The current status of KKPony

Last updated March 19, 2008

(Note that the dates are in reverse chronological order.)

• 3/15/08 - The pony is home, finally.
  • I had ordered up a low-pressure in-cell pump and had it installed, but when the car was put on the dyno this pump could not deliver the volume needed. The dyno guy ended up putting on an Edelbrock 1721 external electric pump, which worked fine, but was too loud to live in the trunk and too bulky to be easily mounted anyplace decent (there is not much room under the car in the back anymore). So... I ordered a mechanical pump and regulator from Summit; this pump is from Race Pumps, and works quite nicely; not to mention it's petite size. You have to really look for it to find it.
    • Pictures: pump, regulator, pump installed, regulator installed You get a good idea about the size of the pump when compared to the oil filter.
  • The plumbing in the trunk is significantly simplified now too. picture
    • I need to see about getting a cap for the electrical terminal, or maybe even a new bulkhead to eliminate the clutter.
  • Still to do...
    • Clean up the wiring mess where the battery used to be. picture
      • I am thinking of making a cover/door for this. Perhaps out of lexan or ABS plastic, or even sheet metal (painted to match the engine compartment).
    • Correct speedo so that it reads accurately
      • This should be a simple gear swap, I hope. Otherwise I will have to take it up to Palo Alto Speedometer to be calibrated again ($$$).
    • New tires - the ones on the car are the same ones I put on originally and are pretty stiff/dry. Traction is not what it should be.
• 1/12/08 - WOW! It has been a very long time since I updated this page... I went by Mustang Fever today and took the pony for a spin around the block. Oh my... that car is a LOT of fun. The Hydraboost power brake system works fabulously well.
  • The EFI is gone. I could not find anybody in my area that I knew and trusted to tune the EFI, so decided to go back to a carb. To this end, I called Performance Carburetors, told them what I had and what I planned to do with it and they put together a Holley HP carb for me. Here are pictures of the pump and regulator. Here is a picture of the pump installed, and the regulator installed.
  • I picked up an Edelbrock RPM-AirGap intake and had it ported and coated by Don Redmond at Replika Maschinen. Thermal coating on the top (black) and oil barrier on the bottom.
  • Since the EFI is gone I changed the distributor too. I picked up a Crane Pro-Curve Billet Distributor (PN 1000-1600).
  • The lack of the ECU required some other method to control the cooling fan. I opted for the SPAL programmable controller with sender and harness. The sender is in the t-stat housing for now. I may move it later, depending on how it works out.
  • The Hydraboost setup is in and fully functional. Boy howdy, is it ever functional. I am going to have to get used to having real brakes on the car. Locking the brakes up is not a matter of "can it happen" anymore, but rather having to adjust to the fact that if you stomp the pedal you WILL lock them up. Hot dog, that is nice Did I forget to mention that I was installing a Hydraboost system? You really owe it to yourself to check this out if you want to add power brakes and not worry about vacuum; assuming you have power steering, that is.
    • All the hoses and fittings we used for the brakes booster are black. The ones that came with the system were Aeroquip steel braid, which would have looked wrong in my engine compartment. The plumbing is what took the longest to get right. Mitch must have spent a week fiddling with this stuff. I need to get some pictures...
  • I may want to go back to the 3.50:1 rear gears. I have 3.25:1 in there now, and they seem a bit tall off the line. The car still needs some tuning work on a chassis dyno though, so I will hold off until that is done. A proper spark curve and proper carb jetting may solve the problem. We shall see.
  • New AC hoses have been ordered. The originals were just a bit short, which made it impossible to route them nicely.
  • I am going to need some new tires. The ones on the car still have plenty of meat on them, but they are stiff and have lost most of their stickiness. I can break things loose in third gear if I am not careful. Not a happy things.
• 11/18/06 - Swapped out the rear Aldan shocks for a set of Vari-Shocks with 240# springs. The ride is much improved. I think that the Aldans may have been binding up on the cantilever though, as there was some galling on the right side. We did not crank down on things this time so movement is much better.
• 10/10/06 - Dan Fodge came down and worked on the EFI setup for me. It took him an hour at the computer with me driving to dial things in. I am always impressed when working with Dan; he makes it look so easy.
  • The driving need for Dan to come down was to get the car running well enough to take it up to his shop in Sacramento so that he can get the Imagine intake back on the car. I am going to drive it for a while first though :-)
• 7/3/06 - The pony runs again... I still need to tune it, but it started and ran. You can see pictures of the progress here.
  • Where to start... Oh yeah... I just needed to change the oil, but the dipstick needed to be right before I could do that.
    • Reshaped the bracket for the Lokar dipstick. Goofed and pulled the top off the braided hose, which could not easily be put back on. Unable to locate a replacement dipstick tube locally, but I had the Milodon unit on the wall...
      • Tried to install the Milodon dipstick, but it would not seat properly into the timing cover. I really messed up the base, so decided not to use it.
      • I was now facing having to order a new Lokar dipstick, so made a final attempt to fix the original. I put a zip-tie around the top of the tube to try to squeeze it back down to it's original diameter; this worked well enough and I was able to put things back together. Yippee, the dipstick is now mounted where I want it.
  • Time to put the coil on the block... oops, the dipstick is now mounted differently, so the coil won't fit.
    • Luckily I had been thinking about using a different coil setup, with a MSD Blaster SS #8207, which I had already purchased. I installed the new coil and then had to clean up the wiring and re-route things to make more sense. The old setup had the wires running over the driver-side of the intake manifold. I ran them in the engine harness up to the rats-nest where the battery used to be. The rats-nest is a future project.
  • Since I was running wires anyway... I cleaned up the wires for the MSD 7a and the Spal fan.
  • I also changed the harness loom cover from the firewall plug to the rats-nest. I used the JEGS cover, which looks pretty good, but it just did not work out well in this instance. I am going to have to do it over.
  • I changed the oil. 9-qt pan and 1 for the filter. That's 10 quarts of oil. Of course, this is what I have been leading up to for a week. Once the oil is changed I can prime the system and put the distributor back in.
  • I primed the pump and stuck the distributor in. Time to fire this puppy up... oh wait... the plug wires don't fit right.
    • The cam I took out used the early firing order. The new cam uses the late firing order. The wires need to be changed to fit. Oh well, they were dirty and needed to be cleaned anyway.
  • I got the wires all clean and back on the car. The car started right up, but the idle is a mile high. I think there is something wrong with the IAC, which will have to be a future project too.
  • I'll work on tuning tomorrow. It is when I get excited that I make mistakes, so I'll sleep on things. Did you notice that I had not put any water in the cooling system yet? Another reason to wait for tomorrow... I need to get some deionized water.
• 6/26/06 - Finally, something to report...
  • The engine is back together. I still need to put the radiator hoses on and change the oil, but it's all in one piece.
  • The big delay has been the fuel plumbing. I finally got it all together and pressure tested it today. No leaks :-) I'll take pictures of the new setup once I have everything cleaned up.
    • I found the major fuel system leak. It was one of the hoses in the trunk and it was only a slow seep. It did not seep fast enough to feel the wet, but it sure stunk up the garage as well as the interior of the car. I fixed it and then removed all of the remaining hoses and tested them to be safe.
    • I decided that I did not want to run with the fuel regulator mounted to the manifold. My reasoning was that I have plans to replace the DFI intake with the Imagine in the future and would have to move the regulator back to the firewall then anyway, so I may as well do it now. More plumbing...
