Mustang #315

I am installing a Dr Gas Crossover Pipe. This will help equalize the pressure between the 2 sides of the exhaust. This should add a bit of torque, and also quiet the exhaust down a little. I got the measurements from Scott on where exactly it needed to be (and not be) to optimize the torque curve. Amazingly, I’ve been able to nail the placement of the center of the X very close to ideal, about 35.9 inches from the ends of the primaries inside the header. This got a little interesting, because since the primaries on the left and right are different lengths, the collectors are different lengths as well.

I pulled a rookie move when I welded the center section together – I welded it all on one side and then the other. MIG gets really hot, so the metal warped a bit and threw off my nice fitment job.  I muscled it into place anyway. Hopefully that will work out.

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chris Engine and Drivetrain, Photos crossover pipe, dr gas, exhaust, x pipe

I re-did all my fuel lines. Earlier, I described that I’d used the hard line, and then mated -6 fittings and braided line to it. Turns out I need -8 to fully supply this motor, so I re-did them all. Finding a route that stayed away from heat, was well protected, and wasn’t inside the car, was a challenge, but I think I did pretty well with it. In 2 areas, I passed the line through sheetmetal. Ordinarily, you’d do that with a bulkhead fitting. These areas would be pretty hard to reach though (if not impossible) with the car together, so tightening the fittings to solve a leak or something would be really hard. I ended up putting a rubber grommet in the sheet metal, and putting heat-shrink tubing on the fuel line. If I hadn’t put the heat-shrink on there, the line would have ended up cutting trough the rubber in time, and then cutting into the sheet metal. It might also be weakened itself, by the sheet metal rubbing on it. Combining that with mounting the line securely so that it won’t move around, makes for a pretty solid setup.

Fuel pressure regulator installed and connected

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This is covered with heat shrink tubing to protect it from debris, and to keep it from rubbing through the rubber grommets where it passes through metal.

securing the line so it does not move around is key in keeping it lasting long.

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pressure testing the lines is important

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These Aeroquip soft jaws make the job much easier

heat shrink tubing prevents it from abrating against anything - this hose will cut through other metal over time

making large hoops to maintain the minimum bend radius of this hose

later on I ended up with a 30 deg fitting on the right, to ease this bend out

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a bulkhead keeps things simple when passing through sheetmetal.

fuel tank outlet

admin Fuel, Photos Fuel

I ditched the old Doug Thorley headers because they wouldn’t work with my new motor. Too bad, because they were nicely made. I bought a set of Hooker Super Comp headers, part number 6111-HKR and have set about modifying them a bit. I ground out the tubes to match my heads’ exhaust ports, had the flange re-welded on the outside instead of just the inside, and am modifying the collectors.

The primaries on the left side are all within about .5″ of each other in length – impressive! On the right side, tubes 2-4 are close to each other, but a couple inches shorter than the left. Tube 1 is almost 5 inches longer than 2-4! It’s the best I can do, I guess. Hooker says they are “tuned” equal length primaries. I guess “equal” is relative. True equal length headers would cost a lot more. Tough to make.

To make up for the difference between left and right, I’m extending the collector .7″. The left-hand collector needs to be 18.2 past the ends of the primaries and the right hand needs to be 18.9. It’s not really possible to get very exact with it, because the ends of the primaries really vary (+- 1/8 or more). But, I’m getting real close.

Making the exhaust system is fun and challenging. I’m sore from lifting pipes into place over my head, fitting, removing, cutting pipe, lifting into place, etc. The headers are a real tight fit. The driver’s side one has to go in first. I have to lift the engine and move it over towards the passenger’s side in order for the pipes to clear the steering box and shock tower on the way in. Luckily I did install some Ron Morris engine mounts that allow for side to side and front to back adjustment. So, lift, move, put the header up and a couple bolts in, then shift the motor back to center and drop it. Then install the passenger’s side. It all has to be done multiple times in the fitting process.

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I ground out the tubes to match the large exhaust ports of my AFR heads

I had my engine builder, Bob Gromm, TIG the flanges on the outside with phosphor bronze. This makes them strong, and seals up the thin areas left by my grinding

This is the stock collector that comes with the Hooker Super Comp 6111-HKR. It's too short and too big for my application.

I cut and deburred the collector and prepared it for welding

This is the header next to my new collector pipe. The new pipe has a slightly smaller ID, which should be better for my torque curve.

I ground the edges of this down a bit because it's a thicker gauge than the old collector and I thought they should match up.

tacking the new collector to the old. I cut off a piece of the reducer to use as a joining band

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new collectors with ball and cone adapters, tacked together

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admin Engine and Drivetrain, Photos exhaust, headers, part numbers

Dad and I went over to Ray’s for the final engine assembly. We made a couple mistakes. First, we forgot to install the fuel pump eccentric! No matter, it forces me to go electric, which will be great. Second, we didn’t realize that htis type of lifter needs to be installed before the heads. oops. Otherwise, the assembly went great and the motor looks good.

