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

hoopty5.0 said:

No more Carmax?

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Not since late October. Back in the home theater business again.

Although that front end could be made to fit the car, (obviously) There'll be no references to Mustang with this car, new or old.

The problem with Fairmont is there is no aftermarket for the things like tail lights, and T/S lenses. That means either I graft some other fox front/rear onto the car, or go with what I've got, and custom build what can't be bought new to replace the stodgy, broken old s hit. The plan for the tails has been 67 Cougar/Shelby, and I've had that stuff for a long time now. Whether or not I go with it requires some serious thinking, because I am having a problem trying to make the tapered tail lights fit a boxy rear end. I'm starting to see it work in my head, but haven't committed to any welding as of yet. I do plan to add a small little duck tail spoiler made from a single piece of 1/4 aluminum plate that will articulate. I also will have two honkin holes somewhere in the rear quarters w/ some form of scoop to feed the twin radiators mounted in the trunk for the A2W inter cooler. The front will be all fairmont, but with a marked reference to road racing with the bumper getting molded into the body lines more, with a small chin spoiler beneath, and a splitter w/adjustable clevis bars tied to the bumper. The un- obtainable front T/S's will become multi-led lit behind some kind of lexan lenses, and the hood will have a custom, steel "blister" molded onto it to allow for the high mounted turbo.


There now,...that enough of a teaser for you all

RangerJoe said:

Thinking the samething.

Glad you made it home okay. I'm two hours east of you on I-20, I shared some of the same fun you had. After sitting for one hour withou moving, I considered walking the last couple of miles. I chose not to because I had my two year old with me, I didn't see that being wise. A normal 30 minute commute turned into 4.5 hours.

Joe

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Yeah, Tuesday did suck ass. As I was walking, there were several father/mothers with little kids forced to walk. They all were going nowhere, so most had no choice but to walk. It reminded me from a scene out of War of the Worlds,..lines of people trudging along, and me busting ass heading the other way.

ALLLRIGHTY THEN!

Yesterday was one of those days.

One of those days starts out w/ me sitting, spending money in cyberspace.
I bought a kit from an EBay reseller w/ (6) 60 lb hr injectors in it for 224.00.
I bought a polished Sanden 508 A/C compressor from another for 125.00.
Then I got on Rockauto, and bought my replacement Harmonic balancer, flex plate, a '00 Taurus 105 amp alternator, and a 95 cobra 15/16 M/C.
Then I went downstairs.

For the uninitiated, non- inline 6 cylinder fans out there ( all 99.99997 of you), a Ford 250 has to have its head removed before you can remove the lifters. Conversely, the 300 I-6 has a removable cover plate on the side so that you don't have to do that stupid s hit.
I decided to make my own removable cover plate for my non- cover plated engine.

The real reason for the need for that is to be able to gain access to the lifter galley to re-link the roller lifters after I get them in the hole, ( that has never been done by the factory) for the roller cam, ( that has never been done by the factory).

So in earnest, w/ my Dewalt 1/2" hand drill, and a 1.75 hole saw, I set out drilling a bunch of holes in .250 thick cast iron.

The next thing that has to be done is, to "flatten" the potential mating surface where the future cover plate will eventually sit. No easy task, when considering the only things I have to do that with is a 4.5" angle grinder, and a regular old mill file.

It ain't easy being me.

Living in Birmingham makes being able to get steel in various thicknesses, and strengths pretty easy. Several months ago, I picked up a small "drop" of 7/16" thick angle stuff in anticipation of using it for either my intake, or exhaust manifold.
I decided to use it for the cover plate instead.
Now I don't know what that steel was originally intended for, but it was the hardeset stuff I've ever tried to cut in my life. I swear, if there is such a thing as diamond steel, I had a 2' long piece of it sitting garage. Standard saw blades were useless, I had to cut it w/ a cutoff wheel on my angle grinder.

But again, I managed.

Next came the drilling, and tapping. 26 holes in all, all drilled and tapped at 1/4 20.
The plate you see on top is glued to the side of the block to add thickness to the deck for the head overhang. The new bottom plate was now thicker than the top plate.

On purpose.

Lastly, I added a .125 plate ontop of the top plate to bring the bottom and top to the same plane, so I could add several vertical gussets ( made from the same beryllium-kryptonite I made the bottom plate from)

The reason for that stems from concerns over whether or not I hurt anything integrity wise. I unfortunately will not know that until after its running, when it starts getting beat on.

Now because the top plate is glued, I could not weld those gussets in place w/o concerns of hurting the epoxy, so I had to remove it to finish weld it.


Once done, I bolted it back in place and turned my task to getting the distributor to fit.

* I'll have to do this on another computer, trying to do it on an iPad is driving me crazy.

Another good day.

I didn't do anything short of research/spend money.

Talked w/ Ron Francis. Ordered their Express 733 Ford based kit. Separate fuse block lets me locate the block where I want it. Has a universal column connector ( as opposed to a Chevrolet based connector) for 450.00.

The Australian cam grinder ( Tigue) emailed me, and said the cam was currently undergoing its' heat treating, should have my solid roller in the next two weeks. They can also provide me w/ the bronze dist gear to make that work.

Ford 250's were never serpentine driven engines. 300's were. Ordered a 300 balancer to convert my old ass engine over to a 20th century drive system. The 300 balancer is about .365 shorter in the crank snout than the stock 250 piece. I'll remedy that w/ a spacer.

My Moser axles were leaning against the garage when I got home, My 60 lb injectors were on the table next to the door. I had a confirmation email that my polished A/C compressor was shipped, My Taurus alternator was on it's way as well.

I ordered the sleeves that'll replace the worn out standard bore cylinders presently making up my tired 250.

I spoke w/ Cometic. They can make me a MLS gasket w/ a tool steel core for about 150.00. So I got that problem licked.

Saturday is my next progress day. I will pick up the crank ( that'll be turned, and polished) tomorrow, to do a mock up w/ one of the old pistons so I can order the custom pistons. The stock piston is so far down in the hole, I'll have to accommodate for that in the piston order.

So again,...no progress, just more junk that I gotta make room for.