    • Since I moved the regulator I had to replace the lines from the firewall to the manifold and create new lines from the hard-lines to the regulator for both pressure and return lines. I used the same Earl's Pro-Flex 350 hose in -6 and -8 AN as appropriate. I had to perfect my technique for putting the ends on the hoses, which took many trials and burned through quite a bit of hose, but I did finally get it right.
    • I added a pressure sending unit to the mix so that I can run a digital gauge in the car. The sending unit is very big and not at all attractive. I could not find a good place to mount it. Good meaning "hidden". I ended up putting it on the intake, hanging off the driver-side fuel rail. Again; picture to follow...
    • I was going to use a hard line on the front of the manifold to connect the two fuel rails. I had to get some serious tubing flare kits to work the thick-wall stainless. The aluminum was much easier to work, but it bent too easily, and it looked a lot like a handle. I did get it made, but it was not even and did not look as good as I wanted, so I make a flexible line with more -6 Pro-Flex. It looks pretty good. I will probably keep playing with the hard line to see if I can get it the way I want it, but for now, the flex line will work fine.
  • I added an inertia switch in the trunk to kill the fuel pump in the event of an accident. Better safe than sorry.
  • I have been playing with the Cobra-style oval air cleaner to see if I can get it to fit properly. I had to make a hole in the driver-side, over the linkage, for clearance. The filter seals the hole. There is a similar issue on the passenger-side, but it is inside the filter, so I will have to figure something out. Maybe I should just get the Imagine setup on the car and call it done instead.
  • I may have to get a different radiator. I am thinking that the Griffin may not be stout enough to handle the new engine. I won't know until I get it back on the road though. All of the coatings on the engine will help, but I don't know how much yet. I did straighten up most of the bent fins on the Griffin. It's not perfect, but it sure looks better and should cool better as a result too. If I do have to go larger on the radiator I will likely also convert to serpentine belts at the same time. The cross-flow radiator will help a lot and the serpentine setup should be more reliable in the long run.
• 1/1/06 - Happy New Year!!! It's been a while since I posted anything, but I have actually been making progress in baby steps.
  • I finally made the decision to change the cam out. I'm going to run a Comp XE274HR-12
    • This cam is designed specifically for use in computer controller applications (EFI) and has more lobe separation so that there is enough vacuum at idle speeds to keep the computer happy.
  • I have already swapped the cam and am in the process of putting things back together. I'm not in a big hurry, so I only spend a little time working on any given day. I am on holiday from work until the 9th of the month, so plan to have it back on the road before I have to go back to work.
  • I'm going to have to figure out some form of sheet-metal tabs for the front valance. The fiberglass is broken on a couple of the upper bolt holes already and will only get worse if I don't do something to reenforce them before I put it all back together.
  • I had to pull out the A/C condensor to get the cam out. This means I am going to have to have the system evacuated and re-charged :-( before I can use it again. Since I don't yet have the bracket in hand there is not an huge rush on this either though.
  • I purchased some pressure testing adapters for the fuel lines. I need to figure out where the leak is before putting things back together. The garage smells distinctly of raw gas after a drive, which seems to indicate a slow seaping leak. I tried to find it by feeling the joints but could not. Hopefully the pressure tests will do the trick. If not, I'll have to pay someone to make up some guaranteed lines, which will be expensive, to say the least.
• 11/3/05 - I finally found the stepped spark plug sockets - they are from MatCo Tools. The only problem with these sockets is that they are very short. Now I need a 1" long extension ;-)
  • SBLSP1 - LOCKIT SPARKPLUG SOCKET - 5/8 IN
  • SBLSP2 - LOCKIT SPARKPLUG SOCKET - 13/16 IN
• 10/28/05 - I purchased a new spark plug socket and ground it down. It works, but there has to be a better solution than ruining a perfectly good socket. I'll keep hunting.
• 10/23/05 - I changed seven of eight spark plugs. They are actually starting to look better. I could not get number three out though. The socket binds against the header. I'm going to have to find out what socket Mitch has been using and get one for myself too. This is rediculous...
• 10/22/05 - Something is not right. The car seems to be running on only seven cylinders. I'll change plugs tomorrow and cross my fingers that one got fouled.
  • I installed a shift boot and bezel from Lokar today. It looks pretty nice. I may have to get a different boot though, as this one is vinyl and looks it. We shall see. I'll get some pictures later.
• 10/21/05 - I spent an hour or so driving the car around with the laptop on the passenger seat. I got it running a lot better, but still need to spend more time working on the part-throttle stuff.
• 10/19/05 - Picked up the car from Custom Alignment today. Now all I have to do is get it running better and I can start putting some miles on it. The guys are Custom Alignment really liked the sound of the exhaust. They said "that is the way it should sound" :-)
• 10/18/05 - The car is at Custom Alignment today and tomorrow to be aligned, corner-weighted and have the Baer bump-steer kit installed and setup.
• 10/15/05 - The car is home, at least for a little while. I have to take it to Custom Alignment on Tuesday and going from home will make it much easier.
• 9/21/05 - The car runs!!!! Not great, but at least it's running. I shot a little movie with sound so you all can hear how well the STS baffles work. I think I may need to put in the bullet mufflers too... don't get me wrong, it sounds fabulous, but it's still a bit loud.
  • I also noticed a lot of blow-by and smoke from the exhaust. This worries me. We will be doing a leak-down test tomorrow to see what's going on.
  • Although the car is now running, it is in dire need of tuning. All that we did on the dyno was rough tuning for power and air/fuel mixtures. The idle needs help, as does the cold-start. I'll be talking with Dan Fodge tomorrow to try to schedule some time with him soonest.
• 9/17/05 - I got some pictures of the exhaust system.
  • I talked to Mitch about what remains to be done. It looks like we may be able to fire this beasty up next week. Once it runs it goes home, then it's off to alignment and the speedo shop for calibration. I need the speedo to be dead-on accurate so that I don't get tickets for bone-headed mistakes. I want any tickets I get to be legitimate :-)
• 9/16/05 - I spoke with Eric Fodge today and was told that both my Imagine injection setup and my idler pulley bracket should be done by the 20th. This is good news, since the car should also be running by then.
• 9/15/05 - The exhaust was completed yesterday. I went to the shop this morning to take a look at what Mike has done. The work is beautiful.
  • Mike put flanges just before the radical bends start to go over the rear suspension. This way the entire system can be removed from the car without having to cut it apart. Just drop the sub-frame and unbolt the pipes.
  • The tips are the same rolled stainless units I had on the car last time. The magic is that Mike put an ~18" extention on for the tips and put the STS baffles into the extensions. This way the baffles can be removed simply by removing the extensions if needs be. A very clever thing to do. I'll get pictures later, as I forgot my camera this morning.
• 9/9/05 - Mike had to order the pre-bent pieces so that he can weld up my pipes and avoid crimping by doing his own bends. The parts won't be in until next week, so my car is going to live at the exhaust shop for the weekend.
• 9/8/05 - The car went to the exhaust shop today. I am using Craig Muffler, in Santa Clara. Mike has gotten rave reviews and said he'd be able to do what I need. I spoke with Mike for some while about fitment issues and what my want's/desires are. Now all I need is for Mike to work his magic.
• 8/19/05 - My "mufflers" arrived today from STS. I'm really anxious to see how well these baffles work. I took a few pictures for giggles.
• 8/19/05 - The headers arrived a few days ago and were installed today. I can't say enough nice stuff about Stan up at FPA. These headers are beautiful. I didn't get any pictures of them before they were installed, but I did snap a few post-install pictures. The headers tuck up really nicely. They can't even be seen from the front of the car at all.
• 8/10/05 - Got an email from Stan up at FPA. The headers shipped. This is really good news.
