Progress Thread 1993 LX Hatch Progress

Noobz347 · Sep 28, 2024

limp said:
I consider a rumour unfounded gossip .... These comments were straight from industry workers and Safelite employees..
Please don't shoot the messenger..

I still don't know what the issue is with Safelite. What are the problems with them?

limp · Sep 28, 2024

Noobz347 said:
I still don't know what the issue is with Safelite. What are the problems with them?

When employees want to buy product from another company, rather than the company they work for I guess it would be due to the quality of the product?

Noobz347 · Sep 28, 2024

limp said:
When employees want to buy product from another company, rather than the company they work for I guess it would be due to the quality of the product?

Holler if you hear what it's about.

Bad glass?
Poor installation?
Wrong materials?
No prep?

Mac131 · Oct 3, 2024

Another update...got the quarter glass and other trim sanded, filled, sanded again, and painted. Here's the results.

All in all it turned out pretty good. Light years better than it was. I need to clean/polish the exterior again before I put all the trim back on.

On another note, I installed my new water pump and noticed that the 2 bolts that hold the plate on were completely wrong. I bought it from LMR and is a motorcraft pump (from China). You can see the heads on the bolts are too large. If I would have used these, the bolts would have hit the timing cover. Imagine tightening things up with these two bolts digging into the timing cover....could have damaged it or the pump. I'm going to reach out to LMR today. Also, the Daniel Carpenter thermostat housing I got from them is probably the cheapest piece of $hit ever...that's going back.

Here's the bolts that came with the pump...too big.

I also ran my thermostat housing across my whetstone to true up the mating surface. Should work just fine.
Progress is being made before winter. I'll post anything else I do before it gets tucked away for winter.

89ripper · Oct 3, 2024

Mac131 said:
Another update...got the quarter glass and other trim sanded, filled, sanded again, and painted. Here's the results.

All in all it turned out pretty good. Light years better than it was. I need to clean/polish the exterior again before I put all the trim back on.

On another note, I installed my new water pump and noticed that the 2 bolts that hold the plate on were completely wrong. I bought it from LMR and is a motorcraft pump (from China). You can see the heads on the bolts are too large. If I would have used these, the bolts would have hit the timing cover. Imagine tightening things up with these two bolts digging into the timing cover....could have damaged it or the pump. I'm going to reach out to LMR today. Also, the Daniel Carpenter thermostat housing I got from them is probable the cheapest piece of ever...that's going back.

Here's the bolts that came with the pump...too big.

I also ran my thermostat housing across my whetstone to true up the mating surface. Should work just fine.
Progress is being made before winter. I'll post anything else I do before it gets tucked away for winter.

Sorry to hear about those parts you received...but must say, nice job on your trim pieces. Makes a world of difference, i need to do mine someday

Mac131 · Oct 3, 2024

89ripper said:
Sorry to hear about those parts you received...but must say, nice job on your trim pieces. Makes a world of difference, i need to do mine someday

Thanks man! They aren't perfect by any means but they look pretty good. Had to do a lot of prep work to make them look decent. Just glad I have them protected now.

AeroCoupe · Oct 4, 2024

I got my thermostat housing from OReillys. Been on the car for years.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/murray-climate-control/engine-cooling/thermostats/thermostat-housing-water-outlet/605bb129430b/murray-climate-control-water-outlet/mry0/84884/v/a/5471/automotive-car-1993-ford-mustang?q=thermostat+housing%2Fwater+outlet&pos=0

I will say that most of the issues are them being warped.

Trim looks really good!

Mac131 · Oct 4, 2024

AeroCoupe said:
I got my thermostat housing from OReillys. Been on the car for years.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/murray-climate-control/engine-cooling/thermostats/thermostat-housing-water-outlet/605bb129430b/murray-climate-control-water-outlet/mry0/84884/v/a/5471/automotive-car-1993-ford-mustang?q=thermostat+housing%2Fwater+outlet&pos=0

I will say that most of the issues are them being warped.

Trim looks really good!

Thanks! I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out.

