Come in and help me solve my little bugs with the 351w....

[nmcgrawj]

Whats up guys, well i got the car running as some of you may know. It holds an idle. It has pretty decent power although i can tell it still needs a tune obviously. But i have a bunch of small bugs that i need to work out so i figured i would post here and see what you guys think.

1.) The distributor is not seating against the block all the way. There is less than 1/16" gap between the block and the base of the distributor...its not much at all but its there. I am using a truck distributor that i got from a guy on the corral and a Ford Racing oil pump drive shaft. It seems like i have heard about this before but im not sure. Oh yea, once in a while i will hear a "buzzing" type of sound that seems to come from the dizzy....im pretty sure its connected to it not seating.

2.)I finally solved my fan issue(fan motor) but its still getting too hot for my liking. The only thing i can think of trying (without spending more money) is to burp the system. Hopefully that will do it but if not i guess my only other option is upgrading to a bigger radiator.

3.)The car has a vibration at around 80mph. I put the spacer (1/4" thick) between the tko-600 and the tranny mount to stick it up a tad and i also used the driveshaft spacer. The other thing i did NOT do which i sure as hell hope i did not jinx myself is that i didnt index the bellhousing. I didnt have a magnetic base for my dial caliper and the only place i found at the time local who could get one wanted over $100 for it and they had to order it. So now im gonna try rotating the driveshaft because maybe i put it on in a different position than before or i was gonna experiment and take out the spacer to see if that helps or makes it worse. All else fails i guess the tranny is coming back down to index the bell...but i pray i dont have to . Could it be the clutch disc not being perfectly centered? I had to use a alignment tool from Pepboys that did not have the splines cut into it like the one i got from summit which was 10 spline so i was having trouble making it sit in the correct position while tightening it down. I was almost positive i got it right the last time....but maybe i didnt?

4.)How can you tell when you have your clutch cable tight enough? How much slack should there be when you push it side to side?

5.) This really isnt a problem but the other thing i have to solve is that i ruined the o2 sensor in my wideband kit so i have to get another from the VW dealership. Then i should be able to pretty much tune this thing and get it running the way it should be.



Sorry for the short novel.....CLIFF NOTES- Car is getting too hot, the car is vibrating at high speeds, and the distributor does not sit down all the way.

Thanks for your time fellas

 

[Grn92LX]

nate, your distributer not seating is a HUGE issue. You WILL tear up your cam gear if you don't fix this. I think you have to set the oil pump shaft clearance as well. Rick did all that for me so i'm not sure how to do it. Al I know if you need to stop driving until you fix this. Like I said, you'll tear up that cam gear and have to pull the cam to replace it and possibly get metal shavings in your engine from tearing up the gear.

Will you get that vibration in neutral revving it or only in gear?

If the transmissions in, your disk is centered. I used a 10 spline tool for my 26 spline disk

 

[yellow1995Cobra]

Yea dude fix the dist isuue right away. Tearing up a cam gear is no fun

 

[zenboy99]

Most race cars run brass distributor gears, if they let loose they blow the distributor gear and not the cam gear. Just a little trivia for ya.

 

[nmcgrawj]

I run a brass...wait no a bronze gear i think. The "b's" have me confused. Whichever its softer than the gear thats on the cam so hopefully no damage has been done to the cam.

Im not driving the car...its sitting until these things are fixed. So i have to take the motor back out to fix it? What exactly has to be done? Does anyone here know?


The vibrations are in gear at 80mph...i have not tried it in neutral.

 

[yellow1995Cobra]

Yea i never heard of a brass gear. Bronze ones can be used, but are known to wear out over time.

 

[nmcgrawj]

Yea i never heard of a brass gear. Bronze ones can be used, but are known to wear out over time.

Yea it is a bronze then. So thats better for my situation right?

Can somone explain what is actually stopping the dizzy from sitting all the way down? Is the oil pump driveshaft too long?

 

[RIO5.0]

A short term fix for the dizzy would be to al least shim it up some...that should be easy...either 2 washers on the sides or a big one, not to thick, that'll fit over the hole...down and dirty but it'll lift it some.....have you rechecked the timing to see if the dizzy has moved from being up in the air???

Whats to hit??? got a gage?? Burping cant hurt....pull the intake sensor and check if its got anti right there...its a quick way to check... top it off from there to...check a few times if needed...

I would think things are cool on the clutch being centered...did you do a pilot shaft bearing to??

As you said...you can always rotate the DS and see if that helps you??

 

[final5-0]

Nate the shaft may be too long. That is just a guess but something is not right and as others have said .....................

Don't start the motor anymore!!!

That issue must take top priority.

Be sure to check the oil and or filter for metal shavings, flakes, etc.

Hope the fix is an easy one for you.

Later
Grady

 

[Grn92LX]

Nate, send a message to Rick 91GT. I know he'll be able to help you on the shaft issue. With the dist not in all the way the cam/dist gears won't mesh right and that can cause damage. Is that a 351 specific shaft or what? This is priority numero uno.

 

[bjl95mustang]

Dont you have to cut 1/4" off the dizzy for it to seat all the way? I know that has been an issue with the arp shafts that the oil pump taper dosent go down long enough. I'm not sure about the ford ones. I think thats your problem tho.

 

[a50sn95]

1) Most likely the oil pump driveshaft is too long. Not uncommon, but a royal pain if you dont mock it up befor you put the engine in. The only way to do this is to mock it up with the pan off. Put the pump and shaft in, and then the distributor. There is a minimum clearance, or an amount you should be able to move the driveshaft up and down with the distributor seated fully. I don't know the spec off the top of my head, but it was in my Hanes book for my recent 302 rebuild. The other possibility is it's just tight in the block. You COULD pull the shaft out of the distributor and see if it seats that way or not. It should at least tell you whether or not the engine has to come out.

2) My guess is bigger radiator...

3) The clutch disc will center itself. If you were able to plug the tranny in, then it was centered enough...As long as you have a Pilot bearing installed.....

4) Not sure what you mean. IT's mostly personal preference as to where the pedal engages, as long as you are not putting pressure on the throwout bearing with your foot off the pedal. This would shorten TB life...

5) Where did you get power for your WB kit. I have one to put in, and wonder what other people do.....
Dennis

 

[nmcgrawj]

Dont you have to cut 1/4" off the dizzy for it to seat all the way? I know that has been an issue with the arp shafts that the oil pump taper dosent go down long enough. I'm not sure about the ford ones. I think thats your problem tho.

I contacted Ed Curtis and this is what he told me to do. It really made me happy since i thought the engine had to come back out.

I already ordered up a summit rad....should be running real cool this weekend.

The last thing is the vibration issue...i hope the driveshaft thing solves it.

5) Where did you get power for your WB kit. I have one to put in, and wonder what other people do.....
Dennis

I got power from the steering wheel column from the big wires when the ignition is turned on. I also ran an inline fuse too....


Thanks for everyone's input