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Project 532 Gydyup

73K views 303 replies 28 participants last post by  nickbay 
#1 ·
I finally got around to modifying my trans cross member to accept the BB and toploader combo, copied the 429 Boss picture a bud sent me. The repro part was 900, I built this for $4.00.

Once the engine and tranny were sitting on their mounts, I went ahead and mocked up the headers. They went on so much easier than the Windsor Hooker big tubes I had. With the towers notched, I have plenty of room to get to the bolts and plugs, also have plenty of room for either mechanical clutch or hyd.










 
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#3 ·
Valve Covers

I really wanted to use the Ford motor sport valve covers but thought they would be too tall. Looks like yours fit fine. I used some chrome Edelebrocks but yours look way better and leave tons of room for roller rockers. Looking at the crossmember under the engine oil pan it appears that your engine isn't sitting down any futher than mine. Crites motor mounts?? I may have to break out the cheque book:)

Looking good, keep the pics coming!
 

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#4 ·
They are Crites, the older ones though so it sits up higher. I actually had tried Fab valve covers but they were gigantic, so I wound up with these.
GREAT deal, still a pair on Race Junk for 140 bucks, brand new.
The headers I got from BlownMach down in Texas, also the mounts too.

Thanks, this is fun. I am really surprised and pleased that this is actually easier to work on than the SB with the big tubes.
 
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#6 ·
Shouldnt, I have tons of room, these are pretty common on other 460 swaps as well.
They are the regular FMS cast covers, only diff is the chrome finish. A steal at 140 brand new for a 385 buck set of covers, Race Junk, one set left.
 
#8 ·
yes, the eng is almost an inch fwd from the small block locations, reason I had to modify the mounts.
I have done the measurements with the rad (Griffin 4 row) and timing over, I had quite a bit of inches remaining (cant recall) but I am going with Mesier electric and electric fans. If need be I can use pushers. But I think it will clear, whats a BBF mech water pump occupy for real estate, if I had that number I could do the math. Only thing I have is the SBF pumps.
It may be just me but it looks like your motor mounts also put the engine further ahead? What's your plan for rad and fan. It might be fairly tight.
 
#9 ·
5 5/8" to the face of the flange without the backing plate. The shaft probably sticks out another 3/4" or so.
 
#10 ·
Thanks Tommy, I using the 5 3/8 and 3/4 plus 2 1/4 for the timing cover, gives me 8 5/8s of pump/timeing cover - measuring frm block face at the cam and crank I have 9 1/2 top and 9 1/4 at the bottom. Leaves me a bit of room, using pusher electrics I can run a mech pump or a smaller electric.

Also, I could still modify the new Rad support I just put in (not really wanting to do that) and buy an extra 2 1/4 inches buy cutting out the stock mounting tabs. Its going to be a bit tight but good. Thanks for the numbers, interesting the SBF time cover and pump takes up more room than the BB.
 
#13 ·
Hotrod, waas up! Yes, its getting there, the VCs were a steal - I love a bargain.
now I just have to build this beast. Come by sometime, check it out.
Chris
 
#15 ·
While waiting for Crites to fab up a bunch of frame mounts, so I can finish the eng/trans mock up, I figured I would press forward with the body work. Now that I have new front aprons, rad support and crossmembers up front, the repairs left to tackle are de rusting the drip rails, re skinning the doors, and fixing what I call the $5,000 dent in the passenger door and rocker. If your not a follower of my thread, which now I call Project Gydyup 532 – on the test drive for this coupe , the owner wouldn’t let me drive the car, as it may get away from me. So he promptly gooned up second gear (I think he put it in park) and into a ditch we went. Short story, got the car with some parts bartering for $3K vice the negotiated $7K.



When I started messing with the rocker, thinking Iwould just cut out the offending dent, I found some bondo, followed it back, found a lot more. Finally figuring that the test drive wreck crushed the only good or part of the rocker. The rear of it and the quarter apron in front of the rear wheel had at some point taken a hit. It had been drilled and pulled, bonded. A lot. It was a nice repair for 1980s standards , but I couldn’t see pulling and repairing an already pulled and bonded area. So I cropped it all out.







