Progress Thread Darkfader's 93 Gt Progress - Back to work

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Just got home for the first time this week. Damn, what a week. Paramedic school is a good way to have your ass kicked for you. Try it if you need some excitement in your life.

Anyway, parts waiting for me, and I scored a new-to-me sound system for the garage and it cranks! I’m thinking bourbon at the workbench this evening whilst staring at the toys.

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Set your base timing at 10 with those cylinder heads. Don't run any advanced timing in the base. Those heads do not like any timing above about 29゚ or so. Recently I tuned to car with the 11r heads and we lost mile an hour as we increased the timing above 30*. When we back the timing down to a stock curve she picked up 5 miles an hour in the quarter mile.
 
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Set your base timing at 10 with those cylinder heads. Don't run any advanced timing in the base. Those heads do not like any timing above about 29゚ or so. Recently I tuned to car with the 11r heads and we lost mile an hour as we increased the timing above 30*. When we back the timing down to a stock curve she picked up 5 miles an hour in the quarter mile.

Will do. I feel like that phase of this project is so far away. I need to finish getting the last couple harnesses removed from the engine bay and clean it up before all this new stuff goes in. Once the bay is cleaned up , I’ll get the stinger harness and ecu so we can get this thing back on the road.
 
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Well, boys and girls, I'm back. I hate that I haven't posted in so long. I hate even worse that the mustang has been under cover and ignored for the same amount of time. I got my ass kicked for about 16 months earning my Paramedic certification and an associates degree in Emergency Medical Services. Managed to do it with a 4.0gpa too. Well worth it because I'm supplementing my full time pay with lots of overtime on an ambulance now as well. Pretty awesome. Anyway...

The mustang is once again a top priority. First on the list is checking piston to valve clearance on this engine so I can get the rotating assembly balanced. For that, I need to get the FTI cam stabbed and degreed, mount those sexy 11R's and get to measuring. I need head studs and gaskets for that and I think that's it. I have to take an inventory of the parts shelves in the garage because I simply haven't had time to spend out there.

One problem I have that I'd love some guidance on is this:

It appears that one of the welded nuts on the apron in the bay, where the airbox is bolted must've been stripped. Someone tried to run a tap in the nut, and the tap broke off. That tap is HARD. I've tried to center punch and drill, I've tried to grind a flat and hammer/chisel counterclockwise to maybe get it out. Nothing is working. It is now basically flush with the welded nut so there's no grabbing ahold of it with anything. Does anyone have a suggestion?

Oh yea, I also bought this a few months ago to keep me entertained until the mustang is finished. It's a lot of fun. After I had a shop do heads, intake, exhaust and a tune, it's making 525hp/486lb.ft. 2008 Z06 w/ LS7. Please don't hate cause it's a chebby. I love all cars.

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One problem I have that I'd love some guidance on is this:

It appears that one of the welded nuts on the apron in the bay, where the airbox is bolted must've been stripped. Someone tried to run a tap in the nut, and the tap broke off. That tap is HARD. I've tried to center punch and drill, I've tried to grind a flat and hammer/chisel counterclockwise to maybe get it out. Nothing is working. It is now basically flush with the welded nut so there's no grabbing ahold of it with anything. Does anyone have a suggestion?
Cut the welded nut off and weld a new one on. At least that’s what i’d do.
 
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I'm about to degree my cam and then check piston to valve clearance. I have a few questions to be sure I do things right. If someone can help me out, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Do people actually use a head gasket during P/V clearance check or just add compressed thickness to the thickness of the modeling clay?

If I do actually use a gasket for the test, I assume I'm to torque head bolts to spec in order to get the proper compressed thickness?

If this is the case ^, is that head gasket now trash? And what about the head bolts, I'm using ARP studs for the final build, but still have the stock bolts that I removed during the teardown. I think the studs can be used more than once right?

