Magnum's 86 vert build thread

[magnum517]

Ok, not much goin on but shoveling snow---GRRRRRRRRRRRR!! Too cold in the garage, but hope to get back on the car soon. Was kicking around the idea of flopping a cam in the 89 motor before dropping it in the vert, but now think I am just gonna seal up the oil leaks and drop it in as is. That way I can hopefully have it running by spring and then next winter start collecting parts to do the engine right!!

[magnum517]

AHHHHHHHHHH Ice, it sucks!! Mush rather be shoveling the white stuff!! But on a good note, Puxatowny Phil says early spring!! LMAO yeah right, believe it when I see it! He just didnt want to say six more weeks of this junk and then take a sniper shot to that furry melon LOL.
Still collecting parts for the vert, engine is SLOWLY coming out for it. Just need to get an OR H-pipe, Flowmasters and tails, and a Smog pump eliminator for it yet. O yeah, then some tires. Still trying to figure out a good big n little sizing for on the turbines. Any ideas?? They are 15x7's.

[magnum517]

Ok, so after having to put the parts car BACK TOGETHER so i could drive it out of the garage and get the oldest sons Jeep in for some major engine repairs(18 YO, 5.2L in a grand cherokee = pull engine apart to fix what he broked! Lol) Anyway, after 2 weeks of slaving away on kids jeep it finally is back up and running so i can focus BACK on the vert.
did decide on running the E303 cam in the motor eventually and a friend told me how to reroute the belt so i can eliminate the air pump set up. Now just need to devote an entire weekend and get the motor out of the parts car and into the vert!! Hopefully in the next month. Till then gonna do some odds and ends on the car to get it ready for that swap. Thats it 4 now!

[trbofox]

Nice, that's gonna be a nice ride when ya get her done.

[magnum517]

Nice, that's gonna be a nice ride when ya get her done.

Thanks!! Not near as sweet as your cars!! But I love it!! Maybe someday it will be super sweet, till then I will just settle for running and driving LOL

[magnum517]

Ok so got some stuff done on the vert. Nothing big, but all good!!
First, met a local member, Greg, and got to check out his 86 Vert---SWEEEEET!! Then picked up all the missing A/C stuff for my vert from him, THANKS GREG!!
Next, uncovered the vert and started inspecting the condition of the wiring. Looked all there, so beings there is no motor in it, I used my booster pack and powered up the car through the hot feed from the starter solenoid and the under hood ground pigtails. Guess what, ....... POWER TOP WORKS!!!! WOOHOO!! Lights, heater, radio(even though is sucks LOL), interior light and top all work!! Now did discover that the power windows and locks did not work Have power to the circuit breakers in the under dash fuse box but no power to the switches. Still have to figure that out. All in all a good weekend
Here is some under hood shots:

[magnum517]

As you can see from the last pic, a previous owner cut some rectangular holes in the inner fender where the battery box used to be. ?? working on fixing that area, going to do some clean up under the hood and repaint under the hood and front crossmember area. Also working on my window problem and then moving to detailing the interior and repairing the door panels. Really getting the itch to get under way on this and do as much I can with the little bits I have.

[magnum517]

Ok solved the power window and lock no power problem- i didnt have the circuit breaker that goes to the starter solenoid hooked up. OOPS! That feeds the safety relay which feeds windows and locks. All windows work except drivers rear which runs but binds. And that is a problem 4 another day. Just glad everything seems to work so far -woohoo!

[Syco Stang]

Nice project, I like the look the car will have. If working with a budget, a couple of cans of satin black and scotch brite pads would do wonders to that red hood of yours
Also, as for the windows and locks you may want to disassemble the switches and check them for power. They will probably need a cleaning as those contacts would always give me trouble.
And some updated pics with turbines installed would be nice!!!

[magnum517]

Thanks! Unfortunately I dont have tires for the Turbines yet Need to save up some cash for new sneakers. On the hood, that is gonna happen soon. Want to paint the under hood area satin black and then work on the hood. Still hoping to maybe get it running this summer but will have to wait and see what happens.

[magnum517]

Ok just struck an awesome deal on an engine for the vert and some other parts too!! Wont let the cat out of the bag just yet, but I am exstatic to say the least!! My awesome dad is loaning me the cash to make it all happen till I sell the Linc LSC. THANKS DAD, You ROCK!! This also means the LSC gets what it truly deserves, someone to fix her!! I just couldnt bring myself to pull the motor out for the vert!!

[magnum517]

Ok awesome deals made this weekend!!
--Thanks to 91emeraldnotch( from Pennmustangs forum)!! I now have an OR h-pipe for my car
--Thanks to a guy on CL got a stock hood for the vert
--And thanks to a guy from CL in S.NJ, Fred I now have a rebuilt 306 with: E303 cam, forged internals, complete injection to oil pan with accesseries, BBKfuel pressure regulator, Jegs pressure gauge, all new sensors, all new hoses, new MSD coil, new starter and new starter solenoid. Only things I need are water pump, water pump pulley or underdrive set, motor mounts and O2 sensors.



WOOOHOOO, car is progressing along nicely parts wise. It should be a cool car when its done!
Will post pics of new parts this week!!

