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

This is how the morning started today.

These are the clearance specs for the intake cam. After using all of the shims to bring the exhaust cam into spec, ( which I was able to do...nicely), The remaining shims were way too thin. The micrometer I bought told the tale when comparing it to the vernier caliper I have....the caliper measures too fat. Once I got all 24 shims measured using the micrometer, I was able to get the exhaust cam lash between.010-.011. Minimum spec calls for .010-.014..I’m good there.
You can see what I had to order to make the intake cam come into line. I finally got the woman at the Lexus parts counter to do her job, and look up a part...( All the while she kept telling me she needed a VIN, because there were several part numbers when she plugged in “ valve shim for 2001 IS 300”) I asked her if I could see her screen, and there the damn things were right in front of her face. The line listed thicknesses starting with 2.500mm going all the way up to 3.300 In .50 mm increments.
I ordered the 11 pieces that you see at top, she charged me 97.00, they’ll be here tomorrow.
In the end,...not the end of the world.
So, with the remaining day in front of me,..I did puddly sht.
I hung the A2W I/c.

That fitting is the same one that was on the old intercooler,.figured I may as well put it back the way it was.
I also ran the engine bay lines to the intercooler...I have all of this -12 stuff left over from trying to get the old monster engine from puking oil..all with stupidly expensive 120-150-180* hose ends attached, so what better place to reuse them bitches.


I said I was gonna put a column support using a rod end at the firewall...and that’s what I did..

Which brings me to the final stages...These things needed to get done so that it would be easier to do with the engine out of the bay. Now, I’ve got the accessories mounted, the coil packs mounted, the steering column supported, and the intercooler hoses ran. Once the shims get here, I’ll get that cam clearanced properly, and put the front of the engine back together.

And when I get that done.....Engine mounting time.

And to bring this update to a nice tidy end...

This thing:


This is a 20v 1/2” drill purchased from HF. They now have 3 different “ tiers” of product in their cordless lineup.

This sweetie cost me 69.00...( said something about “ Compare to Milwaukee “). The guy at the counter wanted to know if I wanted to spend another 20.00 to give the thing a 2 year replacement warranty. ( (I chose not to). When I got home and opened the thing, and chucked up a bit, you can tell by the way that the thing tightened that it would be a problem sooner than later. Nonetheless, I started using it.

It drilled 3 holes and died. I had to dig through the trash can for the receipt.

The only thing that can be compared to Milwaukee with this flaming pile of Doo...is the color....other than that...Milwaukee it ain’t.

It took one overnight to get those shims. Now that I know that, I will not settle for anything on this intake cam that isn’t within .001 of each other.
The engine will be in next week.