Hey guys...
It's been awhile since I posted. Life has conspired against me in ways I can't begin to describe lol, but about a year ago Brian (Pete) and I picked this car up as a driver for me, with the side intention for it to be a platform for testing products and advertising the new company (Home). As some of you guys know things got a little (massive understatement here) rough for me in the interim lol, necessitating giving up a lot of the plans I'd made...not to mention many of the parts and pieces I'd collected. It wasn't long ago that the whole car and all the remaining parts were up for sale on craigslist. Then, as luck would have it...some bad news finally turned into good news. My loan company for my truck (01 Tahoe) are complete and total asshats. I'd fallen one month behind, and while I was making payments every month after like clockwork, I couldn't catch that one month up. These guys would call me 2-3 times a day, five and six days a week. When I'd finally answer the phone, I'd be harassed with 'Who can you borrow the money from?' or 'What can you sell to make your payment?'. It was absolutely pathetic. I'd get text messages saying 'Call this number by 5pm if you want to keep your truck'. Keep in mind, I was never more than one month behind. So, I called them last week to make my payment, and the manager pops off with 'Well, unless you pay the full amount due ($750), we're going to take the truck.' I said 'Uhh, I have one payment...if I could afford to pay the full amount you (*$)& idiot, I'd have already paid it!', to which he replied 'Who can you borrow the money from?'.
I went off.
Basically, I told him if he could find the truck he could have it...and that I'd pay a lawyer to take him to court for harassment and breach of contract before I paid him another freakin' dime in truck payments. On top of that, I wished him good luck reselling a 10mpg lifted SUV in this market, and informed him that the only reason I hadn't filed bankruptcy yet was, in fact...that I wanted to continue to pay for the truck lol. In the process of screaming at this moron, I stepped outside, and saw my poor, neglected Mustang sitting beside the tree it had taken residence under...and it occurred to me that I'd just throw a motor in it...and kill two birds with one stone.
At which point I hung up the phone and got to work.
Before I get into what the current plans are...I figure you guys might want some back history on the actual car. We'd picked it up off Craigslist for a bit too much money lol. Both Brian and I were sort of blinded by the perks the car had, and overlooked a few rather real drawbacks. The perks being what was supposed to be a built C4 with a 3500 stall, 4.11 geared rear end with a 'locker' (which turned out to be either a spool, or welded spider gears...not sure yet), nice new Weld Draglites and new BFG tires, and a semi built 302 that was only supposed to be 500 miles or so old, which included 'ported' 289 heads (ha!! that was a crock), roller block and an 'F' cam. Matter of fact, here's the original pictures and ad text:
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A quick overview of the problems...the wiring was shot, steering was setup wrong, power was inconsistent (although it always felt 'strong'), and most importantly...the transmission wouldn't shift properly, which required a new valve body (I picked up a forward manual online for a pretty decent price). We found out that this was necessary due to the car not shifting at the track. 3rd gear wouldn't engage until you let off the throttle completely. It still managed a 14.60@95 (even though the carb wasn't opening all the way either)...so we had hope to get into the mid/low 13's once we figured out the trans. Since I HATE automatics to begin with...having to redo the valve body under the car was a pretty major annoyance. Once we got that settled, we took it to the track with high hopes...and ran a whopping 14.09@96, and then then a 14.00@97. The thing was in valve float by 5500rpm, and if I loaded the convertor at all it would bog badly before finally taking off. The best runs were made leaving off idle. The final pass of the night was 15.32@91, at which point I trailered it and we took it home.
At that point I decided to rip the motor out, and go through it to see what we had actually bought:
A virtual dollar if you can see what's wrong with this picture. Yep, blown head gasket. On top of that, the pushrods were way too long, the springs appeared to be stock (for 1967), and everything was assembled in such a haphazard manner I couldn't believe it ran at all. So, we decided to do some thinking about which direction to go with the car. We had plans for a 'big motor' in the works already, and couldn't decided whether to run the 302 some more, or to revamp the car to handle the rather large power increase, and run with that. In the interim we moved the battery to the rear, installed a shutoff and charging posts, cleaned up the engine compartment, and were in the process of setting it up with a Haltech EFI unit. We also picked up most of the extra parts we'd need to run the big motor if we decided to go that route.