[magnum517]

Need to get some parts yet to actually get the vert to a running driving state. Here is what I need yet:
--Convertable motor mounts
--new water pump
--underdrive pullies
--battery box
--oil pressure sender for the gauge
--o2 sensors
--battery cables, especially the factory one that runs from the solenoid to the starter with all the correct brackets
--upper rad mounts
--coolant overflow bottle
--Alt bracket for internal style regulatated alternator(89 up), as mine will work but one ear is broken off.
--flowmaster cat back or a good pair of 2 chamber flowmasters
--tires- pair of 225/60/15s and a pair of 255/60/15s
--battery
As you can see its quite a list but its a list of hopefully small stuff. If anyone reads this and has any of the above parts they want to part with PLEASE drop me a message!! Thanks soooo much!

Really hoping to get this on the road soon!! Getting anxious now

[magnum517]

Today unbolted the MAC equal length headers that the motor came with so I can sell them, as I have a like new set of BBKs I want to use instead. Also started the above list of stuff I need yet to get it in the car and running(hopefully). And started to figure out what I need to do to convert the car from the 86 external regulated Alternator set up to the 89 internal reg set up. Gonna completely regasket the motor so I can give it a thorough once over and use the gaskets that I prefer(previous owner used a LOT of blue goo on everything). Then I will repaint everything on the engine and under hood and slide it in there.

[JTurbo]

You're making good progress on the parts hunt. Keep going!

[jvaughan]

hey bill come get those pulleys. all free for you. im trying to clean up my garage space.

[magnum517]

Thanks folks!

Jake- Sweet!! Thanks sooo much! Will give a shout to find a good time to grab those pulleys.

Now if I could just find a SERIOUS buyer for the Lincoln LSC it would be awesome. I have had FIVE guys tell me they definately want it, just had to figure out towing it home, and all 5 guys now wont respond to my calls or emails. Not even to just say "hey changed my mind". I mean honestly! Why cant i just get a little respect and just tell me they are no longer interested. 2 of them said to hold it for them while they made towing arrangemants and now havent responded since last monday! UGHHHHHHH! Sorry just needed to vent!

[magnum517]

Ok got the motor on the engine stand and pulled it all apart. It is exactly what the guy said it was: E303 cam, E7 heads port matched, .030 overbore on cylinders, new bearings pump , new chain and gears, IE very sweet motor! Now just have to button it all up with new gaskets and start painting it to drop in!! Also inventoried everything for the car and tried to oganize it so I know what I need yet. Here are 2 pics.

[magnum517]

Engine is gonna go back together soon and if rain ever stops , painting the engine and components will begin- woohoo. Some new ideas and plans in the near future! Did some bartering for some parts so may make some unplanned upgrades to brakes and # of lugs in next couple months! Have to see how it all works out.

[magnum517]

Ok so my 89 Linc LSC never did sell. Buyers kept falling threw. And as some of ya know , my daily driver is a 5" lifted jeep cherokee which I love. But I have a rare form of fibermyalsia called EMS and scoliosis of the spine. Have had both since my teenage years and just dealt with em. Unfortunately they are something that starts to accelerate with age and the past 5 years have really gotten bad. Its to the point where I need to get out of the lifted Jeep and into something that rides and drives nicer. Soooooo the Jeep is going to go up for sale soon and the LSC is going to get fixed up for my new dailly driver/hot rod!! Should be a cool ride! Then I can also take my time on the vert and do it the way I want it the first time!!

[Super-G]

Bill,

Sorry to hear that the Lincoln didn't sell. I figured you were gonna have some extra cash for more parts. You can never have enough parts!!

The car looks like it's coming along. Great score on that engine. I see in another post that you got a stock hood. Is that a cowl hood that's currently on your car? If you want to unload that cowl hood, let me know. I'd love to throw a cowl hood on my car.

[magnum517]

Bill,

Sorry to hear that the Lincoln didn't sell. I figured you were gonna have some extra cash for more parts. You can never have enough parts!!

The car looks like it's coming along. Great score on that engine. I see in another post that you got a stock hood. Is that a cowl hood that's currently on your car? If you want to unload that cowl hood, let me know. I'd love to throw a cowl hood on my car.

Thanks Greg. Yeah cowl hood is currently on my car. Got the stock hood in case I ever want to go for classic tags on the car. I am planning on running the cowl hood on it. I was hoping to get some more stuff for the vert with the Lincoln sale but didnt pan out. So now I will have TWO fox body 5.0L s in my garage Cool thing about the lincoln is it is a driver, so can enjoy that while I work on the vert!! Have some pretty cool ideas for the LSC!

[magnum517]

Ok, my plans just stink!! LSC plan kinda blew up in my face. Long story short, no DD LSC now either Sooooooo just gonna try and lick my wounds, not count my losses, and move on!! So back onto the vert full tilt to see if I cant get her running this summer yet!!

[magnum517]

So like how crazy should I get detailing the vert under the hood. It will by no means be a show car, top is beat and so is interior. So should I try and clean and paint the inner fenders and firewall before dropping in the motor or just drop it in and get it running for the summer and then detail later when I am ready to do the body over. I am by no means a body man, so it would get spray bomb painted if I did it. Just would love to get it up and running for the Fox-a-que in July and local cruise nites.

[eeprete]

Bill, take your time and do it right. Don't worry about what car you take to the BBQ. Do the bay now while things are out.