Bojo's 73 Project

[jbojo]

2/14/15

Got the seat belts installed that I ordered from OMS. No modifications were needed on my car but not sure for coupes or verts. If you are not worried about being 100% original then this is the way to go. It eliminates the need to store the shoulder belt on the clip on the headliner or fumbling with getting them both attached when putting on the belt. Belt lengths were good and they retract out of the way when getting out of the car. Took about an hour to remove the old ones and install the replacements. This was one of the better items that I have purchased for my upgrades and I really recommend the swap. Just going to put the original belts up and it can be restored back in no time at all if I need to.

Don recommended this set when I spoke to him awhile back and finally decided to try them out. It was a good choice, thx Don!!!

 

[71mach1lady]

Looks like we will be contacting Don, definitely better than just seat belts like we will be running

Here is our air cleaner mod. Not perfect but it clears the MSD

 

[EdM]

Is that a difficult install if one's car did not come with the shoulder belts? Frankly, I feel "naked" not having a shoulder belt when I hit the road.

 

[jbojo]

Is that a difficult install if one's car did not come with the shoulder belts? Frankly, I feel "naked" not having a shoulder belt when I hit the road.

Included were instruction on how to install these belts in cars that previously did not have the belts. It includes all the hardware that you will need but you will need to drill some holes for all the bolts. It would take a couple more hours for the install though.

Looks like we will be contacting Don, definitely better than just seat belts like we will be running

Here is our air cleaner mod. Not perfect but it clears the MSD

I like the way you maintained the rounded edges on your mod. Which manifold are you using and have you installed the ducting on the hood yet and checked for clearances? I think that the performer manifold will have no issues and that's where I am worried as I am using a higher height one.

 

[71mach1lady]

Clearance is perfect with the ram and yes the manifold is the Perfomer

I assumed all but convertible would have shoulder harnesses from the factory

 

[jbojo]

2/18/15

Update on the progress of the RAM Air mod to get the air cleaner to clear the MSD distributor. All the cutting and welding is done and now I have to use some body filler to smooth everything out and paint. The cleaner now fits so the only unknown now is the hood clearance. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will be done with this. Some pics:

 

[71mach1lady]

looking good. We ran in to a wrinkle after getting kick down set up. We need to lift the air cleaner about 1/4" to 1/2" to clear the kick down

 

[jbojo]

looking good. We ran in to a wrinkle after getting kick down set up. We need to lift the air cleaner about 1/4" to 1/2" to clear the kick down

Are you going with the kick down bar? My only concern now is getting enough clearance for the hood. I can't go with the performer because with the lower height I would not clear the dizzy, it's pretty tight as it is right now.

Also did you get the PS issue fixed?

 

[71mach1lady]

Yes on the kick down bar, is there another option? I wish we could cut the MSD distributor down about 2", I have no idea why they make it so tall

The power steering issue is all fixed but not without some words between our friend that brought the unit in and the company that rebuilt it. The insides had rust, I guess they failed to use any assembly oil when they rebuilt it. We installed right after we picked it up and it sat connected on the car in our fully enclosed shop. We do run a swamp cooler but that should not cause it to rust. They knew the car was sitting and would be for a few months yet they wanted us to pay them to rebuild it again.

 

[jbojo]

Yes on the kick down bar, is there another option? I wish we could cut the MSD distributor down about 2", I have no idea why they make it so tall

The power steering issue is all fixed but not without some words between our friend that brought the unit in and the company that rebuilt it. The insides had rust, I guess they failed to use any assembly oil when they rebuilt it. We installed right after we picked it up and it sat connected on the car in our fully enclosed shop. We do run a swamp cooler but that should not cause it to rust. They knew the car was sitting and would be for a few months yet they wanted us to pay them to rebuild it again.

You would have thought they would have put some oil in the pump to prevent that issue.

The Lokar kick down cable will solve all of that. I would just go ahead and use the gas pedal cable too. No modifications needed as everything just fits. Only thing that you have to change is the position of the lever on the tranny. The original bar pushes this lever and the Lokar system pulls it. Attaching picture again. The bottom cable is the kick down.

Lastly that MSD dizzy is just way too tall, they should be able to make them shorter, would have made this conversion much easier. I wound up still having fitment issues that I didn't notice so spent the day cutting out my mod that I did.

 

[Totalled]

They make them that tall, as they are also used on 429/460s, and they need to clear the intake on them. (Like a victor)

 

[jbojo]

2/22/15

So I found out what went wrong with the first attempt at getting the needed clearance. The circular addition was not perpendicular to the base and tilted towards the front of the motor so that the dizzy cap was hitting the base before it was fully centered on the throttle body. I cut out the welds at the top and sides and pushed the addition back until it was in the correct position. This left a 1/2" gap at the top that I needed to fill in using a strip of metal and then used body filler to smooth it out. You can see how much larger the curved section is now. So all that's lefy to do is sand everything smooth and paint. I trial fitted the base without the rubber gasket and usd a piece of wood across the top of the air cleaner and measured the distance to the fender. I came up with 1 1/2 inches and Jim & Jutta gave me a measurement of almost 2 inches on his car. So it looks like it might clear the hood ok but you never can tell until you try it. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[jbojo]

2/23/15

Worked on the air cleaner some more today. Should have it completely painted and done by the end of the day. Here is where I am at with it right now.

 

[jbojo]

2/24/15

Quick update for today. Because of my organization of parts I could not find the HW to mount the plenum to the hood. Spent 4 hrs looking for it and finally ordered another set from Don and should be here by Saturday. I did get the air cleaner base mounted and measured the height again and got 1 1/2" from top of the cleaner to the fender lip where the mounting bolts are. This was without the rubber seal installed. This is going to be close. Pic of the base on and it clears the MSD dizzy now.

 

[hyena429]

Wow...that looks sharp John.

 

[71mach1lady]

How is the distributor clearance? Looks like you have a bunch of room now. When we went to drop on we find we are still rubbing. Ordered a 1/2" spacer to see if that will take care of it

 

[jbojo]

Wow...that looks sharp John.

Thx Mike, it's still a flip of the coin on the hood clearance. If it doesn't work I'll go back to my original setup and maybe a performer manifold later on.

How is the distributor clearance? Looks like you have a bunch of room now. When we went to drop on we find we are still rubbing. Ordered a 1/2" spacer to see if that will take care of it

I had the same problem on my first attempt and wound up making the cut larger. It all fits now. Because I am using a taller intake I couldn't use a spacer because I am estimating that I only have a 1/2" clearance right now. Linkage and kick down clear ok, only mod left is to the air horn. I am using a taller valve cover so I have some interference when I plug the oil fill with a cap and the air horn. Just hoping this all works out as I like the new engine look.

 

[sdstang]

That looks great! I have clearance issues with my throttle positioning sensor and was gonna get a riser but now I think I might go your route and notch but air box.

Thanks for sharing all this stuff with US.

 

[jbojo]

The HW that was hoping to get did not come in today so hopefully on Monday now. I'll work on it during the week and post pictures if it all goes together without any clearance issues. Hopefully by Wednesday I have this all completed.

 

[rpmcarter]

beautiful work