DrFishbone Engine Build Thread 2017

Thanks gentlemen!

My sister's birthday was yesterday so didn't do much outside after work....I did answer my nagging question about the valve cover vents...they WILL fit after the SC and IC pipes are installed. :D I might need tweak the outlets to point parallel to the valve covers to make it look better, but I think they'll clear without anything too crazy.

Thinking about hosting a steak dinner for anyone that can help this Sunday. ;) Need to see how far I can get by Friday...goal is to be ready for startup early next week.
 
I don't want to drag anyone from what they're doing...okay, maybe I do...but if anyone wants a steak dinner this Sunday, feel free to drop by. ;) If you get grease, rust, dirt or any other vehicular fluids on you, you can eat...otherwise cost is $50. :cool:

Don't feel obligated to come - I'll get the car done one way or another. Even if I have to take it to Jacob's house with a 12-pack and convince him his car is black now and needs the IC pipes redone again. :D

I'll be out there from 9pm-ish till 3-4am tonight and have been granted most of the day Friday (8am till 7:30pm or so) too...hopefully it will be down to IC pipes and odds-n-ends by then. Be cool to start it up while everyone is there, but chances are I'll forget something.

Don't know if I've mentioned it or not, but I've been working out of dad's garage, which is crammed full of projects, potential projects, former projects, and miscellaneous items that have sparked his creativity over the years....so there's not alot of room...bring yo lawn chairs. Looks like it's going to be a warm day...as long as you wear something with more coverage than speedo's, you're welcome to use the pool I put up this summer...lol....yes, it's not closed yet. ;)

So...for progress... found a maintenance issue last night. :mad: Although, maybe this contributed to the "floatiness" it's had the past few years after putting on the Gabriel shocks and cutting the springs.

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Starting to look pretty grubby under there again too. :rolleyes:

I got the accessory brackets touched up (removed some material left from some hacksaw mods and primed/paint those spots. Cleaned up the alternator, got the starter bolted back in and started working on my flux capacitor exhaust ports into the downpipes. I hope to have the under-car stuff done tonight or tomorrow morning, get the accessory brackets and related junk on the motor and have the FMIC mounted. Friday, I may be ready to start working on the FMIC pipes...we'll see. Hopefully by Sunday, it will be about ready for startup and the first 20miles break-in. :)
 
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Lots of progress on the SC since the last update….

Thursday night…..
I got the accessory brackets cleaned up, and touched up, installed..along with the accessories. I got the SS AN power steering hose (and look-alike for the return line) routed and cut to length. I have a power steering cooler that I plan to install near the horn location, but I have looped the line for now. Late Thursday night, I decided I did not want to install the VAPS / EVO on the PS pump, since I’m removed that system anyway. So, I was a little frustrated when I found I’d need another fitting to adapt to the metric-to-AN adapter. :rolleyes: Looks like a junkyard run is in order…which I didn’t have time for…save it for tomorrow and rethink it…

My awesome wife made a stencil for me too....so the valve cover got the first application. :D

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The rest of Thursday and bits of time on Friday were spent addressing multiple places where I wanted to “clean things up a bit” – whether it was a plug I don’t use anymore, harness that looked ratty, something that looked a little ugly, etc. I hope the overall engine bay reflects my love for the car after this.

Friday…
First thing I wanted to tackle was the power steering connection deal. It struck me as I woke up that most Ford cars don’t use the EVO, but they use a very similar (or the same?) PS pump….maybe I can just grab the adapter off another Ford…like one of the cars in my dad’s personal junkyard….90’s Ford Ranger and an 84 LTD out back both had the adapter! I swiped it off the Ranger and installed new seals included with the rebuilt PS pump….seals seemed a little loose though. :confused: Near the end of the day, after fitting everything together, I wanted to test the PS system for low / no pressure leaks. :mad: turned out the adapter leaks :mad: I’ll put it off again….hung a funnel and oil bottle underneath to catch the leaking power steering fluid….I’ll deal with it later. :rolleyes: Filled the new motor with break-in oil (15W40 Shell Rotella) and primed it with a cordless drill….scratch that….started smoking….a corded drill….whoops…started smoking too. Lol :eek: They’ll both be okay. ;) I would have got the cam sensor stalk installed, but I can find my homemade piston stop.  Stopped a little early and went swimming with the kids. 

Saturday night…
After thinking about the power steering leak some more, I figured I’d try the old seals off the Ranger – which I saved for this exact reason….FIXED IT! didn’t need to buy any new parts or run into the junkyard AND realy cleaned up the PS pump area of the engine bay! :cool:

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Got the injector harness cleaned up and wrapped, supercharger and inlet piping mounted, everything connected and fitted before 4am bedtime.

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With the radiator sitting in place.....

