Build Thread 1978 Mercury Cyclone. The pig is in the pen.

[rdharper02]

Ah yes.....welding on your back. I don't like to think of the little molten balls of joy as a problem. I like to think of them as an indication of God's sense of humor. Unfortunately, I also think he's either laughing at me or timing how fast I get out from under the car.

I like the flanges you used Mike. I probably would have taken the easy route and used band clamps like the one currently leaking on my truck.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Now we just need to hear how it sounds.....

You'll have to buy a season pass , the wait for the season to open in spring.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Ah yes.....welding on your back. I don't like to think of the little molten balls of joy as a problem. I like to think of them as an indication of God's sense of humor. Unfortunately, I also think he's either laughing at me or timing how fast I get out from under the car.

I like the flanges you used Mike. I probably would have taken the easy route and used band clamps like the one currently leaking on my truck.

Band clamps work. Once.

I think they're intended to be a set it and forget it solution, whereas a v band can come apart, and go back to get her as many times as necessary. I've used band clamps on other stuff, and they work,.......sometimes they need a little extra sealant to get the job done.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Ah yes.....welding on your back. I don't like to think of the little molten balls of joy as a problem. I like to think of them as an indication of God's sense of humor. Unfortunately, I also think he's either laughing at me or timing how fast I get out from under the car.

I like the flanges you used Mike. I probably would have taken the easy route and used band clamps like the one currently leaking on my truck.

Band clamps work. Once.

I think they're intended to be a set it and forget it solution, whereas a v band can come apart, and go back to get her as many times as necessary. I've used band clamps on other stuff, and they work,.......sometimes they need a little extra sealant to get the job done.

 

[Noobz347]

That cinder block is going to look badass when it's done.

 

[RaggedGT]

+1

Hey.......
He Stole my Shtick!!!!!!!!!*














* (See what I did there )

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

That cinder block is going to look badass when it's done.

Whadya talking about? It's painted and everything.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Hey.......
He Stole my Shtick!!!!!!!!!*














* (See what I did there )

Yes raggedy I do see what you did there. Don't think that you have the corner on the stick market though, or the Shtick market either for that matter.

 

[95BlueStallion]

That cinder block is going to look badass when it's done.

Obviously Noobz doesnt appreciate patina.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Obviously Noobz doesnt appreciate patina.

Who knows what Noobz appreciates......certainly not "faux aged" cinder block.

 

[1990Coupe]

You're a terrible welder /sarcasm

 

[84Ttop]

This is me.

After welding the two flanges, (the easy part) I put the things back up in the car, and had to weld the thing to my muffler. (Not the easy part) Laying on your back w/ the work 2' up is a true challenge for anybody. Couple that to the frequent instances that a molten ball of steel almost always manages to drop and splatter on the cement right under your back, and it always makes for a fun afternoon.

But again, I managed.

Let me add my .02 cents on this one... not that you asked for it, but I'm going to give it to you regardless

I do quite a bit of welding... You do quite a bit of welding... We are the same in that respect.
I believe in the "smarter not harder" mentality... You do everything the hard way ...

When I have to lay on my back and weld something I typically do not get smoked by the welding splatter. Why? Because I am wearing a welding jacket for starters, I also have crafted a wooden plank that gets me off the ground and has enough room to allow the falling sparks to pass through (other than the ones that collect on my fat stomach) . You mean to tell me that in all of your years of infinite wisdom this has not occurred to you?

It doesn't need to be elaborate, note the wooden plank the below picture demonstrates: (Picture borrowed from the interwebz)

While I'm breaking your balls a bit here, I can attest to this stupid wooden plank (as infrequently as it will be used) saving you quite a bit of money on burn creme .

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Let me add my .02 cents on this one... not that you asked for it, but I'm going to give it to you regardless

I do quite a bit of welding... You do quite a bit of welding... We are the same in that respect.
I believe in the "smarter not harder" mentality... You do everything the hard way ...