• 8/9/05 - I ordered my "mufflers" today. I'm going to be running a pair of 2.5" spiral baffles from STS
  • I got wind of these from a fellow member of NorCal-SAAC who is running a 4" in his race car and is very happy with both the performance and the degree of muffling provided. Since the baffles are only in the very end of the tail pipe there is pretty much guaranteed to be no resonation inside the car, which is my main goal. I'll post results when I have them.
• 7/30/05 - Got an email from Stan up at FPA. The headers are in coating and will ship back down here sometime next week. Yipee!!
• 7/18/05 - Got an email from Stan up at FPA. The Canfield mock-up head showed up and Stan was able to determine that more clearance was needed on the flanges for the spark plugs.
• 7/11/05 - I talked with Canfield and found that the mock-up head had not shipped yet due to the lack of a ship-to address. This has been corrected and the head will ship right away.
• 6/25/05 - I took the Imagine injection setup up to Dan Fodge this morning. Dan is going to put an Idle Air Circuit (IAC) into the Imagine setup for me. That is all it was really lacking to make it the perfect solution. Once I get the car on the road I'll drive it up to Dan's shop and he will swap the DFI setup for the Imagine setup and change the DFI controller out for one of the new FAST units with a closed-loop Wide-Band O2 sensor.
• 6/23/05 - I got an email from Stan, at FPA. The heads that Canfield was going to send had not showed up yet. I called John and found that he had not shipped them yet. I was promised that they would be shipped today.
• 6/21/05 - I took my Cobra oval air cleaner that I just got from Branda and put it on the throttle body. It cleared the distributor quite handily, but the front edge was easily 1" higher than the fenders. This is not good. As stated below, a stock HiPo cleaner fits, but it won't breath enough to feed this little beast. What are my options?
  • Cowl hood - I really don't care for cowl hoods, although a way to let the air out from under the hood at speed would not be a bad thing
  • Teardrop hood - Nah... I want to keep the stock hood
  • Eleanor hood - PUHLEEEZE
  • 67-Shelby style hood - Not enough added clearance
  • 66-Shelby style hood - Not enough added clearance and I don't want to build a GT-350 clone
  • I called Dan Fodge to talk about putting the IAC into the Imagine injection setup. Dan said he could do it for about $500.00. That's less than it would cost to buy and paint a hood. Guess what? I'm going to put the Imagine injection back on the car sooner than I had thought. I thought I'd do it eventually once Dan mentioned that he could put the IAC in, but I had been thinking it would be a year or more down the road. We have a winner here.
• 6/18/05 - I went to Mustang Fever and took a bunch of pictures of the underside of the car, the fuel plumbing in the trunk and the drivetrain in general. There is not specific purpose for the pictures, but rather just to have them; you know, in case. Here are the pictures.
• 6/11/05 - A stock HiPo air cleaner fits quite nicely. It clears the throttle linkage pretty well, with a little creative bending of the rod. I'll take pictures when it's all done, the current rod is too short and will have to be replaced. Nothing a little more money won't fix.
  • The entire drivetrain is in. A cover for the clutch arm hole in the scattershield needs to be figured out, but we are thinking we may be able to modify the stock late-model cover. Here are the pictures.
  • The e-brakes don't work quite evenly at this point. We are going to have to check on adjustments at the calipers.
  • The TCP braces are all back in, including the new drive-shaft loop. It looks pretty good. Pictures to follow.
  • The aircleaner issue needs to be worked out. I'm thinking about an oval Cobra cleaner, but I've got to purchase one to try it out.
• 6/9/05 - The FPA headers did not fit either, but Stan is going to take them back and make me a set that will fit. A few weeks and we shall see how it goes. In the meantime work goes on putting the driveline in the car.
  • I called Canfield and talked to John Fenton about my header issues. John is going to ship Stan a set of "junk heads" so that Stan will have something to mock up with.
• 6/4/05 - Test fit of the McLeod scatter shield and slave cylinder. Here are the pictures.
• 5/28/05 - Did I mention that my JBA shorty headers would not fit with the Canton heads? I was seriously bummed.
  • I called Doug's Headers because I had heard really good things about their stuff. They don't make anything that will work with either the TCP rack or a T5 transmission.
  • I called FPA and after talking for some time with Stan ordered up a set of their newly developed long-tube headers for my combination. The headers showed up yesterday and slipped right in. Wow!!! Unfortunately they just touch the shock towers on both sides so will have to go back. I'm hoping that FPA will be able to sell this set to someone with the Dart heads they were designed with and make me a new set for the Canfield raised port heads. I'll post here as soon as I find out. I must say that the FPA headers are absolutely beautiful.
• 5/18/05 - I dropped by to check status and drop off more plumbing fittings. The aluminum lines have been run and the bulkheads installed. Things look very nice. (pictures)
  • Still to do: plumb in the filter. It will go in the trunk, just at the front edge of the cell. Also to do is the feed line to the regulator and the return line from the regulator.
• 5/13/05 - Plumbing has started on the car. Boy, these -an fittings are expensive. The old fuel lines have been removed from the car. The rear flex lines for the brakes have been measured for and ordered.
• 4/2/05 - I picked the engine up from Dan Fodge's shop today and delivered it to Mustang Fever to be installed. A few more weeks...
  • I talked to Dan about making me a billet bracket to replace that ugly cast idler that came with the air conditioning stuff. He said it should be pretty easy. Another marketable product for Dan :-)
  • I also talked to Dan about getting him to modify my Imagine intake so that it will be more street friendly. He said he'd be happy to add the Idle Air Circuit, like he has done on his own stuff. That would be very cool. Then I could put that dead sexy intake back on the car and have some real fun. I just love the look of the individual runner setups (Weber et al), and the performance is unbelievable to boot.
• 3/25/05 - I went back up to the engine dyno this morning and we played with the engine with it's new solid flat-tappet cam and lifters. What a difference!!! The engine pulls strongly and smoothly to well over 7000rpm. We did not try to measure things above 6800rpm though, because it was already making enough for me and I did not want to risk things on the dyno. (Final Pull Graph) (Final Pull Chart)
• 3/18/05 - The springs were replaced and the engine put back on the dyno. The problem still exists, but has moved up 200 more rpm. Not much help there. We are going to change the cam out for a solid-roller and put some new lifters in. This should solve the problem. I will know more next week after the work is done.
• 3/17/05 - I talked to Dan Fodge today and was told the valve springs were indeed the problem. Dan also did some leakdown tests to insure that the internals were still good and the valves were sealing. The new springs will go in today and the engine will go back on the dyno tomorrow. I probably will not be able to be there for the dyno this time, but I'll get the numbers/charts as soon as I can.
• 3/16/05 - Dyno Day!!! Finally... Things went fairly well, but it looks like the valve springs are too weak to do the job we have asked of them. I am getting what seems like valve float starting at about 5800 RPM. Tomorrow we will check the springs and replace as needed.
  • Here are the results from the last pull of the day:
    • Textual chart
    • Graphical chart
  • You will no doubt notice that there is no sign of the power even beginning to taper off. There may actually be another 100hp lurking in there somewhere and we hope new valve springs will release them from captivity.
  • Pictures of the engine on the dyno
    • Picture1
  • Picture2
  • Picture3
  • PDF containing all of the dyno sheets from the day.
• 3/7/05 - I got a call from Fodge Engineering this morning.  Dan came down sick over the weekend so we are going to have to push the dyno out another week.  Phooey
• 3/4/05 - I took the engine up to Dan Fodge's shop and dropped it off.  We are still on-track to get the dyno work done next Tuesday.  I'll be going up for that too.  I am pretty excited.  I'll take the camera with me on Tuesday.  I forgot it today :-(
• 3/3/05 - The engine is finally complete.  I took the last few bits and pieces over to Chris at RMI today and helped put them on.  Tomorrow I take the engine up to Dan Fodge's shop to have the EFI installed and setup.
