Rise and Shine

I had a chance to pull out the '66 Mustang yesterday from its many-months hibernation. I had been chasing a few minor coolant leaks with it early last year, and with the Bel Air taking up my time more and more, I just let the Mustang sit. And sit.

So yesterday, I finished repairing the leaks. I installed new heater hoses at the heater box, charged the flat battery, changed the oil and filter, siphoned some year-old gas, poured in a couple gallons of fresh gas, and it started up after just a few seconds of cranking. I was surprised it started so quickly, but the EZ EFI fuel injection really works awesome.

Well, I also bolted on the original California black license plate that had been on the car since, most likely, Day One. I've had the original front plate on the car as long as I've owned the car, but just decided to clean up the rear plate, and replace my modern North Carolina plate with it. (North Carolina allows classic cars to wear NC plates from the year of manufacture, in this case '66. I'm going with the CA plate, since it's original and similarly styled -- black and yellow.)

The incredible part is that after I peeled off stacks of registration stickers from the plate (and saved them in a baggie!), I found the original 1967 registration sticker underneath in nearly mint condition. It blows my mind that the original owner put that sticker there -- nearly half a century ago.

I'd be driving it again today, but after being in the 70s and sunny yesterday, we are in the 20s and snowing and will hit the mid-teens tonight. A sixty-degree swing in just over 24 hours...

Wearing the black and yellow plate again...

Trunk Weatherstripping: Save a Few Bucks?

Here's a quick post about another "re-do" that cost me some time and a little money.

There are some threads online about replacement weatherstripping not allowing the trunk lid to close fully. I also had bought the "cheaper" weatherstrip a few years ago when my car was coming back from the paint shop. After I installed the weatherstrip, the trunk lid never sat properly and no amount of fiddling with the trunk lid helped. Some folks suggested giving it some time to settle. Nope.

Years later I decided to buy the better weatherstrip and do the job right. I'm actually surprised the larger mail order places even sell the cheap weatherstrip. If it doesn't allow the trunk lid to lay down properly, the weatherstrip is not fit for its intended purpose. Don't sell it.

Here are the two weatherstrip offerings from NPD. The better one on the left. El cheapo on the right (aged on the car a few years). The price has continued to drop since I bought mine in 2008. My suggestion is to avoid the headache and buy the better weatherstripping.

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Back in Black

Recently, I decided to change up the appearance of the '66. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it though. I wanted to do some side stripes and wanted to change the look of the wheels. Ultimately, I added vinyl black side stripes and painted the wheel centers gloss black.

For the stripes I went with side stripes for a '67-'68. I wanted taller stripes and not the thinner GT-style stripes from '65-'66. I bought these from one of the mail order places for only $20. When I installed them I didn't wrap them around the edges of the panels, trimming them about 1/8" away instead. On the front fenders, I trimmed the stripe at the beginning of the wheel arch rather than up to the edge of the wheelwell itself.

To paint the wheels I bought a can of Rustoleum gloss black paint (to supplement a partial can I had on hand.) My Vintage Wheel Works wheels have coarse aluminum centers, but I had already added some silver paint a few years ago, since they had taken on a gold-tone over the years.

Ready for paint: I bagged each wheel and covered each lug hole with a coin. When taping the wheels I simply trimmed the edges with the edge of a razor blade—and did not have to follow the circular edges with dozens of pieces of tape around the wheel.

Side 2: In addition to cleaning the wheel before paint, I used a red Scotchbrite pad to scuff the surface to allow the new paint to adhere properly.

Three coats later...

Ready for the car...

Black stripes and black wheels installed. :)

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Tips and Tricks: Brighter Gauge Lighting

I've had the gauge cluster out of the '66 a number of times over the past few years for various "refurb" projects. I have experimented with new incandescent bulbs with new diffusers, and blue LED lighting in place of the stock incandescent bulbs as well. Recently, while the gauge cluster was out to add an XM module to the Pioneer stereo, I decided to experiment once more.

The gauge cluster itself basically sandwiches the gauges and some oddly-placed light bulbs attempt to light up the gauges at night. But even with new incandescent bulbs and new blue diffusers, the gauges usually appear with a dim, green glow.

Well, the green glow won't change with this method, as I believe this is caused by a yellow incandescent light bulb lit behind a blue diffuser (yellow + blue = green). But the green glow will appear much brighter by repainting the white gauge cluster with a silver metallic paint...

Before: The white background of the gauge cluster wasn't bright
and shiny anymore, so the dash lights were ineffective. 

