So what's up at the Doghouse these days?
 

Yours truly has been a busy ol' Mutt.....Marco's stablemate has officially entered rehab.

Today, a buddy of mine came over and we got the nasty old 351 Windsor and the even nastier old C4 FMX trans out of the Mach 1. Got the engine torn down too......and I have encouraging news on a couple of fronts there. Stay tuned.

So here we go.....ready for extraction...

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/5476/im002744.jpg

Extraction......(blurred my buddy's face....don't want him falling victim to a croc attack at some point)

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/7582/im0027462.jpg

On the stand......Pretty nasty....wonder what it looks like inside?

http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/6664/im002749.jpg

Let's have a peek inside....shall we?? Lifter valley looks pretty clean....no sludge to be found. That's a good sign....

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/3811/im002752.jpg

Not too bad! Let's dig in a little further....BTW...there's an easter egg here...let's see who finds it.

http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/6613/im002753.jpg

Tiny ridge in cylinders....very tiny. Pistons came out easily. I think this thing's a builder :hurray: Wonder where my buddy left the heads.....OH...here they are....

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/9052/im002756.jpg

It ran rich for quite a while....plugs showed the same carbon buildup. Here's what it looks like inside 4 of the lungs....I put oil pan back on with two bolts to catch any oil that drips until I can get it off to the machine shop.

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/2052/im002754.jpg

Pretty damn clean. Now the old C4 "Cruise-o-Matic" was another story....YECHHH!!!

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/1561/im002751.jpg
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/2413/im002750.jpg

It's going off to Southwest Gear for a rebuild when I get a chance. I think it has Ebola....it's leaking from every orifice possible.

So there's where we stand so far.....goal is have the car back on the road by August. Also going to up grade the Armstrong steering to power while the motor is out....much easier to get to.

Got a lot done today. I'm exhausted....gonna go scrub up and hit the hay early. :cert:

OH Bloody Hell.....I almost forgot the best part!! Damn I'm getting absent minded in my old age....

From the stamping on the block..... C90E - 6015 - B2 Date code 9C20

This engine was manufactured March 20, 1969. Yes boys and girls, I have a matching numbers engine. :yesnod: :dance: :hurray: :hurray:

Looks pretty good to me, I've done rebuilds on much worse looking Mustang engines. Also, that C4 can be replaced pretty cheap if necessary. They are a pretty simple rebuild as well.

Are you going to have the block and heads machined and rebuild it yourself?

I dont see the "Payaso" approval but, looks good Friz.

I do know the aftermarket for those bad boys is extraordinary!

That engine looks pretty clean. Are you going to put that 2 brl carb back on.

That's the route I'm going to take Jon....I'll send the block off when I get a chance, and once they give me the green light that all is OK, I'll have them bore the block, install the cam bearings, polish the crank, mount the new pistons on the rods, recondition the heads, and send it home where I'll finish it up.

I know this engine has been gone through before, and I don't think it got a ton of miles afterward. I was really surprised how good it looked inside.

The C4 will go off to SW Gear. Bob quoted me $550 to rebuild the trans and the torque converter. He's done a lot of work for me in the past, he'll do it right.

:iagree: No contesta del Payaso :lol:

And I'm just doing a stock build on it. I've been down the hotrodding road tooooo many times, and I know how slippery that slope is. This car will never see the track....I'll take cheap and reliable, and leave fast for the young guys.

Nope, it's going to get a square bore Edelbrock Performer and a 600 cfm 4 bbl carb. The Autolite 2 bbl that was on it was junk, and a new one costs the same as a good Summit carb. We started it when I got it home and it ran, but we were just using a spray bottle of fuel down the carb. The car sat for 10 years and the rancid fuel ruined the whole fuel system.

I have a new tank, sending unit, and fuel line on the car already. We will be starting fresh. :cert:

Smart move putting all new fuel system. You could chase debri from a gummed up system for a long time. Good choice carb:seasix:

Excellent:seasix:

Take a look at a Holley 750 and 780 VS, much easier to adjust and is the hot set up on 351's these days. Just a thought.

Isn't that a lot of carb for a basically stock 351? I know it'll breathe better in the upper range, but I'm considering a smaller carb for throttle response on the bottom where it's going to spend most of it's time.

It is, but if you're looking to get better response at the bottom range I would stick with the stock Motorcraft 4300. It was the factory carb on the 69 351 and also runs out at 750 CFM. I think you'll see just as good throttle response at either end. Just me, I like the way they felt stock but I see your point.

*** CORRECTION ***

Sorry, just looked in one of my old books, the 4300 was on the 390 and ran out at 650 CFM, may be what you're looking for. Too many years since I did a Stang to trust my memory.