• 2/11/05 - I went and took a look at the engine. It's not really "done", but it's close. I figure it could all be done in about an hour. Now I have to set things up with Dan Fodge to do the EFI work and then get it on the dyno. I guess it's finally on me.
• 2/08/05 - I got a call from Chris at RMI in which he said the engine was done.
• 12/25/04 - The assembly continues, at last.  See pictures here
• 11/24/04 - Good news and bad news on the engine again....
  • Good: The pistons have been installed and fit well.
  • Bad: The cam was spec'd wrong and is a retro-fit grind, which means it will have to be re-made for the 5.0 block. There goes another week.
• 11/22/04 - I spoke with Chris at RMI today. If nothing goes wrong I should have an engine by next week friday.
• 11/13/04 - No significant progress to report this week.  I did go take some pictures though and posted them here.
• 11/06/04 - I took some pictures of the reassembly progress today.  You can see them here.
• 11/04/04 - I got a call from Chris at RMI today.  The rods and pistons are back and a trial fit proves that they are right this time.  The rotating bits will go out for a re-balance and hopefully be back next week, at which point assembly can commence again.
  • The carpet is in.  The seats are in.  The rear u-joint on the new driveshaft has been changed for the right part.
• 10/28/04 - Mitch painted the front valance today, so that we can see how it looks on the car and I can decide whether or not I want to run the stock valance or the fiberglass unit.
  • The fuel cell was trial fit.  It's not quite perfect; it's a bit short and a bit wide, but it will work.
• 10/25/04 - I got a call from RMI today.  Chris said that Pauter had called and said the rods were just about done and would ship this week, which means they will get back to RMI next week, at which point they can re-balance things and start the assembly again.  I may have an engine next month.
• 10/23/04 - I took my toploader bell housing to Modern Driveline and swapped it for a T5 bell today.  I picked up a reverse light pigtail while I was there.
• 10/16/04 - I picked up my G-Force T5 w/synchros from Modern Driveline and a shiny new aluminum driveshaft today.  Now all I need to do is sell the other G-Force (w/straight-cut gears and dog-rings instead of synchros).  Anybody want to buy it?  If so, call Modern Driveline and let Bruce know (it's on consignment there).  Bruce even installed my Pro 5.0 shifter for me; what a nice guy.
• 9/21/04 - I decided that the racing T5 is just not going to work out on the street, where my car will spend most of it's time.  I talked to Bruce at Modern Driveline about building me a G-Force T5 w/helical-cut gears and synchros.  Bruce is going to take my existing G-Force T5 on consignment too.
• 9/14/04 - I picked up the roller rockers (Crower) today and dropped them by RMI.  I was greeted at the door with "I've got good news and bad news...".  Not at all what I was hoping to hear.
  • Good news:  The crank, cam and timing set are all installed.
  • Bad news:  The rods are longer than ordered and the pistons are taller than ordered.  Take the two errors and add them together and you have .020" of piston sticking up above the deck height.  Not good at all.  Solution? Send the rods back to Pauter where they will put in offset wristpin bearings to compensate.  I am assured that this will in no way weaken the assembly.  This adds another two weeks to things, at a minimum.  Dang!
  • I picked up a copy of my cam card from RMI while I was there.  With the 1.7:1 rockers I get a total of .360 * 1.7 = .612 lift... Duration is 234-degrees at .050
• 9/12/04 - Don sent an email with a few more pictures of the engine assembly process.  I added the pictures to the NewEngine page.  Things are begining to look up a bit.
• 8/14/04 - Wow!  My chrome came today.  That's right, a Saturday delivery.  That's what I call service!  I checked one of the vent window assemblies and one of the door handles; they are beautiful.  If you need chrome work done and don't mind paying for it, Sherm's is the place.  I was so excited to have it back that I forgot to take pictures.  The polishing was non-destructive, which means that all of the original lines are still present.  The pits were filled before polishing.  Fabulous workmanship.
• 8/13/04 - I got a call from Sherm's Custom Plating today.  My chrome is done and will be shipped immediately.
• 8/07/04 - I took the pan, timing chain cover, oil pump, intake and assorted other goodies to RMI.  They are ready to get serious about getting my engine done.  Chris (new employee at RMI) said his goal is to get it completed this month.
• 8/03/04 - RMI sent a picture of the block with the coating on and the crank laid in to mock up the rods and clearance the block.
• 7/10/04 - The machine work is complete.  Assembly will start this week.  I'm going to try to run by the shop for some pictures, but work is pretty hectic this month.
• 6/30/04 - The T&D Machining rockers showed up today.  picture #1 picture #2
• 6/15/04 - I got an email from RMI today.  The work on the block has finally started.  The main brace has been fit, the ARP main studs installed and the mains will be align-honed shortly.  Here is a picture of the block with the main brace installed.
• 6/14/04 - I ordered my rocker assembly from T&D Machining today.  They should be here in about two weeks.
• 5/21/04 - I got a an email from Replika Maschinen today with pictures of the finished front pulley spacer.  Don made the spacer in-house.
  • Picture of spacer and crank trigger on the damper.
  • Picture of front damper/crank trigger/spacer/pulley assembly.
• 5/18/04 - I spoke with Don, from Replika Maschinen, today about the front pulley.  Don has been going round and round with March Performance to get a custom from pulley made so that he can finally get the rotating assembly balanced.  During our conversation Don mentioned that the issue was not that the pulley needs to be shortened, but rather that we need the pulley to be spaced forward.  I suggested that rather than send all the bits to someone to make a longer pulley that perhaps he could just walk it across the parking lot to the machinist he has been using and have a spacer made.  If this works out it should save multiple more weeks.
• 5/6/04
  • The fuel cell came in, so I dropped by the shop to take some pictures.  I'll get better pictures when we unwrap it, but that won't happen until we are ready to install it.
  • Still no news on the engine.  The front pulley needs to be made, which requires mock-up or some real head scratching on the part of the pulley manufacturer (March) to figure out exactly what is needed from what we had before and what we have now.  
    • The issue is that Don wants to balance the entire rotating mass; including the front pulley.  The pulley that was on the old engine won't work because of the MSD crank trigger, which goes in between the balancer and the pulley, requiring a shorter pulley to compensate.  We either need to completely assemble the engine, including all of the accessories, or the pulley has to be designed by doing math.  Personally, I'd rather just skip the balancing of the pulley.
• 4/16/04 - I dropped all of the "rotating mass" off at Replika Maschinen so that everything from the front pulley to the pressure plate can be balanced next week.  Don tells me we may actually have a long-block in about three weeks.
• 4/14/04 - I spoke with Dan Fodge about getting the rest of the EFI setup from him.  Dan suggested running the MSD flying magnet crank trigger kit for best results, so I ordered it from Summit.  I also ordered the EZ-Adjust kit at the same time.  Dan indicated that the Accel distributor that he had planned to sell me was not working out in other installations, so we will be running a MSD unit instead.
• 4/06/04 - The Canton stuff showed up today.  Now I can take the main stud support to Don and the machine work can start in ernest.
• 4/02/04 - I checked with the guys on the NorCal SAAC list to see what they recommended for a harmonic balancer.  The one that got the most votes was the SVO unit, which I ordered today from OEM Ford Parts.  These folk not only had it in stock, but had about the best price I could find on the 'net.
• 3/31/04 - The connecting rods are finally here.  You can see more pictures of them on my New Engine page.