When I have to lay on my back and weld something I typically do not get smoked by the welding splatter. Why? Because I am wearing a welding jacket for starters, I also have crafted a wooden plank that gets me off the ground and has enough room to allow the falling sparks to pass through (other than the ones that collect on my fat stomach) . You mean to tell me that in all of your years of infinite wisdom this has not occurred to you?

It doesn't need to be elaborate, note the wooden plank the below picture demonstrates: (Picture borrowed from the interwebz)

While I'm breaking your balls a bit here, I can attest to this stupid wooden plank (as infrequently as it will be used) saving you quite a bit of money on burn creme .

But,..it was only a silly little 3" overhead weld.......Now why would I go an buy a bunch of hot assed leather stuff and build a pallet to lay on just for one silly little weld? Even if I did,.......you know where it would be the next time I have to lay on my back for one,...silly,....little weld?

Now If I was a pipe welder on the Alaska to Bumphuck pipeline, that would probably make all kinds of sense,...but since I'm not.......
a tube of neosporin is only about 3 bucks......and I still havent gone through the one I already have.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

But mostly because the actual amount of custom modifications to the engine are so many, (and I want to be sure to remember what I did) I'm writing it down. I'll use a list similar to this one when the car is done when I show the thing (if that day ever comes)
It's kind of ironic actually, its almost the entire build (minus body and interior mods) on one single page.
Block:

• 
  Deck widened; This process involved smoothing the driver side of the engine along the top edge along the entire side, then bolting and gluing (w/ JB weld) a .250 thick, 30" long, 1.50" plate for the sake of reinforcing the area that will get ground through.
  Lifter galley opened up; This was done w/ a router and a carbide bit to "mill" open the existing pushrod openings on the side of the engine to accommodate for the increased swing arc of the pushrods.
  Deck water passages blocked; in order to keep water from going where I didn't want it to go, several of the existing water passages were tapped, and plugged w/ .750 pipe plugs.
  Side of block cut open along lifter galley; In order to install the BBF roller lifters, access holes had to be cut into the side of the block so that I could re-link the roller lifters once I managed to get them in the holes.
  Cover plate fabrication; To cover up the holes, (and to hopefully add back any lost integrity) a 3/8" thick steel cover plate was made to fit along side, immediately underneath the deck widening plate. Then 26 holes were drilled and tapped into the existing side of the block, and studs (set in epoxy) were screwed into those bosses.
  Water passages re routed; Since the factory WP was not gonna be used, 3 of the 5 freeze plugs on the opposite of the block were re-purposed as water inlets. Additionally, the now cover plated old WP location also had a 3/4" inlet added (total of (4) 3/4 hoses running to the side, and front of the engine for water recirculation).
  Sleeves; (6) .090 wall sleeves were installed. This required the old bore be opened up .180 to allow for the installation of the ductile iron sleeves. After installation, those sleeves were finished bored internally .020 to bring the final bore to 3.700.

Head:

• 
  Aluminum, Australian HF-2 Cross flow head; Built in the early 80's by Honda for Ford, This head was sourced bare from a guy here in the states.
  Bronze Guides; Custom sourced guides, cut down to fit in factory bosses.
  BBC 1.88" exhaust valves; Cut down to 1.75, used SS BBC exhaust valves as intake valves. Head required a certain stem length, BBC valve only solution.
  SBC 1.50 exhaust valves; Actually used as intended. fit the head like they were made for them.
  BBC beehive springs; Because of mechanical roller cam, lift specs required 400# spring pressure open. This spring provided that pressure at the spec'd installed height.
  Crower enduro SS 1.75 BBC roller rockers; Attempting to get a decent contact pattern w/ the valve tip, the only rocker available to do that were these.
  Mild hand full port; Main focus was opening up the 1.38 exhaust pocket and port to match the new 1.5" valve. Intake port opened up to a whole whopping 1.750.
  6 hot water vents; Because of all of the water passage restrictions to the head, I was concerned that there would be hot pockets of trapped air in the head. 6 ports were drilled, and tubing tied them together to create a return passage for water (and any trapped air) to get back into the cooling system.

