81 Black Magic

[mercaprirs]

I bet thats gonna be on mean machine. Oops I ment one mean Black Magic Machine.

[mustangxtreme]

She needs a bath, but other than that it looks to be pretty clean! I luvz me some Black Magic!

She's rougher than she looks and I can;t see washing her until after I get the engine in place.

I bet thats gonna be on mean machine. Oops I ment one mean Black Magic Machine

Well, it won't be the fastest but, I know I"ll be able to burn up all the old tires I have laying around.

[mustangxtreme]

The headers are almost done. I just have to finish cleaning up the welds, make sure they don't leak, clean them up and shoot some paint.

Here's the driver's side...



and the passenger side.

[mustangxtreme]

The headers are done. Now I'm test fitting the accessories.

Passenger side



Drivers

[mustangxtreme]

Here"s an update... it seems to take way more time than it should to get things to come together.

Here is the engine in it's current state. I have the accessories installed, the broken exhaust bolt taken care of and am currently finishing the mods to the k-member.



I used the power steering bracket from my 3.8 and a custom made bracket with an idler pulley for the power steering.



The alternator is a 3G which I enlarged the mount hole and a custom bracket for tension adjustment.



The crank pulley and the water pump were generously donated by a 5.0L Lincoln.

To complete the mods to the 96 k-member, I trimmed about 1/2" from the aft end of the k-member and need to expand the slots to match up with the earlier k-members.

[flyboy60]

nice work

[mustangxtreme]

Thanks flyboy

[mustangxtreme]

Here's the weekend update. Yesterday I finished the k-member. I closed off the rear of the slots and added a doubler to help support the tabs and then added a coat of black paint to finish it off. I only got one pic due to the camera batteries dying.



After the paint was dry, I loaded the k-member onto the cart I plan to use to roll the engine under the car, installed the engine onto the k-member, bolted up the transmission and headers and now she's ready for install, but first I have to pull the existing k-member and front end out of the car. Every thing was going great until I got to the last two bolts. First the Snap On 18 mm 6 point I was using decided to give up the ghost and then my 1/2" to 3/8" reducer broke. This finished my Saturday.


I run and get a replacement socket this morning and finished pulling the last two bolts. Yea!!! the k-member is out.



Time to roll the engine and trans under the car. I jack the front of the car up so I can place my jack stands under it fully extended. About 24". Then I roll the engine and transmission under the car and lower the body back down over the engine. The driver's valve cover was hitting on the original vacuum booster so out it came and it looks like I will be using one from an 87. The engine/trans is still not sitting quite right so I'll take another go at it tomorrow. Here's how it sits for the night.

[GTJerry]

Wow, looking' good Dave! I like your approach.

I still have my 85 parts car that has a good factory sun roof in it if you need it.

Jerry

[mustangxtreme]

Thanks and thanks for the offer Jerry but I have a replacement roof already. My plan is to get the engine buttoned up and do the roof next. If all goes well, I'll be driving her to the bbq this year.

[GTJerry]

Thanks and thanks for the offer Jerry but I have a replacement roof already. My plan is to get the engine buttoned up and do the roof next. If all goes well, I'll be driving her to the bbq this year.

Wow - it would be GREAT to see the BM at Niel's this year!

[mustangxtreme]

Yeah I wish I could bring all three but time and money don't agree.

[mustangxtreme]

Well, I ran into a snag which has taken quite a bit of time to deal with. When I first set up the 400 on the 96 k-member I swapped the motor mount side for side which set the engine about 1-2 inches further back. I built everything in this configuration but unfortunately I forgot to take into consideration the 96 k-member already set the engine back about 2 inches.

This made it impossible to get the engine in the car without entirely rebuilding the firewall. While my goal was to keep the engine as far rearward as possible, I didn't want to do that extensive of modifications so my solution was to swap the motor mounts back to the correct side which moved the engine forward enough to allow me to get it bolted in.