• 3/30/04 - I ordered the clutch, flywheel and pressure plate today from Superior Friction.  Superior built my last clutch and it was great, so I may as well use them again, no?
• 3/27/04 - I researched the oil pan/pickup/pump/etc online.  It looks like Canton has everything I will be needing on the bottom of the engine.  I'll be ordering the Canton stuff from my friends at Street or Track.  The Canton products will include the following:
  • 9-qt road race front-sump oil pan
  • 3/4" pickup
  • Main stud girdle
  • Windage tray
  • Dipstick
• 3/26/04 - I got a call from Don, at Replika Maschinen this morning.  
  • Don said the Pauter called to say that the rods have finally shipped.  
  • The block is at the machine shop.
  • During the conversation I mentioned that I wanted a main stud girdle and Don said that I should source that and the oil pan/pump/pickup myself, so I will.
• 3/23/04 - I placed the order for my custom fuel cell from Fuel Safe this morning.  Fuel Safe indicates that it will be about four weeks.
• 3/10/04 - I picked up a TCP driveshaft loop.  Now I just need to get it powdercoated to match the subframes.
• 3/6/04 - No real news at this point, but I thought I'd post something so you don't all think I fell asleep or something
  • The connecting rods have not shown up yet, but are now only a matter of a few weeks out.  There was some confusion when the order was placed and the move of Replika Maschinen's shop was mentioned.  Apparently Pauter held the order up pending notice that the move had been completed.  
    • The is the second "confusion" having to do with the rods.  The first order for connecting rods was placed with Crower (both rods and crank were ordered from Crower) and after waiting nine weeks for an eight week delivery date the call was made to find out what the status was, only to hear "what order was that?".  Time for a new vendor, so Oliver was selected, but they could not do the crank except for in billet, which was over-kill for this project.  The crank was ordered from SCAT and the rods from Pauter.  The crank showed up in a timely fashion (see below) and I told you about the confusion with Pauter above.
  • My vent-window assemblies and door handles are down south at Joe's Polishing.  They have been down there for what seems like ages and I can't get a returned phone call from them to figure out what the real status is.  How is it that I keep finding vendors that are reputedly very good, but don't seem very reliable????
  • I have to order a new fuel cell from Fuel Safe now.  There is just no way that the exhaust will clear the regular cell, so I will have to have the front corners cut out.  There goes another 4-6 weeks.
  • Once the engine and trans are in the car I have to get a driveshaft made up.  There's another 2-4 weeks.
  • I am thinking about perhaps converting to a serpentine belt setup, but don't want to do anything like this until the car is back together and I can see what kind of clearance issues I will have.  March has some nice stuff, but I just don't know if the A/C compressor will clear the tower brace in that configuration.
  • I did order a driveshaft loop from TCP.  That will be nice.  I am having it powder coated to match the subframes though, which will delay delivery by a few weeks.
  • The pistons have been coated, but I don't have pictures of them in this condition as of yet.  I'll have to sneak over there during the work week sometime.
• 2/1/04 - This has very little to do with the Mustang, but I bought a Mercury Marauder today.  I missed the pony so badly that I had to get rid of the truck and get something a bit more fun to drive.
• 1/23/04 - I got word from Don this morning that my connecting rods are another month out.  It would seem that the manufacturer got confused and thought we didn't need them yet.  Phooey!
  • On the bright side, Don did send me a couple of pictures of the pistons, which you can see on my new engine page.
• 1/6/04 - I got word from Don at Replika Maschinen this morning.  My heads are due to be put on the flow bench today.  Don took a picture of the completed combustion chamber for me.  As you can see, the valve job is done and the chamber is beautiful to behold.
• 1/2/04 - I got word today that my pistons have arrived.  I'll try to swing by the shop this week and get some pictures.  Now we just need the rods...
• 12/20/03 - The brakes are all on.  I couldn't get any pictures because the car is back up in the air under cover.  The only thing left, brake-related is to figure out how to route the hard lines on the new rear housing, which did not come with any tabs or mount points.
  • Still no news on the engine :-(  I really would like to get the flow numbers for the heads so that the cam can be designed/made and the injectors sized.
• 12/13/03 - The brake parts came in this week and Mitch is putting them together.  I stopped by the shop and got some pictures of the work in progress as well as the gold GT stripes.  The stripes really need to be photographed in the sunlight to do them justice.
• 12/6/2003 - Nothing significant to report.  The paint is done except for some of the small parts.  I am fairly happy with the quality of the large parts, but I don't think the paint shop had it in their heart to do a good job by the time it was done.  This may not be the shop to use going forward :-(  There have been some baby-steps made:
  • The rear quarter grills finally got done.  The paint shop broke two of them in the process though.
  • The billet grill is in and looks really nice.
  • I bought a street r-model valance from The Mustang Ranch in Fresno, CA.  It is a high quality piece.
  • The R-model valance has been trial fit and trimmed to clear the air conditioning bits.  Now it just needs to be painted.
  • I am contemplating putting a billet insert into the lower valance opening to match the upper piece.  The problem is that nobody makes one for the street apron, which means I will have to modify the racing piece pretty heavily.
  • The gold stripes finally arrived and have been installed.  They look really good.  I have been unable to get decent pictures to date, due to the car being stored on a lift under a cover.  I'll post some pictures as soon as I get them.
  • I found a chrome/polishing shop down in SoCal that does show-quality work and can repair broken pot metal.  I sent off the vent window assemblies and door handles to be done.  I'll post pictures when I get them back.
  • I ordered some two-piece rotors from BAER.  They will have black hats and should look really sharp, as well as dissipate heat better.
• 10/12/2003 - The pistons and rods have finally been ordered.  The pistons are still from CP but the rods are going to be Pauter now.  We have come full circle on the rods, since originally we talked about Pauter but ruled them out due to cost.  The steps remaining on the engine are;
  • Flow the heads.  I'm really looking forward to getthing these numbers...
  • Finish the valve grind on the heads.
  • Get Don Redmon, Dan Fodge and the Don's cam guy together to design the cam.
  • The machine work and assembly.
  • Engine dyno for initial tune and break-in.
• 10/11/2003 - I helped Don move some of his equipment to the new location of Replika Maschinen this morning.  While I was there I took some pictures of the progress on the heads.
• 10/10/2003 - I stopped by Mustang Fever to check the fit of the X-stream filter on the throttle body.  The linkage hits the base so will need a spacer, which may be a problem.  The linkage is going to be a problem on it's own though, as it will have to pull straight back, which would go through the base of any air cleaner.  It looks like I may need to change to a cable setup.  Time to look at the Lokar catalog...  While I was there I took some pictures of the TCP coil-over setup that Mitch has been getting ready to install.
• 10/9/2003 - I had ordered a K&N X-stream filter assembly from Street or Track last week and it showed up today.
• 10/7/2003 - I went to TCP to pick up my rearend housing.  It looks really nice.
• 9/27/2003 - I visited the car at the shop today.  I took a bunch of pictures.  The main purpose of the visit was to try to determine whether or not the new intake and throttle body will fit under the stock hood.  At first blush, it looks like clearance may be OK.  The only way to be sure is to either put an engine in my car or put the intake on another car to check things out.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
• 9/26/2003 - I delivered the crankshaft to Don at Replika Maschinen.  Now it's time to order up the rods and pistons so that we can get the machine work under way.  I figure the engine will be another couple of months, given that Don is moving his shop in the next few weeks.  The move is a happy thing for me, as his new digs will be just down the street from Mustang Fever.
