12/1/2003 -
Today, the Gorilla Rack was setup. It's a 12" deep unit to help conserve space for the parked car. But in hindsight, I wonder now if I should of went with the 18" deep unit. The Gorilla Rack was setup more like a table top instead of a 5 tier shelving unit. I felt it would work out better this way and I can mount some wall-mounted shelving later. Possibly some additional pegboard inbetween. So far, it's not quite full but it's almost there; it has some of the special tools that have had no place to go such as the spring compressor, engine tilt/sling, and 5 jackstands. I have one free shelf which will contain something down the road.
12/2/2003 -
This is an unexpected entry. Today while surfing one of the websites, CAFords.com, (to see about potential buyers for my donor "shell" once it's been picked over by me) I came across a seller of some Edelbrock Performer RPM heads with the 2.02" intake, 1.60 exhaust. Somewhere down the thread, it was mentioned it had maybe 100 miles and would include rocker arms. I figured this was the complete head which goes for $529.50 ea. in the Summit Racing website. Rocker arms could be anything so I figured perhaps FRPP roller rockers for about $260.
After a call to the seller, it turns out this is somewhat of a "repo". The story goes that someone he knew owed either the seller or the seller's dad ( a machinist ) some money but could not come up with whatever the money was. The seller got parts instead and this was one of them. The heads came off a 65' 289 Mustang. When I asked him what he wanted, he said "$500 for everything".
The catch for some of us in CAFords is, we are all San Francisco Bay Area folks so we can swap "locally" and save a bit on shipping. But this guy was in Sacramento! That's a good 200 miles from where I was! But for $500, I said hell, I'm up there. I called him after getting the cash and agreed to meet halfway; well 60% for me and 40% for him. When I arrived, I was greeted with some used but really lightly used heads; the seller said they were off the car for over a month but the "rust" I saw was just surface stuff that I could rub off with my fingers. The business side of the heads had heavy soot/carbon. Whoever ran this, ran it VERY rich! I checked as best I cold for any signs of a chip in any of the valves but found none. The valve springs were very clean and almost new looking; no oil "shale" or varnish; just light oily aluminum. What I also got were a full set of Competition Cams red anodized aluminum roller rockers which I had hoped they would be. A full set of pushrods came with them and basically, every bolt from the bolt and bushing kit.
I gave him the $500 and we shook hands. I was still on "work" time so didn't have much time to chat but he was a young kid and just needed the cash fast. I will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume this was a kosher transaction because in my head, I figured I save over 50% over a full new setup and this was almost too good a deal.
When I got back, I started to add up what this stuff would go for new; all prices from the Summit Racing site:
Performer RPM # 6025 $529.50 ea. x 2 ......................................... $1059.00 Competition Cams Alum. Roller Rocker Arms #1044-16 (set of 16): $ 297.69 Edelbrock Head Bolt Kit #8552 .......................................................$ 53.95 Edelbrock Bushing Kit #9680 ...........................................................$ 43.95 TOTAL.............................................................................................$1,454.59
That calculates to about 66% savings!!! I also took a rag and some carb cleaner and with just a few shots, 70% of the soot from just one chamber was removed (on the far right of the first pic and last pic)- see pics below on my "catch". Now THIS is how to cut costs. Just incredible luck on my part.
12/4/2003 -
Today, I received both the Engine Stand and Engine Cradle from Northern Tools. With that, I went out to PepBoy's and obtained a Torin Fold-away Engine Crane. The crane was $129.89. At this juncture of the project, things will begin to really start to come apart - literally!
The 91' Mustang GT that's been sitting out on my driveway will soon have a few hundred pounds taken out. Stay tuned!
12/10/2003 -
Been away from the web stuff but in the past 6 days I've assembled the engine crane and cradle. Wasn't much to do on the cradle really; just the cross brace. The engine crane required just normal assembly of heavy parts, however, I did run into a slight problem on one of the metal bar braces; the one of the bolt holes didn't line up. I used my drill press to get most of the material out, and a reamer to cleanup the rest. After that, and a little bit of grease on the moving assemblies, the crane was done. Takes up only a 2'x2' area in the garage.
Note the picture below was done 'after' engine was removed but you can make out the engine stand, the Gorilla rack against the wall, and the collapsible engine hoist.
Also this week, I ordered all of the Autometer "Ultralite" series gauges, along with the MSD 6AL ignition box, MSD Blaster II coil (chrome) and MSD Distributor with steel gear. This was simply an impulse buy; call it my Christmas gift to myself.
I've been trying to find these items on EBAY for less but it appears either the specific parts don't go sell much in EBAY or they sell just too close to Summit Racing prices that I felt it was just easier to order through Summit (shipping is basically built into the cost of the parts, with a flat $8.24 handling fee added regardless of the cost. Upon review of my order, I realized I forgot about the Fuel Level meter (note, picture above has been updated after buying the fuel level gauge in Feb. 2005). But there may still be a few things I need at Summit; vendors on FFCobra.com should not fear; I have a long list of stuff I still need to buy from them. Forte and 5 Star Ford should see quite a bit of activity from me next year! I also received both the ignition box and coil, but the distributor is on a seperatre order from Ohio. I will post a pic of the complete ignition system when it arrives.
12/12/2003 -
The Vintage Performance Motorcars, Inc. polyurethane spindle bushings and aluminum pumpkin bushings had arrived! These bits should firm up the rear end when it comes to install.
