Progress Thread Tannerc91gt's 88/92 Coupe Build Thread

hoopty5.0 said:

Im following, I promise! I may be buying a fox roller this weekend, so Ill be back in the forum more too.

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Oh its fine, I don't expect many responses as its a swap that's been done a billion times and its a carbed car. Which has never been big on this forum.
But this helps me keep track and personally I love before and after stuff so its cool to keep up on.
Hope you find a solid roller, ive had more fun with this roller than I ever have with a running car so far.

NIKwoaC said:

Solid roller's gonna be pretty sweet! That car's gonna be mean as hell.

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Some of the back and forth with Ed has been pretty funny. He seems like a pretty straight forward dude but refuses to grind me a solid roller version of the B-Cam so I may take business elsewhere

Tried to clear some more tire room. Was a learning experience for sure.


Definitely made room for a taller tire, not sure how much width. Running a 275/60 on a 15x10 6.5BS right now and it rubs. Surely I'm not limited to an 8" wheel and an 8.5 tire??
Edit: this same combo fit great under my 88. same rear end, same UCA/LCAs and same wheels and tires. Hmmm

Its very tight. But fit great before. Thinking the difference is it used to be on cut gt springs so the position of the wheel in the well was higher. I don't think id have any performance loss running a 15x8 with an 8.5 slick or radial instead of a 10.5 but its the hassle of finding new wheels.
Currently running a 5/16th spacer with no change.

Waterpump conversion, pulleys, rocker nuts etc came in. Only waiting on my alt bracket now. So going to get rolling on the mustang today.
Got a little inspiration last night, believe I'm going to build a custom switch panel to run all this

Last update for a while probably.
I have since gotten the wheels to fit without spacers, so no worries there.
Motor is currently still apart. Disassembled one of the heads and installed the checker springs, put it on the block to clay the piston and ran into a problem. The pushrods I bought (8.5") are far too long, little less than a half inch too long. Had to use 2 styles of spring compressor at once to remove the springs, some tough SOBs. But I ordered some stock pushrods from autozone just to use strictly to check clearances and when they came in, they were 9.5" long. Promptly returned. Have since ordered the 8.18" rods which will be perfect for testing, not so hot for running.
The new, and hopefully final route, is to check the PTV clearance with the current set up and then order link bar lifters and a hydraulic roller camshaft. But i can use this opportunity to see if a camshaft with similar duration and a little more lift will even clear before i spend the money. Then convert.
After some more detailed measuring, pump gas is unfortunately out of the question. Which is fine by me at this point.

Suspension wise im still not happy with the stance and i believe the Moroso springs to be a big part of the issue. Unfortunately due to the nature of the springs (neither are the same length or spring rate) cutting a coil is just not an option. I have a set of 4cyl springs and V8 springs that i will try out and see what works. There are mixed reviews as to having a softer rear spring due to excessive squat and poor weight transfer. But i think with the rear shock/spring combo and a pretty proven set-up up front i think ill be able to make it work. And if im not satisfied ill just go back to the Moroso's.

Waiting to hear back on this job early next week, and have been busy doing a million other things so these snags have really slowed my motivation. Im still very happy to have the car to where it is and constantly have different ideas and new parts i want going through my head, which is a lot of the fun.

Probably just going to sit on it til tax check time and then make a big dent. Christmas shopping and bills come first for me.

Happy Holidays fellas

progress has come to a stand still. My motivation fell off somewhere along the line.
Still waiting to hear back from this job (apparently no one works within 3 weeks of christmas ).
Life and my indecisive mind keep getting in the way, i just cant find the time or desire to keep pushing on it as much as id love to see it run. Need to get my head back in the game and finish it up but I already dont think ill be satisfied when im done. 12.5:1 carbed 398w is a pretty stout combo, dont get me wrong, but im just not sure that its where i want to go with it anymore. The car will stay, i dont see myself ever letting it go. But I change my mind pretty regularly and im now weighing the pros and cons of selling the current motor/trans intake to oil pan and either going a much more streetable route, or finding a way to make this one pump gas reliable (requires digging into the bottom end).
Im not going to bother with it until ive got the parts in to convert it to roller, just cant justify going the lazy way after thinking about it (there i go thinking again). Most likely this is all that will happen. I talk a big game sometimes but right now the funds and motivation put a hold on all my big ideas.

But something in the back of my head keeps screaming forced induction EFI motor, which would require some serious changes

hoopty5.0 said:

You have to make yourself finish it as you have planned or it will never get done. Run it for a while at 12.5 CR and then later down the road, change it again.

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That was kind of my thoughts as well. With it being this close to done, tearing it down would probably leave it down indefinitely. Plan to keep trucking along once January comes around. Thanks

Bottom end and most of the motor parts are now for sale. Project is far from dead and the car isn't going anywhere. But for a lot of reasons ive decided to go a simpler route.the project itself is what's fun for me anyways.
All things subject to change.

Yeah, i wont know anything til after the 2nd. Luckily im currently employed so times arent so tough, just trying to better my situation. Only graduated college a year or 2 ago so im still on track i feel. Going to go 302 based. Nothing against the 351 but when its a non forged flat tappet bottom end that's strictly race gas it stops being worth the trouble. 302 is where I'm comfortable and I want the car to be enjoyable. Going to try and recoup some money from my parts pile and go from there. Forced induction is where I'm leaning but we'll see what's doable. Its a great car so I'm content with being patient for a while. Ive always been more about the hunt than the final product

It looks like ill be trading for a fresh 306 shortblock with a decent camshaft . Had a few cash offers but it makes more sense not to take a step backwards. Going to take some inspiration from Nik and run the 205s. Will be at a disadvantage with small cubes N/A but I don't plan to stay that way for long.
Car will be carbed still for the time being while I look for the best route to get back to EFI, most likely standalone for various reasons. Cant seem to quiet the forced induction voice in my head so once its up and running fuel injected that will be the next step. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
Short term, it will be a running 306, big head small displacement carbed combo. Unfortunately in the last couple years T5s have been mistaken for gold so finding one of those has also Proven to be difficult.

Edit: let me rephrase a little. Going to CONSIDER running the 205s. Depending on a few other variables I haven't decided on yet. Will probably post a discussion thread instead of cluttering this one further.