Of course it didn't end there. With the engine further forward, I had to do some work to the headers so they would clear. This required a slight flattening to a tube on each side and the reconstruction of the #1 cyl primary tube. While not fun, it could have been much worse so I won't whine too much.

Now on to the pics...

Here is the engine as it sits. I have a good 8 1/2" from the top of the carb pad to the hood.



I took a break from fabricating and started hooking up the electrical, installing the radiator etc.



Here is the battery box from the 87 Mustang donor. I had to cut about 1/2" of the support posts, trim a spot to clear a bolt and slot the mounting holes.



Here is a shot of how the headers fit under the body.



The starter hook up was a huge pain in the a... I spent about 45 min for that one bolt. Access is so limited I ended up cutting the 7/16" end off a ratcheting dogbone just to be able to install the starter wire.



That's it for today but tomorrow I'll work on getting the suspension back under the car. Friday I need to fabricate a transmission mount and get the drive shaft in to be shortened. It is getting much closer to start up day, I can't hardly wait.

[86 50CPRI]

looks awesome. Alot of work to be sure. I'm curious, though, have you put a level on the carb mounting pad,? Side to side from the front looks a little low on the pass side.

Again, I admire your motivation to tackle this swap!

[mustangxtreme]

Not yet. The car isn't exactly level where it sits.

[84lx351w]

Anything new in the last week, this is definately going to be one unique fox with that motor? Good job with the build so far and good luck on finishing it up.

Adam

[85GT-79FJ40]

This is really what hot rodding is all about. Ingenuity and making stuff work. I like it. I'll be interested in seeing your roof swap too. I have a feeling the rust will eventually come back around my sunroof.

[mustangxtreme]

Good job with the build so far and good luck on finishing it up.

Thanks Adam. Everything seems to take 3 times longer than it should with this build. I haven't taken any more pics yet but, the front end is going back on, and I spent most of Sunday attempting my first "shortening the drive shaft". It is all cut down (Yea I measured about 6 times before I cut once), I still have to pick up a u-joint so I can bolt it into the car and check the run out before I weld it. I'll try to get some pics up later today.

I'll be interested in seeing your roof swap too. I have a feeling the rust will eventually come back around my sunroof.

I plan a lot of prep work to the underside of the roof before I install it. Ford just left the metal pretty much bare which explains why there are so many issues with rust. First I will clean up the surface rust off the donor roof, then shoot the underside with a primer/sealer.

I'm also not real impressed with the sealer they used to adhere the sunroof frame to the roof skin. It appears to be and adhesive foam. My plan is to separate the frame work and use some aircraft sealant in place factory adhesive. The same will go for the framework under the roof skin. I'm also thinking of getting something like Eastwood's Internal Frame Coat to coat every thing else inside the framework. That should take care of any future rust issues in that area of the car anyway.

[mustangxtreme]

Here is what I did to shorten the drive shaft. First I marked a center line down the length of the shaft using a paint pen. This gives me an alignment mark to get the yoke repositioned back in the same orientation as it originally was.



I then used a 4 1/2" grinder to grind down the existing weld and then cut the tube off the yoke. You need to be careful at this point not to cut too deep. The intent is just to cut the tube and not cut into the yoke. Sorry, I didn't get any pics of this.



This is all I have for today. Got to get ready for work.

Once the tube is cut some light hammer work will tap the yoke out of the drive shaft. This is a tight fit and will require you to tap gently on one side of the yoke and then the other until it comes out.

Due to the length of the c6 I'm using, I needed to cut 4 1/8" out of the spare drive shaft I had. I chose to cut the rear end end of the shaft because that allowed the factory balance weights to stay in place. The cut was made with a tubing cutter capable of cutting 3 3/4". This allowed me to keep the cut square to the tubing.



Next I used a Dremel with a 1/2" sanding drum to debur the inside of the tube. This included smoothing out the tubing joint. The yoke needs to contact the entire inside of the tube so this part is critical. I wanted the yoke a little farther into the drive shaft tube than my cut-off would allow so using the cut-off disc in the grinder I cut back into the original weld about another 1/8". This was done by setting the flat side of the disc against the step in the yoke so the business area of the disc was only cutting weld material.

