duh09's 1994 Rio Red GT

[duh09]

Well I'm going to stop forecasting when I'm going to do things because that never seems to work out quite like I imagine. I had a friend going out of town for awhile so ended up hanging out with him over working on the Mustang so I haven't really got much done.

I met up with the previous owner today and we talked about all the stuff he had done to the car and what I was doing and what my plans were on getting it right and I'm pretty sure I saw him wiping some tears away when I left. Kinda made me happy to know that he is a true Mustang guy and that the car was taken care of, even if he couldn't get it going.

I've held off on doing a compression test because I am becoming more and more sure than my oil burning issue is ring-related. But so long as nothing happens tomorrow, I'm going to try once again to get the cars swapped around and pull the 94 in to start diagnosing. Gaskets are ordered and in the car, a EGR block-off plate (351W fuel pump block off if you're wondering) is on the way, and I am supposed to be picking up my GT40 next week hopefully.

Slowly but surely.

 

[g36 monkey]

Good to hear about the PO. maybe he will want to see it once you have made some progress!

 

[duh09]

Great looking car. Ready to battle those bullitt pedals again?

I'm a little slow and been trying to figure out for days now what you meant and I finally realized what you were getting at haha.

I'm not really sure how well they're going to come off. I'm going to unbolt the whole gas pedal assembly because that will be the easiest way to do that but I'm not sure how well the brake/clutch are going to want to come off. May just have to unbolt and swap them too.




Finally got the 67 pushed out and moved the 94 in today. Spent most of the day cleaning the shop up and meeting a dude to finally get rid of the last of my Honda parts I had laying around. Started to do a compression test but noticed quickly that my tester isn't going to be able to do every cylinder as it sits- the line with the adaptor doesn't have enough room to get spun in because of the headers. But I did go ahead and do cylinder #1. First reading was around 115, second after adding some oil bumped up to around 120. So thinking I probably have some ring issues as that plug was very black and slightly oily. Slightly annoying but I've got a line on a fairly low mileage 94-95 motor, just hoping it's still sitting when I get the cash together. Need to sell some of these other "projects" to get this one to the level I want it.

 

[Barner1]

I'm a little slow and been trying to figure out for days now what you meant and I finally realized what you were getting at haha.

I'm not really sure how well they're going to come off. I'm going to unbolt the whole gas pedal assembly because that will be the easiest way to do that but I'm not sure how well the brake/clutch are going to want to come off. May just have to unbolt and swap them too.




Finally got the 67 pushed out and moved the 94 in today. Spent most of the day cleaning the shop up and meeting a dude to finally get rid of the last of my Honda parts I had laying around. Started to do a compression test but noticed quickly that my tester isn't going to be able to do every cylinder as it sits- the line with the adaptor doesn't have enough room to get spun in because of the headers. But I did go ahead and do cylinder #1. First reading was around 115, second after adding some oil bumped up to around 120. So thinking I probably have some ring issues as that plug was very black and slightly oily. Slightly annoying but I've got a line on a fairly low mileage 94-95 motor, just hoping it's still sitting when I get the cash together. Need to sell some of these other "projects" to get this one to the level I want it.

No problem man! I'm ready to see how this project turns out. It's already got a great start!

 

[duh09]

Plans have changed ever so slightly, but improved massively. I've decided to go 351W with this car. Now is the time to do it, and if I can get a couple of my bike projects out of the shop, I should be able to swing it financially. Now all of this could go out the window at any moment but I've been doing my research and I think that is how I'm going to go.

I have the absolute worst luck in the world with used stuff so I've decided to start fresh and will be ordering a Latemodel Restoration shortblock before too long. I'm taking the Procomp heads to have them gone through and may have some new known-quality springs installed just to assure that those are not my problem along with new valve steam seals. I'm planning on keeping the same topend on the motor, E303 cam, Procomp heads, and a GT40 intake if I can find a lower for a reasonable price. Seems crazy to spend close to $500 on just a lower off eBay when I can get a new Edelbrock for $630 from work. BBK LT swap headers and X-pipe, lower motor mounts, and the rest of the swap stuff and I should have this motor put together. Still haven't pulled the 24#'s out of the 95. Considering going a little bigger with the 351W, but either way, I'll probably end up buying a new set just to insure that I won't have any problems out of them.

Got quite a ways to go money-wise, but I've got a beater to drive in the meantime so hopefully in the next couple of weeks, parts will start finding their way here.

 

[g36 monkey]

Now I am really excited

 

[SLOW95GTS]

Your getting the economy 351w from 50resto? Why don't you get the short block rebuilt and put new pistons with valve reliefs for the pro comp heads, get a stage 2 trickflow cam, and get a holley/rpm2/tfs-R.

 

[SLOW95GTS]

Btw, you dont have to listen to me, everyone has their thing. Im just giving you an idea that will save you money in the end.

 

[duh09]

Your getting the economy 351w from 50resto? Why don't you get the short block rebuilt and put new pistons with valve reliefs for the pro comp heads, get a stage 2 trickflow cam, and get a holley/rpm2/tfs-R.

Price to potential is the main reason. From the quotes I got a few months back on having a shortblock rebuilt from a local trusted machine shop, it would be cheaper to just pick up a shortblock from Latemodel as opposed to having one put together for me. I feel like I could go a lot further with the 351W in the future than I could with the 302 if I wanted to build something for all out power, 351W is a nice selling point if I don't, plus it should be a fun daily with the extra cubes.

Like I said, stuff could change if I can't get my bikes sold. There's a bonestock low mileage motor a local Mustang shop is selling for a decent price that will be the backup plan if I can't get the money together over the next couple of weeks.

