mustanggarage
Active Member
hey bronco, I had one question about your heads. did you paint them with alumablast or something like that?
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My 88 GT Hatch Project
- Thread starter broncojunkie
- Start date
broncojunkie
Well-Known Member
To be honest, the machine shop painted them. I'm not exactly sure what brand they used, but I believe it's engine paint in cast iron color. They turned out nice and the paint seems like decent stuff. I picked them up about 24 hrs after they were finished. Paint wasn't soft at all and doesn't seem to flake off easily. I hope it holds up ok over time.
broncojunkie
Well-Known Member
I've been using duplicolor ceramic engine enamel on my blocks. I like it too. It may even be the same thing the machine shop used.
broncojunkie
Well-Known Member
If I could post pics, I would. But Photobucket is still acting up and I only have access to my phone from work. I received my new hood...2" steel cowl. I also found 24# injectors and matching maf, which is also sitting at the house. I sucked it up and ordered some Comp roller rockers, 1.7's for 3/8 stud. I've been putting it off hoping to find some cheaper ones or maybe a good used set, but no luck. I called Jegs and ended up getting them for $350. Still expensive, but about $50 cheaper than Summit. I may sell some spare parts just to offset the cost lol! These cars have a way of $3-500ing you to death!
broncojunkie
Well-Known Member
Oh, and another thing I forgot to mention. I'm pretty sure the rockers won't work with the factory valve covers, so I'll have to order an intake spacer and use tall covers. The good news is that I have 3 sets at the house. A few weeks ago, I bought a couple parts off a neighbor for the pace car and he had a nice set of FMS covers. He wanted $40, so I snatched them up. I already had a set just like them I planned on putting on the pace car, along with a set of "Powered by Ford" with the ribs (off an early fox, I believe).
And although not fox related, I came across a guy selling a toploader 4 speed tranny from a 68 390 Mustang, which should work perfectly in my 70 coupe. Looks to be in real nice shape and rebuilt at some point, then shelved. Gears still have paint marks on them from the rebuild. They're paid for, but I'll have to travel 4 hrs to get them. I'm not really working on the car yet, but I have collected a few parts here and there.
And although not fox related, I came across a guy selling a toploader 4 speed tranny from a 68 390 Mustang, which should work perfectly in my 70 coupe. Looks to be in real nice shape and rebuilt at some point, then shelved. Gears still have paint marks on them from the rebuild. They're paid for, but I'll have to travel 4 hrs to get them. I'm not really working on the car yet, but I have collected a few parts here and there.
mustanggarage
Active Member
too bad, I bought a set of these kmj assault roller rockers off ebay. everything I have read seems to say they should be a decent set of roller rockers. I was building a really high dollar stroker motor that I planned to supercharge, so after I bought them I gave into peer pressure and decided not to use them so I got some comp cams ultra gold rockers because that is what woody from fordstrokers.com recommends. anyway I have a set of these rockers I would have given you for the cost of shipping unfortunately they are for 7/16 stud.
anyway the comp cams are probably the best ones made anyway, pricey but good quality.
broncojunkie
Well-Known Member
I would be willing to purchase those from you. I have a couple other project motors going on.
broncojunkie
Well-Known Member
A couple pics of the hood while I was fitting it.
And the rockers. So pretty, I'm thinking about leaving the valve covers off lol!
And the rockers. So pretty, I'm thinking about leaving the valve covers off lol!
broncojunkie
Well-Known Member
I started on the subframe connectors and torque box reinforcements this evening. It's tack welded into place, but I need to get some gas for the mig welder if I want to finish. However, I'm thinking about finding someone who can weld them on a lift. It was tight lying under it, even with the car up as high as I could get it.
Pushrods are on order and should be in tomorrow or Tuesday. Once I get them, I can start finishing the motor. Pushrods, rocker arms, intake, distributor, ignition, alternator, power steering pump, radiator, valve covers, etc.
Other new parts I have here include a 1" intake spacer, FMS 9mm plug wires, aluminum 3-row radiator, cold air intake tube, and I even ordered some new plastic wiring harness retaining clips (half of them broke during disassembly).
I'm hoping I can get everything back together and running by Thursday. I can get a state inspection Friday and go on the 1st annual Mustang cruise with the local club on Saturday.
Pushrods are on order and should be in tomorrow or Tuesday. Once I get them, I can start finishing the motor. Pushrods, rocker arms, intake, distributor, ignition, alternator, power steering pump, radiator, valve covers, etc.
