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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New Nittos on the Bullitt

I recently bought tires for the Bullitt. The wheels are custom Bullitt 5-spokes in 17x9 (front) and 17x10.5 (rear). The tire sizes required are 275/40/ZR17 (front) and 315/35ZR17 (rear). The Dunlop Star-Specs that I bought for the '66, and really like, don't come in these sizes.

The tires that were on the Bullitt were BFGoodrich T/A G-Force KD, issued in 2007 for this car's final One Lap of America race. The BFG's are great tires, particularly back then, and generally run wider than other brands.

This marking on the old BFGs denotes "2007 One Lap Of America".

Today, this 315 tire size with a 17" diameter is considered very unusual. Most performance cars today run at least 19- or 20-inch wheels. Even economy cars are running 17-inch wheels today, and definitely not this wide. Nitto makes tires in this size, in their popular NT-05 among others. Nittos are also known to be a little narrow, which worked out well for me.

The Nitto 315/35/ZR17 is a bit narrower than the BFG, but this isn't a bad thing.

The BFGs stuck out a bit.

The Nittos fit the wheels better, and fit the car better too.

The performance of the Nitto is just great—very quiet, responsive, and sticky compared to the BFG. I've used them in the rain already too, and they perform fine in normal driving. The tread is not particularly deep, Nitto claims 7/32" tread depth on this tire (6/32" on the race version NT-05R), while other tires seem to be in the 9-10/32" category. But drivers aren't buying the NT-05 for long life, but rather maximum performance. The price is fantastic too, if that weren't enough.

But wait, there's more. :-) Reducing unsprung weight at the corners of a car is a good thing, and the NT-05 delivered for me here too.

Here are the weights, compared to the used, but not used up, BFGs:
Nitto: 275/40zr17 98w
27.5# vs. BFG 29.2#
Nitto: 315/35zr17 102w
29.9# vs. BFG 31.6#


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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.