12/15/2003 -
Received the MSD steel geared distributor (PN: 8598) today; this pretty much completes the ignition system; note there are no wires here; the donor came with 8.5mm red silicone wires from MSD so I will be reusing these as they appear to be in great shape:
12/20/2003 -
This past Thursday, I picked up the Edelbrock Performer RPM intake manifold (PN: 7121). One of the mating surfaces has some galling or other imperfections on the mating surface (manifold to cylinder head.) I don't believe they'll make any difference since a gasket will pretty much seal it up. The seller on EBay indicated it was in perfect condition; the shipping box may be an indication on how badly this package was handled and not really sure if anything can be done, considering it was shipped from Canada. (4/17/04 EDIT: Manifold re-sold in Feb. 2004.)
12/23/2003 -
Engine and Transmission removal day has arrived. The day started promptly at 8:00AM after the wife had vacated the garage. The weather was on and off rain and the ground was already wet from the previous nights rain (note: 12/22 we had a 6.5 earthquake at 11:15AM centered near San Simien, home of Hearst Castle. Paso Robles was the town hit hardest with two deaths and much damage to the downtown area.) Because of the previous day's earthquake, I decided to put the car on ramps for more stability, with two jacks out on the rear axle. I then began to drain both coolant and engine oil. As this was going on, I ensured the rear hatch was open and set the latch such that it would remain open (the key lock was so damaged that the only method to open the hatch would of been using the electronic button in the glove compartment, but the battery was going to be removed so I needed to ensure the latch was always unlocked.)
Next I removed the hood, which I found can be done by one person and really doesn't weight a whole lot:
Next, I began to basically remove everything that the serpentine belt touches so I can remove the fan off the water pump; this allows me to remove the radiator and shroud later on:
By around 9:30/10:00 AM, my nephew Larry arrived and had him unbolt everything above the chassis ( shifter, AC, alternator, air pump, upper intake, injectors, fuel rail, all engine electrical connections, etc.) I was busy removing the drive shaft and forgot to drain the transmission oil. I drained some via the yoke area and then used a plastic bag to keep it from dripping any further; as it turned out, I did a poor job of this and later on when the engine was being hoisted, the bag overflowed and leaked everywhere!!!! Of the 12 hours total of my day, I'd estimate over 2 hours alone was for cleaning up, no, MOPPING up both coolant and transmission fluid under the car and near the bottles where I emptied the used fluids. I should of taken the time to properly drain the transmission fluid. :(
The exhaust system was also removed in several sections. What I find odd that not once anywhere while I was dismantling, did I find any frozen or stubborn bolts. In fact some of the bolts were relatively loose such as the 4 bolts that hold the drive shaft to the rear axle; I literally used my fingers to unscrew a couple of bolts!
I also found that one of the nuts was missing on the passenger side motor mount! And a emissions tube was left rattling around on the passenger side near the exhaust header. Wonder if one of the above was responsible for what we thought was a con-rod knock? What next? Well, as my nephew Larry was removing the intakes, I was looking around for the throttle cable release and when I pushed the throttle body plate to WOT, lo and behold:
THAT is caked on COOLANT!!!!???? As I found out, the EGR plate that mates between the TB and upper intake plenum has coolant running through it!!!! It appears that whoever was messing with this unit, did not put in a proper gasket to prevent this from happening. So it's safe to assume that this car was running VERY poorly due to too much fluid entering into the combustion chamber. However, the crankcase oil seems to indicate that perhaps not enough got through to cause any lower engine damage. The oil was black but not cloudy or show any indication of the coolant. But you know, this is NOT GOOD!
We took a good 1.5 hours for lunch before we began the final inspection for anything that might prevent us from yanking the engine out and everything we could think of was off so:
Dang, here's the mess I was talking about earlier!!! :(
Note: the starter cable was the only thing that I had forgotten. After that was removed, it was time to remove the transmission, bell housing, clutch and flywheel; I'm unable to confirm but supposedly, this is a "King Cobra Clutch kit" by Valeo:
Note: Transmission ID: 13-52-199 Transmission PN: FOZR-7003-AA (Rep AV) Transmission SN: 78587 (?)
Based on information at D&D Performance, this is a T-5 WC rated for 300HP with Gear Ratios: 3.35, 1.99, 1.33, 1.1, .68, rev: 3.15
And finally, onto the engine stand the 5.0L goes!
Of the 12 hours from start to finish, it really only took 6.5 hours in wrenching time with two people. I was taking my time intentionally. Overall, I found this to be a pretty satisfying experience.
12/24/203 -
Christmas Eve! I was thinking of working on the car today and after getting over the aching fingers, hip pointers, and shoulders and neck pain from the previous day's work, I finally found the gumption to tackle the gas tank and fuel filter bracket. This actually was quite easy except getting the filler out of the side of the tank! The tank was 1/4 tank full so trying to move the tank sideways a bit to yank out the filler proved entertaining. But using a milk crate and the jack helped balance the tank. From what I can see so far, it appears to be in great shape.
12/27/2003 -
Yesterday and today, I've decided to attack the interior. Late yesterday, the speedometer cable and steering shaft were removed. Today, the pedal box, accelerator pedal, parking brake assembly and brake master cylinder were removed.
Nothing here was difficult as most people will tell you, it's more time consuming than anything else. With these pieces out of the way, the only things left are the steering rack, lower control arms, spindles and front brakes. This might happen next week if the weather permits (car is now outdoor).
NOTE: in talking with my brother in-law, I've reconsidered going with a new 4 row radiator. The stock 2-row is not going to be sufficient for the 331 c.i..d. motor I'm planning on. He recommended at least 3 row. So I removed the shroud and overflow tank and tossed the radiator back into the Mustang.
12/29/2003 -
I removed the brake rod from the booster unit; kinda strange you have to destroy the plastic piece to get at it but it's probably a lot easier than trying to separate the two halves!