• 9/25/2003 - I picked up my SCAT crankshaft from Gromm Racing today.  (Picture of label)
• 9/20/2003 - The car is going back together.  The headliner and carpet have to be changed out now; the carpet got really dirty at the paint shop (surprise surprise) and we found a little hole in the headliner.  I dropped off the glass and miscellaneous parts at the shop today.
• 9/18/2003 - I talked to the guys at the shop today.  While they are putting the car back together I am having them clean up the engine compartment and paint it factory black.  I'm going to do a pseudo-restoration in the engine compartment.  I am also going to hide as much of the wiring as can be, in an effort to keep things looking clean.
• 9/6/2003 - The car is green again!!!  I took a few pictures of the body, but since it is going to sit for a week or two before being cut/buffed it does not look as good as it could.  There are some bits of dirt and a fisheye or two in the paint, but they should buff out.
• 8/16/2003 - I visited the car at the paint shop and took some pictures.  They are in the middle of the second block sanding and should start painting next week.
• 8/13/2003 - The grille from Mustang Depot showed up.  It's very nice, particularly when compared to the other one.  I put some pictures together of both grilles.
• 8/10/2003 - I found a nicer grille at Mustang Depot and ordered it.
• 8/8/2003 - I got the billet grille I ordered from California Classics and Collectibles.  I'm not impressed.
• 7/12/2003 - I visited the car at the bodyshop today.  It's all primered and ready for block sanding.  It looks pretty good, with a couple of exceptions, which we will be sure they fix before it gets any further along.  I took a few pictures, which are not of great quality, due to lack of light, but you can see them here.
• 7/11/2003 - I ordered the TCP rear coil-over setup this morning.  I'm getting the polished aluminum housing, but am having it coated in gloss black instead of leaving it raw.  It should be sweet when it's installed.
• 7/9/2003 - Good news, finally.  My G-Force T5 transmission showed up today.  These guys know how to ship a transmission.  (Picture)
• 7/9/2003 - I talked to Don, at Replika Maschinen today about the crank and rods.  We were going to use Oliver for both the crank and rods, but Oliver can only do the crank in billet, which put the cost up around $4K.  SOOO.... the rods will still be coming from Oliver, but the crank is going to be a Scat forged piece.  The specific model of the Scat crank has yet to be determined, but it will be forged and knife edged at the very least.  I am looking at another month for the engine, at least
• 7/2/2003 - I received an e-mail from Don, at Replika Maschinen today informing me that the order for my rods and crank got lost in the works at Crower   Crower then said that it would be an additional 8-10 weeks to process the order.  Order canceled, time to select a new vendor.
• 6/14/2003 - I visited the car at Mustang Fever today and took a few more pictures of the progress.  The taillight panel is back together and looking very good.  Mitch has a technique for ensuring that the end caps get put on straight; he gets them all aligned to his satisfaction and then tacks a washer to the inside so that they can't wander when they are put back later.
• 6/10/2003 - I ordered my new transmission from G-Force Transmissions today.  It is a seriously hefty T5.  I can hardly wait.
• 6/6/2003 - Another trip to Mustang Fever and some more pictures.  It would appear the the rear of the car has been worked on at least twice.  It was pretty sad looking.  The good news is that Mitch has all the parts to fix it and they are good American made parts to boot.
• 5/24/2003 - I visited the body at Mustang Fever today and took a few more pictures.  There was not a lot of work done this week, but Mitch did get the ugly dent out of the right rear lip and he patched the rust hole on the left rear quarter.  Mitch also worked on the headlight door fitment and is straightening out the seams to make sure they are tight.  The body and paint should be complete well before the engine is ready, which is a happy thing.
• 5/23/2003 - I dropped the intake off at Replika Maschinen today.  Don says that he is getting excited about doing my engine.  That is good news from my standpoint, because if he thinks it's a good project then I must be doing something right.  It is going to be about another eight weeks for the rods and pistons, which is a little disappointing.  Oh well...
• 5/21/2003 - My Accel intake finally showed up, so I took a few pictures.  I like the looks of this thing.  The casting seems nice and clean.  The injectors line up nicely.  I'm really anxious to see this puppy in action.  I also took some pictures of the throttle body, which is from Dan Fodge's shop.
• 5/20/2003 - I visited Mustang Fever during my lunch break today and snapped a few more pictures.  It's coming along nicely.  The car was apparently hit from behind before, as there is evidence of earlier repair work having been done (badly too, I might add).  Lots of filled holes where the passenger side rear quarter was pulled out as well as a good sized dent in the wheel opening on the same side.
• 5/17/2003 - My son and I visited Replika Maschinen today to deliver my headers so that Don can make sure the ports are properly sized and shaped for them.  I noticed that the driver side header had been hitting on one of the bolts used to hold the upper control arm on and was very close to having a hole in it.  More money...  The Sportsman block sure looks nice.  It's much beefier than the 5.0 is.  The heads are in too, but none of my pictures turned out worth a darn :-(  Next time I'm going to take a tripod.
• 5/12/2003 - No change to the status of the car, but I pulled the sound clip of the death of my engine off the tape.  It's an MP3 file, so it's not terribly large (<800Kb).
• 5/10/2003 - My son and I visited Mustang Fever this morning and I took a few pictures of the stripping as well as some of the evidence that points to the car having originally been Vintage Burgundy.  You can see the pictures here.  Mitch mentioned that all of the sheet metal on the car so far has been Ford OEM stuff.  This is a happy thing.  It would appear that the taillight panel was replaced once, and it was not done particularly well.  Perhaps the result of a tail-ender.  Mitch will pay particular attention to this area during the stripping process and replace as needed.
• 5/8/2003 - I spoke with Don Redmon about the block today.  Don was concerned that the block was not an SVO product.  I told Don that the block predates SVO by a couple of years and was a forerunner to the Sportsman block in that it is a stock roller block cast with a higher nickel content.  Don's comments were all based around the fact that the webbing and bolts were all to small to manage the power potential of the engine he is building me.  The decision was made to order up a Sportsman block.  Anybody want to buy a high-nickel roller block?
• 5/7/2003 - Stipping begins.  It appears that the original color was no Metallic Ivy Green.  Rather, it seems it was Vintage Burgundy.  I like Vintage Burgundy, but I'm still going to go with Metallic Ivy Green.
• 5/3/2003 - Body and Paint begin.  Before you ask, no, I am not doing the work myself.  Would that I had the time and space to do so.  The car was towed to Mustang Fever today.  It will be chemically stripped to bare metal and brought back up with Metallic Ivy Green base and lots of clear.  Hopefully for a finish that looks deep enough you can swim in it.
• 4/15/2003 - My wife, Elaine, and I talked and it was decided that now would be a good time to get the body and paint done.  Woohoo!!!!
• 4/14/2003 - I spoke with Don Redmon, of Replika Maschinen today.  He is all ready to start on my engine.  Woo Hoo!!!  If all goes well I should have my car back together by the end of next month.
• 3/18/2003 - I could not decide whether to put this in the humor section or not... I got a letter from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District today.  They offered me $500.00 for my car.   These people obviously have no concept of what these cars are worth or the condition they are kept in.
• 3/8/2003 - Went up to see Dan Fodge about a new EFI setup he is excited about.  The deal is the new Accel Engine Management System, which uses the Generation 7 DFI engine control unit.  This looks to be a very sweet setup when combined with the new Accel Dual Sync distributor for full sequential operation.  Dan even thinks he can sell my individual runner setup right away.
• 2/1/2003 - Went to the shop (Santa Cruz Auto Shop) to meet the folk and talk about my engine.  Also went to Replika Maschinen to drop off the intake, talk to Don about the heads, intake and generally figure out exactly what I want to do for go power.