I once had a rare 725 cfm holley vac sec carb that had small venturies that really had some throttle response. It ran lean on the top end though, my 11:1 355 was too much for the metering it had. I believe it was originally designed for a high revving 302, but point being it was an interesting carb that kind of fit in between the straight 600 cfm and the double pumpers or big cube units.

Summit has a CFM calculator on their site too. If I put in a max rpm of 6000 and 351 cubic inches, it recommends 517 cfm for street and 670 for strip

CFM Calculator - SummitRacing.com

Cool. 700 it is!

That was why i said good choice. i only have experience with Holley not Edelbrock. But for an engine that was factory set for a 2 brl I assumed it would be cammed and valved for it as well. So unless there is a cam head change I thought a 600 would work without over carbing. I do remember the Holley being very easy to work on and tweak.

Looks like a fun project Friz, I see you have a solid limited rust body to start with , that makes it alot easier to get the end result perfect..Why is one of the pistons different from the rest???. Is that the Easter egg you spoke of ??WW

I was wondering what was up with your project Friz. I'll bet you can't wait to start putting the pieces back together. Looking good so far:seasix:

I do like the sound of a 4bbl opening up, but I have seen 350 cubic inch cars run 13's with 2bbls. Those motorcraft carbs are sooo simple to effectively rebuild, I would keep it around.

Ding ding ding....we have a winner :hurray: And also what clued me to at least one rebuild along the way.

Yes, almost no rust in the structure of this car, but I have found some things that need to be addressed. One shock tower has some cracking I will have to weld, and the heater core had leaked for a lonnnng time....pinholes in pass floor. There are quarter sized cancer spots on rear quarters, but under carriage, trunk, torque boxes, everything else is solid as can be.


I've never had any experience with the Autolite ( 4100 series I think) 2 bbls, and have read that they're problematic....but again, just what I've read. The one that was on the car is a throw away....body is cracked and a piece missing on the air horn. I've priced them, and they are close to $200. That gets me a nice 4 bbl, and I don't mind the extra $250 or so for the intake.

I found a ton of bubbafication on this car along the way. Wrong headers that didn't really fit correctly and leaked. The P.O. also routed the speedo cable between the header and the floor pan.....yes, it melted. Torque converter nuts were loose....no more than 8 ft lbs on them. They would have come off at some point. Rear trans mount was gone....as in just chunks of rubber. Left motor mount had wrong bolts....which wouldn't seat, and thus were loose. #7 spark plug was finger spin loose. It's a wonder this car ran at all, but it did. I bought it from a buddy and he drove it home when he bought it. It then sat for 10 years until I got it.

I'm shooting for an August 1 maiden voyage. I'll keep you all posted. :cert:

Thanks Sweets. Should keep me out of the watering holes and houses of ill repute for a while. :lol:

Nice work Friz....:seasix:

Nice work! Looks like you have it well-planned out, especially the carb strategy. Promises to be a fun teardown and rebuild. I always loved engine work.

Yes, the "easter egg" was interesting-looks like the centre pattern was recessed to lower compression ratio and that piston was just grabbed to replace a bad one. (Bubba?)

Back in the 50's when Stude started supercharging their
289's, they had to lower the compression ratio and used recessed pistons to accomplish that. You never know what you'll find when you crack them open!

Good luck!

Quite true....this car has been a treasure trove of surprises....some good, some not so good.....:lol:

Well, it should at least minimize the leg humping. :rofl:

Of which the posse is eternally grateful for:D

Nice pics Friz-should be alot of fun!

I'm having a ball so far. Simple car, no electronic bullshit to contend with, piece of cake compare to Vettes and Fieros. If I get ambitious this weekend, I'll get the block and crank off to the machine shop and see where I stand. Hoping it's good and doesn't need to be punched too far. If all goes right, it will come back bored and honed with new cam bearings and the crank ready to drop in. :cert:

Wish I had a winter project , this cold weather is driving me nucking Futs..Can't go out because there's 1/4" of ice on everything.. I envy you Friz, I really do..:banghead:......Maybe I can come down and help you out with the restoration, Texas isn't really that far...Really......WW

Way to go Wayne, keep feeding the dog with cold storys. He's intolerable enough during the winter season:lol:

Well, if it's any consolation Sweetsie....it's only supposed to get up into the low 60's here today...:leaving:

Thanks for that and if it's any consolation to you (and I know it is) we are supposed to get almost into the 40s this week:) may have to take the air conditioner cover off:D

Updates Please....:shots:

Not much to report, but here goes.

Finally scraped the carbon off the pistons....the block is punched .040 over already, but with no ridge, the machine shop may be able to just tank, magnaflux, hone, and install cam bearings and send it back to me. Will take it down tomorrow...should know soon if it's a builder. I hope so....1969 blocks don't grow on trees.

