71 Mach1 rebuild

[kusanagi]

Right to begin with a little history of the car.

 I have hade this car for about 16 years and until about 9 years ago it was used regularly, up until on the way home from a owners club show it decided to eat its gearbox, as the car was a bit of an oil burner anyway I decided to take the engine and gearbox out to do a bit of restoration work to them, but with the engine and gearbox out I decided to start prodding around the bodywork ( fatal mistake ) next thing I know was that the rear light cluster fell out. with this in mind I decided to pull the car apart and do a total rebuild.

A photo of the car as I bought it.

002a by karl stroud, on Flickr

The first thing tackled was the gearbox rebuild, this also involved in fitting a shift kit.

DSC00100a by karl stroud, on Flickr

The next job tackled was the replacement of the back end..

DSC00107a by karl stroud, on Flickr

DSC00118a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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Also done at this time but not photo's were taken, was both rear torque boxes repaired and the front passenger torque box also repaired, and also the aftermarket sunroof was removed and the roof repaired and re strengthened, I also fitted chassis connection bars.

 Next up was the scuttle and heater intake repair.

  DSC00364a by karl stroud, on Flickr

DSC00368a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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Next up it was the turn of the chassis rails, shock towers and inner fenders.

DSC00375a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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DSC00384a by karl stroud, on Flickr

After this was done the main shell was painted with primer then after this was flatted off then painted with topcoat.

P1000875a by karl stroud, on Flickr

P1000876a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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The doors, front fenders, hood and trunk lid were all stripped and filled where needed then primed and painted..

DSC00398a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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The fuel tank was reconditioned and modified for fuel injection and fitted to the car as well as new fuel lines being run.

P1000902a by karl stroud, on Flickr

The next job to be tackled was the suspension, first was the rear this just required fitting new springs shocks and poly bushes, and at this time custom made traction bars were fitted, a rear sway may be fitted at a later date as I fitted the correct fixings in the chassis for a factory sway bar, then it was the fronts turn this involved re-enforcing the front upper and lower arms and making custom stay bars as well as fitting new springs, shocks and poly bushes and fitting an uprated sway bar.

P1000946a by karl stroud, on Flickr

The front upper and lower arms were boxed in and seam welded.

P1000959a by karl stroud, on Flickr

P1000960a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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I also started sound proofing the inside.

P1000982a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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The rear lights where also reconditioned.

P1010003a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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Also done was the repair and repainting of the steering assembly.

  P1010019a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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Next was the repair of a very broken front grill.

P1010035a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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I also started to fit the roof sound proofing and head lining.

P1010013a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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At this time I decided to get the exhaust system out of the way and made some adjustable brackets for it as the engine is not in yet I could not finalise the position.

P1010059a by karl stroud, on Flickr

P1010060a by karl stroud, on Flickr

P1010061a by karl stroud, on Flickr

The trunk has also been soundproofed.

P1010076a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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Then the swirl pot and fuel pumps have been fitted.

P1010093a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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And the custom made brake pipes.

P1010096a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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The next job done was to media blast the wheels and repaint them..

P1010102a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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The next job I decided to do was to repair and modify the front side/indicator light assembly so it will be legal for use in the uk.

P1010133a by karl stroud, on Flickr

P1010136a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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Now it was the turn of the interior trim starting with the cracked and damaged dash top.

P1010150a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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Then the door cards.

P1010161a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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Also at the same time a lot of other interior trim parts where also repaired and repainted.

P1000535a by karl stroud, on Flickr

After doing all of this work to the main part of the car I thought it was time to start doing some work on the engine. With this in mind I started collecting parts for its rebuild first up was a cheap pair of alloy heads for me to experiment on ( the original 2v heads require to much work ).

P1010165a by karl stroud, on Flickr

Next up was the rebore, this was a complete nightmare as one of the cylinders had over 25 thou of wear on the thrust face so the block required a rebore of 60 thou, the engine was sonic measured and was found to have plenty of meat on the walls.

P1000506a by karl stroud, on Flickr

New pistons and rods where then ordered..

P1000562a by karl stroud, on Flickr

The block was then smoothed inside and out and then painted.

  P1000542a by karl stroud, on Flickr

Next I started collecting parts again and I also modified an old accel distributor to act as a cam position sensor for the EFI I will be fitting at a later date.

  P1000546a by karl stroud, on Flickr

P1000547a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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This where I have got to as of may this year, almost no work has been done since then as my mum passed away in may and I have been helping my dad out, in fact I have only started doing a few bits to the car in the past week or so, and that was only sorting a couple of paint reactions and a couple of small cracks which had developed on the roof.

 I will update this thread when I get around to doing some more work to the car, plus I have got to get some advice on the final spec of the engine.

Karl.

