Progress Thread Komo's 1990 GT - Parts Gathering Purgatory & Home Remodel

[General karthief]

There's a lot of 'science ' involved in valve train components, the short version is the ramp speed, opening/closing rate, can get more aggressive, opening/closing the valve faster, this is the main advantage to roller lifters, there's more of course. It's rarely this simple.
Then throw in mechanical verses hydraulic to add more science to the horse power quest.

 

[AeroCoupe]

I will say that the next set of lifters I get will be Morels. Have to friends that machine and build motors and they have nothing but great things to say about them. I like that the they have clips on the axle pins vs press fit pins like most of the cheaper lifters have.

Thing you need to understand is there are a limited numbers of manufacturers of lifters in the US. As far as I know Morel and Johnson make a lot of the lifters out on the market. Some companies use these manufacturer's internals in their lifter body so kind of a hybrid where others just repackage the entire lifter.

 

[Mac131]

I will say that the next set of lifters I get will be Morels. Have to friends that machine and build motors and they have nothing but great things to say about them. I like that the they have clips on the axle pins vs press fit pins like most of the cheaper lifters have.

Thing you need to understand is there are a limited numbers of manufacturers of lifters in the US. As far as I know Morel and Johnson make a lot of the lifters out on the market. Some companies use these manufacturer's internals in their lifter body so kind of a hybrid where others just repackage the entire lifter.

Ahhh good to know.

 

[limp]

When I did rebuilt my Explorer 302 I read some stories of the dog bones breaking more often than I wanted to read about...
I ended up finding some oem lifter " blocks" ( which is what my engine had in it from the factory) and used those.....
pic of the old ones..... OOPS, couldn't find them.....

 

[General karthief]

Well I never heard of the 'dog bones' breaking, the bar on the aftermarket 'link bar' lifters yes, I think you may be calling them 'dog bones' (stock style) when you mean the bar for the 'link bar' lifters.
Am I right or is this 'dog' still hunting for that 'bone'?

 

[limp]

Well I never heard of the 'dog bones' breaking, the bar on the aftermarket 'link bar' lifters yes, I think you may be calling them 'dog bones' (stock style) when you mean the bar for the 'link bar' lifters.
Am I right or is this 'dog' still hunting for that 'bone'?

OLD dog still hunting.... It was the dog bones breaking..... Maybe its not very common but it scared me away from using them...

 

[gkomo]

Heads came in, can’t wait for them to sit on a shelf for a year

 

[89ripper]

Heads came in, can’t wait for them to sit on a shelf for a year

Well you could tote them around like its your newborn baby which is what i did back in the day

Everyone: "yeah I already seen them"

 

[Rdub6]

I gotta just start the “envelope” fund so I can buy the heads and cam down the road.
Itching to pull my motor, freshen up the engine bay, and gain a little HP.

 

[Mac131]

I gotta just start the “envelope” fund so I can buy the heads and cam down the road.
Itching to pull my motor, freshen up the engine bay, and gain a little HP.

That's exactly what I'm doing right now...gathering parts during the winter. Will refresh the motor in the spring.

 

[gkomo]

MM full length subframes and MM clutch cable heat shield on order.

 

[gkomo]

I knew they were expensive, but JBA Speedshop in San Diego just quoted me $880 for labor only to install the subframe connectors. That can't be reasonable, right?

 

[General karthief]

I knew they were expensive, but JBA Speedshop in San Diego just quoted me $880 for labor only to install the subframe connectors. That can't be reasonable, right?

In Cali yes...

 

[bird_dog0347]

I knew they were expensive, but JBA Speedshop in San Diego just quoted me $880 for labor only to install the subframe connectors. That can't be reasonable, right?

I bought a welder for $500 and installed them myself, learned a skill, and have a tool in my garage that I've used for other things. It wasn't "fun" doing it laying on my back but I wouldn't pay $880 for it either before doing it myself again.

 

[Rdub6]

Same story here as @bird_dog0347

Learned how to use it, patched floors, did subframes, even fixed a few metal frames on some Christmas decorations. It’s amazing the things you’ll find to use it on, that beforehand may have been garbage.

 

[gkomo]

I bought a welder for $500 and installed them myself, learned a skill, and have a tool in my garage that I've used for other things. It wasn't "fun" doing it laying on my back but I wouldn't pay $880 for it either before doing it myself again.

Same story here as @bird_dog0347

Learned how to use it, patched floors, did subframes, even fixed a few metal frames on some Christmas decorations. It’s amazing the things you’ll find to use it on, that beforehand may have been garbage.

Would love to learn but with work, family/my toddler I sort of live life in 5 minute increments.., what can I do in 5-20 minutes (on average)?

With that said I still don’t want to pay $880 so I’ll have to figure something out.

 

[Rdub6]

Would love to learn but with work, family/my toddler I sort of live life in 5 minute increments.., what can I do in 5-20 minutes (on average)?

With that said I still don’t want to pay $880 so I’ll have to figure something out.

I hear ya……. I pretty much left the car hobby until my daughter was about 15, then I picked up the ‘86 I have now. Life does get in the way of the fun most of the time……… but enjoy that toddler….. those years go by before you know it!

 

[AeroCoupe]

Go to an exhaust shop and see if they will do it. I will caution you that you will need to do some work to drop the cost and its stuff you can pick at when time allows. You will need to remove the rear seat (top and bottom cushions) due to the subframe connectors being welded to the torque boxes has been known to burn that area. If the subframe connectors are the ones that will weld to the bottom of the front subframes then you can get away with not removing the carpet or at least getting it off the floor when welding. My Global West units were tight to the floorboard so I made sure there was an air gap between the floorboard and the carpet to ensure no fires. If you can fit the subframe connectors to the car and trace out where they will weld the front subframes and tie in the rear then you can buff the undercoating, paint, etc. down to bare metal and then prime it with a weldable primer that will make their job easier, faster, and will cost you less.

The more you can do the less it will cost you and all it will cost you is time and a can of primer.

 

[gkomo]

Go to an exhaust shop and see if they will do it. I will caution you that you will need to do some work to drop the cost and its stuff you can pick at when time allows. You will need to remove the rear seat (top and bottom cushions) due to the subframe connectors being welded to the torque boxes has been known to burn that area. If the subframe connectors are the ones that will weld to the bottom of the front subframes then you can get away with not removing the carpet or at least getting it off the floor when welding. My Global West units were tight to the floorboard so I made sure there was an air gap between the floorboard and the carpet to ensure no fires. If you can fit the subframe connectors to the car and trace out where they will weld the front subframes and tie in the rear then you can buff the undercoating, paint, etc. down to bare metal and then prime it with a weldable primer that will make their job easier, faster, and will cost you less.

The more you can do the less it will cost you and all it will cost you is time and a can of primer.

Super helpful, thank you!

My dad knows how to weld, that would have been perfect but unfortunately he lives like 9 hours away from me. These are some things i can do to hopefully keep costs down. Now just need to find a good exhaust shop that even understands what i'm talking about when i mention 'subframe connectors'.

 

[bird_dog0347]

Super helpful, thank you!

My dad knows how to weld, that would have been perfect but unfortunately he lives like 9 hours away from me. These are some things i can do to hopefully keep costs down. Now just need to find a good exhaust shop that even understands what i'm talking about when i mention 'subframe connectors'.

Make sure whatever shop you use has a drive on lift, do not let any shop weld on the subframes with the cars suspension unloaded or lifted with like a two post lift.

https://www.maximummotorsports.com/assets/install/pdf/chass_stiff/MMFL-5.pdf