Well I guess it's time for a bit of an up date since August, life, the wife and COVID played hell in my world. I got the 95(4) block sent off to the machinist and had it decked to 4.800" and bored 30 over. With a WHOLE LOT OF HELP from @pmrphill I now have most of the short block assembled as of this weekend with crank, mains and pistons that are just a touch under deck. Cam bearings, freeze plugs and gallery plugs were part of the machine shop thing. After pulling my hair out for about 2 months straight I FINALLY figured out the mystery of the timing chain cover and reverse rotation water pump parts. So if you are converting a V-Belt to a 90's ish stock serpentine set up (or in my case putting a stock 95' serpentine belt system into a 77 front dipstick oil pan with a carb) I have the TC Cover and Water Pump part #'s you need at less than Ford Motorsports prices. There is still much to do but at least now I feel like I am gaining ground and not just throwing $$$ at the wall. The front clip is going to have to come off if I ever have a hope of getting the motor back in which means I might as well take the fenders off too. In need of the Borgerson PS pump to make the transition to hydro boost brakes + the associated lines and such. I wonder if I can use the 77 distro block set up for drums in the rear and disc's in the front as opposed to the disc's all around from the mustang? Other than that it should go pretty swimmingly. Anybody got an E-brock RPM intake for a 351W laying around? Cheers, Doc
Windsor intake? I wish. I'd trade it for a rad for Babe, as I've removed the Town Car rad for my friend's '88 Colony Park to get it back on the road. Anyway, I'm wondering why you'd need to remove the front clip, even if it's to drop in the engine and trans. I had pulled Babe's engine and trans with only removing the hood; I used a chain fall on a boom.
Although the Saginaw PS pump is a better unit, a hydroboost system can use a Ford built pump, my F250 SD diesel has hydroboost with a Ford pump. As far as brakes go, get an aftermarket 4 wheel disc prop valve and a 4 wheel disc master cylinder and save yourself some headaches, YES they do make a difference. Good luck on the engine install.
Good to see you Andy! When I pulled the motor (no trans ) as close to center as I could get was from the front, when it cleared the motor mounts it swung forward 4+". So at a minimum I need to pull the bumper and splash shields. I had borrowed a 2 ton HF hoist as my 1.5 Ton wasn't even in the game. The owner of the 2 ton is in the middle of a 442 build and has it back. I could probably build a gantry for a one off but it isn't worth the $$$. I need to take the front clip off to paint the engine bay anyway. I know reaching around your elbow to scratch you butt. AQL good to see you been a while! I need the Borgerson to fit the 95 Econoline PS bracket to make the serpentine run right. Truth be told I'd rather have the Borg. Not up to speed on the prop valves and MC parts can you elaborate? The donor unit is from a 94 Mustang GT w/ disks all around, the original Chero set up is drums in the back and disks up front which will remain for the foreseeable future. Is this an issue? Cheers, Doc
As far as the bumper goes I have to yank it primarily for my first "BIG" paint job that will be external as well as getting the motor back in. Currently it looks like somebody threw sand on the bumper between primer and paint, so sanding I will go and mebby attempt to push out the right side to take out the crease in the corner with a jack, it's not terrible but it's there. Unless I can score that lovely 77 T-Bird that is down the street with a perfect bumper, front clip, hood and interior. Why are all 77 bumpers bent on the right side? I scored a 91 AOD from an F-150 that was driving prior to part out (which means nothing other than it was just past the upgrade point) and when the money tree is in bloom I'd like to have the guts upgraded to the internals from a trans (I can never get the numbers right - 4W70R something or another) which takes it to 600+HP rated. Just need to see what that will cost + I'm figuring a 2500 TQ for the motor. At some point after that I will look at the rear end and decide weather to up the gears (numerically) from 3.27 or enjoy the cruising speed and just add a LS rear. Of course if money is suddenly no option then a T-56 Magnum is going in and somebody else can figure out how to do it. Cosmetically I am still itching to put cut outs with Corvette/Cobra style side pipes on it just cuz they are cool as $h!t. Run mostly quiet in normal and Freaking LOUD in BEAST mode. I'm dreaming out loud (or on the key board), trying to get the motor buttoned up between now and when it is warm enough to paint so I can and then start assembling things for final. Work has gone snake $h!t wild so this was my last weekend off in a while and I'm glad to have gotten done what I did. For now I can stack parts and make plans for a day off with no Honey do's. Hoping to get the motor together little by little by the end of April/May. Paint in the engine bay will depend on the weather, hoping for the end of June and final assembly by the end of August. I'd like to make Trunk or Treat this year or cruze season (June ish) next year. Seems like a reasonable goal post give or take some aesthetics. Cheers, Doc
OK, now I understand why the front end and bumper has to come off. The T-bird would be nice. And, the 4R70W. Have a good night!
I picked up a '95 351w out of an E350 for my late son's truck, came with Saginaw PS pump with serpentine pulley. The Saginaw pump can be very easily modded for more pressure and volume, good choice. This may help with disc/drum and disc/disc MC(basically a 4 wheel disc MC has a longer stroke for the required additional volume of brake fluid for the rear calipers. https://piratejack.net/master-cylinder-faq/ A 4 wheel disc prop valve will allow more pressure and volume of brake fluid to go to rear discs as opposed to s disc/drum prop valve, you can "gut" a disc/drum prop valve but buying a new aftermarket disc/disc version takes corrosion out of the equation. When I upgraded my entire brake system, I installed a hydroboost unit from an Astro van with a Corvette 1 1/8" 4 wheel disc MC along with an aftermarket 4 wheel disc prop valve(GM copy), this along with larger front rotors and a rear disc conversion REALLY helped brake performance. Hope this helps.
Good to hear your back at it Doc!Iam running same mustang booster and love it.Will take a few mods to make it work.Firewall adapt.plate,Shorten push rod and weld old drop eye on,bias control valve,new hard lines with bubble flares,cooler,custom hoses with filter. Using 1990 stock PS pump with no issues,just T return from booster to pump return hose.
I've got a whole lot more study and learning to do about the conversion before I jump in but this too shall come to pass. Cheers, Doc
So more to the story. I finally got off my butt....OK the sun was shining, it wasn't raining an blowing sideways and got the bumper and front clip off the front of Midnight. 5 of the 6 bolts holding the bumper to the frame came out without an issue the last (of course) twisted off the U nut requiring a grinder to cut the bolt off. Any one know where I can find another or preferably a set of the bumper/frame U nuts? I'm also looking for more of the 1/4" screws with the retained washers that hold on the bumper filler panels as there were only 3 on each side. Overall I am very pleased with what I found behind the nose. No significant rust on the frame or body panels, the original undercoating is about 80% there and what's peeled off isn't rusted underneath. I'm hemming and hawing about pulling the 1/4 panels even though I already know it's what needs to be done to make things right. My lighting wiring is a birds nest of cuts and splices, I am half tempted to take all of them back to the firewall and do good fresh splices from there and lock all of them down in one big heat shrink tube. While I know the 1/4 panels will have to come off I am unsure how to transition from the body shop paint job to the inner wells. Tape to the edge of the finished paint then shoot it and try to blend or is there a better mouse trap? I'm doing this with rattle cans (at the moment) and then going with bed liner in the engine bay. Cheers, Doc