And now gaskets, I see a FRPP Competition head gasket >

Item #M6051A302
  • Fits 1979-95 5.0L/5.8L Production Blocks With Production Type Cast Iron & Aluminum Heads
  • Bore Diameter 4.00"
  • Gasket Diameter 4.100"
  • Compressed Thickness 0.042"
  • Compressed Volume 9.1cc
and this one was the one I had originally planned >

Item #M6051C51
  • Ford Performance Racing
  • Composite Gasket
  • For Production Blocks With Performance Applications
  • Fits 1979-1995 5.0L/5.8L Production Blocks
  • Bore(in): 4.100"
  • Compressed Thickness: 0.047"
  • Compressed Volume(cc): 10.169cc
I'm not sure which one to get. I realize the differences will alter my original compression calculations but is it enough to affect the finished product? I need to remeasure to verify but I believe my pistons are 0.011" below the deck at TDC. I'm using the 331 Scat stroker kit with Icon pistons.

Thanks very much for any guidance. I just want to make sure I"m doing everything right. I posed this same question in the tech section.
 
I used my old HG if I recall... it was already compressed and not going to be reused. I had it tight, but not torqued to spec.

gotcha, I doubt I saved my old gaskets, I'll have to look around for them. Do you think it's safe to say, if I use a new gasket to check, I should torque it down for proper squish and then use a new one for the final assembly?
 
I used the actual gasket I was going to use, but just snugged the 4 bolts around the head. I did not approach torque spec.

I suppose I can try this first for measurements and if I'm anywhere near the danger zone, I'll have to use a more precise method. I've been assured that this combo will work and I"m certainly not the first to use this setup. maybe I'm overthinking it, I just don't want this thing to grenade on startup. lol

Ed from FTI ground the cam and gave me a starting point on pushrod length so I have a checker in that range ready for that as well. Get the cam stabbed and degreed, and then check pushrod length and P/V and the bottom end can go back to the machine shop for balancing.
 
I installed my cam last night and got ready to degree it, only to find out I didn’t have a single piece of steel flat bar scrap to make a piston stop. Plenty of aluminum lying around but I was afraid it might have enough deflection to skew my numbers. No worries. Ordered a stop from summit and it’ll be delivered later today. They ship to me very fast. Ordered some small bit from LMR as well, dowels and gaskets, and head studs. So this is where I am until that stuff comes in.
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I need to get a damper and flywheel real soon because the machine shop will need them for a proper balance. The stroker kit is 28oz. imbalance. How do the masses feel about these two parts:

Ford Performance Parts M-6316-C351 - Ford Performance Parts Crankshaft Damper Assemblies

Ford Performance Parts M-6375-A302B - Ford Performance Parts Flywheels

I've read about clearance issues with the dampers on some of these builds, needing spacers for pulleys and grinding on water pumps. Does anyone have any idea how that damper I linked will do for me?

Also, is the stock flywheel a 157 tooth? Will a stock starter work fine with that flywheel above?
 
I’m pretty sure I got my cam degreed today. Installed dot to dot, it appears to match the open/close, intake/exhaust on the cam card within a half degree at 0.050” lift. The card states the cam is +2* though. Shouldn’t that mean I’d be using the +2* key way in the 9 position crank gear to get those numbers?? I’ll do it again at final assembly of course to be sure.

I attempted to check P/V clearance as well, but I must be doing something wrong. Valves never touched the clay. I was recommended 7.200” pushrods so my checker is 6.8-7.8. I started at 7.2 just to see what would happen.

I’m also failing at putting checker springs in. I have a spring compressor that mounts to the rocker stud. When I compress the valve spring, how the heck do I get the retainer out? I tried a magnet but they stay flush with the spring hat. Is there a trick to this on the trick flow heads? I’m just a little confused about everything I did today.
 
I’m pretty sure I got my cam degreed today. Installed dot to dot, it appears to match the open/close, intake/exhaust on the cam card within a half degree at 0.050” lift. The card states the cam is +2* though. Shouldn’t that mean I’d be using the +2* key way in the 9 position crank gear to get those numbers?? I’ll do it again at final assembly of course to be sure.

I attempted to check P/V clearance as well, but I must be doing something wrong. Valves never touched the clay. I was recommended 7.200” pushrods so my checker is 6.8-7.8. I started at 7.2 just to see what would happen.

I’m also failing at putting checker springs in. I have a spring compressor that mounts to the rocker stud. When I compress the valve spring, how the heck do I get the retainer out? I tried a magnet but they stay flush with the spring hat. Is there a trick to this on the trick flow heads? I’m just a little confused about everything I did today.
you need to smack the spring with a rubber mallet before you try to compress the spring.
 
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