During: With gauges removed, paint the white areas with silver metallic.
Don't paint the black areas. (Sorry for the blurry photo...)

After: With shiny silver metallic paint and new diffusers, the bulbs
light up the gauges much better.

Here's what I used. You'll need a silver metallic paint
for this task. The more reflective, the better.

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Slip Sliding Away

A quick little update—more of a tip actually. One problem I was having on the '66 was that the pedal pads on the clutch and brake pedals would slip off. I tried gluing them on, and saw evidence that a previous owner tried the same thing, but to no avail. The only way I've found to solve this issue for stock-style pedal pads is to install the stainless trim rings around the pedals.

You can buy these trim pieces as a set or separately.

These trim pieces have a series of metal tabs that wrap around the back side of the pedal plate using a screwdriver for leverage to help bend them. I actually think they look better too!

More Steady Progress on the '66

We've made a little more progress on the '66 the past couple weekends. The engine is now sitting in the engine bay, and the large-diameter Centerforce clutch is installed onto the back of the engine. The bellhousing and the transmission are installed as well.

We are ordering a few more needed bits and pieces this week to hopefully get a bunch more done next weekend.

The 331 is installed in the engine bay—headers and starter bolted on.

Here's the CenterForce DF021048 installed on the back of the engine.

I'll more closely go into the EZ EFI installation in another post as work progresses (and I have more pix to offer). The Worx has come up with what appears to be a stellar solution to one bit of the install—where to install the ECT sensor. I'm looking forward to explaining that in case anyone else decides to fuel-inject their small-block Ford.


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The '66 Engine is Getting The Worx!

Don't think the Bullitt is getting all the attention—steady progress is being made on the new 331 that's going into the '66 Restomod. The Worx in Fredericksburg, VA, has been working on the '66 Mustang for me, and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product here shortly.

The new roller 302 block is outfitted with a Canton windage tray,
oil pump pickup, and a Melling HV oil pump.

The aluminum heads and intake are being reused—along with
all-new ARP hardware, Fel-Pro gaskets, and trick Cometic head gaskets.
The Millerspeed pulleys are visible, as is the new Canton oil pan.

The MSD distributor and ceramic JBAs are being reused,
but the complete FAST-EZ EFI kit is brand new.
I'm looking forward to being fuel injected!

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Hot Stuff!

Here's an easy, inexpensive, and pretty quick project, that looks good IMO. The JBA 3" cat-back exhaust on the Bullitt sported a silver aluminized coating. This coating looks good for a while, but does rust over time. From the rear of the car, the pipes look just huge, and I'd prefer them to blend a bit more.

So, I decided to scuff down the cat-back pipes and paint them satin black. I used VHT Satin Black Engine Enamel over some Duplicolor Engine Enamel Primer (that I had on hand). I'd consider using the VHT without primer if I didn't have high-heat resistant primer.

In the foreground is the aluminized pipe after cleaning only.
In the background is a cleaned, primed, and painted pipe.

Within a couple hours I drove the car over 200 miles, in the rain at times, and the paint didn't flake or discolor.

The pipes blend in better under the car when they are black.

Update 11/06/2011: After 2,000 miles of driving, here are a couple pix of the painted cat-back exhaust pieces.

The tailpipes remain black (albeit dirty from driving in the rain).

But the mufflers and pipes before the mufflers are burning up the paint. A little disappointing.

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The Snowball Effect... :-)

It's been a couple months since my last post. A number of things have happened, and a number more are in the pipeline, so I'm presenting an update. There's a new service shop in Northern Virginia called The Worx Garage, and having known the shop's owner for many years, I know he does great work. So, the '66 is up there getting a full mechanical upgrade. (Woo hoo!)

Here's the block in the middle of teardown.

I was pretty sure the head gaskets needed replacing, and while they definitely did, a thorough check of the engine revealed that the block really needed replacement due to cracked (and sleeved) cylinders that were too far out of round. So, we are leaving the '68 block behind and going with a late-model roller block. This allows us to use a one-piece rear main seal, and roller cam and lifters. I could have used a retrofit kit to fit a roller cam with small base circles into the old block, but the kit, cams, and lifters tend to be expensive. Fortunately, the existing forged 331 stroker crank, and rods and pistons, are being cleaned up, balanced, and reused.

Some of the parts after removal. The rest is in the trunk. :-)

We are using a new roller cam, even though the previous one made good power. The new one is more streetable and should make similar perhaps better power. Topping off the engine will be the F.A.S.T. E-Z EFI fuel injection kit, to replace the Quick Fuel Technology carb.