 

[ITMike5.0]

First off...very sorry for your loss! 

Wow you've done a lot of work and it looks great!  :goodpost: I like the fact that you were able to restore all of the interior pieces rather than buying new parts.  I have a very long road ahead of me with my 72 Mach 1 and all I've been doing is looking at new parts.  I'd love to know what you used to fill the cracks in your dash pad, steering wheel and other interior parts and what other products you used to finish them.  They all look great!  Maybe you'd like to come to Florida to help with my project.

  lollerz

 

[Fabrice]

Very impressive and well done!

Especially when I see the living room, garden becoming the garage extensions, the work done outside...

I know the lack of space adds so much extra work. This makes what you did even more impressive!

I wish I had a neighbour like you!

 

[kusanagi]

On the repair on the dash crash pad and the doors, First I opened up the cracked or damaged area's with a die grinder, then I then melted some polyurethane tubing ( this was the closest I could get in likeness to the original sponge ) into the ground out sponge area's with a gas powered plastic soldering gun. This was then sanded down to just below the surface level then filled with flexible filler ( the type used on bumper repair's ) this was then sanded flat then skimmed with a thin layer of Stopper ( a self quick setting soft filler ) then sanded again. In doing all this sanding I lost the grain on the panels so to get some type of grain back I sprayed the panels with plastic primer then primer then a final coat of texture paint ( satin black ).

I also repaired the rear plastic trims using a similar technique as they had damage and had lost all of there colour and texture due to sun bleaching.

For the steering wheel to repair this I opened the cracks up with a small grinder then filled the cracks with a dry 2 part epoxy resin, this was then left to dry then sanded, this was then filled with stopper, sanded again then primed with plastic primer then a grey primer which was sanded smooth then sprayed with a gloss black paint, also repaired at this time was the horn push which did not work due to damage and corrosion.

The other thing I did to my door cards was to bond on some thin aluminium sheet with holes cut in them ( for the fixings ) as the cards had some damage and were also warped due to dampness, this will give them a bit more strength and rigidity.

P.S. most of the shots in the living room were done when my parents were away visiting my sister.

And thanks for the condolences.

Karl.

 

[jpaz]

Excellent work, can’t wait to see your car finished!

 

[Pegleg]

You have some good skills. Cant wait to see it finished. The power is a world away from that 71 Spitfire you have

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

WOW, I cannot believe all the effort you have put into that car. I have scraped many with less rust and issues than yours. Looks like you are doing a great job. I guess we are spoiled here in U.S. when we can get parts much easier than you can.

Keep the pics coming as you progress. On your engine build. Be sure you retain the baffle under the thermostat and that you get the proper thermostat to prevent any over heating issues. Be sure you get the head gaskets turned the right way will have Front marked on the gasket.

Cheers,





William Warner poems

 

[kusanagi]

The baffle is still there ( thanks for the pointer anyway ) and will be getting the correct thermostat for the engine, I will be getting a pair of cometic head gaskets to get the correct compression ratio, and will have to triple check to make sure that they are fitted correctly.

That spitfire of mine ( which I have owned for 25 years ) currently has a multi-point sequential injected 3.5 litre v8 in it with a 5 speed box behind it and Granada diff and custom rear suspension fitted, so it is no slouch .

DSC00386a by karl stroud, on Flickr

 

[tony-muscle]

Excellent restoration work. I am amazed of all the work done restoring the interior. Looks awesome! Keep at it. You are almost there. Like i say to myself, closer than when I started.....

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[NOT A T5]

You DO have great craftsmanship!

 

[mach71351c]

Welcome from San Diego California. Nice job!!!

 

[kusanagi]

Well time for a small update, I have been slowly been getting the parts together so I can assemble the engine and I now have all the parts need to start assembly. First up a photo of the parts got so far to build the engine.

P1010205a by karl stroud, on Flickr

Now with the new cam bearings installed.

P1010206a by karl stroud, on Flickr

P1010207a by karl stroud, on Flickr

Now with the cam installed with timing gear and timed.

P1010208a by karl stroud, on Flickr

Next up the  pistons and rods installed.

P1010221a by karl stroud, on Flickr

P1010222a by karl stroud, on Flickr

Next up is the heads being installed.

P1010224a by karl stroud, on Flickr

P1010225a by karl stroud, on Flickr

And last of all a couple with the headers and inlet temp installed.

P1010226a by karl stroud, on Flickr

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P1010228a by karl stroud, on Flickr

There are a few more jobs to be done to the engine, such as install the new correct length pushrods, install the new oil pump, install the rockers when the pushrods are fitted ( this lot can only be done when the part arrive ) and then I have got to get the injectors and drill the fuel rail and inlet and fit them ( and fit all the electronic sensors for the EFI conversion ). So near yet so far, but at least the end is in sight as far as the engine is concerned.