Mac131 · Oct 4, 2024

So check this out...
As I have mentioned earlier, my engine is a 1994, which means the timing cover was replaced to accommodate the older fox water pump. Well, during coolant filling, it start pissing a stream out of the bottom of the pump. Took the pump off and discovered this:

Gasket doesn't line up correctly. Upon further research, this timing cover is a reverse rotation and uses a different gasket to mate with the plate on the pump. I found the correct gasket...should be here in a few days. The part that matters is the direction of pump flow matching with belt rotation. That part is all good thankfully. I didn't notice this gasket mismatch because I stuck it on the pump first and mated it to the timing cover. Lesson learned to always verify both gasket mating surfaces.

It's always something...lol

limp · Oct 4, 2024

My engine gasket kit came with something like 8 different water pump gaskets.....

nicholase · Oct 4, 2024

Trim looks great. Nice job.

Look like original windows right?

Mac131 · Oct 6, 2024

nicholase said:
Trim looks great. Nice job.

Look like original windows right?

Yes, appears to be. Original paint too.

Mac131 · Oct 10, 2024

Got the correct water pump gasket and installed the new pump....wadda ya know, it seals properly now. All of the exterior trim is finished and installed. I'm gonna enjoy it for the remainder of the fall. I'll be plenty busy this winter acquiring parts and porting the upper end.

Here's some fall pictures from today:

Mac131 · Oct 19, 2024

Well, I have been able to acquire some 5.0 parts locally for cheap. I scored an engine block that may work out with just the honing I did. I had to take about .002 out of the cylinders to get things squared up. It's not perfect, but it should be just fine. Also have a set of forged TRW pistons on the way. I'll check the cylinder wall to piston clearance to make sure things are in spec. I know that forged Pistons tend to need a bit more clearance since they expand more than hyper ones. Here's some pics:

Scored another set of heads and a crank too.

I was also able to find a complete top end to include upper/lower intake, injectors, TB, valve covers, oil pan, wire harnesses, and some other misc parts for $100. I have most everything to build me another engine that I can drop in this spring. I have lots to do this winter....lol.

Mac131 · Nov 11, 2024

Update:
Car is tucked away for the winter. I've been doing more work to the 302 block as well. Got some Forged OEM pistons on ebay. They all cleaned up well. Unfortunately, I have .007" piston to side wall clearance on a couple of cylinders. That's a bit much for me. I want something between .003-.004. I'm going to get the block bored and honed .020 over. I'm also looking at some speed pro/sealed power forged pistons. They are heavy, but I just want something that resembles stock. I'm not building a racecar.

The deck surfaces cleaned up really well:

As for the heads, I just started porting them today. Got all the thermactor humps taken down and was able to smooth out one of the exhaust bowls. Here's some pics.

Stock:

Thermactor hump removed and runners widened a bit...these are just roughed in. I'll smooth and polish later.

Bowl roughed out:

I've decided this build is going to have an Anderson B21 cam as well. Maybe in the future I'll do a supercharger or nitrous.

More to come...

Mac131 · Nov 23, 2024

Completed one of the heads today. Depending on how far you go, it takes a lot of time. I bet I have 25-30 hrs into this head alone. For anyone wondering why I don't just go buy some aftermarket heads...I like a challenge and want to keep a stock look under the hood. These heads have a lot of potential when ported.

Did some small tweaks to the chamber...tapered the shelf going to the exhaust seat, flattened and smoothed the spark plug boss, softened all the edges, and lapped the valves.

Intake bowl:

Exhaust bowl:

Intake runner:

Exhaust port:

Here's the stock head for reference:

Exhaust port with thermactor hump:

Stock intake runner:

On to the other head...

Potomus Pete · Nov 26, 2024

You are doing great....Im right behind you. Thanks for the boost

Mac131 · Nov 26, 2024

Potomus Pete said:
You are doing great....Im right behind you. Thanks for the boost

Thanks! We gotta stay motivated during the winter.

Potomus Pete · Nov 26, 2024

Im getting ready to take my transmission out with pictures out. Rear main seal is leaking like crazy. I need a sleeve, but we will be putting it up this weekend

Mac131 · Nov 26, 2024

I'd get the upgraded seal. I think those sleeves are hit or miss. Never tried one myself though.

Progress Thread 1993 LX Hatch Progress

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

wrap a little cheese around it and its a done

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

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lube between the nut and the face. I know my lubes

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wrap a little cheese around it and its a done

I lubed and pushed, until it was all the way in

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I'm still waiting for the fully nude shots

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I'm still waiting for the fully nude shots

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