 

[duh09]

Well plans changed, of course. The ole POS Samurai is developing a tick so decided to bite the bullet and pick up a motor. Bought a complete motor from LKQ with a 12month warranty for $760 out the door. Picking up my GT40 tonight and planning on putting the E303 in it and keeping it pretty much stock otherwise just to get this car on the ground and running. Should have some updates and pics this weekend as I'm planning to spend quite a bit of time in the shop getting everything pulled apart, cleaned up, painted, etc. Yay progress, even if it isn't 351W goodness

 

[duh09]

Busy day. Got up early and made a shopping list and went to town and picked up most of it. New timing set, gaskets, new hoses, tstat, engine paint, water pump, harmonic balancer, basically anything that looked like it could maybe need replacing, I went ahead and bought. Came hard and started tearing down the LKQ motor and broke one of the intake bolts off, seems like it was JB welded or something because it was a mess. Finally drilled it out and have enough threads left to just run a longer bolt. Everything looked pretty solid until I flipped it over and pulled the pan, had a nice thick layer of sludgy crud at the bottom of it. Cleaned the shit out of it and ordered a new pump and pickup tube. Going to try to get the E303 out tonight and it installed with the new timing set, bolt up the timing cover, and just sort of dry fit the pan well enough to paint the motor tomorrow and waiting on the oil pump. Hopefully I'll have it ready to sit back in the car this time tomorrow.

 

[duh09]

Boy did work slow me down.... anyways...

Motor has gotten painted but because of the delay in getting my oil pump, I had to paint everything seperately. E303 cam is in, timing set installed, just got done installing the new pump and pick-up tube, and blocked off the EGR ports in the back of the head.

**note- 5/8-11 is the thread pitch of that port. If you're planning on doing it, a 3/4" set screw works perfect, expect the threads to be gummed up which means probably wait to paint the motor until after you've installed so you don't strip paint cleaning them out with carb cleaner. :tongue3:**

I'll get off work early enough tomorrow to make another big dent in this and hopefully have the motor ready to drop back in tomorrow. Planning to install the oil pan, timing cover, and waterpump and clean and spray everything assembled so it'll all match and have a sort of final layer of paint on it. Don't expect a wild bright Ford Blue motor, went sort of understated and got a Metallic Black and I'm painting the valve covers and intake to match. Speaking of intake, I decided to go with my factory intake until I can get my hands on an SVO/94-95 Cobra intake. My elbow I got from the PO is a little janky from him trying to modify it to make it all work with a Fox TB, idk. Going to finally yank the transmission off the old motor, clean it up, and pull the clutch to put on the new motor tomorrow as well. Annnndddd I'm going to clean and relube my rockers and whatnot to get the miles of grime off and reassemble that as well before the freshly painted valve covers go on.

If everything goes to plan tomorrow, I plan to reloom some stuff in the wiring harness and clean it up a little and I may have a Honda buddy come over and help me figure out a potential wire tuck. Smog pump/EGR stuff is not going back on the car except for the EGR valve so the passenger side bay should be easy enough to clean up. If I can get my battery relocated easily enough, I would really like to wire tuck the bay. It will add a lot more time to getting this car complete but now is the best time to do it IMO.


Camera phone died so don't expect pictures until I have something worthy enough of charging the DSLR up haha.

 

[MustangChris]

Oh yes..... me gusto.......

I'm thrilled you're back in the sn platform.

 

[duh09]

Oh yes..... me gusto.......

I'm thrilled you're back in the sn platform.

Bout time for you to dust yours back off again! Or start sending me parts, like the taillights.... but you just keep those wheels.... I don't want those...

 

[MustangChris]

Bout time for you to dust yours back off again! Or start sending me parts, like the taillights.... but you just keep those wheels.... I don't want those...

Hoping next summer.... traveling this summer, dig out of debt over winter, dig back into debt next summer..... LOL


Wheels are for sale.... 1400 obo.
Tail lights aren't for sale. Lol

 

[duh09]

Finally got enough work done on the motor to update. Everything has been cleaned up and painted and finally pulled the transmission and attached it to the new motor. Scrubbed the valvetrain up and reinstalled it yesterday and managed to break one of the rocker arm mount bolts when I was double checking them so new one is on the way, but going to keep going forward with the install and I'll slap it in as soon as it gets here. Goal is to have the car running and driving tomorrow evening and it should happen. Motor and tranny are swinging from the hoist, just got to throw the motor mounts on it and it'll be ready for liftoff.

Did not do any sort of tucking on the car simply because of time and money. When I do it, I want to relocate my battery and when I do that, I want to get a nice sealed battery to make sure it will still be compliant with autocross rules. And I seriously need a set of matching wheels/tires. May try and find something staggered on craigslist or I'll just get a couple tries for the rear KMCs and find something for the 67 but gotta do something ASAP.

Enjoy shitty iPhone picture to hold you over for awhile pic whores.

 

[Barner1]

nice progress my man :thumbsup:

 

[duh09]

IT LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, only sorta. Got everything buttoned up except for my exhaust. The aftermarket headers that were on it used a coarse thread nut for the connection at the H-pipe and apaprently the stockies I'm putting on it are fine thread. Or maybe, I have that backwards but either way, I don't have any hardware to assemble all that.

I was a little nervous about sticking the dizzy in for the first time with this motor just because of the nightmare I had with my notchback (bad temperamental dizzy) but the thing fired right up after priming the fuel pump a few times and throwing a set of jumper cables on it because the battery is a bit low. Didn't let it run but for just a few seconds but was idling right along. Very excited to get the battery charged and throw a couple nuts on the exhaust and take it down the road!

I will have some nice photos tomorrow.

 

[duh09]

I'm terrible at updating this thread. Put a total of 1100 miles on it as of today, and finally got my rear tires mounted up so now I finally have matching wheels.

 

[g36 monkey]

definitely lookin sharp!