Dietrich Boy's in AZ - This might take a while.

[Justin]

Hey there friends!

So I guess it's time to start my long journey of documenting my first build. My two sons will be helping along the way. They are 13 and 11 as I make this thread. I'll start here with a little back story. When I was a child my father always spoke about the Cobra. He told stories of its successes and made sure to point them out if they happen to be at a car show. He was in high school during the rise of Shelby American so I'm sure many of you can relate in some ways to the influence the Cobra had on him. Fast forward to when I was in high school ('94) and I was able to buy a 1989 Mustang LX with the 5.0HO in 1993. This was when magazines were KING of media and marketing. I had multiple subscriptions, and each month read most from cover to cover. MM&FF, Super Ford, Hot Rod, Car Craft (one of my favs) and Popular Hot Rodding to name a few. I would spend hours in the supermarkets late at night (back when they were open 24hrs) just reading magazines. I can't remember when exactly but I do remember in the mid 90's reading about FFR. Probably in Kit Car Magazine or something but I know they were in other Ford mags after that too. In fact, I have a 1999 MM&FF on the shelf. I bet there is an ad in it. I did make it into MM&FF with my 1995 Mustang Cobra. Maybe in 2002 or something. Any who's, I have been eyeballing a FFR for a LONG time but until now I just couldn't justify the cost and time for such a toy.

So a few years ago I sold my ski boat (retired that hobby for a while) and I'm sitting on some fun money. I decided I needed to teach the boys a little more depth into the world of mechanics and what better way than the simplicity of a FFR Roadster. Last November I started buying some parts for the engine build. Since I have a vast knowledge of the SBF I just stuck with that. And with my 'go big or go home' attitude (slightly tamed by age and wisdom) I bought some goodies. I'll go into details on that later.

The master plan is a complete MK4 kit. IRS, Wilwoods, electric steering and eBrake, 18" wheels (undecided), build my own drop trunk, rear battery in a fender, AC/heater (11" of rain a year in Oro Valley but it gets HOT), 427 Hardtop, and a HUGE list of upgrades or changes.

So from here I'm going to see about figuring out how to insert photos (hosting site) so there are no thumbnails.

Cheers,
Justin, Jaxon and Griffin

[Justin]

[Justin]

One of the first purchases was the engine block. These were hard to come by because of Covid, my guess, but I did find one. M-6010-BOSS35195. Fun fact, my old engine from my '95 was a Dart Iron Eagle 8.2 That engine was a 363ci and had a large turbo on it. It was a street car and made over 1000hrspwrs. Way back in 2004. This one will not be so obnoxious. Only a 427ci NA.

The block came out of the crate with a LOT of ugly casting flash. The Dart didn't need anything but some paint. This block would take some work.

[John Ibele]

Congrats on pulling the trigger and welcome to the fun! I love hearing about what seed got planted years ago which led to a purchase today. Great that you're involving your boys, mine joined when they could and learned a bunch. And I had fun in every year of my multi-year build. In fact, although this is year two on the road, I've still not graduated. I look forward to updates in your build thread.

[Mike.Bray]

I see you have screw in freeze plugs. Be sure and install new O-rings at final assembly, don't ask me how I know....

[Justin]

After some grinding, cutting and filing the block looked like it should. I'm not going for a Ridler Award so I don't plan to chase perfection. I'm hoping the car will get driven. Road, track, strip, shows and cruises are not off the table.

Using a sanding flapper wheel on a grinder and my ¼" Milwaukee bit whizzer I began the process of turning cast iron into iron dust.


While working on producing the iron dust I decided to file the "Ford Racing" logo to see if it would be a nice touch to the finished product. Probably not.


This process took a while. Sanding and grinding while trying to make it look like I might know what I'm doing.


Oh look! Another casted font set. Why not file it flat? I mean it will look great while hiding behind the starter under the car.

After blowing the grit off I loaded the 200lb chunk and off to the machine shop for round one.

[Justin]

Congrats on pulling the trigger and welcome to the fun! I love hearing about what seed got planted years ago which led to a purchase today. Great that you're involving your boys, mine joined when they could and learned a bunch. And I had fun in every year of my multi-year build. In fact, although this is year two on the road, I've still not graduated. I look forward to updates in your build thread.

