Projects SBF Gurus Input Appreciated

'85 Mustang had 4V & a roller cam.

 

When I did the test fit it seems that the right side manifold rubbed on the front suspension control arm just a bit. I think both parts need a little "massaging " to correct. The left side didn't have any problems clearing everything. The steering box has been changed to a Cherokee power box.

 

Windsor Blocks make HP and TQ simply by letting them breath. So most of the work should be focused on the top end. Make sure the shop chamfer's the oil passages in the crank, Use clevite 77 bearings. You can also use a 351 cam don't get tunnel vision either cuz a mild flat track cam degreed 106 deg advanced will give you some nice power.

 

So estimated completion date from the machine shop is Wednesday at latest but they are swamped so it might get pushed back a little further. Unfortunately things I have been putting up on ebay that I expected to sell havent so I am not going as far with this build currently as I would like to. I have been getting the transmission set up and the interior further cleaned, painted, and what not. On an unrelated note to me it appears as though shoeboxes have significantly devalued in the past year or so to the point where im barely able to give them away much less sell them.

 

Thanks for the info. I would like the torque over the HP. It's not gonna be a race car, just a reliable driver with some low end power. Drivability is my goal.

 

Engine has had all machine work done to it and am waiting on the crank to get turned hopefully tomorrow. With luck I will get the engine back this weekend to begin reassembling everything if not then early next week.

 

Can't wait to see it back together and making noise!
I'm doing an intake swap on mine today and trying to get a wayward frost plug back into the block.....hope it's not more serious than that

Scott


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Well I finally got my engine back today. Total ended up $850 rather then $500 including machine work to block installing springs and retainers and surfacing the heads. Not quite happy since they did not contact me before doing the work. Anyways I got the engine back here and I am getting the feeling that this was half assed. included is a pick of the number 6 cyl which still has a decent amount of pitting. All the other cylinders appear perfect though. In your opinion would you take it back (which i am going to do) or does it look runable? Also I am curious are the lifter bores supposed to be cleaned up? I will talk to them more tonight as to what their opinion is but I am not getting the feeling that this got their normal full attention and i would appreciate some of you guys input. anyways here are the pics.

 

Those lifter bores should have been cleaned up. That cylinder doesn't look too good either. I hope that this isn't how engine builders operate these days. I need some work done to my engine, but finding a reputable engine shop will probably be a challenge. I would take the engine back and voice your concerns, especially since they didn't stick to the original bid.

 

I am bringing it back tomorrow and telling them to hot tank the heads for sure and probably the block again because there is rust still in the water passages I will make sure they clean the lifter bores and I want to get another opinion on that pitted cylinder. Being a kid everyone thinks they can take advantage of you and I am getting really tired of taking it in the teeth.

 

if you haven't dropped the money yet and want floor shift i prefer the Gennie Lo-Stik over Lokar all day. the "gated" design like many high end cars have been using and is becoming more popular all the time and it's much more user friendly in the facts of you can actually change stick height in about 5 minutes. when i worked at the shop i lead several customers to it and they were very happy with the advise since the height they KNEW was what they wanted was wrong. changing a Lokar would have been a pain. changing the Gennie was a breeze as it is 2 set screws holding the arm on....ken....

 

Well I got a second opinion on the machine work and I was told that it was done excellently and that the pitting was indeed not a problem like they had told me. I will clean up the lifter bores this evening and begin assembling things

 

Looking back at this thread entirely upon disassembly the lifters appeared to have severe water damage. For the cylinder bores to finish as they did there must have been a lot of pitting before they were honed to size,with that you mentioned you got the word for 10-10 bearings and .020 pistons and rings. You ordered such.
A assumption on my part is the machine shop told you what you needed. Am I correct here ?
While I can throw my hat into this ring because this is what I do for a living and will say before I order ANY piston on a questionable bore I either bore it or hone it to a few thou .005 to be exact to take any guess work out.
A bore that pitted will eat rings period any other excuse is just that,a excuse.
Someone got lazy and guessed before doing a little leg work to get the job done right.
I may be a tad slower than some on getting jobs out but never would one leave like this at my shop.

 

I agree with gary . . . the only time I've seen slight pitting like that is when the pistons have already been bought and the pitting was just too deep to be cleaned up to use with the customer's parts.

If its any consolation, I've driven around some stuff with slight pitting like that. Isn't great for max HP but it will still run okay.

The lifter bores will clean up with a dingleberry hone, a drill to run it, and some wd-40

 

Well we will just have to see how this turns out. Got it together today everything torqued and ran the oil pump with a drill and got just a hair under 75lbs oil pressure. will update more tomorrow.

 

Looks damn good!
I like the use of the Duraspark distributor and especially those Powered by Ford valve covers!

Remind me what intake that is?

Scott


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

The intake is a 289 performer for the time being.

