Matt in MN's Roadster

[mrglaeser]

Check your cubby hole opening trim. It might not fit over the sound deadening and carpet too. It's easier to trim back the area now.
Nice work.

Thanks Railroad. I will double check prior to carper. Great advice.

[mrglaeser]

Well the shipping date for my Ford Performance Short Block came and went. Looks like they have revised the ship date to Feb 5 2024. So I'm trying to find things I can continue to do without a drive train.

For Starters I closed all the gaps in the foot boxes with some 3M Strip - Caulk I've had on the shelf for ages. It's pretty much made for this purpose so I hope it holds up.



Probably could have smoothed it out better but the Koolmats going to cover it up anyway.



Next I put in 3/4 of the Breeze Koolmat kit. I have to wait on the last driver's side foot box and driver's side tunnel wall, but I got the rest of the pieces in. I hope the material does a really good job because I didn't save a ton of time as most pieces needed trimming to get them to fit.









Other Items I think I can work on while waiting for the Drive train are:
1.) The fresh air vents for the foot boxs
2.) Get the radiator setup ready. As I have both the Breeze Hinge kit and lower support, plus fan/shroud with Controller, there is going to be some time needed there.
3.) Soon I should have my Dash covered and then can install and wire all the gauges and switches.
4.) Mock up the seat tracks
5.) Create a wiring cover for the trunk lid
6.) Install the parking break

Maybe this will keep me busy until Feb. Any other ideas?

[mrglaeser]

I picked up most of the interior today from the upholstery shop, Knish Kustomz in Kilkerny, MN. An amazing shops that does a lot of small and big builds every year, including a few SEMA projects.
https://www.facebook.com/KnishKustom...GPY9LGvmvkJDn8
https://www.instagram.com/knishkustomz/

Another of Knish's cars was a much more customized Mark IV.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...EBzE_VagbVhxQY
https://www.ffcars.com/threads/pleas...r-8352.634090/
https://www.ffcars.com/attachments/c...18-jpg.326178/

Anyway I am so happy at well it came out. I didn't go full custom but I wanted to do a saddle interior rather than the standard black and I am stoked to see everything together (probably in a year or so)







Latter once I get the drive train put in I'll get the tunnel cover done too, but with a double stick up the center and single stitching along the corners. I like quilting but having looked at some back draft cars feel it can be over done. Will have to pick out some dark tan or brown carpet to compliment the great job Knish did.

[mrglaeser]

Exciting week this week. Though I didn't get any shop time in.

First after an 18 month wait my short block from Ford Performance Parts came. Which allowed me to borrow and drive our facilities fork lift. Which is always fun - though it's been 25 years since I've needed to drive one. Doesn't look like a motor now but it will in the next couple months. Need to get my hoist out to the shop next.







Next the machine shop called and my steering boss is complete. I had them machine it so an NRG slim quick release can be mounted to it. Turned out pretty good.

[zarnold]

Ooh!! Very very nice block. And ordering it directly for Dearborn, MI is cool too.

[mrglaeser]

Well the last couple of weeks have been pretty slow. Mostly just working on some wiring odds and ends and getting the dash ready. Once that is done I'll turn my attention to the engine build.

I spent a couple hours putting most of the components in the dash. Then I could not wait to see it mocked up on the car.


Another day I wire up the headlight switch, heater fan switch, heater cut off servo control, and the dash side connector for the foot box fans/radiator manual fan/Line Lock.

I'm using a 1965 Mustang Headlight Switch. I got a pigtail from Midlife wiring harnesses (he restores Mustang Harness and resells them http://midlifeharness.com/) and replaced the RF harness connector with it.


It took a few wiring Diagrams to hopefully have sorted it out


Here are the connectors for the Fan Switch all wired up. Again wired into the RF Harness - at least for the heater power lead.




and finally the very exciting connector for Footbox vents/line lock/radiator fan override - the other side will get put together once I get the switch gaurds powder coated and the accessory switch panel together.
https://mattglaeser.smugmug.com/Home...er/i-7tgVHvv/A

Today I did 90% of the harness to gauges/dash wiring. Still need to sort out the hazard switch and dimmer switch. I also need to run the GPS speed sensor wiring and the Speedhut oil pressure sensor. Since it needs 3 leads and the RF harness only has 2 I'll just run it and tape off the RF wires.

