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Topic: BlueBird (Read 39704 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: BlueBird

Reply #165
Every time I pull the T-5 out of my Coupe I check the end play on the input shaft and output shaft slip.  Buddy of mine warned me about them having a tendency to “loosen” up over time. Only have had to reshim the input once but after seeing that DOA on the table I’m glad I check it. Man that sucks!!!

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

Re: BlueBird

Reply #166
Eh, it's not too horrible. From finding the slop to trans on the bench was 35mins. Checking angles and making phone calls to find the part took longer. Having a lift and trans jack help immensely.
This car just doesn't know me yet. Having rejected the T5 transplant twice now, I can see we are being stubborn. I am going to grab a new bushing and attempt another graft implant tonight. Easy way or the hard way car, your choice.
gumby - beauty may fade, but stupid is forever!

Re: BlueBird

Reply #167
As much as it has fought the process, I am really diggin this car. I made the trip to Owensboro in completely uneventful fashion. The more miles I put on the car, the more things gel and small glitches work themselves out. This car is much more of a GT cruiser than my white car was. The TC was lean and visceral; raw and rough around the edges. Road trips were tolerable, but not its forté.
The ride is firm, but compliant enough that I don't need to be on high alert for bumps, rail crossings, minor potholes at the same level as before. Having insulation under the carpet, a radio, and functioning A/C are all pretty amazing!

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gumby - beauty may fade, but stupid is forever!

Re: BlueBird

Reply #168
Being as the ride down went so well, I did decide to put it on the dyno to get some baseline numbers. I still need to chase the driveline vibration, but the new tailshaft bushing and some tweaking to drive shaft angles got the vibration up above normal cruising speeds. We made one pull and used third gear to keep wheel speed down. I really just wanted to watch it make a pull, not break, and see what sort of plot a CFI 3.8 would make.

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Almost hit that century mark! If I had paid for a couple more pulls, I probably could have flipped the air cleaner lid, or bumped the timing for another 1.1hp  :crazy:
All said, Ford rated these at 120/205 and if you figure 18% loss thru the driveline, this car is pretty close even with 140K miles.
gumby - beauty may fade, but stupid is forever!

Re: BlueBird

Reply #169
The overall result of this road trip has helped sort things and solidified some of my plans moving forward. The current suspension which I imagined would be mostly temporary actually works very well. There are a few geometry fixes that need to happen to continue running these parts at such a low ride height, and I think I will move on those vs waiting and ripping it all out later.
  • Adjustable RUCAs to address pinion angle
  • Lower axle brackets to fix RLCA angles
  • Adjustable perch RLCAs to maintain ride height with axle brackets
  • Taller lower balljoints for FLCAs
  • Dial in bumsteer
These things will happen to make the current suspension work better and kick my other plans way down the list.
What is moving up the list is an engine swap. Overall this car is pretty awesome, but 100hp ain't cutting it. I thought I could hack it for a while and concentrate on other ideas, but this is just not going to work for me.
I have been squirreling away parts and pieces, making a few large, directional changes, but not really spending much cash out of pocket to pull a plan together.

As promised, this car will stay a 6cly, but I am going to build a short stroke motor, drop displacement, and use this to scramble things up
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It is a kinda long, circular story but I had a local guy contact me because "I build weird shiznit" and should know someone to buy this engine he was selling. He had a list of details, but no receipts, and refused to open the motor up to verify any components. I tried to sell it to the only guy who might be interested, but without being able to prove what exactly was or wasn't done, no deal was struck. Nearly a year goes by, and I get another call to come get it for whatever I think it is worth before it goes to s. So I picked up a forged piston 3.3L
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gumby - beauty may fade, but stupid is forever!

Re: BlueBird

Reply #170
The other turn this story takes is the mystery guy who I thought might be interested had in his possession a cylinder head which could fix the ugly that sits on top of all the beauty tucked inside this block. I presented Chuck with a deal to acquire his Australian crossflow head. I am going to mix all these parts together with a large helping of atmoshpere and see what sticks.

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Here we have a couple dirty bits getting to know one another
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And here is the head disassembled and somewhat clean
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I had the head tanked, welded up a few coolant ports that are an issue when fitting this head on a US block, and dropped it off to the cylinder head guy for some valve and port work. I will be breaking down the forged 200" engine to inspect the quality of machine work and assembly, doing a lot of measuring, and slowly working my way toward a complete engine with all the good parts in a later block and the crossflow head on top.
gumby - beauty may fade, but stupid is forever!

Re: BlueBird

Reply #171
, that's cool :like:
'84 Mustang
'98 Explorer 5.0
'03 Focus, dropped a valve seat. yay. freakin' split port engines...
'06 Explorer EB 4.6

 

Re: BlueBird

Reply #172
 Dun, dun, DUUUUNNNNN!

Wish I could've gotten to that head swap project, but I'm sure you'll do it proud.
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo

Re: BlueBird

Reply #173
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gumby - beauty may fade, but stupid is forever!

Re: BlueBird

Reply #174
Well this is getting cool fast.

Do you have to change the K-member out? I recall that early Fox chassis cars with the 3.3 had a different K-member.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

Re: BlueBird

Reply #175
I am looking forward to where this twist leads.

A while back I saw a Maverick in a magazine where they installed a 300ci straight six with a turbo.  Some straight six goodness.
1988 Thunderbird TC, 5spd
Stinger 3" single exhaust, Cone Filter, Adjustable Cam Pulley, Schneider roller cam, Walbro 255 lph, AEM Wideband O2
'93 Mustang Cobra replica wheels on 235/50R17

'21 F150 Powerboost
'17 Husqvarna TX300

Re: BlueBird

Reply #176
Yeah, the straight six k-member is unique. I do have my eyes on a couple of Fairmont k-members. If neither of those pan out, I will fab some mounts.
gumby - beauty may fade, but stupid is forever!

Re: BlueBird

Reply #177
79-82 Fox Mustangs also had the 200 so that may be a source.   this is getting friggin interesting!!  Good luck and are you gonna even dare and set a hp goal or is this just a put something together that you know will run but wait for the dyno to reveal the goods???

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

Re: BlueBird

Reply #178
I learned a long time ago not to set HP goals. It will make what it makes.
Since I won't put a roll bar in a street car that still uses the back seat, my performance target is to get kicked out for not having the bar  :giggle:
At 3400lbs(guessing here) Wallace Calculators says it will take ~450hp to get there.
gumby - beauty may fade, but stupid is forever!

Re: BlueBird

Reply #179
Gumby,
Loving the 200ci story so far!  I'm definitely gonna follow it.  What will you put it in?  A few years ago, I found an '85/'86 XR7 on Ebay or CL that had been transplanted with a 200 I6 and automatic.  I feel certain it was not done as an upgrade, but rather as the guy putting together what was left when he stole the turbo 4 and 5-speed out of it and put them in his early-80's Mustang (guessing here, but it makes sense to me).  I'd love to see a forced air 200.

Hey, on the original topic of the 3.8/T5 swap; must the flywheel come from an '83 F150?  The parts ad I found on CL for a T5 from a 3.8 Mustang included the flywheel from the donor (and I have no idea what tooth-count or weight it is).  What finally determines the correct flywheel for the application?  Is it just making sure the flywheel chosen goes with the starter you're going to use?  Or is there a magic number on the tooth-count and imbalance?

Thanks again for your (and everyone else's) help.