Cam:

• 
  Solid Roller cam; Because of the use of the Australian head, the opening order of the valves changed, requiring a cam sourced from an Australian cam grinder. Not wanting to have to worry about future cam failure issues as a result of flat tappet oiling requirements, a custom roller cam was obtained.
  I=.552 L [email protected]/E=.578 L [email protected] installed at 109 on a 112 C/L.
  BBF solid roller lifters; Competition Cams Extreme roller lifters for a 460 ford fit this engine. These were the only roller lifters available that had removable link bars, so they could be installed one at a time, and then relinked once inside the engine.
  SBF billet double roller timing gears; The stock cam gear for a 250 is terrible, and weak. added as an after thought, cam was modified to accommodate the SBF gear. The shoulder on the crank gear had to be cut down .100 as it stood off too far to align properly w/ the cam gear.
  56 tooth true double roller timing chain; The chain that came with the SBF set had a 58 tooth count. A 56 tooth chain was required. Sourced a 56 tooth true double roller from a supplier here in the US. Chain is supposed to be a factory replacement for like a 76 Toyota Corrolla or something.

Reciprocating assy:

• 
  Stock crank; With the exception that the shoulder that the crank gear sits on was clearanced .080, and the key way was extended the full length of the snout, the crank is stock.
  Stock rods; Again, excepting that the beams are polished, the small ends were bushed and SBF 5/16 SPS rod bolts were installed, the rods are stock junk as well.
  Racetec 2618 alloy forged pistons; dished to yeild a 9:1 CR, these are as good as you can get.
  SBF SFI harmonic balancer; Again, the factory balancer is crap. using this zero imbalance balancer allowed me to use various serpentine pulleys designed to fit. No modifications required other than drilling to accept 36-1 trigger wheel.
  Recip assy balance;

Oiling system:

• 
  Oil pan sectioned from two separate engines; 200 c.i bottom, merged with a 250 c.i. upper allowed me to create a double sump pan to allow a 250 c.i. engine to fit the fox k member. Additional capacity was added by building 1 qt. ea. outriggers to increase pan capacity to 7 qts.
  Custom pick up tube permanently welded to side of pan; because of decision to get rid of internal pump, external pick up was required to plumb external belt driven oil pump to.
  External, belt drive oil pump; This was done primarily to eliminate the need for a bronze gear on the billet cam to drive an internal oil pump. Since deciding to use a distributorless ignition system, there was no need to have the cam drive anything, and a bronze gear installed even on a simple oil pump drive wouldve still ended up as bits and pieces in the bottom of the pan.

Fan belt:

• 
  Serpentine belt drive; The smaller I6's (both the 3.3, and the 4.0) didn't have a serpentine option to drive the accessories. this engine has a custom fabricated drive system to accomodate a custom mounted A/C compressor, alternator, and Cobra PS pump. No water pump, system is tensioned w/ combination of ribbed, and smooth idler pulleys on bell crank style system.

Ignition System:

• 
  EDIS-6; Factory ignition system sourced. JY edis-6 module and coil pack.
  36-1 trigger wheel; sourced from DIY auto tune, had balancer drilled to accept the thing, then took the mounted assy to a machinist, and had him true the out of round to perfect.
  Taylor custom length 8mm plug wires; Because the coil pack had to be installed on the frame rail, longer than normal wires (that ordinarily came in the kit) were required.

Electronics:

• 
  Megasquirt MSIIv3; Built from a kit, ECU controls spark, and fuel. Additinal mods to operate cooling fan, water pump, and boost control.

Induction:

• 
  Intake manifold; Custom made from combinations of 2.5" exhaust bends 16 ga mild steel plate, and 1.750' exhaust tubing. 6 injector bosses added to runners to accommodate EV1 injectors.
  Injectors; 6 48lb/hr Bosch low impedance EV1 style injectors.
  Throttle Body; Summit branded 70mm TB.
  IAC; fast idle control only. Sourced from Silverado fuel tank control solenoid, this valve opens when cold starting, and when A/C compressor engages.