Other new parts I have here include a 1" intake spacer, FMS 9mm plug wires, aluminum 3-row radiator, cold air intake tube, and I even ordered some new plastic wiring harness retaining clips (half of them broke during disassembly).
I'm hoping I can get everything back together and running by Thursday. I can get a state inspection Friday and go on the 1st annual Mustang cruise with the local club on Saturday.
mustanggarage
Active Member
my email address is mustangmccance@gmail.com send my your name and address, and I will see how much it costs to ship them to you.
mustanggarage
Active Member
make sure it is a 4 post lift. you have to make sure the suspension is loaded when you weld the subframe connectors in. the way I did it on my 94 was we positioned them on the ground and tack welded them in good and solid. then lifted the car and finish welding them. It seemed to work ok. but everything I have read suggests doing it on a 4 post lift.
broncojunkie
Well-Known Member
I had the tires sitting on cribbing blocks that I built, so the suspension was loaded (tires on the blocks). So far, I've just tack-welded the torque box plates on and bolted the crossmembers to the seat bolts. I also cleaned and painted the parts that will get covered up on both the new parts and underneath the car. So it should be ok. I just wish I had a little more wiggle room under there...or maybe go on a crash diet lol!
broncojunkie
Well-Known Member
Been a while since I posted, but I've been busy working on this thing. First off, thank you "mustanggarage" for the rocker arms! These will be going in the pace car, as soon as I can get me a set of heads and start finishing the motor!
After putting in the 1.7 ratio rockers, the factory valve covers wouldn't fit, so I used some tall valve covers I had lying around. Because of the tall valve covers, I had to use a 1" intake spacer. Because of the spacer, the intake sits too high to fit under the steel hood. So I threw on a ratty 3" fiberglass cowl hood I had. I'm going to find a good used one or just order me another nice new one.
After putting in the 1.7 ratio rockers, the factory valve covers wouldn't fit, so I used some tall valve covers I had lying around. Because of the tall valve covers, I had to use a 1" intake spacer. Because of the spacer, the intake sits too high to fit under the steel hood. So I threw on a ratty 3" fiberglass cowl hood I had. I'm going to find a good used one or just order me another nice new one.
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broncojunkie
Well-Known Member
I also installed a cheap tach.
broncojunkie
Well-Known Member
Car sounds great and has a lot more power. I'm still working bugs out, though. Occasionally, I'll get a slight miss at low speeds. Idle is a little erratic and it will also die every once in a while while driving...basically when I come to a stop, or simply push in the clutch and coast with my foot off the throttle. Whenever the rpms drop, they seem to drop a little too low...sometimes to the point of dying. Other times, it will "catch" it and idle will come back up to normal (around 800rpm).
I cleaned the iac, which seemed to have a slightly sticky plunger. It seems to have helped the erratic idle some. The idle is much better after warming up. It basically just surges when cold. I also replaced the vss, which I read may cause the dying when coming to a stop issue. I took it for a quick drive and it's still acting up a little, but only died once or twice driving through town. I'd like to get a little more run time before getting too far into it. The ecm, I'm sure, is still adjusting things. \
I had a bunch of issues getting this thing back together. I dropped a small socket down the lower intake runner and had to borrow my brother-in-law's scope to find and retrieve it. The power steering wasn't working, until I figured out I had left the spring out for the pressure valve (pressure valve fell out while installing the power steering pump, but I didn't notice the spring had come out with it. Found it lying on the garage floor). The new radiator is nice, but the fan hits the top of the shroud because it sits slightly lower. I haven't decided if I want to try to shim it to fit or if I should just do the 3g alternator swap and e-fan, both of which I already have. I also had trouble with the belt. The old one wouldn't work, since the power steering pump ended up being mounted slightly different than before, with the new (old) heads. I finely got that straightened out after trying 3 or 4 different belts and different mounting locations for the alternator mount adjustment rod. The correct size belt did the trick. I found an intake leak after the first drive. The upper intake bolts just needed re-torqued. For some reason, the car would start by jumping 12v to the starter relay on the fender, but the signal was not getting from the ignition column switch to the relay. I was getting power at the switch, but the signal wasn't making it through the firewall. I never could find out why, so I ended up tapping into the harness below the steering column and running a new wire.
So as you can see, I've had lots of bumps along the way, and as a result, didn't get to drive the 88 to the first local Mustang club cruise of the year. We did manage to take out the 98gt and still had a pretty good time.