The final build on the engine stands as:

351c bored +.060

Crank reground and worked on

Speed pro hyper pistons

Eagle con rods

Lunati 411A1 Cam (30320511)

Crower EDM metered flat tappet mech lifters

Cloyes 9 way adjustable roller timing set

Trick flow pushrods

Comp cams guide plates

Pioneer harmonic damper ( SFI rated )

Flowkooler waterpump

Flowkooler high flow thermostat ( correct  type )

Four seasons water neck

Speedmaster alloy cylinder heads ( been heavily worked on )

Lunati valve springs ( to be  fitted when the cam is bed in )

matching caps for above springs

Speedmaster inlet to match heads ( to be modified for injectors )

Speedmaster four barrel throttle body ( not that bad just needs a little finishing )

Comp cams lash caps ( the speedmaster stainless steel valves do not have a hardened tip )

Scorpion 1.73 roller rockers

Ford motorsport alloy rocker boxes

ARP bolts used in all the important places

ARP hardened oil pump drive shaft

Sealed power standard oil  pump

Oil restrictors fitted to cam bearing feeds

All bearings are Clevite ( the crank uses HD bearings )

Modified Blackjack headers

The engines compression ratio worked out at about 9.8 to  1 

I do not have a clue as to what power the engine is going to produce but I will be happy if it makes about 400hp at the crank.

After I have got this finished it will be installed in the car and then I can get to finishing the interior and doing the one or two small external jobs which need to be done ( such as changing the torque converter to match the cam and changing the rear axle ratio to something a little better ).

 

[73pony]

Great. Nice progress.

 

[baz70]

Great. Nice progress.

I'm pretty sure i previoulsly read about your build on MOCGB and reading it again its no less impressive, excellent craftsmanship. I like the re-use of parts, if I had your skills I would reuse more parts rather than buying new, will see where I land. Also gives me more motivation now to crack on with my car restoration. Cowl repair was awesome.

 

[tony-muscle]

Nothing beats a clean and newly rebuilt engine.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[Pegleg]

Great progress. Cant wait to see it buttoned up

 

[kusanagi]

Well time for a very late update.

Picking up where I left off, having got the engine more or less together I thought it was time to start making some of the bits for the EFI conversion.

 I started with sorting out the crank trigger wheel, this was made using a generic 36-1 missing tooth wheel onto which I need to fix some guides to make it stay central on the damper when fitted behind the crank pulley.





Next I made the sensor bracket.



Then I need to make a bracket to fit the LS2 truck coil packs.



and as I forgot to post it last time a photo of the rockers.



I now need to drill and tap the fuel rail blanks that I had bought.











With this done the next job which was begging to be done was to sort out the rev counter.

 As I going to use EFI on the car the output for the rev counter was not compatible with the factory movement. To sort this out I managed to find on the internet a circuit diagram for building an adjustable rev counter.





I then had to strip out the movement from an old smiths rev counter and make a bracket to fit this in my dash.





With this done I could of used the smiths pointer but this would of looked wrong, so I made a new pointer using a scrap of aluminium which I filed to size and shape and then glued to the smiths pointer boss and then balanced it and lastly painted it the correct colour.





I have also made the brackets and fitted a pair of electric fans to the radiator and also fitted the stainless steel exhaust tips.





After doing these jobs I thought it was about time to work on the rear axle, as all I wanted to do was fit new bearings and change the crown wheel and pinion to a better ratio I did not think that this was going to be a hard job, WRONG, on taking the third member apart I had a nice surprise waiting for me.



That's right a broken rear pinion support . So that led to me spending more than I wanted to on this little lot.



I decided to go for:

Strange engineering nodular iron pro case

Strange engineering alloy Daytona bearing support

Strange engineering 1350 steel yoke

Timken bearings

Motive gear 3.75:1 crown wheel and pinion

Eton truetrac LSD

and a spicer u-joint to connect my existing propshaft to the new yoke.

The only agro I had is that as I did not have a inch pound wrench for setting the preload so I needed to buy one, and I did buy one, and waited two weeks to get to me and then it went missing in the post ( courier said he delivered it at 5 in the morning ). I then had to get onto the supplier to get a refund, I managed to get one locally in the end.

 A bit of a fiddle getting the mesh on the gears right but I am happy with what I ended up with.





With this done I could button the axle up.





And fit it back in its home.



Another job I have done is to fit a gearbox oil cooler.



The next job I have got to do is sort the leak in the trunk out ( I have got to find where the leak is coming from ).

 

[mach71351c]

Wow!! Awesome build! Keep the updates coming.

 

[tony-muscle]

That's a lot of work. Thank you for the update! What EFI CPU are you using?