[mrglaeser]

Well after a lot of back and forth and some re-wiring I finished the dash wiring. Not much to see but the pic below the add on switches are now wired. Not shown is I dieted the harness of the sensor wires in the engine bay and replaced them with the Speedhut leads. Also I wired and rewired the ignition switch.



Now that the wiring in the car is mostly done (minus the Sniper/Hyper Spark/Engine bay) we're moving on to building the motor.

As mentioned in the above link the short block from Ford Racing Final came in December. This last week we unwrapped the turkey and got it mounted to the engine stand. We had to clean and test the engine hoist since it has just been sitting in the corner of the garage for over a decade without being used. Still worked fine so that was nice. But of course we needed to run to the store to get some additional bolts and washers.

We also had planned to do the timing component install but I misplaced the assembly lube. I was surprised to find that none of the Napas, O'Reilys, or AutoZones had any. I finally found an Advanced Auto with a single bottle. So we'll get back to the assembly this week as I ran out of time on Sunday.

Here are some unbocking photos. My friend said we should have gone full Gen Z and done a youtube unboxing.


I thought it looked like a turkey or ham in the frozen food section.

[mrglaeser]

And onto the lift it goes







It's home for the next month or so

[mrglaeser]

Well now that it's time to work drive train it's time to update the task board.


5 tasks carried over. Which is better the last time I cleared the board.



Ok most of the new tasks are on the board, I'll keep adding to it for a bit.



Not much progress to report at the moment. Because I decided to build a short block up rather purchase a completed engine I'm learning slowly what does and does come in the various kits you buy (short block, top end kit, bolt kits, gasket kits, etc). I'm also learning there are few more differences between a 1969 302 and 5.0 based 347. Mostly I'm just missing things. Like the spider tray and lifter retainers, random bolts and nuts, etc. Since I'm busy at work right now I only have a few hours to work on the project each week and I find that I spend more than 1/2 that time figure out the next step, what is missing, and how to get it. That said, like everything else in this build, the next build would/will go much faster based on my learnings(probably should dream of the next project when this one is so far from the finish line).

So basically in the last 2 weeks I have... Drum roll please... Installed the Cam, Timing Gear, and Timing Chain. I also degreed the Cam.

I got to buy this nifty sprocket that allows me to degree the cam without installing the balancer or put torque on the Crank Shaft bolt.

It slips over the crank shaft and engages with the key to turn the motor. It has a knurl bolt to tighten against the Degree wheel. Pretty cool - I recommend. I got it on Amazon - it's made by Comp Cams.




Here it is in use. I'm not as happy with my cylinder bridge. There is no way to secure it to the block so I ended up just turning the block 90 degrees.

[mrglaeser]

I also inspected the heads, the lifters, push rods, rockers, oil pan, harmonic balancer and timing cover and made sure I have all the bolts I need, valve guides and rocker studs. So once I get a new spider tray and lifter retainers I should be able to get most of the engine build done. Though I should probably pull out the water pump, oil pump, and intake manifold as well.

[mrglaeser]

Not sure if I have to have a Fuel Eccentric. But I decided it is probably better to install one and not use then want to use the motor with a Carb + Mechanical pump and not have it. But continuing the theme of parts that don't come in kits when building up a short block here is another to add to the list.

[zarnold]

Yep, better to have it and not need it than visa-versa

[mrglaeser]

Got a new fuel pump eccentric and installed it today, plus torqued down the cam bolt.



Then I had some help putting the lifters, dog bones, and spider tray in.









The rest of the plan today was to check the valve to head clearance and hopefully bolt the heads down and install the rocker studs, push rods, push rod guides, and rockers today... So we put some clay in the first pistons recesses. bolted the head down. Set up the studs and guides for cylinder one...



and...



The push rods are too long. It looks like I was sent 351 pushrods by the supplier. I'm thinking this happened because their tech support said I need the 351 ARP head bolts for the boss block (and they seemed to fit fine) and when I ordered just ask for the swap. My guess is they saw 351 head bolts and also swapped in the 351 push rods which are 1.5 inches longer. So again I'll be waiting for parts as this becomes a very drawn out engine build.

[mrglaeser]

One more shot of the long push rods.

[mrglaeser]

Last weekend my younger daughter and I visited John Ibele and he gave us a nice tutorial on home powder coating, while also doing some sample parts for us. It was as usual great to hang out and learn something knew. Plus see some of the finishing work he is doing on his car.












Thanks again John!!!

[Mike.Bray]

Nice looking engine so far! You're going to have to measure the pushrod length with all of those aftermarket parts. Use something like one of these.