The aluminum Edelbrock heads will be reused with ARP head bolts this time.

The clutch was discovered to be the stock-style small 10" unit that will be replaced with a slighter larger, but much stronger, Centerforce Dual-Friction Kit. A new Ford Racing billet flywheel is replacing the stocker.

The T5z transmission is a leaker, but with very low miles, so it will be resealed.

I figured this upgrade is in line with the "restomod" theme (adding performance as well as reliability.) Photos are being taken of the work in progress, so I will update when I can.

Happy New Year: Out with the Old, and In with the New

I finished installing an Energy Suspension 4.2135G Shackle Set on the '66. I had noticed that the rear of the car would sway a bit and get loose under acceleration. Also, the driver's side of the rear was about 1/2" lower than the passenger side when the car was just sitting.

I knew that the car had a set of mid-eye 5-leaf springs with rubber eye bushings and stock shackles with Milodyne bushings from around 2002. I didn't want to spend the $250 and up for a set of new springs, and then $80 for shackles, until I knew I had to. So I bought the Energy Suspension shackle kit to update the old leafs.

Energy Suspension 4.2135G Leaf Spring Kit
includes 9/16" shackles and bushings for 1/2" front eye bolts.

The front eye bushing was in need of replacement.

[Photo Above] I removed the inner sleeve from the eye bushings by drilling them (the drill bit walks around the sleeve) and hammering them with a small socket extension. Then I used a 38mm socket and hammered the bushings and outer sleeves out together (lubed with PB Blaster), then hammered the socket back through. I originally bought the 38mm socket to fit the front of the Global West adjustable strut rods and it works here too. (Serendipity, baby!) Loud, lousy job, but it works...

The front eye bushings installed.

And on the car (before final torque).

Here are the new 9/16" shackles vs. the old 1/2" shackles.
Big difference.

[Photo above] Here's the driver's side (before final torque).. Notice the swapped bolts: This is the only way they'd fit. (Regarding tailpipe clearance on the driver's side, make sure you let the car rest fully on the springs to observe—the shackles pivot a great deal when the car sits on the ground vs. being jacked up in the air. I put a small dent in my large Magnaflow tailpipe to accommodate, but this probably wasn't even needed.) The top bolt requires pushing the sleeve in just a bit from the inside and inserting the bolt through the outside. I was puzzled for awhile on this one...

The passenger side installed (before final torque),
much more room thankfully.

The kit seems just great, and a great value as usual on Amazon. I'd recommend swapping the leaf bushings out one leaf at a time, and installing the shackles first, then the front eyes, then the axle u-bolts. I swapped leafs side-to-side, so I removed both leafs at once and tried to keep the rear axle on jack stands under the car, by myself. The axle did tip to one side and bruised the black axle paint a bit (and my ego), so be very careful if you work alone. Remember to use the supplied grease on the bushings and sleeves, and even on the bolts where they fit into the sleeves. Apply final torque to all the bolts while the car is resting on the ground, not jacked up.


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Billet Belt Drive Bonanza!

Every once in a while an upgrade comes along that's a "must-have" in my book — a great blend of increased performance and nicer appearance — and for a reasonable price. I recently installed a Millerspeed Belt Drive System on the front of the 331, and the "wow" factor is simply off the charts. Millerspeed offers 2 belt widths — 1" and the wild 2". I went with the narrower 1" kit for the street.

The 1" wide kit for small-block Ford. (Millerspeed photo)

...and the 2" kit with alternator fan/bracket
and power steering pump. (Millerspeed photo)

Previously, I had installed a March 1550 aluminum pulley kit on this engine, and it was an upgrade for me at the time, replacing the heavier stock-style steel pulleys. I bought the March 1-groove pulley kit (#1550), and then bought a shorter belt, so soon I had about $225 in that kit. Immediately, I noticed a crank pulley wobble, but couldn't confirm it until much later when I happened to buy a new balancer, and the pulley still wobbled. A digital caliper then showed the holes were drilled very slightly off-center. In addition, my new 3G alternator upgrade required a minimum of a 2-groove alternator pulley to turn the alternator under load, so I definitely needed a new pulley kit.

Here's the March 1550 kit I'm replacing. Belt is not included.

Enter Millerspeed... This kit has been offered for at least the past few years, and has had some positive press, but I hadn't heard of it until I stumbled upon a Millerspeed auction on eBay last month. Here's the 1" kit I bought — the wild 2" kit usually runs about $325.

