Day 10 - From 2-piece to 1-piece . . . (8/19/2014)

Dropped off the Mustang drive shaft with the JTR drive flange and V8 T5 slip yoke. The guy at the machine shop turned it around in about 40 mins. He did tell me when I'm ready to put the 2-piece driveshaft back in, he could cut it to the correct length and weld the tube yoke to it. I'll have to keep that in mind :)

I went to Lowes and picked up some nuts/washers for the transmission mount and some attachments for my trusty Dremel. Also made a visit to Harbor Freight to get a furniture dolly and a small, clamp and swivel vice.

My Summit Racing order arrived and I got to work!!

Clamped the vice down and started the high pressure PS hose

(will finish the hose when the car returns)

Worked the transmission cross member with stepped drill bit and dremel

Separated before birth??

12lb Flywheel?? Yes please!!

Bling temporarily installed to measure for HTOB

Double Drat!! No pressure plate bolts . . . Calling Summit Racing :D

HTOB installed to measure and test route lines

Installed the fuel rail bungs . . .

Made another order to Summit Racing for some stuffs . . .

At this point I'm at a holding pattern until it arrives. The only thing I have left on the engine and transmission is to finish up the measuring exercise for the HTOB and permanently install flywheel and clutch assembly. I may attempt marking the crossover exhaust pipe and drop it off at the muffler shop for modification.

So far, I'm making good progress on everything. I have the suspension H&R Race Springs with Bilstein struts/shocks) lined up and ready, the ancillaries are ready to go, wheels and tires accounted for, and still have plenty of will to see this through!!

See you cats and  . . .er . . . catettes(?) tomorrow!!

-=PJ

Day 9 - Making a usable space a clean space . . . (8/18/2014)

My homie Frank came over and gave me a hand cleaning up the garage and moving some things around to make space.

Made some space to separate the engine and transmission so I can install some more goods.

See ya tomorrow!!

-=PJ

Day 8 - NO NAPS TAKEN . . . (8/17/2014)

Yea yea yea . . . I did say it was supposed to be a rest day, but the sun was out and I needed parts!! I went to our local Pull-a-Part yard and scrounged some needed parts.

• Explorer (V8) oil filter adapter
• Explorer (V8) water pump coolant hoses
• Crown Victoria power steering reservoir + hoses
• Misc. Ford weather-pak connectors

If you say close to Pull-a-Part/U-Pull-It/Pick-a-Part, you should consider going there and picking up parts. It's a DIYers dream with excellent prices!!

Tomorrow entails straightening out the garage . . . Shambles is a good term describing how it looks . . .

-=PJ

Day 7 - And on the 7th day . . . (8/16/2014)

I returned the tow dolly to Uhaul and proceed to nap the entire day!! I have to recover from this week's garage fest and rest for next week's garage fest.

I logged into one of my kryptonite sites (Summit Racing) and ordered up some items to make a new high pressure power steering hose. I spent less than $40 on everything.

Dragged out the Mustang driveshaft, V8 T-5 yoke, and the driveshaft flange to prep for delivery on Monday or Tuesday to be assembled and balanced.

Next week will be an assault on the engine and transmission.

• Measure for Hydraulic TOB
• Clutch and Flywheel
• Bellhousing Depth
• Crank flange to Block
• Install HTOB, Clutch, Flywheel
• Install Starter
• Measure for crossover exhaust modification
• Figure out VSS
• T-5 I have (2002) does not have VSS, it has OSS
• The car will run without VSS, but it may have idle and stalling issues when coming to a stop
• If I have to buy something to make this work . . . I'm not going to worry about it, because racecar!!
• Get some weather pak connectors from Pull-a-Part
• Sort out which power steering reservoir to use

Nothing is going down on Day 8 other than catching up on racing and with some naps in between . . . maybe deal death to some ninjas on the Xbox . . .

See ya'll on Monday!!

-=PJ