Details 107....

WOW, can't believe it's been over a month since my last update! We've had a simple home improvement project blow up into an all out renovation, so my priorities have been elsewhere, but here is what has transpired in my time away....

Well I got the pan reinstalled, but I still have a slight leak at the back of the engine, so I plan to once more pull the sway bar, jack up the engine and drop the pan out and replace the once piece Ford Racing oil pan gasket with a 4 piece Fel-Pro gasket. That way, I can secure the gasket around the crank to the engine and attach the side gaskets to the pan rail and then hit the corners good with RTV just before lifting the pan into position and installing.

The following weekend, I got the multi-point distribution block mounted, supply cable ran and designed a bracket to hold the relay box.

I also dragged out the radiator and flushed the antifreeze out of it as well as running the power steering lines.

The weekend after that, I got the power steering belt and water pump pulley installed, put a bit of fluid in the reservoir to make sure pump case wouldn't leak and trimmed the collector reducers to allow the 2 1/2"OD exhaust pipe to snuggly fit inside so I can determine the proper exhaust run.

The weekend before last, I got the radiator drain drilled out and retapped to accept a normal brass petcock rather than the plastic POS the radiator came with, got it scuffed and the first coat of paint applied.

I will hit the core again from an angle to try and get all the fins lightly covered. I then installed the thermostat and snugged up all the hose clamps on the smaller hoses and then got the radiator upper and lower hoses installed.

I then played around a bit with the collectors and transition pipes to try and determine the angle I needed to get so the remaining exhaust ran parallel to the driveshaft before calling it a day.

This weekend, I had snuck over earlier and hit the fins with a second coat of paint, so I was able to get the transmission bungs installed in the radiator...

but the ears on the drain petcock broke free and would not operate the drain, so I picked up a new one to install next weekend.

I also put together the exhaust cutouts...

and played around with seeing what I needed to get them installed. I believe I'm going to use a braided flex pipe between the collector and the cutout due to the slight bend out of the collector to run parallel with the driveshaft and use a new style rod hanger welded to the cutout pipe with rubber grommeted hanger attached to the floorpan to support the exhaust back to the mufflers.

I also decided to resolve the oil leak before installing the radiator and filling the engine with coolant. I'd rather do it now than after the car has been painted!

Until next time....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Details 106...

Well after wasting over an hour trying to position the oil pan gasket onto the engine from below, I finally realized it would be much simpler to remove the pan, stick the gasket onto the pan, RTV the corners on the engine and the pan and then preposition the pan onto the motor, so I pulled the front sway bar off and got the pan out and prepped for the install next weekend.

I'll finish cleaning the cured RTV from the engine next week as well.

Until then.....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Details 105...

Well had to back track a bit this weekend.... was under the car last Saturday and noticed a puddle of oil at the front and back of the engine block right on the centerline. Upon closer inspection, I could see a drop at the pan/timing cover seam as well as a drop coming from the weep hole in the flywheel inspection plate.

Wracked my brain as well as going back thru my pictures and I couldn't remember shooting a blob of RTV sealant into the corners where the oil pan gasket chan...ges direction to go around the timing cover or the rear main at the crank, so today I jacked the engine up a bit and dropped the pan.

My suspicions were correct.... I must have dry fit the oil pan gasket and pan on weekend and the following weekend, buttoned everything up thinking I was done.... WRONG

Saturday I got the pan dropped, the gasket and corners cleaned and sprayed several times with brake clean to get rid of any oil residue so the RTV and gasket will adhere nicely to the block sealing the corners and then left everything opened up so the cleaner can evaporate away.

Next weekend I'll hit the corners with a good blob of Ultra Seal, reinstall the pan gasket, button up the oil pan and set the engine back down into the frame and reassemble everything removed to allow the engine to be raised.... then I'll be back on track to getting her ready to turn over to the body shop!

Until next episode...

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Details 104...

More stuff knocked off the TO DO list... checked out the operation of my sirens and one set isn't working, so I'll have to dig into them and see what's going on.

Finished the wiring to the lighted visor...

as well as getting the high output alternator wiring wrapped up.

Installed the firewall vacuum tee...

the smaller vacuum canister on the driver side wheelhouse...

and temporarily mounted the AC compressor so I could hang the compressor mounted power steering cooler to determine the routing of the power steering cooling circuit.

Also lit off the 460 to get a bit of heat into the motor to evaporate the remaining coolant in the block. The engine compartment is slowly looking complete once again.

Next weekend, I'll work on getting the radiator and AC condenser reinstalled as well as rehanging the front fenders in preparation for installing the headlight buckets and header panel.

Don't touch that dial.....

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Details 103...

A bit more progress this weekend.... got the liner clips attached and the liners mounted to the fenders.

I then turned my attention to the power feed for the passenger side illuminated visor mirror. Had to tap into the hot feed for the dome maps lights for power....

and then added the green wire to continue on to the passenger side visor. Next weekend I'll wrap up that run  before moving on to the next item of my TO DO list.

Until next time...

ZEBRA 3 OUT