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Sunday….
First thing was to get the intercooler mounted….took a lot longer than it should have. Dad helped me out by welding up a couple of joints on the exhaust and hanging out with my little buddy Nathaniel. Set up Jacob’s chop saw with a more appropriate cutting wheel and made my first couple of cuts on the IC piping. Shame to cut something so pretty….lol.
I can’t remember what all I worked on Sunday morning…but Sunday evening, Jacob stopped by to help fit-up the IC pipes. (THANKS JACOB!!) We got about 2/3 finish….after some head scratching and chatting with Jacob, my plans changed just a little bit to hopefully make the pipes look very neat in the end. It did require cutting a big chunk of core support out of the lower radiator mount area….I had thought about cutting it out anyway. We got all the lower piping fitted up and tack-welded with the flux-core SS wire that I bought. It welded pretty good, but the flux makes it hard to tell. We were working in poor light / in the dark by that time, so we didn’t even try to chip the flux off the welds and see what they looked like. I’ll get my hammer and do that when it’s time to finish the welds I guess. Anyway….couldn’t have gotten near as far without Jacob’s help!
I had hoped to be done yesterday, but there’s still time. I’ll fit in car work whenever I have an hour here and there….next large chunk of time will be Thursday night….Then I have all day Friday. If it’s not ready to start-up after Friday, I might need to face the music. I’ve spent too much time and money on the car this year to rush it to the Shootout. Hmm…..might haul it there anyway though….lol. We’ll be representin’ either way though…Danielle is planning to race.  It’ll be the first time I’ll be in the pits full time, if so!
 
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What did you use to wrap the wire harnesses? I really need to do this to mine.

David Clark introduced me to it...hopefully it holds up over time. I think he may have used a 3M type...here's what I used:

http://www.tesatape.com/industry/automotive/applications/wire-harnessing

It's cheap too...I did the whole engine bay for $15, with plenty left over (except the very low harnesses...didn't want it to get oil soaked over time). I did scrub the whole harness good with plastic brushes and Dawn soap / water....let it dry..then wrapped it. If you were feeling lazy or didn't have almost a pound worth of oily road grim on everything, you could probalbly just wrap it up.

lol...I seriously had between 0.5 and 1 lb of grim I scraped off the subframe... :rolleyes:
 
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I'm sure if you hauled it you would get some help wrenching the in the parking lot of the hotel. :) Looking good so far!

Thanks Scott! And yes, that'd be the plan! :D

Kids aren't coming this year, so I can stay out late with a clear conscious. ;)

Would I be gutsy enough to race it on Sunday though? hahah...I don't know about that.
 
How are you running your PCV you got that cab style breather thingie how does it work.

Old school magic, Ricardo. ;)

PCV system is gone...I wanted to experiment with this. I'm sure there are others that have tried it in the club (Kevin Leitem is the only one I know of for sure though...looked like Casey might have some on his monster too), but it's an alternative to the PCV system / catch can, valve cover breathers, etc. Crankcase evacuation.

Honestly, I wanted to test it out, then start talk about it...I wanted to try it on my own to get the thrill of experimentation more than anything.
Surprisingly no one has really asked about it till now! It's simple and very cheap. It probably would not work with alot of street cars though. It has a tube and check valve inserted into exhaust that uses exhaust flow to generate vacumm via the Venturi effect.

Two big drawbacks that I'm aware of for most cars (maybe even mine):
1) it requires an un-restrictive, high-flow exhaust. I have basically have four straight-through mufflers (glass-packed style) and an x-pipe, and that's it. Obviously, there is at least a little restriction here, so that makes me feel like I'm experimenting....lol.
2) It's not emissions-legal....but us rednecks in Indiana don't have to worry about passing testing / inspections and my cat's .... fell off.....awhile back anyway.
3) Fitment might be a little tough on our cars. I was redoing the FMIC anyway, so was able accommodate the trickier one on the driver's side.
4)Others???

BUT the pros:

1) slight vacuum whenever there is exhaust flow, increases with increasing exhaust flow....check valve prevents exhaust gas from backflowing, so you always have your crankcase vacuum vented (like PCV system)..assuming there is enough vacuum at idle anyway. Since I have a solid-lift motor now, I wanted to be able to open up the crankcase ventilation somehow without spending alot of money on a heavy pump nor have a catch can to mess with (not to mention, they're not cheap)
2) This is cheap!...if you can install yourself, it's like $40 for everything you need
3) I was able to delete my valve cover manifold baffles, since the cap is baffled. I've heard of the modified ones (for rocker clearance) coming loose
4) You can remove your PCV system....AND keep oil out of your intake tract (eliminate the mess, but more importantly, not add to the factors that can lead to detonation)...AND potentially free up a few ponies at high rpm (should act like a weak vacuum pump for the crankcase)
5) It's different

So anyways, I'm doing it....it's too late to change now. :)
 
You can do it! I am looking forward to racing you this year so get it done!