From there, I lined up the alignment lines and tapped the yoke into the drive shaft. I then check to make sure both yokes were in the same orientation by setting them down on my work bench to make sure there were no gaps under either yokes. A couple of light taps and both yokes are flat.

I installed the universal and the rear end yoke and I still need to install the front yoke so I can install the drive shaft in the car and make sure the run out is acceptable. A couple of tack welds while it is still in the car and I can remove it for the finish weld.



The front end is going back together nicely.

Passenger



Driver



Of course I would be no where near where I am at with out my helper.



I also got the 87 Mustang power booster installed which clears very well.

[mustangxtreme]

It's past time for an update... Things didn't go quite as planned and I wasn't able to get the car running in time for the bbq.

This has not kept me from the car however so I've been finalizing some things I was going to put off. The drive shaft is done and in the car, the front end is all back together and the master cylinder is mounted.

Before the first attempt at starting the engine, I primed the oiling system. The oil pressure gauge came right up. In goes the distributor, I set the engine up with the timing pointer at 10 deg and attempt to static time it. Unfortunately, I had no spark. After some testing I determine the ignition module I have is bad.

Some where along the line, I remembered this engine had a points distributor in it when I got it and since I really want to hear it run... out came the Duraspark II distributor and in goes the points one. I run a jumper wire to tie the points into the negative side of the coil so I should be good to go.

The crank is still at 10 degree so once again I try to static time it. I get an initial spark and then nothing. When I hook up the test light to the negative terminal on the coil and crank the engine it stays steady. Each I ground the negative terminal I get spark so that tells me the secondary side of the system is working.

This takes me back to the distributor. I start checking to make sure the points are being grounded and find out they are not. It turns out to be oil coating the points and the inside of the distributor. I cleaned the points, condenser and the inside of the distributor and I have spark. Yeah!!! Set the crank back up to 10 deg and static time the distributor.

Rather than spend time trying to crank the engine over to get fuel up to the carb, I decided to use a funnel and fill the float bowl with fuel prior to cranking. This allowed me to make sure the internals of the carb were still in good shape and nothing was wrong. The accelerator pump squirts just like it should. So far it looks good. I will be converting the choke on this to electric so for now I just loosened it up until the choke valve is open.

Time to attempt to start it. "It's alive"... It did smoke on the first start but it was just the oil burning out of the cylinders. The wife thought I caught something on fire. The oil pressure looks very good and there are no unusual noises.

For your listening pleasure. Here's a vid. http://s831.photobucket.com/albums/z...12038_x264.mp4

I wasn't happy with the transmission cross member I originally made. It didn't tuck up as tight as I wanted so I built a new one.





This one will allows the exhaust to tuck in as high as possible and require as few of bends as possible.

Just as a recap of my goals with this swap. I wanted to install the 400 and have it clear the hood and I have accomplished that goal. I currently have an Edelbrock air filter on top of the carb and it clears. This is a shot down the scoop. A PO cut the hood and as you can see, I have plenty of room left.

[86 50CPRI]

congratulations DR Frankenstein!! I bet you are anxious to get this thing on the road!@

[mustangxtreme]

I am definitely excited about driving it. I will need to pick up an 8.8 for it. I'm sure the rear axle won't last long exposed to 400 ft lb of torque not to mention it is an open rear end so it is only good for a one wheel peel.

After I get it moving it will be time to replace the roof skin and then do some more rust repair.

[Motorcity]

I just got this $30.00 bolt in today. Now I can button up the bottom end. I spent the day cutting and welding on the headers and should be ready to test fit the engine in the car this next week.

Whoa! A $30 bolt?!? Surprised you didn't attempt to make one of those too!

[mustangxtreme]

Whoa! A $30 bolt?!? Surprised you didn't attempt to make one of those too!

If I had access to a lathe I may have.

[Motorcity]

If I had access to a lathe I may have.

All things considered, great job so far. You are very creative and resourceful.