 

Everything looks really good!If it runs half as good as it looks you will be smiling soon

Scott


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

The interior isn't done but im going to be working hard on it tomorrow to at least get the engine and transmission in and running

 

So today i got the engine mated up with the transmission, the engine and transmission in the car, and a little bit ago I was even able to start it up. I still have to create a transmission mount though the driveline will not need to be shortened. My one observation is the headman 88400 would in no way clear the pitman arm with the stock bolts and even with longer bolt on the collectors its an incredibly tight fit. here are a couple pictures from earlier on today. I may need to pull the pan to adjust the clip on the oil pump drive shaft as I realised what it was for after pulling the distributor and having the shaft come out of the reciever. tomorrow should consist of several of those tasks and some of the smaller details.

 

Congratulations man!Youre getting things wrapped up quickly!Just don't get too pissed off about the little snags and details,you'll have it together and driving shortly.
Nice job!

Scott


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

I am not at all bothered by taking my time. When ever you rush you forget things just like the clip on the oil pump drive shaft and that can mess a lot of other things up as well. I let it start up and come up to temp but it wasnt wanting to rev with out breaking up and shooting fire out of the exhaust which I believe may be from the distributor being a tooth off, otherwise it ran quite well and didnt sound too extreme. I am down to dropping the pan and fixing that getting the distributor set correctly, finishing the mount for the transmission, finishing the linkage for the aod and the neutral safety switch, setting the tv cable, welding in the exhaust, and finally installing the seats and some carpet. With a little luck and a significant amount of time I will have it on the road by this coming weekend.

 

Would you gain any header clearance if the engine was raised about 1" up? I have heard of several instances where that was done using a 1" spacer between the block and the mounts,you may need a longer grade 8 bolt to go with the spacers.

 

I will see about blocking it up to clear. I have a question I got it all back together and at what I believe to be TDC the mark on the harmonic balancer is reading around 30 degrees advance with the timing light and thats about where it wants to run. when i had it running before it was right around 0 degrees and i set it at about 12 and it was happy. Any idea what may have caused the change? the different firing order of the E303 cam?
I will throw in one more question. I have the pigtail for the aod neutral safety switch but can anyone tell me exactly how to wire that into my 2 2 pin connectors that went to the c4 neutral safety switch?

 

end of day report. Transmission is set linkage is in place tv cable is set oil pump shaft is in place with clip properly positioned and I was able to move it foreward and backward. My water pump gasket is leaking for some reason so that will need to be addressed shortly. So the engine starts and runs and I restabed the distributor and I can get it to run just barely down to 14 degrees advance on my gun but at that point the engine is barely running. I can adjust it up and it idles decently but when I try to rev it it either dies out or shoots a lot of flames out the exhaust. Vacuum is under 10 inches at 14 degrees advance and up close to 20 at around 40 degrees advance but fluctuating significantly some of which I am sure is the cam. The three components that would be affecting how it runs now are the cam and valve train, the timing, and the carburetor. If anyone would care to chime in I am all ears.

 

Is it possible that you were one tooth off when you installed the timing set?
It sounds like its definitely a timing issue,and to me it sounds like both ignition and cam timing are slightly out of whack if it doesn't wanna run,is shooting flames out the pipes,etc...
Have you got a local 'crusty old dude' who can guide you through some troubleshooting and diagnosis?

The old guys act like you're a pain in your ass when you come around asking for help,but they secretly live it when a young guy rolls in needing help with something that's running a carburetor
They get to unleash their arsenal of Ford knowledge

Scott


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

I should have taken a pic just for a reference but no I installed it with the dots lining up between the crank and the cam and I checked it after rotating it a couple times as well. I have installed cams in flatheads before with no trouble what so ever. I do have one guy who was a old Ford mechanic who I believe I may ask to come trouble shoot because I am sure it is something small that I have just overlooked. The only real change from the couple days I had it running before the rebuild is the cam changed it from a standard firing order to the HO firing order.

 

You're right,its probably just something simple...maybe off one tooth,or maybe the motor is just not happy with the timing where it's set at the moment.
I know sbf's can be incredibly sensitive to timing adjustments.They will overheat if you're not running enough ignition lead too.
That's nothing to worry about right now,but when you get it out on the road,you'll probably find that it wants around 12 degrees initial,and 38ish total with iron heads.

You've got a lot of guys on here who are behind you and really want to see you get this thing up and running,me included.
It sounds like you've had your fair share of bad luck with previous motors.Its about time you got to enjoy one instead of having to fight with it

Scott


Posted using two Dixie cups and a medium length piece of string.

 

completely my fault. I was suspicious and I did infact have the two wires going from my msd box to the duraspark backwards. A quick swap and she fired right up and was running 12 degrees advance on the money. I have class tomorrow but I will get her fired up again wednesday to dial things in and make sure that was my only problem then I will weld in some exhaust and finish up on the interior!

 

Good job!
It's all gravy from here on out....!

Scott


Posted using two Dixie cups and a medium length piece of string.