• 1/31/2003 - Received my balancer puller/installer tool from Precision Performance Products today and went out in the garage to give it a try.  I have never had such an easy time removing a balancer.  It was absolutely EASY.  You have got to try this tool.
• 1/25/2003 - Attempted to pull the harmonic balancer off the old engine and broke my K&D puller.  I was shocked.  I located what appears to be a very good tool to replace it with though:
• 1/19/2003 - The new block went into the shop so that work can start.
• 1/19/2003 - I started a new page for the new engine.
• 1/12/2003 - CAPonyBoy came over and we went and picked up the block for the new engine.  It is a high-nickel 5.0 roller block.  Ford made a limited number of these blocks and they have been pretty much snapped up by people like Saleen to use with their blower motors.  Roberto will take it to the machine shop next weekend, along with the GT40-X heads so that the process can begin.
• 11/02/2002 - KENK66 (Ken Keck) came over and we dropped the oil pan.  Take a look at the pictures of the progress.
• 11/01/2002 - CAPonyBoy (Roberto L) came over and we pulled the heads.  Take a look at the pictures of the progress.
• 10/31/2002 - Halloween...  I pulled the intake off.  That EFI setup is a bear to work around, but I did get it finally.  The intake pushrod on #6 was really badly bent, which is not all the surprising considering the exhaust valve's head was bouncing around in the hole.  Take a look at the pictures of my progress for the shot of the metal particles in the intake port of the #6 cylinder.
• 10/29/2002 - I looked closer at the rockers and noticed that #6 exhaust was higher than the rest.  I pulled the rocker and pulled on the spring.  Guess what?  The valve came out in my hand.  It looks to me like a defective valve, as there is no evidence of an abrupt break.  Rather, it looks black and granular at the break, like a bad casting or something.
• 10/28/2002 - I pulled the valve covers, distributor and air cleaners to verify the top half of the engine.  Everything on the top looks perfect.  Next is the oil pan.  Look here for the pictures of my progress.
• 10/25/2002 - Open track is a hoot.  I got one full session in and two laps of the second session before I broke my engine.  It did a hard stop right at the end of the front straight with an ugly crunching sound coming from the engine.  I got the sound byte of the engine failing.  I took lots of pictures as a result of being benched.  Some of them are a bit fuzzy since my camera is not very good at capturing fast moving objects.
• 10/19/2002 - Preparing for the Fall Classic 2002 Open Track event with the NorCal-SAAC club.  This will by my first open track event and I am pretty excited about it.  Here is a picture of my car all dressed up for the track
• 10/19/2002 - Installed the oil catch tank so I can drive in the above open track event.
• 9/28/2002 - Put the traction bars back on the car.  The replacement "eyes" are actually the same type of rod joints that were used on the rear mounts.  I wonder why they did not just build them this way in the first place?
• 9/14/2002 - Drove into San Francisco to go on the NorCal-VMF's third cruise and broke the passenger side traction bar.   I called Competition Engineering to report the break and they shipped me a new set of front mounts.  This is what I call good support.
• 7/9/2002 - Installed longer steering column so that the steering wheel is where it belongs.  This may allow me to recline the seat a bit and drive with a helmet on without having to go to racing seats.
• 7/9/2002 - New leaf springs from Mustangs Plus installed.  4-leaf mid-eye with both ends rolled to prevent pinion angle change.  They are softer and should make driving on the street more comfortable.
• 7/9/2002 - Air Conditioning is fully functional.
• 7/9/2002 - Replaced the windshield.  The one that was replaced was the original Carlite unit and looked like it had been sandblasted.
• 7/9/2002 - TCP motor mounts installed.
• 7/6/2002 - Air Conditioning Compressor mount is finally done.  This is the prototype, so will need changes, but it will function nicely.
• 4/21/2002 - I took the rear quarter vent interior panels off and checked the sliding doors to see if I could find the source of the rattle.  It would appear that someone had had these doors apart before and put them back together wrong.  The little spring steel clips that are supposed to be inside the guides were all on the outside, which allowed them to vibrate and rattle.  Putting them back the way they belong made the doors much tighter.  I should have thought to take pictures, but I was just so excited to find the source of the rattle that I forgot.
• 4/21/2002 - Polished and installed the new wheel centers.  I think they look much better than the American Racing centers.  They have the cutouts for the socket too, so they won't get all messed up if I take the wheels off without taking the centers off first.
• 4/20/2002 - Got my confirmation for the Mustangs Plus show.  I will be meeting up with a bunch of the BAMA guys at the Castro Valley Park-n-Ride.
• 4/19/2002 - Ran the car up to Dan Fodge for some EFI tweaking.  Dan got the stumble out of it and corrected the cruising mixture so that my freeway mileage is backup up to 17.3MPG.
• 3/22/2002 - Picked the car up from Dan Fodge and TCP   What a difference.  The throttle finally works the way it should.  Dan also re-worked a bunch of the EFI maps, ending up with much more power across the RPM range.  Dan also installed a SPAL fan.  This beauty really keeps things cool, but it is loud.
  TCP adjusted the flow from the power steering pump.  I didn't like the way the rack felt on the freeway; it was too light of a touch.  The rack feels much better now.
  I had to drive the car home in rain; what a mess.
• 3/4/2002 - Took the car up to Dan Fodge for some EFI Wizardry.  Dan is going to fix the throttle linkage problems, among other things.  When Dan finishes his work the car will go to TCP. to have the power steering de-sensitized.
• 11/18/2001 - Got the reverse light pigtail for the TKO and installed it.  I now have reverse lights again.
• 11/18/2001 - Got the cover for the clutch lever on the bell housing.  Modified it to work with the hydraulic clutch and installed it.
• 11/16/2001 - Shortened the Stam-Bar rods so that I will stop hurting my car on big bumps in the road.
• 11/16/2001 - Spent about an hour with the machinist.  It is looking like I might actually have an air conditioning compressor mount in a week or two.  It may even be nice looking when it is done.
• 11/7/2001 - Took the car in to Palo Alto Speedometer to have the speedo recalibrated.  It was way off; it read 65 at about 85.  I was darn lucky I didn't get a ticket coming back from the show last month.
• 10/27/2001 - Took the car to the Mustangs Plus show.  It was fun.  I met up with some of the guys from the VMF and BAMA clubs and we drove out together.  I think my speedo is reading slow because I am having a hard time believing that we were doing 55 on I-5.
• 10/18/2001 - The nose piece for the water pump pulley showed up today.  It was the right one this time.  Boy, that one little piece just makes things look so much more "finished".
• 10/18/2001 - I picked up so more of the Earl's AN fittings from Speed Merchant.  Darn, those things are pricey.  I should be able to put the car back together tomorrow.  Once it's back on the road I am taking it back to the shop to put it up on the lift and check all of the fuel lines for dampness with the engine running.  The high pressure tends to make things leak that were dry when the pump was off.  I wonder if there is a better way to cut the steel braid than taping it and using a hacksaw?
• 10/17/2001 - I managed to get the offending hose off the car.  I had to cut an 11/16 open-end wrench in half to shorten it, but after I did that it came off pretty easily.
• 10/16/2001 - Found the source of the gas smell under the hood.  The return line was weeping where the connector was attached to the steel braided hose.  At first I thought it was the fitting on the pressure regulator, but after fighting to get the regulator off and checking all of the fittings I have to conclude that it was the hose itself.  What a PITA it is going to be to remove the hose from the car.  My engine compartment is starting to look distinctly european...
• 10/16/2001 - Met with the machinist to fix his computer.  He had not started on the compressor mount, but he still thought he could have it done by Saturday.  We shall see...