I've thought about sandbagging the work so that I can sit out this year...give me time to make sure I can beat you next time.....lol. ;):D That Whipple is a trump card though, I think. :)
 
So...Dad came out to help me Monday night - I had planned to finish the IC tube routing and get it tacked together. Instead, I was in worry mode...worried one of the bends wouldn't fit under the hood, worried the crankcase breather was in the way, worried the tubes would rub everywhere...so we spent about 2hrs just staring and measuring things....made a couple of cuts and then had to quit for the night. I let it simmer in my brain yesterday morning and afternoon and went right back at it yesterday night and got almost all of the tubes fitted up. Just have a tiny short section to cut and clean up. :)

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If we can get good welds with the SS Flux core MIG wire, this should look very slick. :cool:

New goal for start-up is Friday late afternoon. Still have to finish.....
- IC Tubes
- Radiator & IC brackets
- Modify FP Wiring
- Install Cam Stalk
- Add Driver Evac Tube
- Install Driveshaft
- Fill transmission, install shifter
- Reinstall Interior stuff I took apart
- Install Fuel Tank
- Weld Vent tubes
- Install Exhaust
- Install header panel, bumper, etc. (hopefully it all fits with the wiring re-route)
- Bleed Brakes & leak-check
- Buy several gallons of E85
- Finish new radiator hoses, Fill Radiator
- Check Work
- Clean Fuel filter

I have a feeling there will be a couple of leaks....brakes, power steering, coolant. That's my main worry...I think she'll start right up though....hopefully the tune is close enough for the first 20 miles of break-in.
 
Got a TON of stuff done this weekend, but still haven't started the car yet. Special thanks to Dan Thornsberry and Jacob helping on Thursday night!
(Jacob was there till after midnight even!) Even though it was only hours of work you guys put in, I'm sure it saved me at least an entire day! :)

Got the intercooler pipes welded up and was painfully reminded about the problems with flux wire...the flux from previous welds can create leaks when it's chipped away. :( The pipes had numerous pin-hole leaks, but would still hold pressure for several minutes. I spent all day on those pipes Friday...Dad helped me in the morning too. Friday evening, I finally drew the line and left them as is..."good enough" . :( So anyway, my welding experience with piping/tubing and stick welding, now flux-core MIG says, never do it again, unless you just can't go solid. The welds are going to look awful for the Shootout, but I've always been more about performance before looks anyway.....so please excuse the ugly welds....I'll clean them up and fix the remaining pinholes later.

Got the exhaust, IC pipes, misc other things installed....all that's left is the driver's down-tube! I should be able to finish that tonight after picking up the trailer I will be borrowing. Right now, it looks like start-up Tuesday evening, barring any more hold-ups. Don't want to try it at night really :rolleyes:

Got the old laptop out and fired it up....BE still seems to like me....we'll see if it still likes the QH and my car tonight too, hopefully.

I'm going to see what the AFR's look like with E85....I suspect I will be up the 90% duty cycle with the ratio that I want....looking at a log, last year I was at 91% @ 5600RPM and 10.6AFR. That was richer than I'd like though. I think between the fuel uncertainty, new engine, new transmission and other unknowns that come up when you don't drive a car for an entire year, I'll probably plan to de-tune it for now. If everything goes better than planned for start-up, maybe I'll try to whip up a new gasoline tune.

A little disappointing....but still plan to be there and race. :)
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That engine bay really cleaned up, Matt! Everything looks great! I apologize for not making it down to help, i've been doing some thrashing myself.

I would be careful on corn with E85, it can really dilute the oil whenever trying to set an initial tune. I would figure fueling out with gas and whenever you get AFR sorted out on gas then go to E85. You dont want to start washing down your cylinders and hazing bearings. You'll want her breaking in nicely.

I hope you have a great time, you put in some good work; I love that passion, son! DO WORK!
 
That engine bay really cleaned up, Matt! Everything looks great! I apologize for not making it down to help, i've been doing some thrashing myself.

I would be careful on corn with E85, it can really dilute the oil whenever trying to set an initial tune. I would figure fueling out with gas and whenever you get AFR sorted out on gas then go to E85. You dont want to start washing down your cylinders and hazing bearings. You'll want her breaking in nicely.

I hope you have a great time, you put in some good work; I love that passion, son! DO WORK!

Thanks Casey! No problem on making it down...thanks for the moral support. :) I hear ya on the wash-down possibility....maybe I'll intentionally lean-out the tune and work towards richening it.

I would start-up with 93, but the tune started-up great for the last couple of years and ran great. I did not change the fuel system, except for the changing out the old AFPR with a stock FPR. It appeared the AFPR was set to behave as a stock one though.....got me thinking now though.....

Intake is all the same, so MAF curve should be close.
 
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Except perhaps a couple of tune changes to avoid cylinder wash-down.... 100% ready for start-up and break-in tonight!
 
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