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It looks like a mess but I'm going to try to start it up tomorrow for the first time with on the new engine. Once it runs I will go back and clean up the wiring and everything else about this picture that is bothering me. 

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Made some serious progress last night. Spent the better part of yesterday morning getting the heads assembled.  My cam showed up yesterday afternoon so last night from 8pm to midnight we swapped out cams, mounted the new heads and got the valve train together.  I have to admit I'm pretty darn stiff this morning from bending over the engine all day.  Next time I'm definitely pulling the engine out. haha

 
Working on the 48,000 mile original 73 vert some. Since I had the couple shake down trips last year I knew the Power Steering pump need new seals. I ordered and took apart. That is one crazy pump inside. Everything looked perfect not trash, no wear, no scratches. I got the new O-rings and seals in and back on the car yesterday. Now to get the Power brake booster off and send to NAPA they rebuild your old one and send back same one. I will not hold a vacuum when tested. Hope that gets all the issues put away. Only have about 40 miles on a car that sat for 25 years. No trans or engine leaks, no rear axle leaks. It had new brakes all around but I did rebuilt calipers.

Going to head out to another members place Saturday to pick up a 4 bolt 351 C for the 72 Q code. Might have the 2 bolt up for sale. It has never been cranked. Was bored, crank ground, new cam, springs, lifters and roller rockers by PO.

No pics of the pump rebuilt but here is the car. It needs paint to be better but it is original Ford paint and interior.

David







 
I have been busy doing a lot of work while I was adding the clutch pedal, including replacing the intermediate brake line, fuel vapor line, replacing the booster, replacing the steering firewall gasket with a gasket for a manual, installing clutch pedal, bearings and cable, checking wiring, replacing bulbs, and adapting late Mustangs pedal covers.

Here is a picture where you can see an automatic with a clutch pedal... :chin: :p



 
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Actually got up a little early today and went with my buddy to Cars & Coffee.  Had a blast!  One of the guys always takes superb pics and shares them - here's mine:

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Here's a link to pics of the rest of the cars that showed up:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenhorton/sets/72157694591097035/with/39052454250/

Afterward, I took a trip over to Meineke and got Frank inspected, where he was a big hit with the guys.  It's so weird actually doing the menial things like getting vehicle safety inspections, renewing registration, etc... it's like its a real car now and stuff.   ::thumb::

 
Started it up briefly. I have a leaking fuel injector so I won't really get to run it until Wednesday. 

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Got the Cleveland out and over to a friends shop.  Going to refresh the carb, put some new valve springs in it and run it on the stand.  I have some pretty nasty springs in it currently and am going to swap to some beehives with a lower spring pressure.  Should shed some weight and make my lifters and cam hate me a little less.

Also got the heater / AC box back together and slapped it into the car to see how it fit.  Going to pull it back out to put a screen over the fresh air intake.  Not that I ever plan on storing the car outside but after the amount of junk I found in the HVAC box It isn't going back in with a screen.

Also took another pic for good measure.



 
Got my new fuel injector early and let it idle a little bit.

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The engine bay on my 351w was looking tired, so time for an upgrade.

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I restored the shock tower panels and fitted new rockers, air cleaner and an import brace.

I'll be keeping the original braces and rockers for originality.

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Well, it finally got warm enough and dry enough to get the Mach 1 fired up and out the garage. Still only 38 degs, but the sun felt a lot warmer. I drove about 15 miles before I decided to head for the gas station. Now here's the fun part. In Ontario and across Canada, the price of gas has got stupid, not sure what you guys in the US are paying, but I just put in 50 bucks Cdn, about $38 US at the current rate of rip off and that got me 8.87 US gallons or 33.58 liters of Shell premium non-ethanol gas.

So, that's enough for about 135 miles of wonderful driving at 15 mpg. Hey, it's my toy, so I guess it's grin and bare it.

Geoff.

 
Another part nobody cares about needed attention. While changing door hinges pins, noticed the lower hinge plate on driver side was missing a bolt

or as it turns out, it was a broken bolt. Rust gone, old broken bolt out, painted and new bolts it went back in (very easy to type this, bit tedious to get it back in place properly). Protected the inside of the pilar as well with wax while at it, surprisingly as new.



and returned to sorting/finding parts for my 429 engine... most sets of bolts "kinda" complete and in oil. Missing few and still have to find the valves studs, springs and retainers. Where the hell are they? raaaaaa. There's a good side tho, my small garage becomes cleaner and organised by the day! Amazing what I've kept in there in 3 decades. Even found back some spare parts of my old Yamaha RD 50cc when I was 15 :)

rediscovered parts I totally forgot about, like a spare rear window for the coupe with defrost grid, a side window for a fastback.

One more dark and dusty place to explore in the garage attic next weekend...

 
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