I have the replacement panels for the quarter cut and flanged ready to go back in, getting ready to go out and cut the new rocker skin to fit.



 
#16 ·
FRAME MOUNTS FINALLY

Crites finally called and said they had the GEN II frame mounts. I have not touched my car since June. Last thing I did after replacing the lower front qtr panel and rocker was strip the door skin and internal guts.

Got involved in building a duck boat from scratch, time sink. Hope to finish that by Oct 1st, then get back on the car.
 
#17 ·
Finally back working on this thing. Got the control arms, springs on. Had to make a a spring compressor tool as my finger/hook type didnt want to cooperate with the Moroso trick springs.

Got the headers and mounts from MPG last night, looks really good, and I can see why the mounts allow the eng to sit much lower in the car. Called MPG last week, kit arrived yesterday, Crites took 3 months to make the mounts, said it would be 4-6 weeks, I gave up on the headers and went with MPG. Scott at MPG is awesome, runs this stuff on his 9 sec 67 GT FB (9s at Colo altitudes). Crites wont even talk to you.

Hope to post some pics this weekend, start mocking up the headers and mounts.
 
#18 ·
COIL SPRINGS/FRONT SUSPENSION.

I finally got around to putting the front suspension components on the car, in order to completely mock up the header/mount clearances with the Big Block. I have the engine, headers, bell and trans in now with a Crites Gen I set up, but don’t like the location of the engine. It sits high, and too far forward. To use in this configuration, I would have to buy another hood and drive shaft. So I looked at Crites Gen II kit, and MPG. Scott at MPG was more than helpful, Crites couldn’t be bothered. Also Crites says 4-6 weeks for their product, which really means 3-4 months, while MPG had it out the door in five days. The MPG header look way better than the Crites Gen IIs, the number 8 goes down and back vice up to the top fo the valve cover then back to the fire wall then out. Soon as I mock it up, I will post some picks.

Now I am ready to mock up the MPG set up, so first the suspension needs to go on. Based on the tech advice from CALVERTS and MPG, I am running the Shelby drop and Moroso trick springs for the BBF, and Open Track roller perches on otherwise stock parts. These springs are 17.5 inches at rest, while the replacement BBF springs are a shade over 14.5 inches. So the Moroso’s have get compressed quite abit.

My finger or hook spring compressor scared me, and the thinner coil Moroso springs kept wanting to pop out, so I decided to make a common replacement tool that PSIG and F-15 use, but I cut up my old compressor to use the Jack Screw and traveling nut. Welded on some square tube and flat ends, made a large channel block out of angle iron with a hole in it. It worked like a champ, may need to crop off the end and put a herkier piece on the bottom as this one bent.


Laying out my tool.

I welded a grade 8 – ¾ nut to the traveling nut to have something to get a wrench on

The finished rig, ready to try it out.

The notched towers ready to have the Shelby drop holes drilled.

The Shelby drop template from Opentracker racing installed. Once the 1/8 guides are drilled, then I just stepped it up a drill bit at the time, got it up to ½ inch and then used a head porting sanding drum to open it up to fit the Upper Control arm bolts, I think the actual holes are supposed to be 17/32nds

Control arms and perches installed, note I did not torque down the lower control arm bolts and actually left the upper out of the holes until I got the spring compressed and ready to receive the coil spring perches on the end of the compressor.

The spring and tool installed ready to torque down.

The top nut run down about as far as it needed to go to get the perches to clear the upper control arm, then it was just a matter of sliding the control arm under the spring perch. I started the perch bolts, then eased the UCAs into their holes, then snugged down the perches, then UCA bolts. I was not comfortable at all until I had a few bolts in this thing.

The home made tool was awesome, way better than that hook type. As you can see, it did bend. That maybe a function of having to compress the taller springs so much more, or I need to step up the quarter flat to 3/8?
 