• 10/11/2001 - The car is home with a black dash, a rollbar, functional brakes and injection, the interior completely reassembled and the interior A/C stuff in place.  There are now a bunch more hoses and wires under the hood that I have to figure out how best to dress, but at least the A/C is almost done.
• 10/11/2001 - I met with a machinist today who is going to work on the A/C compressor mount for me.  He said that he may even be able to finish it by next weekend.  Apparently business is slow for him right now...
• 10/9/2001 - Back to the shop to have the interior put back together and the rollbar installed.
• 10/8/2001 - I noticed a drivetrain vibration that is really noticable at about 70MPH.  I suspect it is the driveshaft and will have that checked soonest.
• 10/8/2001 - I drove the car to Fodge Engineering, in Elk Grove, today.  That's about 150 miles, round-trip.  I spent a couple of hours with Dan Fodge tweaking the ECU.  The trip out got me about 7MPG.  The trip back got me better than 17MPG.  Quite an improvement.  It still spits and sneezes during decelleration and a little at a constant speed, but boy does it make power when I drop the hammer. 
• 10/8/2001 - I noticed that after a heavy decelleration the throttle seems to get "stuck" on idle.  I am thinking that the vacuum from the engine is actually holding the butterflies shut.  This is not a happy thing as it makes getting back on the gas problematic.  I will have to talk with the guys at Imagine Injection about this one.
• 10/7/2001 - I sent in my entry for the show at Mustangs Plus later this month.
• 10/6/2001 - The rollbar has been tacked in and fit.  It was then taken back out and will be cleaned up, painted in put back in next week.  We rigged up a mount for the throttle return springs; it's not pretty, but it will do until I can come up with something better.
• 9/28/2001 - The show is out of the question tomorrow.  I am bummin...
• 9/28/2001 - The car runs.  It's still too rich, but it runs.  The throttle returns well and the throttle bodies are all fairly well balanced.
• 9/28/2001 - The adjustable roller rockers have been installed, except for the one that was missing it's adjuster screw and lock nut.  I called Comp Cams and they are shipping one out.  They didn't even ask for any money.  This is service the way it is supposed to be.
• 9/28/2001 - The front brakes are done on the front.  The look really good too.
• 9/28/2001 - The back brakes are proving to be move of a challenge.  The axle flanges had to be turned so that they would fit inside the rotors.  The caliper mounting plates had to be drilled so that the calipers would be properly situated and not hit anything.  The e-brake cables are going to have to be either modified or new ones will have to be ordered.  The caliper mounting bracket does not fit between the mounting plate and the rotor on either side.  I am going to have to have the mounting brackets machined to create the clearances needed.  BAER tells me that this is because I have the big-bearing 9-inch rearend and these are always unique.
• 9/27/2001 - The throttle body came in today.  Everything is here for the weekend.  I may even be able to make the Tracy High School show on Saturday.
• 9/25/2001 - The COMP Cams adjustable roller rockers came in today.  I will be installing them this weekend if all goes well.
• 9/24/2001 - Imagine shipped my throttle body today.  It should be here in a couple of days, which means I may be able to get the car together for the Tracy High School show this weekend.
• 9/22/2001 - The BAER brakes are in on the front.  Boy do those brakes look good.  They completely fill the wheel and the red caliper looks great.  If they stop half as well as they look I will be very happy.
• 9/22/2001 - I decided not to chrome the roll bar.  It's going to be covered in padding anyway, so why waste the time and money?  This means that we can install the bar this week, hopefully.
• 9/22/2001 - Missed yet another VMF club run.
• 9/12/2001 - We were able to balance the throttle bodies, mostly.  As it turns out, when the injection system first got here with it's shipping damage, more than just the idle stops were bent.  Both of the rear bodies appear to have bent shafts and will have to go back to Imagine to be repaired.  There goes another few weeks...
• 9/12/2001 - Mitch and I spent a couple of hours thinking about how best to modify the injector harness to work on the 302.  The harness is configured for a Chevy, so has to be modified to work properly on the 302.  We ended up using numeric punches and a torch to "brand" each connector with the proper cylinder number so that should I ever decide to go sequential things will already be in place.
• 9/11/2001 - Mitch got all the wires hooked up and actually got the car to start.  It does not run quite right, but that is to be expected.  I will go tweak the controller program tomorrow.
• 9/11/2001 - Terrorist attacks on civilian targets in New York.  My God... what's wrong with these people?
• 9/8/2001 - The injection is all back in place.  All that remains is wiring things up.  There were so many connections on the solenoid post that I had to install a power distribution block to thin them out.  It looks pretty good.  I will post pictures later.
• 9/5/2001 - Mitch chased all of the threads on the injectors and the throttle bodies and installed the injectors.  He also modified the injector harness to fit better.
• 9/1/2001 - Trial fit things.  Put injection back on car.  One injector got damaged during test fitting and had to be ordered (there goes another week).
• 8/28/2001 - Tap and die showed up.
• 8/25/2001 - Picked up the Speed-Pro controller (now called FAST) and started the install.  The new injectors are here, but they won't screw in.  I'm going to have to get a tap and die to chase the threads, but it's 5/8-32, so I can't just go pick it up.
• 8/22/2001 - Ordered the BAER brakes for front and rear.  They may not stop the car any better (although they should), but they will be much better looking, particularly with the zinc wash to keep them from rusting.
• 8/20/2001 - I have started the active search for replacement brakes.  I am looking at BAER Extreme+ brakes for the front.
• 8/18/2001 - The car did not make it to the VMF "club" run. I went and met a few of the guys though.
• 8/18/2001 - Tried to adjust the injection again today.  It ran, but not well.  It was too lean, which caused the headers to get way hot (cherry red), which burnt the plug wires.  We will wait until we have the smaller injectors in place before trying again.  I am contemplating changing out the ECU to something that has sequential control and an interface to the ignition system as well (Speed-Pro is sounding really good).
• 8/18/2001 - I added a fan shroud to the radiator.  This was done more to hide the fan than any other reason.  Despite the fact that the PermaCool fan works very well, it is not terribly attractive.
• 8/15/2001 - I just found out that the Sound Bar from CAS will not fit in my car.  Get this, they want you to "trim" the enclosures to make them fit.  The enclosures are made of steel.  Now I have to find another source for rear speakers.
• 8/12/2001 - I didn't make the BAMA show.  The injection system is not ready.  When I ordered the system the engine was a 347 putting out around 400HP.  Now it's a 302, putting out around 345HP.  This means that the nozzles are too big and the car runs really rich.
• 7/10/2001 - Make plans to get all of the parts together in time to make the next show, which is just over a month away.  These parts to include all fuel line parts and a new in-tank fuel pump.
• 7/9/2001 - Original throttle linkage sent out to be duplicated with an additional 3/4" lift on the one side to clear the valve cover.  Called Imagine to get the 1/2" spacers to raise the throttle bodies higher for additional linkage clearance.
• 7/9/2001 - Sent the short velocity stacks out to be polished.  
• 7/9/2001 - Talked with Imagine to get a new base plate for the air filter fabricated.  This will make both cleaner bodies line up as well as give additional clearance at the back for the TCP shock tower braces on the driver side.  I think it would look better with the two bodies lined up anyway.  The fabrication will take months, so I will have to run the stacks for a while.
• 7/8/2001 - Removed the carburetor and manifold.  Installed the injection manifold.  The throttle linkage ends up right in the notch in the valve cover.  This is not good.
• 6/23/2001 - VMOA car show.  I made it to this one using the carburetor setup.  Now all I have to do is get the fuel injection installed and working for the next show.