Thank you! I'll post some more about some of my old car roots when I have some time. I was heavy into the car scene for about 14 years before deciding I needed a break and switching gears to becoming an extreme athlete.

[Justin]

I see you have screw in freeze plugs. Be sure and install new O-rings at final assembly, don't ask me how I know....

My bigger question is, should I hunt town a tool truck to find an Allen wrench/socket big enough to snug it down. Right now the o-rings are snuggling their plug partners in a box with the dowel rings.

[gbranham]

Congrats, and great engine choice. I went the same route.

Tranny4.jpgBlock5.jpgBlock6.jpg

[Justin]

Thanks! Where did you get that nifty engine buggy?

[gbranham]

Thanks! Where did you get that nifty engine buggy?

Summit. SUM-918034. $93. I needed it once I was done assembling my engine and was ready to bolt up the transmission.

[Cobraman]

I just started my build this last weekend and I also have this same add in one of my ol magazines this is what got me hooked. Looking forward to see your results.

[Justin]

The block I could get my hands on was the 9.5 deck standard bore. So the machine shop checked the crank bore before putting the block into their CDC machine. It's a 5 axis machine but the owner at Racer's Edge in Tucson does a LOT of porting work as well. That side of the business is Air Flow Solutions. He said it was easiest to bore the cylinder that way. It was cool to watch him set it up and punch them out to 4.125" The was a LOT of material removed.



After the block was decked to 9.500" it came out of the machine and I installed the torque plate before getting a final hone.



After a wash in the parts cleaner I took the block home to check all the bearing clearances before returning the block for cam bearing install and a final cleaning. Here you can see I was getting the bearings installed to measure the inside diameter.


And after the rods were done I moved to the crank journals and finally checked the end play. .005"

[Justin]

The block went back to the machine shop to have the cam bearings installed after a final wash (I worked on the casting flash some more.) I also filed the rings so I could have the rotating assembly zero balanced. The stroker kit is from Scat. Forged 4" stroke crank with 6.200 h-beam rods and Diamond Pistons. An aluminum ATI DAMPER and Ram Aluminum flywheel is used. I bagged the block in a fresh bag after the wash and took it home for immediate paint. I masked off the surfaces and used an engine etching primer before a few coats of "Old Ford Blue" and a clear top coat. I'm not sure why I went with Old Ford Blue. I guess it just wasn't quite as "royal blue" as the other option. After a couple days of curing I used a brush and coated some motor oil on all the exposed iron. I also installed the freeze plugs (with o-rings), oil galley plugs, a few accessory oil plugs and the cam plug. From there it was time to build the short block. My oldest son was hands on, while my youngest just wanted to watch and take some photos.

Here you can see the main bearings are installed and lubed with Lucas Assembly Lube.


Then I dropped the crank in. After the crank was laid into place I showed the boys about the main caps and their bearings. We spoke about the studs, torque lube, and how to use a torque wrench. The main studs and spayed cap bolts are ARP 12pt pieces.




When you only weigh 95lbs... 80lbs on a ⅜" torque wrench can be a bit of a struggle. Final torque was 110 ft-lb using a ½ drive wrench.

[Blitzboy54]

Thanks for posting that print ad. We are the same generation. Magazines were it for sure. I had motor cross mags stacked 10 high in my room. Really brings back some memories.


Congratulations on your purchase and welcome aboard.

[JohnnyB]

Thanks for posting that print ad. We are the same generation. Magazines were it for sure. I had motor cross mags stacked 10 high in my room. Really brings back some memories.
Congratulations on your purchase and welcome aboard.

Yeah, that ad really brings back some memories. I met Greg "The Wheelie Guy" Lapoint at a Fun Ford weekend at Norwalk dragstrip in 1999. Checked out his car and the rest as we say is history. It was definitely a different and exciting time for Factory Five. It's been a great journey. Met a lot of good people and its been fun to watch all the improvements along the way.

Justin, I hope you and your boys enjoy it as much as I have.

