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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Freshening the Gearbox

Just a quick update from the '66. The T5Z was in nice shape and had fewer than 10k miles on it. But it was leaking due to age affecting the silicone. The Worx disassembled and inspected it, cleaned everything up, replaced the tail shaft bushing and seal, and let me put a coat of silver paint on it before reassembly. The new Steeda Tri-Ax short shifter is sitting on top.

This Tremec T5Z was bought new by the previous owner.

We used The Right Stuff silicone in grey to reseal the case.

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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.

Shifty Shifter Shifts Again

The Tri-Ax shifter in the Bullitt was noisy after years of hard use. There was a loud buzz or rattle above 4000rpm under hard acceleration. Steeda rebuilds these units at their Georgia facility. I sent it in and a couple days later had it back fully rebuilt, for free. Great customer service.

A shifter gasket kit from AmericanMuscle.com didn't fit,
so I used some grey RTV instead.

I set the Tri-Ax shift "stops" further out than normal,
since the TR3650 apparently has internal shift stops.

I reinstalled the lower shifter boot (Ford #1R3Z-7277-AA for $13.80).

I replaced the torn upper shift boot (Ford #3R3Z-7277_AA for $35.98).

The Tri-Ax handle is lighter than the stock handle,
but the stock handle will work if you prefer the length.

Here's the finished install with the Bullitt knob and boot.

Amazon now has these Triax shifters for, at the time of this writing, $169.99 with free shipping. That's a great price for a great shifter like this. The links are for the TR3650 shifter (Left) and the T5 shifter (Right).



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