I cleaned the iac, which seemed to have a slightly sticky plunger. It seems to have helped the erratic idle some. The idle is much better after warming up. It basically just surges when cold. I also replaced the vss, which I read may cause the dying when coming to a stop issue. I took it for a quick drive and it's still acting up a little, but only died once or twice driving through town. I'd like to get a little more run time before getting too far into it. The ecm, I'm sure, is still adjusting things. \
I had a bunch of issues getting this thing back together. I dropped a small socket down the lower intake runner and had to borrow my brother-in-law's scope to find and retrieve it. The power steering wasn't working, until I figured out I had left the spring out for the pressure valve (pressure valve fell out while installing the power steering pump, but I didn't notice the spring had come out with it. Found it lying on the garage floor). The new radiator is nice, but the fan hits the top of the shroud because it sits slightly lower. I haven't decided if I want to try to shim it to fit or if I should just do the 3g alternator swap and e-fan, both of which I already have. I also had trouble with the belt. The old one wouldn't work, since the power steering pump ended up being mounted slightly different than before, with the new (old) heads. I finely got that straightened out after trying 3 or 4 different belts and different mounting locations for the alternator mount adjustment rod. The correct size belt did the trick. I found an intake leak after the first drive. The upper intake bolts just needed re-torqued. For some reason, the car would start by jumping 12v to the starter relay on the fender, but the signal was not getting from the ignition column switch to the relay. I was getting power at the switch, but the signal wasn't making it through the firewall. I never could find out why, so I ended up tapping into the harness below the steering column and running a new wire.
So as you can see, I've had lots of bumps along the way, and as a result, didn't get to drive the 88 to the first local Mustang club cruise of the year. We did manage to take out the 98gt and still had a pretty good time.
broncojunkie
Well-Known Member
mustanggarage
Active Member
your experience sounds like me working on a car lol. one thing leads to another. last night I was so happy with myself, I had been having a weird idle issue with my 89 ever since I built the 331 stroker. it would idle to fast when I put it in gear. I could adjust the idle, do the base idle reset, it would idle fine until I drove it then it would idle to fast when I pulled up to a stop sign. I bought an adjustable idle air spacer thinking that would fix it, but it made it worse so I put on a new idle air valve and it seems like it is finally working right. but I was working inside my garage and the exhaust fumes (I thought were getting bad so I shut it off.) then I discovered I had gas leaking all over my floor under the car. I had to go into work for a little while right then so I could not spend any time figuring out what happened. my guess is when I put the new mufflers in I damaged a fuel line somehow. crap, so this weekend I get to figure out what I broke now.
broncojunkie
Well-Known Member
your experience sounds like me working on a car lol. one thing leads to another. last night I was so happy with myself, I had been having a weird idle issue with my 89 ever since I built the 331 stroker. it would idle to fast when I put it in gear. I could adjust the idle, do the base idle reset, it would idle fine until I drove it then it would idle to fast when I pulled up to a stop sign. I bought an adjustable idle air spacer thinking that would fix it, but it made it worse so I put on a new idle air valve and it seems like it is finally working right. but I was working inside my garage and the exhaust fumes (I thought were getting bad so I shut it off.) then I discovered I had gas leaking all over my floor under the car. I had to go into work for a little while right then so I could not spend any time figuring out what happened. my guess is when I put the new mufflers in I damaged a fuel line somehow. crap, so this weekend I get to figure out what I broke now.
Oh, that reminds me of another one I forgot about. When I got everything back together, it still wouldn't start. Found gas in the vacuum hose going into the pressure regulator. Then, noticed a nice puddle of gas right below it, on top of the lower intake. So I got to change that too. Why is that thing so hard to change? Who's idea was it to make them screw in from underneath?!!
mustanggarage
Active Member
no kidding lol.
mustanggarage
Active Member
well it was what I expected. I was so proud of myself for figuring out how to get that magnaflow muffler to work with my american thunder cat back system without having to have the stainless steel muffler welded to the extension pipe that I forgot one of the most important aspects of exhaust work. make sure it is not touching any fuel or brake lines. it melted right through the tank to fuel filter line. fortunately all I got was a headache from the gas fumes and not a fire out of the ordeal. man can you imagine if that had happened out on the road? anyway I ordered a new fuel line and it should be here friday. btw I got my supercharger and new gauge cluster today so I will have lots of updates on my build page soon.