Some pics of Greg's car from 99.
IMG_2687_2.jpg
Greg_w_car_big.jpg
Gregs_engine_big.jpg

[BUDFIVE]

Justin, I’m enjoying all the engine detail and magazine talk. I must be about 15 years older than you-I built my first motor in 1979-1980, a 350 Pontiac for my 1970 Firebird. Enthusiast media was all magazines and parts were found at local speed shops and in a few catalogs-Perf. Automotive Wholesale and yes, Summit Racing. The 347 I built in my current build has many parts from Summit. And I still use the old Craftsman Pointer-style torque wrench from 1979 for the first 2 torque steps on mains and rods-still great for rocking the fastener to spread the thread lube. Welcome to the forum and thanks for reminding me of the good ole days.

[Justin]

Thanks fellas. It's been a slow progress. I told myself a couple years ago that this was the next big project. It's been in progress for over a year now. But that just means I have been purchasing engine parts as I find some deals. And when I find time between work, coaching my kids football(soccer) teams and being a GenZ adult (always on the go) time is limited. To top that off I'm adding a wall in my garage to separate the 3rd stall from the main stall. It gets HOT in AZ, so I want a space I can work without wiping sweat from my eyes as I yell profanities because I can't find the tool I JUST PUT DOWN!

After we finished the crank shaft we moved to the pistons. I discussed with the boys how the ring gap is set and why it's has specific clearances. How the rings move in the cylinder and break in procedures. Showed them the ring filing tool and how it works to satisfy some of the never ending questions. I won't bore you with a bunch of photos but my son tapped the pistons into the bore while I guided them onto the crank. The pistons I used were from Diamond. I'm so glad I hung onto the engine building tools from back in the day. The ring compressor sleeve from my old 363 was so awesome to use again.


After getting all the pistons and rods into their home we installed the oil pump and pickup. Then did a quick pan test fit.



I slid the camshaft into place. Nothing too crazy 242/246 @ .050" .595/.595 lift, 110LSA. I installed one head, TFS 11R 205cc, and the short travel hyd. roller lifters. This was the second time really, as I had to measure the piston to valve clearance, and pushrod length. Again, thankfully I had the tools for this in the bin marked "engine building". Pushrods, roller rockers and then let my son do the other side.

[Justin]

Story time;
It was a rare treat to have a big race promoter show up out west in Arizona. Fun Ford Weekend came out a couple times and I think the NMRA once or twice. I participated in both FFW events. I ran my 1995 Mustang in the True Street Class. 30 mile cruise and then a couple runs on the strip to win the prize. Well, in 2003 the differential exploded (literally) on the starting line. The car made about 650hp to the tires in that trim. Since I was out of the race I decided to put the car into the car show on Sunday. I cleaned it up and rolled it to the show area Sunday morning. It was a great day with many friends and loads of laughs. I don't remember a whole lot of the weekend but I do remember watching the Pro 5.0 and Outlaw finals. Then jogging over to the car show awards that had already started. Just as a guy turns up and hears his name being called alarm bells started ringing. I was sure my car was in the way or something. Nope, they awarded me with the "Best Engine" of Show award. The old guy handed me this ridiculous 24" tall trophy that reminded me of the prize my baby sister would win at beauty pageants when I was about 10. Turning up late was kind of embarrassing. But what was a fella supposed to do? There was racing going on. They handed out the rest of the "Best of_____" trophies. Ya know, interior, paint and what has it. They handed on old man with a giant 'Best of Show' trophy and then came the last award. The Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords Magazine Editors Choice Award. Yep, you guessed it, I was handed that plaque. Never in a million years would I have thought that would happen. I mean there were some REALLY shiny and fancy cars there. With that award came a feature in the magazine. My mind was BLOWN. So about a TWO years later, they wrote a feature with a LOT of mistakes but it was still very cool and is one of my favorite memories.

[Justin]

What a day! Seemed like a long one for sure. I'm getting closer to getting the garage done. I have one last round with the drywall mud and then baseboards, door trim and paint. Then I can install the cabinets. Not really that fun to talk about but I told myself I wouldn't order the kit until this project was complete. I have the rest of the month off so I'm hoping that I will be able to order the kit before the end of the year. Biggest question is... MK4 or MK5?


I also spent some time on the engine. A few months ago I installed the intake, fuel rails and injectors, thermostat housing, and the valve covers I bought from "Papa". I used some nice ARP SS 12pt hardware and was sure to use anti-seize. I have had the engine on a stand taking up a huge amount of space in the garage for about 4 months now. Wrapped in a big bag in its various stages.