That was pretty much when the the shoe fell and my life went ballistic lol.
Anyhow, fast forward to today. Plans are a to go through a stock 86 short block we picked up for $200 (supposed to be already freshened with new rings and bearings), to which we'll add a Lunati 51016 HR cam, Stealth intake, and the old 700DP we have laying around to get the car running. For heads we're using Brian's old worked GT40's...that are lightly cleaned up with oversize 1.90/1.60 valves (yes, we'll be cutting the pistons =p). Compression should be just over 9:1. All that earthshaking power (yeah...I'm not serious there) will be mated to a McLeod scattershield, 13lb flywheel, and a proshifted Liberty T5 (3.35 first). The rear end's staying the same with the 4.11's.
Hopefully...it'll get up and go to the tune of low 12's, or even quite possibly better when it's all said and done.
For now though...I'll leave you guys with some additional pictures of the car in various stages of assembly, both past and present (I'll try to keep things in order chronologically), cable clutch conversion pictures, as well as a few images of the block plate we've built to mount the motor rather than stock type motor mounts. Once the big motor goes in down the road, we're going to need all the header room we can get to clear the accufab 2" primary longtubes =D.
And, the more recent stuff (like, this week):
Yes, it was covered in bird crap lol. Ignore the 4 eye hood laying on it. I'd picked it up years ago for a friend that never got it from me...and just don't have the heart to throw it away.
Here's a few images showing how I connected the cable clutch. First step was to thread (1/4-28) the crimped on 'button' that retains the clutch cable in a stock 5.0 style quadrant. Then we simply attached a heim with a stud attachment (normally used for race car throttle linkage). At that point we drilled and tapped the already modified (I welded 2.5" or so of 1/4" thick steel above the pivot point) pedal to accept the 1/4-28 stud off the heim. The final picture above shows the loosely installed assembly, and no, the cable isn't normally like that. It actually pulls quite straight and true.
Here we have a couple pictures showing the firewall support I rigged up for the cable. Basically the idea is to spread the load of pedal engagement across a wider area of firewall, limiting flex. I just used a piece of 1/4" thick aluminum and cut/drilled/ground/filed it into shape.
Block plate. Basically it mounts BEHIND the bellhousing, allowing either engine or transmission swaps without hassle, but more importantly, allowing us to manipulate the motor placement to easier facilitate transmission fitment, as well as motor placement for header clearance etc. Most importantly though, it takes ALL the stresses introduced to the cylinder walls by stock type motor mounts when under heavy load, and eliminates them completely. The front of the motor will be similarly mounted. The lower ears slide between the frame rails and align with mounting brackets attached for that purpose. Simple, yet worth its weight and more in benefits.
So there we have it. We're shooting to have this thing running within a couple weeks. Hopefully events work with me for once instead of completely against me eh? The amazing thing is that out of pocket cost will be nearly zero (which is a good thing...). That being said, I certainly wouldn't be able to do this without the help of Brian (Pete), Joe (wildcobrar), Tim (Sportsroof1970), and Jack (RS351Capri), and James (cammerstang1965). Both morally and sometimes even financially these guys have helped me stay interested and moving forward in ways they probably don't even realize. Thanks also goes out to Jay (Allen of course!), not for any part he's played in this project where it's sitting now...but for the part he's played in my overall development as a builder, and the future plans for this car. Knowing the right thing to do from the wrong isn't always easy...and while I certainly don't have all the answers to my questions...I'm far better equipped to find those answers just for knowing him, let alone being honored to call him a friend.
More as it happens...I'll be sure to keep you guys posted!