Meanwhile, I'm cleaning.....and cleaning and cleaning. This thing has 42 years of grease and mother earth attached to it. The transmission crossmember alone took me two hours to get cleaned up....it was that nasty.

Getting the underhood degreased as well....found a crack in each shock tower. One is about 1.5 inches....will weld those hopefully this weekend.

Also going to order the kit to convert from Armstrong steering to power. $900, but has new box, pump, and lines and 16:1 ratio....no control valves or slave cylinders etc. MUCH easier to do with the engine out....so that will happen soon.

Will keep you guys posted once there's something else worth reporting.

Do you trust your shop? If not, get a second opinion if they say they can't. Unless it's been rode hard chances are good they can salvage it especially if the last rebuild was not too long before it was parked. The car looks clean, I bet you're OK.:seasix:

Jon....the #7 hole has some odd colorations in it, but with this being a C90E block, I will have them sleeve that lung if necessary. They've done some good work for us lately.

If you sleeve one, sleeve them all so it lasts and your wear is even and it will be your last build on that block. Since is already .040 over, I might go ahead and sleeve it all anyways because I don't know if I can even find a correct date code block for that and I have some good Ford contacts.

If the price is right, I may do that and just have it all brought back to standard size. I was amazed to find the car still had the original block in it. I was halfway expecting to find a late 70's Granada or Bronco engine in it. This was a pleasant surprise.

The only bad thing is you really can't do your own sleeves. If your shop will let you supply parts let me know. Perhaps I can rustle up a set of sleeves at warehouse cost, about 50% of retail.

Thanks Jon....block going to machine shop this PM.

I need a new short block LT1, how much :D

bringing the Ghost back to 350 cubic inches?:D

No

Unfortunately, crate engines or short blocks are the only thing we don't get any discount on. GM let's the dealerships make that profit, but we do ship some for our dealer accounts. Had a LS7 pass through not too long ago, no idea what it went for but I bet it wasn't cheap. Went to a Caddy dealership.

:seasix:

:popcorns:

Dropped off block at El Paseo Machine Shop today. They will give me an answer on Monday afternoon, but the guy said he didn't see anything scary at first glance....

NOW...it gets better. Over at a buddy's house today working on another car. A friend of his stopped by who owns a transmission shop. He will build my C4 FMX with a shift kit and rebuild the torque converter for $500. I drop it off next Friday.

The planets are starting to line up. We may be looking at first light off by end of March.

:D

Remember March/April :seasix:

Yep. Got it down. Marco is getting a new set of Bilsteins soon, then he's ready to hit the road.

Remember, dont go north on the 15 or we will never see you again.

:iagree: I've heard there are hippie communes up there.....

Very optimistic, but with the lack of winter and dirt simple technology, I guess I'll be looking forward to your first test drive report.

Get someone to sub for me 60 hours at work this week, and I'll have it running by Saturday.

:seasix: :cert:

I cant believe I missed this.:needcoffee:
That is one cool new ride you have there. Wanna trade for a Saab?

I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll pass. :D

Well, machine shop called me today. The block is already .040 over, and he says that it's worn to the point that even .060 might not clean it up. A few cylinders are out of round, which I already suspected. I don't want to spend a fortune sleeving the block, so I have a couple options. He has a 351W block with a fresh .030 bore and freshly cut .010 crank for $250, which ain't bad. Or I can go crate motor shopping. And since I can't use the vintage block....maybe it's time to turn up the wick a bit.....

Look what $3K will get me....I can't build a comparable motor for this....and free shipping.

351W Crate Engine.

Add a carb and accessories, and drop it in. Prime the oil pump, set the timing, and light it off. This is about 85 more HP than it had from the factory, and it will run on regular unleaded.

What say ye Posse??

This is funny, long time ago I sent you a link with an engine like that andd the other with 700 HP. I say go for it. :seasix:

Too bad the original block is toasted.

I'm not particularly heartbroken Pete....the ONLY reason I wanted to build one myself was if it was original. Beyond that, I was ready to buy a crate motor to begin with. It would have cost me $1500 to rebuild the old one, plus another $600 or so for intake and cam kit, etc, so for not a whole lot more, I get a shit ton more power, and I don't have to spend hours plasti-gauging everything. I'm at that weird stage in mid life where I have more money than time/patience....never thought that would happen. Not that I have an abundance of either :lol:

Thats a good 75% of it. Im glad you are happy and moving forward on this project.

The Mighty Taurus votes for a crate engine:seasix:

There, that should be the end of this conversation.

:iagree:

Hold on, No motivational Poster? :squirrel2:

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...ghtytaurus.gif

Just bully me into buying a crate motor and get it over with. :rofl:

Now...this does set the project back a touch, as I have to wait until after April.....when the current administration bleeds me dry to support their failed socialist agenda.....but this is a delay, not a roadblock. Even our current Communist in Chief can't hold me back forever.

