big block to go in ashley's zephyr

[mygasser]

he took it down to manston sunday and apart from it not being quick enough (are they ever? lol) it ran nice and cool all day even when the track was quiet and he was hot lapping it.
the car's back in my garage so we can do the rest of the work.... cam and lifters, timing set, fenderwell headers and a new flex fan.
neil.

[mygasser]

the engine is mostly stripped now for the cam swap and header build. just the timing set and cam left to remove. the timing chain is stretched so much i'm amazed it hasn't jumped any teeth, we got to it just in time it seems.
neil.

[mygasser]

BUGGER!!! the timing set is boxed wrong. part number's right on the box so i can't blame the 'picker' at rock auto, but this small block chevy timing set just won't fit the ford fe engine
i just ordered a replacement, this ones an edelbrock true roller set on 'clearance' so actually cheaper than the other set.
neil.

[mopar_mark]

BUGGER!!! the timing set is boxed wrong. part number's right on the box so i can't blame the 'picker' at rock auto, but this small block chevy timing set just won't fit the ford fe engine
i just ordered a replacement, this ones an edelbrock true roller set on 'clearance' so actually cheaper than the other set.
neil.

I ordered a couple of Trans Stators, arrived really quickly from the US last week. Both had the right degree fins and correct number of fins as per my request. Turns out they are BB & not BBX like I ordered. More suited for a Chevy, not my Mopar.

So irritating, hopefully replacements will arrive quickly

[mygasser]

BUGGER!!! the timing set is boxed wrong. part number's right on the box so i can't blame the 'picker' at rock auto, but this small block chevy timing set just won't fit the ford fe engine
i just ordered a replacement, this ones an edelbrock true roller set on 'clearance' so actually cheaper than the other set.
neil.

I ordered a couple of Trans Stators, arrived really quickly from the US last week. Both had the right degree fins and correct number of fins as per my request. Turns out they are BB & not BBX like I ordered. More suited for a Chevy, not my Mopar.

So irritating, hopefully replacements will arrive quickly

to be fair it's only the second time rockauto have f***ed up in all the orders i've ever made. both times it was on parts that were cheap enough to replace and i just put the wrong ones in the swapmeet pile for next march, lol.
neil.

[mygasser]

while waiting for the timing set we decides to swap the 59 year old 352 valve springs for the nice new 428 cobra jet ones. our hope to do them in situ didn't pan out as the rear ones each side were too close to 'stuff' so it was 'off with it's heads', lol. those new springs with dampers have much more poundage than the old ones for sure. this should elininate any valve bounce which is good. oh and of course we replaced the broken up hard as rock (used to be rubber) valve guide seals too. with the heads off the bores become visible and wow! they're really good with no lips. it must've had servicing when needed, be low-ish mileage and had a careful driver in the 66 galaxie it came from. the head gaskets were still the original single layer tin ones too.
more soon
neil.

[mygasser]

the heads and block fac es are all cleaned and we refitted and torqued the heads in place. the replacement timing set should be here tomorrow fingers crossed so we can keep going with the rebuild.
neil.

[mygasser]

the edelbrock timing set and the timing cover (with new seal) are refitted as is the inlet manifold, carb and fuel pump. we're getting there but can't do too much at a time as it's too bl00dy hot in the garage even with the fan blowing at us and both doors and the windows open.
neil.

[mygasser]

did some more on the zephyr today. the engine top end's back together bar rocker covers so we can check oiling when the system gets primed. the sump and oil pump are now removed ready to swap in the new high volume pump. not much more to do now before we build fenderwell headers.
neil.

[mygasser]

the new oil pump's fitted along with the sump. it sounds easy said like that but was more involved than it seems. due to the engine fitment in relation to the crossmember and steering rack the sump would (once unbolted) drop about 1 1/2" but wouldn't 'come out'. so the oil pump bolts were undone 'til it dropped into the sump at which point it was possible to get them both out. not too bad to remove but the refit was a 'lot' more awkward. we glued the sump gasket to the sump and let that sit while the oil pump was checked and primed. with the pump bottom plate removed we packed the gears with vaseline (just like with a rover v8) to help the pressure come up quicker. the pickup was then fitted to the pump and the pump gasket stuck to the pump with a smear of vaseline. then we sat the pump/pickup in the sump, sat the sump up on the rack and fiddled the pump up into place and started/tightened the 2 bolts..... through the 1 1/2" gap. we'll prime the system before refitting the dizzy so there's plenty of oil flying about when it first starts and the cam/lifters are broken in.
neil.
ps we pulled a couple of end/main caps to check the bearings and they seem good, all nice and grey still with no scoring.

[mygasser]

the new oil pump drive is fitted and the oil system is primed, the dizzy is refitted and timed too. the rocker covers and radiator to fit and it's ready for a first fire up
well.... after the headers are made it will be, lol.
neil.

[mygasser]

last night (too hot in the daytime) we did some more on the zephyr. rocker covers fitted and a few little fiddly jobs done (throttle return springs, coil wires etc) and the 3 radiator tubes the straightened flex fan nicked (when it bent itself again) were sealed up with a couple of layers of araldite crystal clear. that fan's gone up the tip now and we found a ford 5 blade flex fan 'in stock' so we fitted that.
more soon, but in this heat it's evenings only.
neil.

[mygasser]

the rad' is now spaced up and forward as much as it can be. the fan is now at it's closest point to the rad' a little over an inch away. it was still bl00dy hot when we went out there at 8pm too!
neil.

[mygasser]

today we started on ashley's headers. we have a couple of pairs of small block ones at 1 5/8" and a couple of pairs at 1 3/4" which as it's a big block we thought were better suited. especially as one pair were stainless fe ford ones. so we didn't need the new flanges ash had bought so they'll go 'in stock' for later. with the flanges cut from the fe set leaving about an inch stub of tube at each port we got them bolted to the heads. the driver's side had to have the divider cut out between the rear 2 cylinders as the steering column will pass through the header there making removal and fitment easier. we cut the collector away too giving us a set of tubes to play with. we also cut the flanges from the other larger set (big block mopar) as well as their collectors. more tubification next, lol.
neil.

[mygasser]

we're getting there on the worst (steering) side
neil.