Projects Im getting Married! Project 46 ford begins!

Sometimes I would use a dab of 2-part epoxy or a hot melt glue gun to "tack" a part in place.

 

This morning I got the head pipe loosely bolted to the p***enger manifold and the two furthest bolts in the manifold started but the rest aren’t wanting to work. I think the bottom- the collector in header terms - needs to be pointing towards the oil pan more.

New plan is to un bolt it, loosely bolt the manifold to the head and then get the head pipe onto the manifold again. After wiggling it around this morning I think there’s enough play to make that work and after I filed all three of the holes in the flange for the studs to go threw it slips on pretty easy.

gonna give it a try Thursday morning. Even scrolled back almost ten years ago to when @porkn****** and I changed the heads on the old motor hoping I left clues to the dance required to get them on but no luck.

 

10 years is a long time. I wonder if we did not drop the exhaust, just the manifolds? We should have made notes. LOL

 

That seems feasible. I’m trying to remember to make notes this time lol. It’s the old car dance, take it apart put it back together and it won’t fit. Gotta remember which bolts in first etc I’ll get it… probably .

 

So you were getting married and building a car in 2011 when you started this thread. Without reading all 37 pages did you get married? How old are your kids now?

 

Can’t wait to hear how the first few miles go!!

 

In school lmao

 

So before I forget I got the p***enger side done after a total of 4 and a half hours of ****ing with it. I took the nuts off the head pipe flange and pushed the ring down the studs but not off. Then I manage d to get the four end bolts in working from the outer ends in. Then I spent the majority of an hour wiggling the manifold around, the head pipe, and even grabbing the drivers side of the y pipe to get the two longer center bolts started. I slipped the gaskets in and finger tightened the head pipe flange back together.

I left it all loose because the drivers side connection looks waaaaay off so I’m sure I’ll need to dance it all around.

got my exhaust flange gaskets/donuts today so that’s the next step.

 

Tuesday with the help of a floor jack and a ratchet strap I got the y pipe very very loosely bolted to the manifold and to the two front primary bolts in but I can’t seem to sweet talk the rest yet. It all lines up but the angle of the hole in the head and the bolt going threw the manifold aren’t quite playing nice.

Todays window to work on it fell apart so maybe this weekend but more likely
Tuesday I’ll get back to it. Hoping as it’s sitting it kinda settles some and plays nicer next time that’s what it did on the other side

 

Ok so went back to it last night. Jacked the exhaust up, wood blocked it in place so the jack leaking down didn’t have my chasing my tail. Put a ratchet strap a little higher and pulled the head pipe back just a hair more.

kept the manifold bolted to the head pipe but took all the manifold to head bolts out and used the ratchet strap to get it pretty close.

smacked it a few times and got the rear most
Hole lined up 100% via feeling with a pick and slipped the bolt in. It took!

the other 5 went right in!!

evenly snugged them down, slipped gaskets on and got them tight. Took a few turns on the manifold to head pipe bolts and pulled the strap and blocks. Nothing moved or made any nose! Success!

tightened the manifold bolts on the p***enger side and snugged the p***enger head pipe bolts as well.

( I’m interchanging head pipe, y pipe and cross over pipe interchangeably hopefully that’s not confusing now that I notice I’m doing that)

So now my only issue is the one stud that was broken and replaced with a bolt is very hard to get at. With a wrench I can get about a 1/8 turn at a time.

I jacked the car up onto ramps, chocked the rear tires and made sure the shifter was clocked all the way clock wise. I think if I use a long extension and maybe a joint I can get at the stubborn bolt from the bottom. Wait til tonight when someone else is home. Don’t like crawling under stuff when there’s no one around to hear it go wrong if I can avoid it.

stay turned this, hopefully, is the last big hurdle to driving around the block

 

Excellent news!