#19 ·
Here are some long overdue posts of the MPG header install. Right now the 7 and 8 tube are on their way back to MPG for checking. With the suspension installed and under load, I could not get the wheels straight with the driver tie rod binding on the 7 tube.
With the tie rod detached, I couldn’t get it to turn more than a turn left, due to the pitman arm hitting the 8 tube. So, Scott is taking a look at it. I have all the stock suspension, the chassis is true, and a concourse national Mustang judge looked at my column and steer box set up and confirmed its all right and in the right place.
The kit looks good, you can see how he gets the motor lower than Crites, much less volume on his mounts. I like the way the headers look and are routed, they work on his car and others; think I just got a funky one.
The best part of this kit, I got the eng, Vic Intake, Wilson spacer, junk holley with a choke horn under a 3 inch cowl hood, and my 3.5 Alum drive shaft I had on the SBF looks like it will work fine.
So far Scott has been great, way more helpful and knowledgable than Crites.




The first thing you have to do with any 460 install is lower the idler arm, ¾ inches seems to be the norm, and about as far as you can. Still requires the upper bolt to be installed from the inside. I was worried about the frame strength and stiffeners inside, but there is plenty of meat there, and if I needed I could weld a plate over the area. I made this handy template after seeing the Shelby drop template.

Here is the motor in the car and the clearances on the various tubes.



Here is where I am having a fit, tie rods, 7 tubes, pitman and 8 tubes. I think we have a header issue, primarily 7 is canted too far back and too short. One thing he did say is the frame or gusset between the frame rail and shock tower needed to be radiuses, the 7 tube dropped right in without notching or radiuses, so that makes me thing that tube is off.




 
#20 ·
Project 532 Gydyup Update Aug 2012

proj 532 Gydyup Updates

Got the paint stripped off and primed. Did it the old fashioned way, heat gun, scraper, DA sander. passenger qtr patch, rocker, door skin replaced. Working on the drive qtr patch and door skin.








Started mocking up the side scoops.



Cut, hammered and dollied the rear fender lips.




Need to get back on the headers, MPG says its my car, not the headers. BS. Will have to cut and modify one tube I expect.
 
#21 ·
I'll be following along closely, we've also got a 67, just a shell that we'll be having blasted and then back halfed.

How hard was it to mod for the toploader, don't the kits come set up for C6?

Where'd you get the toploader and how much?

Are you planning for the street or strip?

Why the Shelby drop, won't the extra weight lower it some,..that plus the low headers don't seem like they'd give you much clearance for street potholes,....I'm in Nawlins, they grown pretty big down here.


What did they say after you wound up in the ditch,.."I MEANT TO DO THAT?"
 
#22 · (Edited)
Bought my car in New Orleans, actually I lived in Harahan, and got the car over in Mandeville. Came off the no surprise or no worry drag way. Potholes are not only a way of life down there, they are the example for world pothole standards. One pro basketball player said no to the Hornets, he couldnt stand driving his Bently around the town.

Your right, the weight will lower it, but the Moroso springs usually require cutting. The handling benefits of the shelby drop are the real reason I went with that, and will cut the springs eventually to get a decent ride height.

I got the toploader from Dan Williams, will need to go back inside and upgrade the input/output, but hope to find a Jericho at a decent price before then. I am running a Quick Time bell, saves tons of room over the lakewood, and time as it is dead on for run out. The clutch will be either cable or hyd. Cable from the small block lines up nice, Hyd is easy as well, but more money and some classes wont let you run one.

I plan on Strip and street. Not a bracket campaign car, just fun, with occassional trips to cruises, Wally world and the Beer Kitty (what we call food lion around here).



With the Crites, you have to modify a lot, trans mounts, headers etc. I went with the MPG because if puts the eng basically in the same place as the stock small block with regards to Trans crossmember etc. I can fit it under a 3 inch cowl, and use a air filter.

I am still working on some issue with suspension and one of the tubes, but they pretty much go on without a lot of banging. Much harder to get to the bolts though as it sits lower in the car. The Crites set I have are super easy to get on, but the carb is sticking through the hood, and I had to modify the cross member. The Crites Gen IIs are a bit better for locations, but it takes months to get them.
 
#34 ·
Bought my car in New Orleans, actually I lived in Harahan, and got the car over in Mandeville. Came off the no surprise or no worry drag way.
You're not very far off,...http://www.noproblemraceway.com/

They film Pass Time a lot there
 
#23 ·
Gydyup, Ashley from Marietta, Ga here. A question for anyone with the Crites 1st gen mounts. Have you or anybody had any alignment issues with the mounts and headers? Damn shop is telling me I have to take the headers off so they can align it.