Cris
It's been awhile since I posted. Life has conspired against me in ways I can't begin to describe lol, but about a year ago Brian (Pete) and I picked this car up as a driver for me, with the side intention for it to be a platform for testing products and advertising the new company (Home). As some of you guys know things got a little (massive understatement here) rough for me in the interim lol, necessitating giving up a lot of the plans I'd made...not to mention many of the parts and pieces I'd collected. It wasn't long ago that the whole car and all the remaining parts were up for sale on craigslist. Then, as luck would have it...some bad news finally turned into good news. My loan company for my truck (01 Tahoe) are complete and total asshats. I'd fallen one month behind, and while I was making payments every month after like clockwork, I couldn't catch that one month up. These guys would call me 2-3 times a day, five and six days a week. When I'd finally answer the phone, I'd be harassed with 'Who can you borrow the money from?' or 'What can you sell to make your payment?'. It was absolutely pathetic. I'd get text messages saying 'Call this number by 5pm if you want to keep your truck'. Keep in mind, I was never more than one month behind. So, I called them last week to make my payment, and the manager pops off with 'Well, unless you pay the full amount due ($750), we're going to take the truck.' I said 'Uhh, I have one payment...if I could afford to pay the full amount you (*$)& idiot, I'd have already paid it!', to which he replied 'Who can you borrow the money from?'.
I went off.
Basically, I told him if he could find the truck he could have it...and that I'd pay a lawyer to take him to court for harassment and breach of contract before I paid him another freakin' dime in truck payments. On top of that, I wished him good luck reselling a 10mpg lifted SUV in this market, and informed him that the only reason I hadn't filed bankruptcy yet was, in fact...that I wanted to continue to pay for the truck lol. In the process of screaming at this moron, I stepped outside, and saw my poor, neglected Mustang sitting beside the tree it had taken residence under...and it occurred to me that I'd just throw a motor in it...and kill two birds with one stone.
At which point I hung up the phone and got to work.
Before I get into what the current plans are...I figure you guys might want some back history on the actual car. We'd picked it up off Craigslist for a bit too much money lol. Both Brian and I were sort of blinded by the perks the car had, and overlooked a few rather real drawbacks. The perks being what was supposed to be a built C4 with a 3500 stall, 4.11 geared rear end with a 'locker' (which turned out to be either a spool, or welded spider gears...not sure yet), nice new Weld Draglites and new BFG tires, and a semi built 302 that was only supposed to be 500 miles or so old, which included 'ported' 289 heads (ha!! that was a crock), roller block and an 'F' cam. Matter of fact, here's the original pictures and ad text:
The poor kid wasn't exactly trying to take us. He genuinely believed the car was worth what he was asking. He'd been lied to and taken in by local vendors (in particular, Loper's Performance) as well as people on the internet for a pretty large sum of money. Once we picked it up though...it wasn't long at all before the issues began rearing their heads.
A quick overview of the problems...the wiring was shot, steering was setup wrong, power was inconsistent (although it always felt 'strong'), and most importantly...the transmission wouldn't shift properly, which required a new valve body (I picked up a forward manual online for a pretty decent price). We found out that this was necessary due to the car not shifting at the track. 3rd gear wouldn't engage until you let off the throttle completely. It still managed a 14.60@95 (even though the carb wasn't opening all the way either)...so we had hope to get into the mid/low 13's once we figured out the trans. Since I HATE automatics to begin with...having to redo the valve body under the car was a pretty major annoyance. Once we got that settled, we took it to the track with high hopes...and ran a whopping 14.09@96, and then then a 14.00@97. The thing was in valve float by 5500rpm, and if I loaded the convertor at all it would bog badly before finally taking off. The best runs were made leaving off idle. The final pass of the night was 15.32@91, at which point I trailered it and we took it home.
