.
Travis
I got it 95% back together. All I lacked was putting the #1 piston on TDC and dropping in the distributor, plugs, plug wires, oil, and topping off the anit-freeze. I am hoping that when I go back to my dad's shop over the X-mas holiday I can get to it that weekend.
Darren
Its a shaging BEAST!!! Fired up on the first hit and idled perfect. Let it warm up a bit and then dialed the timing in. Go it up to about 3,000 rpm and broke the secondaries on the 830 Carb Shop Holley and holy shiznit did it shake the shop. My dad was smiling from ear to ear. I let it idle for a bit to build some temperature and then turned it off...the silence was depressing.
I started to clean up and checked for leaks and there it was, a steady drip of coolant. Put the car back on the lift and traced it down to the condensate drip line for the AC which means I now get to replace the heater core. I did it once long ago so hopefully it will come back to me as i do it. Sucks but we all know it was a shiznitty design.
This will be the last post on this already too long thread.
Darren
Woohoo! That's awesome man! glad to hear it. Good luck with the heater core. Hopefully the rest of your posts are about tearing up the 1/4 mile.
Nice!