NikwoaC's "Commitment Issues" Engine Build

5.0Droptop · May 3, 2011

NikwoaC said:
Except for the sex. That's still not boring.

Your married and still getn some of that?

Oh wait.........You just havent been married long enough

NIKwoaC · May 3, 2011

Mintsick said:
Looking good man, like the little write up on checking PtV! I may have missed it but do you have a target completion date on having the car drivable?

I have been telling my wife sometime this month (May), since she keeps saying "today would have been good Mustang weather!" The engine is very close to being ready to go back in the car, not too worried about that time-wise. What I am worried about is the little stuff. I have yet to convert to mass air, I'll be making a new CAI, I have to finish installing the new fuel pump, etc. And then of course, I have to bolt up the trans, driveshaft, exhaust, and all that good stuff, which is a solid afternoon on its own.

5.0Droptop said:
Your married and still getn some of that?

Oh wait.........You just havent been married long enough

Right now, we're thinking about holding off on kids until we're 30... so I have a few years of good times yet.

NIKwoaC · May 4, 2011

Heads on, pushrod length checked and valvetrain installed! As you can see, the valve stem contact is nice and centered and the line is nice and narrow.

From here on out, it should be relatively smooth sailing, because the rest of the parts just mindlessly bolt on... I'm finally done with checking clearances and what-not. What I need to do before the engine goes in:

Install water pump.
Install intake.
Stab distributor.
Bolt on oil pan.
Bolt up headers.
Install flywheel/clutch.
Bolt on bellhousing.

I also have to figure out how to get the valve covers to fit. They look like they are going to be more trouble than I anticipated... I'll take pictures of that and how I get them to work, if at all!

90lxcoupe · May 4, 2011

no head studs ay? are those stretch bolts? FWIW, i noticed those heads have much better attention to detail then myne do. The chamfer on the valve cover bolts and the exhaust ports will make installing things much smoother. My heads have zero chamfer on all of the threads and it makes getting the bolts in a chore sometimes. Especially on the exhaust.

NIKwoaC · May 4, 2011

90lxcoupe said:
no head studs ay? are those stretch bolts?

Nah, I didn't go studs, because I figure I'm eventually going to go with a 351 or an aftermarket block, and then I'll use 1/2" studs. These are ARP bolts, though, so they aren't torque-to-yield. They're pretty nice fasteners, but less expensive than studs.

90lxcoupe said:
FWIW, i noticed those heads have much better attention to detail then myne do. The chamfer on the valve cover bolts and the exhaust ports will make installing things much smoother. My heads have zero chamfer on all of the threads and it makes getting the bolts in a chore sometimes. Especially on the exhaust.

Interesting, thanks for letting me know. I wouldn't have realized otherwise, since I don't know what an OOTB TW head looks like. It's nice to know that T.E.A. went the extra mile on stuff, even if they were really slow to deliver. I do wish they would have provided more specifics on the heads, all I got was an invoice sheet with a very vague itemized list of what was done.

90lxcoupe · May 4, 2011

Yea, i dunno if its something that was updated with trick flow too. I bought my heads 3 years ago, and being a machinist at the time, that was one of the first things i noticed. A part wouldnt have left our shop without 1/3 the diameter(of the drill size) chamfer on any threaded holes. Its all about the details

NIKwoaC · May 4, 2011

90lxcoupe said:
Yea, i dunno if its something that was updated with trick flow too. I bought my heads 3 years ago, and being a machinist at the time, that was one of the first things i noticed. A part wouldnt have left our shop without 1/3 the diameter(of the drill size) chamfer on any threaded holes. Its all about the details

How long have they been making the 205s? 3 years ago they would have been relatively new, right?

90lxcoupe · May 4, 2011

NikwoaC said:
How long have they been making the 205s? 3 years ago they would have been relatively new, right?

I would say at least 5 years. They used to be cheap, i still think they are a good price but i remember when i bought them they had just gone up $100 to like 1750 or 1800, and at one point they were right around 1600 or 1700 bucks

NIKwoaC · May 4, 2011

90lxcoupe said:
I would say at least 5 years. They used to be cheap, i still think they are a good price but i remember when i bought them they had just gone up $100 to like 1750 or 1800, and at one point they were right around 1600 or 1700 bucks

Damn, that would have been nice. Yea, prices on Mustang junk has been going up over the last several years. I still remember seeing tubular GT40 intakes in the Summit catalog with a ridiculously cheap price tag. I want to say it was $400 new, and now you can't hardly find a beat up used one for that.