Cooling;

• 
  SBC electric WP; Standard fit SBC 35GPM water pump hanging underneath intake manifold. Plumbed 5 ways to run to 4 engine cooling inlets, heater control valve, and then return to upper rad hose T.
  Howe Alum radiator; 2 core 31 x 19 aluminum radiator.
  Spal Elec fans; Combination of (1) 16", and (1) 8" fan working together.

Exhaust;

• 
  Custom made twin scroll turbo manifold; Made before I had my TIG, this heavy pig is made out of .140 wall mild steel steam pipe. Primary reason was to have it last, but it will more than likely be replaced in the future w/ a custom thin wall SS piece.
  Turbo; Borg Warner SX 300 60 mm twin scroll turbocharger.
  Wastgates; (2) Chinee branded 38 mm waste gates. Opened up and deburred lubricated w/ anti-seize compound. Internal springs set to 5 PSI.

Intercooler;

• 
  Cold side piping; Custom made out of 3' mild steel.
  Intercooler; Frozen boost brand A2W IC mounted under driver side front fender.
  BOV; Chinee branded 60mm BOV.
  Heat exchanger; (2) rear mounted radiators housed in custom aluminum shroud, fed by dual 6" diameter inlet hoses w/ air sourced from intakes in front of rear tires drawn in by (2) 9" cooling fans, exhausting through vent in top of trunk deck.
  Water recirculation; 3 gallon reservoir feeds Bosch "Cobra" pump that moves water through front mounted I/C, back through heat exchangers, and finally back into water reservoir.

And believe me when I tell you,...I'm sitting here w/ my head in my hand trying to remember all of the junk that I had to do. Almost everybody can make one of these lists, but Clearly,....I've gone over the edge of sanity.

 

[84Ttop]

But,..it was only a silly little 3" overhead weld.......Now why would I go an buy a bunch of hot assed leather stuff and build a pallet to lay on just for one silly little weld? Even if I did,.......you know where it would be the next time I have to lay on my back for one,...silly,....little weld?

Now If I was a pipe welder on the Alaska to Bumphuck pipeline, that would probably make all kinds of sense,...but since I'm not.......
a tube of neosporin is only about 3 bucks......and I still havent gone through the one I already have.

Ouch!!

Well played Sir

 

[84Ttop]

But,..it was only a silly little 3" overhead weld.......Now why would I go an buy a bunch of hot assed leather stuff and build a pallet to lay on just for one silly little weld? Even if I did,.......you know where it would be the next time I have to lay on my back for one,...silly,....little weld?

Now If I was a pipe welder on the Alaska to Bumphuck pipeline, that would probably make all kinds of sense,...but since I'm not.......
a tube of neosporin is only about 3 bucks......and I still havent gone through the one I already have.

Ouch!!

Well played Sir

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

After days like today, I think I should be in a laboratory instead of a garage. Although the end result still works, The method to get it there reminds me of what Victor Frankenstein did w/ dead bodies.

Cut and paste.

Front bumper transition #1, cut and fit, tacked together, waiting on another day so that I can finish it and integrate the thing into the fender.

Everytime I look at the thing, it looks so ratchet, I hear the growl of Frankenstein......Raaarrrr!!

 

[95BlueStallion]

It'll get there. You just have to finish it, hate it, cut it apart, finish it again, and settle on good enough not to cut it up again, and then go do it better on the other side.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Today's update is brought to you by fine folks at Ford, whom without their help, I would be totally devoid of any ideas to steal.

I'm almost finished with the Monster fender. You gotta call it a monster fender, it no longer looks like the original. Now, the leading edge has a significant under bite. Similar to the jutting jaw of an English Bulldog.