I've gone back and forth about what I was going to do for the accessories. Jones? CVF? March? Eddie's? BluePrint? Holley just released a new system. It looks very compact, but I don't need power steering (going electric assist). I decided to go with Billet Specialties. Their Tru Trac system isn't crazy "hot rod" but still pretty fancy. I'm still a little torn about how I want it to look in the end. The whole kit came polished. And if there is one thing about all polished/chrome or all black is the details get lost. There is no depth in my opinion. So, I painted the fancy polished timing cover and the factory water pump the same color as the block. My son went a little crazy with the RTV but in the end it wasn't too bad.


The kit uses a '94+ 5.0 water pump.



After snugging the timing cover and water pump down I was FINALLY able to install the Aviaid Oil Pan.


The is still a LOT of polish going on. I'm still on the fence whether I powder paint the main bracket black. And maybe the fan on the alternator. That would break it up a bit. I don't mind the pulleys too much. The belt helps there.

[Justin]

As I sit here in the wee hours of the morning, because sleep can be an elusive prey sometimes, I have thought about the many build threads I have read thus far. So many have info that might not be relative to everyone but if it helps one person then it should be said. That said, I have a few things I noted in my mind as thing that 'might' help some poor soul in the future.

1. M-6010-BOSS351 block. As of now I have not started the engine but I would like to state that this block needed quite a bit of final machining. Everything was pretty tight and/or long. The block requires specific cam bearings, Part Number: M-6261-J351. It also required 2 -6AN o-ring plugs for the oil galley. I'm not sure why these were not included. The block did come with -4AN plugs for all the auxiliary ports. It also came with alignment dowels for the heads, timing cover and bell housing. The hardware that mounted the main caps was just grade 8 bolts. So I bought ARP Chromoly Bolts 642-2500 for the splayed cap holes. For the main studs ARP Main Stud Kit 154-5403 worked just fine. If you have a rear sump pick-up oil pan you will need a different stud kit.

2. Ford Racing Boss351 Block with a Scat 427 rotating assembly. The rotating assembly cleared all the cylinder bores just fine. There was one small area where the oil pump mounts that was a little tight. Like maybe .050". So I clearanced that quickly and easily with a cutting bit on my Dremel.

3. Ford Racing Boss302/351 Head studs. The standard small block Ford studs are too short to use with this block. This information was not on the internet to my knowledge. I searched down the rabbit hole for a while before finally calling ARP. ARP Part number 155-4201. These studs fit the 390/428 FE blocks. They are about an inch longer than the SBF studs.

4. ATI Damper. I've never used this damper in the past. Probably won't ever use them again going forward. The part required a tiny about of machining to get it to fit over the crank snout. It is press fit. It's in the instructions that this is required. I've use a few other SFI certified dampers in the past and have never had this issue.

5. Pushrod length. There are a HUGE amount of variables that come into play. But what I have found is that most 351W blocks with the 9.5" deck will want a pushrod somewhere around 8.700". With this information you can buy the appropriate size tool to measure the pushrod length for your application. I ended up at 8.750"

Obviously this is just the tip of the iceberg that is sure to come but as of now these are the things that I feel are worth sharing.

[gbranham]

My Boss 427 shortblock was missing water jacket drain plugs. After some back and forth with the Ford engineers, they sent me the correct ORB plugs the 2nd time. They were scratching their heads over this one; allegedly, they should've been installed when the short block was assembled. It caused them some concern over their QC practices.

Engine Buildup2.jpg

[Justin]

My Boss 427 shortblock was missing water jacket drain plugs. After some back and forth with the Ford engineers, they sent me the correct ORB plugs the 2nd time. They were scratching their heads over this one; allegedly, they should've been installed when the short block was assembled. It caused them some concern over their QC practices.

Engine Buildup2.jpg

Yeah, weird for sure. I had those plugs. They are the same as all the other oil plugs. The main galley plugs are a bit bigger and were not in the box. It wasn't hard to source them online just a minor inconvenience.

I have 3 choices for an oil level dipstick right now. HA! One in the block (I'm going to use an expansion plug for that) one 1/8NPT port in the timing cover, and a standard ¼ NPT port in the Aviaid Oilpan I do plan to use.