 

Gr*** is starting to turn green I gotta get this ****er making noise again

 

Got it done!

future note to self I used a deep well socket, the longest extension I have, the shortest knurled extension I have and a swivel just behind the socket and 5/6 of the nuts from the bottom.

one of the drivers nuts I used a ratchet wrench from the top side. Steering box was in the way from underneath.

the bolt I replaced the broken stud with bit me in the *** because you can’t fit an open wrench over the top of it. I have no idea how it’s coming apart next time. Probably have to take the manifold off the head and pull it all away from the block?

Anyhow my first solution was tiny vice grips holding the shank between flange faces while I ratcheted it tight. Then I found the thin, short open/closed wrench I found for the model A’s header/intake bolts and caught enough of the top of the bolt with the open side to crank it tight.

Phew! **** yeah.

good weekend! @Austin kays and @BigJoeArt lit off the new sbc in his purple buggy this weekend also. Good ****

 

I had to do something on my starter a couple of years back in winter, my solenoid jumper wire broke and I had to work on it alone. Access was real bad and I could have used an extra hand. To pull the starter, I have to lift the engine a few inches.

I had a real ****py long HF 1/4" drive extension and finally went to Ace and got a Craftsman set.. saved the day.

 

Can’t have to many tools!

 

Refresh my memory Tim wasn't the manifold you took off cracked. Any chance needing to manhandled the exhaust to connect it could have been putting extra stress on the manifold causing the crack after a bunch of heat cycles. Maybe I'm thinking of it wrong. Worth a thought though while it's still up in the air.

Glad you got it all sorted and back together. Just a thought I had.

 

The crack came from a friend hitting it with a dead blow hammer for a half an hour not realizing he wasn’t hitting the flange on the head pipe lol

 

Well got it off the ramp with a little jack slip spook but I think it’s ok. And using a cherry picker to get the floor out of the way got the shifter base plate 90% done. May try to finish the shifter tonight.

 

Go Tim go!!

 

You may want to heat the Y pipe red hot in the middle somewhere to relieve all the stress in it so it doesn't break a manifold. From your description it sounds like it was not bent perfectly.

 

Not a terrible idea.

 

Pics or it didn't happen

 

Between everything that’s going on if I stopped to take a photo I wouldn’t have had time
To do it lol

just imagine sketchy **** with a cherry picker and your half way there

 

I'm 68 and still buying new tools... go figure.

 

@bobss396 i always say tools are the perfect gift because even if we already have that tool we will be just as happy to get another one. No chance for failure gift

 

I'm pretty well blessed in regards to tools. I have a good array of 2nd and 3rd string ***ortments and keep a bag full in my old Ford. Someone at a cruise night has needed help a couple of times. We got a break through Gear Wrench at work, I picked up a couple of sets of 6-point combo wrenches, metric and SAE.

 

Got the trans cooler lines finished, a few little bolt ons and the rod that connects the shifter to the trans done this morning.

it’s a lokar and havnt ever been real happy with it. Need to mess with it a bit and get positive clicks/ detents in each gear. Seems if there’s a little bind in the connecting rod that the detents vanish. It’s never been great but I think I can ask **** with it for a while and get it better.

no fluid in the trans so I dont want to **** with it to much. Don’t know that a th350 cares if it’s empty or not rowing the shifter threw gears but to be safe let’s pretend it does. I’ll add fluid before I go further
Think the circled list is all that’s left to be back driving, with a red hood. Doesn’t need to be black to be driving. That’s the next round of dtuff

 

We had a big chalk board when I was racing, an easel type, was probably 5' x 7'. Dry erase boards are even better. Very wise to make checklists like that.

 

Yeah I’ve got a big marker board but I generally don’t break it down to each step on that or I’d run out of room.

I like to put “connect hoses, linkage and cables to engine” on the market board and then in the s**** list each one and the order it needs done. Helps me when I’ve got 20 minutes to get something done I don’t have to stop and think to long.

 

With the stock cars, we hung a clipboard above the windshield of each car. One side was mandatory tasks, the other was a wish-list. It helped with multiple people showing up to work, they automatically look at the list if nobody else was around.

My car, I should use a clipboard, I mostly write tasks on old cardboard I have laying around.