As the front end modifications evolve, you'll see what I have to do to close down the enormous gaps that the "Jerry's Kids" at late 70's Ford design didn't bother to address.
There is almost a full inch gap between the top edge of the bumper, and the bottom of the grille and headlight trim bezels, and an additional 1/2" on top. I've got the bumper jacked up all the way to try and close that gap, and it's still that big. Everybody that owns a Fairmont knows that doing that creates an even bigger eyesore, by exposing even more of the lower radiator saddle. Again, a problem solved by the wizards at Ford Design w/ a flimsy piece of plastic that was supposed to hide the jutting lower saddle.

I've got a plan for all that.

Firstly, I'm filling the bottom gap w/ a 1" riser that will be attached to the back of the bumper.

The top gap will be fixed by adding a 1/2" piece of 1/8" bar along the bottom edge of the hood, and inside of the upper headlight opening on the fender. You can see what I did to the fender where the underbite curves around. I'll just extend that whole riser all the way across.
As for what I'm gonna do to try and hide the over exposed lower radiator saddle...........You'll just have to wait on that, A whole bunch a junks gotta happen before I can take the light bulb that's burning in my head, and make it happen on the front of the car.

To address the first line in this post,.......I don't think I stole any ideas at all. I just modified one I've already used in the past.

I'm not one to try and reinvent the wheel (at least not all the time.) If there is something I had, did, or used in the past,....I recycle the idea, change it accordingly to suit the new build, and put it in place.

In this car's case, That would be the Orange paint that I used on a previous drag car. It would be the Cyclone decal that has been renamed, and used on 3 other cars before this one.

It would be the grille:

Similar to the one on the red car only rectangular, and never a big fan of the factory Fairmont egg crate grille in any version, I decided to hack mine up so I could recess the mesh at the back of the thing, and give the front end some depth, and less of a "smash face" look.

This of course brings about a "how am I gonna fix this?" because cutting away the old grille has left me w/ a series of holes all around the perimeter. I guess I'll back fill the holes w/ filler, and go through the arduous task of detail sanding that hacked up frame and hop I don't break it.

But the thing looks freakin' awesome in place.

Just what the DR. ordered.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Took advantage of the weather today( 75 degrees) and went about the task of stripping the roof, and what I could of the quarters and jambs.

The process of stripping the re-paint from the original is a continuation using a single edge razor blade and scraping off a two inch wide section at a time. Some of that stuff literally "mows" off the car, where other sections are a little more stubborn. Nonetheless, I managed to get the entire layer of paint off the roof in about an hour. While that in of itself is a good thing, what it managed to reveal was that this car previously had a vinyl roof, and in typical fairmont fashion, there was a section of the roof that did not ( a "targa" band sort of). The previous owner must've had a leak around one of the screws holding down the trim, because the headliner showed it. Additionally, there are some weird rust issues beside the door strikers where water must've found a path there.

The problem is that the hackers that did the repainted just blob bed a little smear of bondo in each hole, and called it " fixed". Aside from that, the roof is perfect. Herein lies my dilemma.

There are probably 20 holes across the roof. To weld those holes shut is just as sure as hell gonna create some warpage, and I don't want to have to mess with that. Is there a way, a permanent way to seal those holes w/o welding? Like using a little piece of plastic window screen as a backer, and applying a bondo ( or epoxy) smear over that, to create a really big bite for a smear on top to hold onto?

Once I got the roof to that level, I moved to the passenger quarter, and rocker. I managed to get the rocker completely stripped to bare metal, and rattle canned it w/ etching primer.

I finished off the quarter w/ the razor blade, and ran my DA over the thing. I still got the bottom to do.

There is so much stuff in the garage there simply isn't any room to maneuver. I had to take a bunch of junk out just to get the car out. I'm gonna take the rear seat delete stuff, the windshield, and the little Japanese kid, and put them in the wife's storage unit till its time to stick that stuff back in/on the car.

But it was good seeing the monster on its tires again, I think I'll leave it that way till I get the fenders complete to see how bad those fat assed tires are gonna crash into them.

over all, I think the rear is too low, I think it needs to come up about an inch. What say you?