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app
 
#24 ·
Hey Ashley, how is it going. I am still in mock up mode, and switched to MPG headers, where I do have some clearance issues with the driver tie rod and #6 tube. But the Crites I on mine were freaking ROOMY. It cleared everything. I cant see what they are wanking about, unless you got a clearance issue with thier machine. Is it a pit machine or ramp set up.

If these MPGs dont sort out, I am holding onto the Crites I as back ups.

I would try a couple more shops, sounds like BS to me. Lets see some pics. Hope all is well. Chris
 
#26 ·
I think the one and 5 tubes come down in front, but not that tight. Did they give you a specific reason for not doing it?
 
#28 ·
Ah. The headers. They where the reason that I went with the Mustang II suspension on my 67' coupe. The shock towers, the steering box, the steering linkage and the general poor fit of the tubes convinced me that they would not work. I too, am going to run a 1-3/8 x 31 spline (although its now a wide ratio) BB toploader with the quick time scatter shield.

I must say that it was hard to find the "proper" Mustang BB specific, tail shaft housing to do it right. I was lucky to find one on Ebay.
 
#29 ·
Im had not heard the tail shaft being a big issue, so I asked a bud who really knows this stuff. I toss it out here for (a) keeping the info in my build thread, and (b) if anyone is looking at this, its great info. Not trying to be a smart tail or debunk anyone. Just good info for anyone considering a Toploader big shaft upgrade. I cant take credit for any of it though. If I can, I still am looking for the Jericho,.

1. They come up on ebay all the time. You want one from a 67-71 big block 427 or 428--not a 390. Shifter will be mounted mid-way instead of at the rear of the tailhousing like a SB has. About $200-275.

2. David Kee reproduces them (that is what I have.) It is drilled for practically every bolt pattern used from 1964 on. I can use either the BB mid location shifter mounting or the SB rear location. About $284.

3. Small block tailhousing casting # C6OR and C7OR can be bored for the larger bushing and seal. The reason being is that Ford used the same raw casting for both SB and BB Mustangs through 69.

In 70' Ford came out with the D0ZR housing and it too can be bored out if it was originally for a SB Mustang. Requires the same mid-location shifter. My backup tranny has one of these from a 429.

Dan Williams ( toploader02 ) does this mod cheaply. About $75 if you have the core.

BTW, the most common Mustang tailhousing ever used, the C4DR, does not have enough meat for the over bore.
 
#30 ·
Thanks for the information on the tailshaft(s) I was lucky in the respect that my C6OR housing was 31 spline from the factory. I have a housing from a SBF 69' mach 1 that I could have bored out. However, I decided to go with the "correct" parts and shifter for a 67 BB to ensure that everything works right the first time.

I consequently went with a Hurst shifter due to the original 67 shifters where not very good and they are expensive.
 
#31 ·
IF I stick with the toploader, even temporarily, I will probably have Kees hook me up with the tailshaft housiing.

I have a comp plus in the attic, I had been running a V gate in this and will use it with the new build. If your not adverse to cutting your tunnel a little, I would highly recommend the Super Shifter, if you dont already have one. A lot more user freindly than the V gate for street stuff, but just an awesome shifting stick.
 
#32 ·
IF I stick with the toploader, even temporarily, I will probably have Kees hook me up with the tailshaft housing.

I have a comp plus in the attic, I had been running a V gate in this and will use it with the new build. If your not adverse to cutting your tunnel a little, I would highly recommend the Super Shifter, if you don't already have one. A lot more user friendly than the V gate for street stuff, but just an awesome shifting stick.
My floor had been cut badly before I bought the car. The prior owner had put in a 302 with a T10 with a forward mounted shifter. He had cut the floor too far to the front. I ended up welding in a repair panel. I like the super shifter with its tight shifting qualities.

But, I would have to cut my floor again to instal one and the console would have to be cut to make it work. Unfortunately, the same goes for the V gates. So, the Hurst competition plus won.
 
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