At that point I decided to rip the motor out, and go through it to see what we had actually bought:
A virtual dollar if you can see what's wrong with this picture. Yep, blown head gasket. On top of that, the pushrods were way too long, the springs appeared to be stock (for 1967), and everything was assembled in such a haphazard manner I couldn't believe it ran at all. So, we decided to do some thinking about which direction to go with the car. We had plans for a 'big motor' in the works already, and couldn't decided whether to run the 302 some more, or to revamp the car to handle the rather large power increase, and run with that. In the interim we moved the battery to the rear, installed a shutoff and charging posts, cleaned up the engine compartment, and were in the process of setting it up with a Haltech EFI unit. We also picked up most of the extra parts we'd need to run the big motor if we decided to go that route.
That was pretty much when the the shoe fell and my life went ballistic lol.
Anyhow, fast forward to today. Plans are a to go through a stock 86 short block we picked up for $200 (supposed to be already freshened with new rings and bearings), to which we'll add a Lunati 51016 HR cam, Stealth intake, and the old 700DP we have laying around to get the car running. For heads we're using Brian's old worked GT40's...that are lightly cleaned up with oversize 1.90/1.60 valves (yes, we'll be cutting the pistons =p). Compression should be just over 9:1. All that earthshaking power (yeah...I'm not serious there) will be mated to a McLeod scattershield, 13lb flywheel, and a proshifted Liberty T5 (3.35 first). The rear end's staying the same with the 4.11's.
Hopefully...it'll get up and go to the tune of low 12's, or even quite possibly better when it's all said and done.
For now though...I'll leave you guys with some additional pictures of the car in various stages of assembly, both past and present (I'll try to keep things in order chronologically), cable clutch conversion pictures, as well as a few images of the block plate we've built to mount the motor rather than stock type motor mounts. Once the big motor goes in down the road, we're going to need all the header room we can get to clear the accufab 2" primary longtubes =D.
And, the more recent stuff (like, this week):
Yes, it was covered in bird crap lol. Ignore the 4 eye hood laying on it. I'd picked it up years ago for a friend that never got it from me...and just don't have the heart to throw it away.
Here's a few images showing how I connected the cable clutch. First step was to thread (1/4-28) the crimped on 'button' that retains the clutch cable in a stock 5.0 style quadrant. Then we simply attached a heim with a stud attachment (normally used for race car throttle linkage). At that point we drilled and tapped the already modified (I welded 2.5" or so of 1/4" thick steel above the pivot point) pedal to accept the 1/4-28 stud off the heim. The final picture above shows the loosely installed assembly, and no, the cable isn't normally like that. It actually pulls quite straight and true.
Here we have a couple pictures showing the firewall support I rigged up for the cable. Basically the idea is to spread the load of pedal engagement across a wider area of firewall, limiting flex. I just used a piece of 1/4" thick aluminum and cut/drilled/ground/filed it into shape.
Block plate. Basically it mounts BEHIND the bellhousing, allowing either engine or transmission swaps without hassle, but more importantly, allowing us to manipulate the motor placement to easier facilitate transmission fitment, as well as motor placement for header clearance etc. Most importantly though, it takes ALL the stresses introduced to the cylinder walls by stock type motor mounts when under heavy load, and eliminates them completely. The front of the motor will be similarly mounted. The lower ears slide between the frame rails and align with mounting brackets attached for that purpose. Simple, yet worth its weight and more in benefits.
So there we have it. We're shooting to have this thing running within a couple weeks. Hopefully events work with me for once instead of completely against me eh? The amazing thing is that out of pocket cost will be nearly zero (which is a good thing...). That being said, I certainly wouldn't be able to do this without the help of Brian (Pete), Joe (wildcobrar), Tim (Sportsroof1970), and Jack (RS351Capri), and James (cammerstang1965). Both morally and sometimes even financially these guys have helped me stay interested and moving forward in ways they probably don't even realize. Thanks also goes out to Jay (Allen of course!), not for any part he's played in this project where it's sitting now...but for the part he's played in my overall development as a builder, and the future plans for this car. Knowing the right thing to do from the wrong isn't always easy...and while I certainly don't have all the answers to my questions...I'm far better equipped to find those answers just for knowing him, let alone being honored to call him a friend.
More as it happens...I'll be sure to keep you guys posted!
Cris