The dial indicator helps us find top dead center

finding TDC

The windage tray goes on. We had to machine these holes to fit. It seems that everything needs customization.

Dad puts on the head for the first time. I'm putting molybdenum disulphide on the head bolt washers so that they have a smooth bearing surface.

Initial torque. We torqued the head bolts in 3 steps.

final torque

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lifters, pushrods, and rockers are in

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looking good!

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chris Engine and Drivetrain

One of the things about my old transmission was the sloppy shifting. Anyone who drove it could tell you,  you never really knew for sure if you’d shifted into a particular gear. Well, I bought a new Hurst Competition Plus shifter, part number 391 3180, and took it over to Ray’s. We took apart the old linkage and cut the rods to the proper lengths. Then, we threaded the ends and installed heim joints. Where new bushings were needed, Ray machined some new ones out of stainless steel on his lathe. Then, he took apart the Hurst and made shims for every gear. This process basically took out all of the slop and left me with a REALLY nice shifter.

This is the old shifter - an old Hurst style one, but not the right one for this transmission.

2010-01-26 13.52.36

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You can see how the attachment is made between the rods and the transmission arms - the rod makes a 90 degree turn into that hole. There are plastic bushings (teflon?) that smooth the joint out, and the rods are then secured with a spring clip.

We replaced the old sloppy joints with really nice solid heim joints that took out all the slop

The heim joints are fastened with AN 365 lock nuts. They're not going anywhere.

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Ray shimmed the shifter perfectly, so that there is no play in it. Very nice feel to the shifting now.

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chris Engine and Drivetrain, Photos shifter, transmission

I put the radiator in to test fit, and found that the battery is in the way. So I got the parts to move the battery to the trunk.

I removed the battery tray, and found yet another rusted throug spot! The only way to properly repair this is to remove the whole panel and replace it. Luckily, these panels are easily obtained.

To get access to remove the panel, i had to break down the whole front and side of the car. Took less than an hour.

Panel mostly removed, looking from the right side of the car towards the front.

I'm cutting the panel away with a die grinder. That is a sweet tool.

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test placement of the new panel

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Clecos are such good friends in this kind of work

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Rosette welds every inch or so - stronger than the old spot welds

The new panel didn't come with this fender mount bracket, so I took it off the old panel and welded it on.

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I ground the welds down to make them smooth.

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Looking good painted and the radiator fits great

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chris Sheet Metal

My friend gave me a killer fuel filter – Mallory 3140 – but it was missing a mount bracket. I made one out of 16 gauge sheet metal.

I cut this sheet metal with an air shear

On the left is my fuel filter. My friend gave it to me, but it came without a mount bracket. No problem!

I drew out the pattern, marked the line for the screw holes, and hit the hole locations with a center punch before drilling. the center punch makes drilling so much easier - the bit won't have a tendency to "walk"

bent up the back in my vise, and ... finished! I should really have made a bigger mount bracket on the back. I didn't cut enough metal initially though, and this should be good enough.

chris Engine and Drivetrain, Fuel, Photos part numbers

My friend sold me this sweet carb. It’s a Holley 4150 that’s been rebuilt by The Carb Shop to their stage III race carb specs.  I did some rebuild work on it – replaced gaskets, cleaned all the old varnish out, replaced the power valve and accelerator pump diaphragms, replaced the fuel sight windows.  I also tapped and helicoiled the air filter mount and set the accelerator pump clearances.

I cleaned out all the old gas varnish with q-tips and carb cleaner.

With the throttle valves removed, this is the bottom of the carb

This is a really nice carb that my friend gave me a great deal on. It's a Holley 4150, but it's been rebuild by The Carburetor Shop to their Stage III race carb specs.

carefully cleaned off the old gasket material from the metering blocks

These old accelerator pump diaphragms have seen better days. replaced!

Shiny new accelerator pump diaphragm

After installing the new accelerator pump diaphragm, I set the travel of the pump actuator. Set the carb to Wide Open Throttle, push the pump arm to full on, and set the screw so that there is .015 clearance. This prevents you from tearing the diaphragm at WOT.

The air filter mount bracket was stripped out. This 1/4x20 Helicoil took care of that no problem.

Carb put together. You can see I removed an unused vaccuum port and put in a 1/8 NPT set screw in its place as a plug.

chris Engine and Drivetrain, Fuel, Photos carb

So, a previous owner installed some kind of wacky shifter. In order to make room for it, they cut a big chunk out of the frame that goes across the transmission tunnel. Since I’m trying to strengthen everything now, I am going to change the shifter out, and Ray and I will build some custom shift linkage (more pics of that later) that will fit better. We’ll bend our own rods, and use rod ends instead of the stock shift linkage mounts.

Because we’ll be making the new linkage and replacing the shifter, I repaired the hole in the frame. That will certainly make things stiffer, since it’s one of the few crossmembers that exist in this old unibody car.

admin Photos, Sheet Metal transmission, welding

These are some of the latest from the engine project. Dad and I are working on it with Ray at his place.

chris Engine and Drivetrain, Photos