You're looking for a particular position and pattern on the valve tip, I'll let you Google & YouTube that part so you have nice visuals. This one from Summit is okay, I've seen better.

Mike

[mrglaeser]

Nice looking engine so far! You're going to have to measure the pushrod length with all of those aftermarket parts. Use something like one of these.

You're looking for a particular position and pattern on the valve tip, I'll let you Google & YouTube that part so you have nice visuals. This one from Summit is okay, I've seen better.

Mike

Thanks for the information Mike. The top end kit was supposed to take that all into account. I think the guys who packed up my order saw 351 head bolts which the Boss Block needs and thought I was building a 351 and sent the push rods for that. But after watching the video I think I will confirm the length when I get the ones that are supposed to be in the kit using the technique in the video above. Then if I don't see the pattern expected like in the video I'll stop get the checker and figure out the length.

[mrglaeser]

Received replacement push rods from my supplier. They didn't make any fuss just said send them back and we'll swap them. That is after I had them nearly 2 years. So I proceeded to install them on a cylinder and complete a Valve to Piston clearance check and verify the push rod length.

Here is a fun pic showing the difference in length. Also I realize I didn't send a pushrod back so I'll have to package it up and mail it back.


Here is the pushrod length test. Looks like the rockers are contacting the middle of the valve stem as expects so I'm calling this a pass.


Here is the Valve to Cylinder results. There is plenty of room so another pass.



And the heads go on..



on to the valve train


I did initially set the valve lash but felt I was over tightening so I backed everything off for now and plan to review the proper procedure and start over again next time I get out there. But it's starting to look like a engine.

[Justin]

Here it is in use. I'm not as happy with my cylinder bridge. There is no way to secure it to the block so I ended up just turning the block 90 degrees.

I was just catching up on your build. Just thought I'd ask. Did you degree your cam off the number 5 cylinder? Ford small blocks engine firing order are Right(Passenger side) bank 1-2-3-4, left bank 5-6-7-8. Right bank closest to the front is #1. 302HO/351W Firing order is 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8. I you try to set your dizzy up to fire #1 at the #5TDC I'm sure it won't work out.

[mrglaeser]

I was just catching up on your build. Just thought I'd ask. Did you degree your cam off the number 5 cylinder? Ford small blocks engine firing order are Right(Passenger side) bank 1-2-3-4, left bank 5-6-7-8. Right bank closest to the front is #1. 302HO/351W Firing order is 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8. I you try to set your dizzy up to fire #1 at the #5TDC I'm sure it won't work out.

Degreeing the cam is just measuring that cam lift happens at the correct time in the rotation of the engine and if not changing the timing by a couple degrees if necessary. It doesn't affect the firing order as far as I know. The timing is hard to mess up, in this case simply line up dot to dot on the timing gears. The timing set I had wouldn't even install until I had the gears, chain, dots, cam dowl, and chuck lined up perfectly. Additionally the hyper spark distributor I'm going to use has a tool to help set the timing when installing it. So as long as I wire the plugs correctly I should be good.

As for the Cam Degree -

Yes I did use number 5. I honestly don't know it matters as the lift/duration should be the same for each cylinder. It was also pretty much right on to what the card said it should be which gives me confidence.

I watched 1/2 dozen videos and they all used the front right cylinder. I don't remember them calling out the Number 1 cylinder but could have missed it. I mimicked the videos pretty much step for step. I guess next time I would do it on the other side but I'm not super worried that I would get a different outcome.

All of that said now I just did a search on videos to degree a cam including Ford and the three I found do show it on the #1 Cylinder. Wish they had been higher in the list I didn't think made a difference what engine the procedure is done on.

If anyone out there knows for sure that using the number 5 cylinder would give me a bad reading please let me know. It's not too late to start over, just a set of new gaskets.

[BUDFIVE]

If you are using the #5 cylinder and setting the degree wheel to #5 TDC then you need to be sure you are using the #5 intake lobe for Intake Centerline, Intake Open Angle and Intake Close Angle.

[BUDFIVE]

I’m trying to paste the right picture from my 347 build last summer to show #5 intake is the fourth lobe.IMG_0918.jpg

[Justin]

I'm sure the cam timing will be just fine.

Just looking at the picture, my mind goes to setting the pointer on the balancer at TDC off the #1. Plug wire location doesn't matter too much (as long as they are in the correct order) however different EFI setups use various pick ups to fire the injectors at the right time (some being in the dizzy). I have confidence that you'll have it sorted just right at the time of the first start.

