Made Some Progress Today And found some goodies

[kb1982]

I finally got back to work on the Mustang today. Several weeks ago, I pulled off the supercharger, water pump, and timing chain cover to fix several oil and coolant weeps. When my engine bay was less cluttered, I noticed the motor was sitting cocked on the driver side motor mount pad on the upr crossmember. So today I put the engine on a hoist and bolted on a set of maximum motorsport solid mounts that do not have they stupid little alignment tab. I was hoping i could get the moroso double sump oil pan off with the motor raised up, but the front sump still wont clear the steering rack. I guess tomorrow I will be lowering the rack so i can get the oil pan completely off, then put the timing cover and waterpump back on followed by the oil pan with the new gasket. Ive never removed a rack before, but it seems as an easier option than unbolting the tranny. I did get the oil pan to drop down enough to sneak a peek of the bottom end though and learned a little more about whats in my engine. The first thing I noticed was how clean everything was, followed by the forged Ross pistons, forged H beam rods that are not yet identified with arp rod bolts, and a forged crankshaft. I also noticed the rod angle seemed fairly high, which has me thinking that the crank may be more than a 3 inch stroke. Once I get the oil pan off, I should be able to get some part numbers to find out what exactly resides inside this dart block.

 

[ScottyDsntKnow]

If you have a DART that is already a hell of a score depending on what you paid for the car. Look for notches in the block for the rods to clear the cylinder wall, if they are there, you have a 347, if not it could be a 331 stroker or just a 306. You should be able to pull part numbers and decipher it all though. Yes dropping the K or the rack is going to be easier than pulling the motor or trans out.

 

[kb1982]

I ended up just unbolting the rack and tying it up. Guess its a good time to replace the tore up bushings on it now. After getting it dropped and the motor raised as far up as it would go, I was able to get the oil pump and pickup off. This allowed me just enough room to get the oil pan out. It leaks oil from the rear drain plug also, so now is a good time to tap it and plug it up for good also. Time to seal up project Blue oval, blew smoke, blew oil out everywhere.
After the pan was out of the way, I was able to figure out a few more mysteries. (I bought the car from a dealer and it was a trade in and they didnt know much about the car. No wonder why the guy traded it in, he woulda never got this thing right.) So today I found out that it has an forged RPM 4340 internally balanced crank, 4340 forged 5.400 H beam RPM rods with ARP 8740 bolts, and the pistons are forged Ross with gas ports. So now I know it is atleast a 347. As for the bore size, I guess that will remain unknown, hopefully for a long while. Sooner or later I will find the markings on the Trickflow Heads. I must say, the bottom end was pretty clean.
DSCN1447 by benningfield_19k, on Flickr
DSCN1444 by benningfield_19k, on Flickr
DSCN1443 by benningfield_19k, on Flickr

 

[94mustangsvt]

Damn looks like a really solid bottom end. It looks ready for some serious horsepower.

 

[ScottyDsntKnow]

Def looks solid. Gots a lakewood housing there too I see. Looks like a score especially from what I'd imagine you paid from a dealer vs another enthusiast who knew what it all had.

 

[kb1982]

It wasnt really a score, i paid 8200 for it. The whole damn Cobra thing bit me in the butt on it. I would have cared less if it was a GT as long as it had all the same parts on it, and it would have been cheaper. I would rather pay taxes on the 95 Gt every year also!!! If I had sourced all the parts it had, I still came out on top this way. Now im just sorting out the gremlins and making everything work together. Tonight I got the timing chain cover and water pump back on, so that only leaves the oil pump and pan, the supercharger, throttle body,rack and pinion, and all the intercooler plumbing to go back on. This bastard better not leak a drop of fluid after all this.

 

[KillNThrill24]

You've definitely got a racecar in the works here with that lower end being so incredibly forged. Awesome find for sure. I'm afraid to tear apart my lower end and see how bad it is. If only I could tear it apart and find something like this

 

[kb1982]

Well I got everything buttoned up on the car besides the intercooler plumbing. I pulled the distributor, which was a pain in the a$$ because of an oil galley plug that could be seated further in to clear the distrib gear better, and I noticed it had loads of slop in it. No biggie, just get another 1. Found my oil pump priming tool, and was heartbroke. I missed the damn mark, and the rod isnt where it needs to be. Soooooooooooo, I guess this piece of shit will come back apart once again. I suggest staying away from this oil pan unless you like taking the whole damn car apart to change your oil pump/gaskets, or anything bottom end.
18511_part by benningfield_19k, on Flickr

 

[kb1982]

Well the car is together and went for a test drive tonight. The timing chain cover no longer weeps oil or coolant, and niether does the oip pan gasket. Still have a rear main seal that is leaking, but that can get replaced when the clutch need servicing again. Flipping the tranny crossmember made a world of difference. The shifter and the tranny are no longer offset towards the passenger side, and it shifts soooooo much smoother. The new energy suspension power steering rack bushings took alot of slop out of the steering also. I couldnt get the new rich porter distrib to fire the car, so I slopped in the old one. I then realized that the damn thing was low on gas, so I dumped some in and it finally fired. Tomorrow im gonna reroute some wiring, try swapping in the new distributor, and putting on the new msd superconductor wires. After that, its time to plug the Megasquirt PnP ecm back in and resume tuning.