The transmission goes off for a freshening on Friday. I'm about 75% done cleaning the underhood and trans tunnel of 42 years of grease. 30 minutes a day, it's getting done.

More later.....

Does that crate motor price require a core? I did the same thing to my 69 camaro. pulled the orig engine out and bagged it in the corner of the garage. I never did anything with it, but it helped sell the car a few years down the road.

I think it was a plus that in my case the engine was still completely assembled though. The down side was it cost me about 4 grand in 1989 dollars to build a forged 355 with aluminum heads having to buy a whole new induction system and every last fastener over again. Aluminum heads weren't a dime-a-dozen back then either.

Crate motor doesn't require a core. Call them and they ship it.

I think .. I'm not sure. you can get a LSX kit for that ford. :D

Lead me not into temptation......:rofl:

Want a price on a Ford Factory Crate motor? Those I can get.

MC hammer gave up his career to preach. His calling was " LSX swaps rule" I think there was a song but he ran out of money and changed his name to Leeroy.
http://sfist.com/attachments/SFist_A...mmer_style.jpg

:iagree: with everyone too. Go with the crate engine. No down side really. Comparable cost and a huge time saver.

Yes. :hurray:

How much engine do you want? They have some very hot SVT options as well.

Mild. 250 - 300 hp is fine. It will never see the track.

Right now fighting the old U-joints out of the driveshaft. They have been there probably since the Carter era....hell, they may be original....and they have no intention of vacating their current residence. One has succumbed to the inevitable, the other will soon. PB Blaster is my best friend at the moment.

If the second one doesn't come soon, I'll run it over to my buddy's house this weekend....he has a press.

Here's a nice crate motor, ready to ship and they even throw in the engine stand....Just think of the Possibilities...:D..WW

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...wer-motors.jpg

I'm thinkin' he might have to cut the hood for that one..:D

That monster got to twist that Mach 1s frame at 1/2 of the WOT. Now, I know Friz would find the way to make it fit in his Fiero.

I think that one needs to go in Marco. Pink paint optional



http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/u...ood20Scoop.jpg


oh, and while googling 'huge front scoop pictures' she showed up so thought I'd share

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/u...-front-big.jpg

The problem with getting a crate motor would be a pesky cat could come down and slime the system with hairballs and cat hair, which could cause the engine to implode. Check the box for broken panels or previously opened panels before accepting delivery. :rofl:

That not pink, that was Bill old fax software and he got it fixed. Bill is moving up, soon or later he will faxing us currency. :seasix:

$50's & $100's gratefully accepted here! :rofl:

No Larry they are not free. :D

I do offer currency but it can only be used to purchase other Bills caliper products.:lol:

Friz, Pete said you were looking for an engine. I can have one faxed to you in no time. Some assembly required.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/i...er-origami.jpg

Isn't that how they make that Canadian circus looking money?:leaving:

Oh the Mighty Taurus came down from heaven to bless us with his presence :D

Canada doesnt use any money yet.

Excellent! I'll pick up some tape this weekend and it shall be running.

Are they stockpiling their "pink backs" for something special?:D

Be careful, you would be the first customer installing an engine.

:rofl::lol::rofl:

They are going to buy the US when Obummer gets done with it.:D

Naw, we'll be upside down in equity, we'll have to pay Canada to take us.:leaving:

Or in other words, this summer. :rofl:

Well with your national debt almost equaling your GDP, and your debt being mainly owned by the Chinese, I'd say y'all better learn some Mandarin. :rofl:
Oh yeah, they have coloured currency as well:D

he is working on it

http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/...images/bow.jpghttp://drlillianglassbodylanguageblo...-pam-iorio.png

Reagan didnt play that shit
http://www.rumormillnews.com/pix5/Reaganhiro.jpg

Bush, the Cowboy Way (US Way) :seasix:
"Come here boy"
http://adamrlee.org/wordpress/wp-con...1/hujintao.jpg

I find this one more disturbing:confused5:
This pic should send every conservatives blood pressure through the roof:yesnod:
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/j...d/saudibow.jpg
I hear some screaming from El Paso:D

This person just doesn't have any balls (only gall). I couldn't decide if we should call him a 'she' or maybe a 'it' so let's just settle for 'shit'.

Even King Abdullah looked at him like "WTF are you DOING you moron?" :rofl:

Yes,.....lots of screaming. The USA bows to NO ONE.

Oh how I figured that would get a rise out of you Friz:D
Time To ......................

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

Not even Carter did such of thing. Ive talk to some folks and they say that they take Obama over Carter any day. I was a kid those days, I do remember the gas prices doubled, the failure over Iran and few other things.

Any of you remember Carters presidency? Was Carter worst than Obama?