[mrglaeser]

If you are using the #5 cylinder and setting the degree wheel to #5 TDC then you need to be sure you are using the #5 intake lobe for Intake Centerline, Intake Open Angle and Intake Close Angle.

Thanks BUDFIVE. Yes I did use the corresponding intake lobe for Cylinder #5. I had not counted lobes front to back but it was the one you point out in your photo.

[mrglaeser]

Continuing the fun adventure of learning as I go I attempted to install the Timing Cover a couple weeks ago only to find out that Ford Performance changed the bolt size for the lower 4 bolt's on the Boss Block. So the ARP kit I purchased from LMR didn't cover everything I needed. This was mentioned in the Bock's documentation but just barely. Nearly fine print. So i purchased a lot of different 3/8-16 in various lengths. If this happens to anyone else I think (2) 2 and 1/8 and 2 2 inch bolts will do the trick. I ended up using 2 1/4 bolts, 1 2 inch bolt, and one 1 3/4 bolt. They engaged with plenty of threads, and should work fine but "next" I'll have bolts that match a little better.



And yes I know the block is not the same 'Ford' blue as the timing cover, water pump, and oil pan. I painted them at home instead of at the shop. Had I realized I need to paint the block too I would have sprayed it all together. But a little brush on paint will make it all match.

The water pump went on pretty Easy next.



On to the fuel pump. Though I'm going to post this pick of the bottom end. Looks like who ever put the short block together took their time.


Looks like good clearance.





Finally having checking the clearance to for the crank, rods, and pick up I put on the oil pan. Everything seems to fit well, I turned the engine over and didn't here anything run or feel additional friction anywhere. I pulled the pan and looked at the interior none of the baffles were scuffed or scratched.

Not bad for a days work. I did have to chase some threads for the bigger oil pan bolts. But other than that this was a smooth day.



Smooth except when I was fitting the intake I found another bolt that needs the hole's threads dealt with. That will have to wait till later this week. Also the valve covers are really just on to keep junk out of the motor. I want to take them off when I prime the engine to make sure I see oil come up on both sides.

[mrglaeser]

Not sure if this is a normal milestone but I'm calling engine assembly done after this weekend.

First I brush painted the block in the correct blue to match the tins. Then I clear coated the aluminum and bare steel parts. I know things won't look new forever but the longer the better.


I know on anther project this bit of steel was a bit problematic.


Then I did a little baking. Pretty Simple Recipe, 1 Harmonic Balancer for 30 min at 225 f:


Pressed on/installed the balancer, installed the intake manifold and a finished motor. Here is the Glamor Shot (my friend said I should take the photo in portrait mode for affect what do you think).


While cooking the Balancer we decided to install the bracket and press on the pulley for the Power Steering. This took WAY longer than I expected. It went smoothly it just took forever.



Used a kit from Harbor Freight and off the vehicle it was a little hard to secure everything. Next week I'm hoping to get the engine off the engine stand and then install the flywheel, start to mock up the accessories, and fit the Bellhousing.

[zarnold]

Looks Great! Awesome work!

[John Ibele]

Matt, that just looks like an awesome motor and great progress. Wish I had your skills! Someday maybe I'll take the dive and build one up, at least from a short block. Until then I'll enjoy keeping tabs on your progress. Would like to be there when you fire it up!

[mrglaeser]

Ufffda it's been a month since my last post. I've been out of town a lot for work and spring break and the kids have had a lot of spring hockey. So one month later I finally got an evening in the garage. No major changes. But it was nice to get out there.

First I picked up the wheels from the powder coater. Can't wait to get tire's mounted.


I put the frost plug in the dipstick hole as the oil pan has one.


Temporarily installed the flywheel and steel separation plate.


Next I installed the bellhousing and measured it to confirm alignment.




Sure enough I need the offset dowels. So that's as far as I'm getting on that this week. If I can get back to the shop the list is still pretty long to get me to first start.

[mrglaeser]

Matt, that just looks like an awesome motor and great progress. Wish I had your skills! Someday maybe I'll take the dive and build one up, at least from a short block. Until then I'll enjoy keeping tabs on your progress. Would like to be there when you fire it up!

Thanks John. You will be welcome to come by and I'll let you know when. It's going to be mid summer I think at this point. I just paid the Tax man and it will be at least a month before I can order the transmission. Also I'm sure you have the skills to assemble a motor. You already did something as complicated as a rear end and some of you fabrication is really nice.