BTW, I wonder if they will ever come out with a Twisted Wedge 225, based off the standard Twisted Wedge head, NOT the "Race" head. Just eye-balling these heads, it looks like there is plenty of room left to port.

90lxcoupe · May 4, 2011

From what i have read, the CNC 205's are pretty well maxed out, from this head stepping up to an R-series is the next best move. They can flow big numbers and have a much better exhaust bolt pattern for a bigger header

NIKwoaC · May 4, 2011

Got a little work done today. Clearanced the valve covers to make them fit over the rocker arms, also cleaned and painted them black. I also painted the "Trick Flow" logo on the intake black. So far, I really like how it all turned out, the completed valve covers actually seem to have plenty of clearance.

I had to remove three of these cylindrical bosses cast into the underside of the valve covers and then grind down the rib that the oil fill baffle sits on, and scrap the baffle completely. I'm going to have to figure out something else for an oil baffle now, but I have a few ideas brewing.

Pics-

Up close of the baffle rib here. I used a cut off wheel on my Dremel tool and just went to town. Obviously, both the passenger side and the driver's side valve covers have the same baffle ribbing, but just the driver's side actually gets the oil fill tube and the stamped steel baffle itself. So, I had to cut the same amount of material off both valve covers.

What I did to get rid of the bosses was to first drill a pilot hole, then use a drill larger than the boss and basically mill it down, using the small hole as a guide for the large drill. I got a little too cautious drilling the pilot hole on this one, and broke through the inside of the casting, which made running the big drill down difficult. The rest of the bosses went pretty easy though.

Painted.

Cobra912 · May 5, 2011

looking good but why stock valve covers?

ya gotta paint that balancer, she's gonna rust

NIKwoaC · May 5, 2011

Cobra912 said:
looking good but why stock valve covers?

I don't really care for any of the aftermarket valve covers out there. Some of the FRPP ones look OK, but you have to clearance those, too, so why spend the money if you still have to do the work? Besides, I think the stock ones can look really good when they're cleaned up. They have a unique shape to them, and if it aint broke, why fix it?

Cobra912 said:
ya gotta paint that balancer, she's gonna rust

Styk mentioned that a few pages back. It's the SFI unit, and it has a baked on enamel clear coat. It only looks bare.

DocG · May 5, 2011

I had to do the exact same thing to some stockers to for my rocker arms. Most aftermmarket ones wouldn't clear without being the tall version...which would have hit. Looking good man!

smokin joe · May 5, 2011

NikwoaC said:
I have been telling my wife sometime this month (May), since she keeps saying "today would have been good Mustang weather!"

Based on her above comment alone I say she is defined a keeper. If only she was the youngest of 5, and had single older sisters? You are a lucky man!

NIKwoaC · May 6, 2011

smokin joe said:
Based on her above comment alone I say she is defined a keeper. If only she was the youngest of 5, and had single older sisters? You are a lucky man!

I know, I am pretty lucky. When we first met, she knew absolutely nothing about cars, and would have mistaken my car for a smelly old escort with an exhaust leak. But now, over the years she has learned a lot from me and has come to really enjoy riding around in the car, going to shows, etc.

Sorry, though, she's the oldest!

1991notchbackLX · May 6, 2011

That's a keeper right there! My girlfriend classifies every car ever made, without regards to price, make, model, or year, into two categories: "cute" and "ugly." Still working on her...

NIKwoaC · May 7, 2011

1991notchbackLX said:
That's a keeper right there! My girlfriend classifies every car ever made, without regards to price, make, model, or year, into two categories: "cute" and "ugly." Still working on her...

Haha, I hope my car never falls into either of those categories.

hoopty5.0 · May 7, 2011

My girlfriend thought I was playing a joke on her when she saw the pic of my notch. "No really, what did you buy?" was what she said. It hurt me a little

You are lucky indeed, sir.

Mustang5L5 · May 7, 2011

My girlfriend could care less about cars. They are just an appliance to her, meant to get people from point A to point B.

We've been together for 2.5 years.....she's never even SEEN my mustang.

NikwoaC's "Commitment Issues" Engine Build

5.0Droptop

...all those nights we shared, and you're a dude??

NIKwoaC

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NIKwoaC

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90lxcoupe

NIKwoaC

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90lxcoupe

NIKwoaC

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90lxcoupe

NIKwoaC

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90lxcoupe

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Cobra912

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DocG

5th graders > me. They're not bant

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hoopty5.0

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That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

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