Here's Millerspeed's small-block Ford kit. Belt is included.

The belt drive system installs as easily as any other pulley kit, and the quality is absolutely top-notch. The 2" kit gives off noticeable belt whine, similar to a supercharger setup, but the 1" kit is quiet.

The Millerspeed kit installed.

...and another angle.

Here's a video of a small-block Ford in a Cobra to give you an idea of the appearance and sound using the wider (and wilder!) 2" kit. I think either kit is just superb.

Spring Cleanup

I had the Quick Fuel Technology carb off the engine recently and decided to add a return spring. It's a pretty impressive looking contraption, and it's a safety measure worth having.

When you install the kit you will need to buy a longer carb stud, or a bolt, which is what I did, to install the holder to the carb base...

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Electrified

With the upgraded alternator I added some time ago, and the recent mini starter, not to mention the electric fan, I needed to clean up the wires. I'm using an Orbital battery, which is similar to the Optima but it's black to blend into a classic car engine bay a bit better. This battery has top posts and side posts.

I added Taylor battery terminal covers #20670 to clean up the top of the battery.

I also added some Monster Cable side terminal bolts. This allowed me to use them to install the starter, alternator, and electric fan wiring to the positive post. And an extra ground cable to the negative post. I had to cut the extra-long bolt a bit. If the item you are installing does not have a big draw this should be Ok. You wouldn't, however, use these side posts to install a winch for example.

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May the PowerForce Be With You

After returning the defective Romac balancer, I was in need of a replacement. I had heard some good reports concerning Professional Products balancers (or dampers) in the forums and had seen their products on some magazine engine builds. This new PowerForce 80006 unit is not SFI-rated for racing, unlike the Romac, but my usage probably won't require this rating. In fact, balancers that can spin that fast are probably calibrated for engine speeds north of 6500rpm anyway, making them less than ideal for street use. It weighs about 9.5# vs. 6.5# for the old 289 style and 10.5# for the Romac 0209.

This unit fits a '68 302 without a spacer, but they are available if needed. One downside is that the paint on the unit comes off pretty easily, particularly with carb cleaner, is not clear-coated, and the timing marks are not etched, just painted. See where I'm going with this? :-) So I bought an MSD timing tape for about $5 to replace the timing marks I wiped off...


The price is great though. The usual mail order places are selling the 80006 for about $100. I paid $76 at Amazon with free shipping a few weeks ago. Sold! (The price has fluctuated though in the meantime...)

I believe I had spun my last balancer by at least 4 degrees, so checking and replacing balancers might be a part of maintaining a custom engine.


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Balancer Blues...

When I realized that the engine block in my car was sourced from a 1968 302 rather than a 1966 289, I decided to replace the lighter 6.5-pound balancer (painted blue in the foreground above) with a heavier duty 10.5-pound unit. I bought a Romac 0209, but unfortunately I didn't have any luck with it.

The Romac arrived with some junk in the clearcoat, which surprised me, but I was willing to deal with that since it wouldn't be noticed much, except by me. But the real problem was the lack of timing marks from 0 through 30... Oops!

Intake Resurrection

While the intake manifold was off the engine I decided to give it a coat of silver engine paint. I also added some stainless bits from Performance Stainless (www.performancesst.com), including a new thermostat housing, and vacuum plug, to add to a 90-degree water fitting I already had. I also added a pair of stainless fittings to the top of the Edelbrock water pump.






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A Tale of Three

Before I replaced the intake manifold gaskets recently, I looked around for a good replacement gasket set. As mentioned in the previous post I went with a Mr. Gasket 5831 ultimately, but I also looked at the Edelbrock 7220 and the Fel-Pro 1250-S3 (shown in that order at left).

For my Edelbrock RPM aluminum heads and RPM Air Gap manifold, I like the Mr. Gasket 5831 best. The water passage does not have the L-shaped protrusion like on the Edelbrock 7220, which is required for other heads/applications. (Edelbrock recommends cutting it off; some recommend leaving it.) The Fel-Pro isn't really the right application for these heads/intake since the water passages in the gaskets are too large. The Mr. Gasket lets less of the gasket hang down at the bottom in the lifter valley too. All three have a Perma-Seal ring around the ports.

The Mr. Gasket is a bit tall, but fits the heads well, and I even ported the RPM Air Gap manifold a bit with my Dremel to make the fit even better.

Here's a close-up of the water passages.

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