yellowoctupus

So, I'm a little dubious that these would be a direct fit, although they're listed in their product catalogue as such... Can anyone shed some light on this for me? www.showmetheparts.com/gsp/

Cool man, keep us updated! Those digital gauges are just too cool. I considered chopping some Lincoln digitals into my 78's pods before making my Tbird gauges work instead.

Stock steering on mine, with cast Cobra manifolds. Getting an oil filter out is TIGHT, but it will fit. I also didn't have to cut my oil sending unit casting as I've seen one or two others do. Not sure why they did... Exhaust, have fun. Drivers side is cake, passenger's side is going to take a while to get those first 8" done. After that, no problem.

So far so good on the T45 on my end. The DOHC (NA) has basically the same torque output as the SOHC, so overall strength shouldn't be an issue between the two. I definetly suggest you check out the clutch setup I'm using now. WAY easier to work with and those freakin' Wilwood pull cylinders suck. They're just a crappy design and the o-rings wear out really fast. Don't ask me how many times I had to drive home from work, or home at midnight from the airport or home from WHEREVER with no clutch!!!!! (Oh yeah, and when they go, they really go. At night, when the slave is coolest, all of your brake fluid sneaks by your shrunk o-rings (because the thermal expansion of rubber is higher than aluminum). Anyhow, awesome to see some more mod motor guys out there. The DOHC is definitely worth any extra bother in my opinion. It pulls so well, right through 6k, where I didn't even know my ecu had a 6k rev limiter with the SOHC; the SOHC just fell on it's face after 5k. Feel free to PM me if either of you guys have questions.

Just WOW. Awesome work Tim. I was wondering when somebody would breathe life into a Ford Z on the boards, guess you've been busy, you've just holding out on us! The picture progression appears to be a little out of order, so I'm confused as to what the latest rendition is; were you able to get the track width back to the original Z dimensions, or are you going to be running flares?

So, those stupid polyurethane bushings that go on the TC rods (in the famous works of Alice Cooper) "CAN GO TO HELL!!!" I actually broke the TC rod. The polyurethane profile and material makes it so stiff, if anything it would impede motion and make the suspension BIND! What a crap design. One of my buddies on Hybridz (big shout out to Rayaapp2!!!) came through with an extra one so I could make the drive to work the next day, but I turned de-stiffened both sides' bushings first. Only took a minute on my lathe, but I'm sure it will keep the TC rods from breaking in the future. The picture on the lathe shows one bushing machined, the other is as-purchased for comparison.

Cool! Not too many people swap here with a ZX+Ford swap. Welcome to the forum. It looks like you've got a pretty clean car to start with, how is your hood clearance?

Wow, that's a HUGE shop!

So, I killed my first universal joint yesterday going to work. Anticlimatic, and after work I rebuilt it in a bank parking lot with some cheap as* chinese universal joint, 2x 14mm wrenches, a screwdriver and a hammer. It was a US forged unit, maybe a Moog? looks like the fracture initiated at the grease port, which I understand is somewhat common. I also had a bad serpentine tensioner on the new motor which caused me to almost chew through my belt all the way, then when I was trying to emergency shim the tensioner at the mounting bolts, I stripped one of the bolts out. They only had 6.5mm of thread engagement of a M8 into an aluminum head. Rough rule of thumb for threaded hole depth is 1.5*diameter. 8*1.25=12mm THEY ONLY HAD 6.5 GRR. Anyways, the hole and threads were super deep already, so I just put a longer bolt in. Nice of them to pre-deep thread the hole that they expected to strip out... Thankfully, the old SOHC tensioner, with it's different part number still bolted right up and worked fine on the DOHC engine.

All in good time. I haven't actually shot any videos yet. Tomorrow's the first drive in to work with the new engine (I've clocked ~10mi around town, we'll call it good). I spent most of the weekend trying to get a hood latch snuck back behind the intake, with varied amounts of success. Ended up pinning the hood. I really wanted to avoid drilling holes through my nice clean hood, but oh well. Sometimes enough is enough. I might end up trying the Quik Latch Mini Blue anodized latches, they look very clean, and for under $60 for two the price isn't unreasonable.

Project update.

Hmm. That's pretty crazy (and disappointing). Although my car is a daily driver, I don't want the hood popping up on me during any spirited driving conditions. Maybe I'll investigate my Jeep Cherokee hood latch idea further. I wonder how they got the NHRA approval letter, if yours still pops open! http://www.quik-latch.com/images/NHRA2.jpg Thanks for getting back to me so quick.

So, I'm sure the flow isn't perfect, but it's all sealed up and makes it from point A to point B, so it will work for now. Took a bit longer than I thought it would, a lot of the geometry had to be JUST RIGHT, like the lower sealing flange.

Hi Duragg, I know this is digging back a little, but did you ever get your Quik-Latches straightened out to prevent them from "popping" open? I'm considering using them instead of pins for installation subtlety more than aerodynamic reasons, but would nonetheless like to keep from spending good money on a product that does NOT perform as is intended. Thanks!!

I have a theory that EVERYONE EVERYWHERE either had one in college, had a friend with one in college, or high school or something, and they did ALL SORTS of wild things, like smoking corvettes (yeah right, with a stock engine??.....) and picking up chicks (again, where are you going to put them? Unless you have a 2+2, then they'd still better be a midget!).

What I'm wondering now is would a mod motor fit on those mounts with the early (ie, Mark VIII) style mounts. I have a set that just came off my DOHC when I put the GT mounts back in, and they've got that 'U' + pin style of mounting to the K member like the 5.0 mounts shown in Brian's picture. Probably a fox body engine swapper guy would know the answer to that one...

Quick Pic Time: As a note: I did not have to modify my oil pressure pickup piece (Some guys shorten it because of steering clearance?), and my oil filter should still mount to the block like it did from the factory. I've never been a huge fan of external mounts, it's just more potential failure points. Sometimes you gotta, sometimes you don't. One BIG thing I'll have to do is make some sort of throttle body to MAF tube. I want to run the stock hood, and I used the battery box area last time for the air cleaner. I'm thinking I'll have to 'glass one up, but I'm not sure that's the best route.... sounds like a lot of work even IF I get it right the first time. Radiator hoses are also not the same, but that shouldn't be a HUGE deal.

Engine's in. Fits fine. Honestly doesn't look much tighter than the SOHC, I think because the 'wide' measurement from the DOHC comes off the cam cover, which sits in front of the shock towers, so it's somewhat a moot point. I'll get some pictures of of the latest surgery tomorrow....

I thought this was a funny picture. See how the engine bay on this green '93 Mark VIII is gutted already? I beat the junkyard to getting their stock photo for their online inventory page. Turns out the stock cobra exhaust manifolds will bolt on and should meet up with my custom 'GT' SOHC Y pipe. That's a relief. I'm all set with making any more weird custom headers. That's a pain, especially with the clearance I'm sure I'll have on that side of the engine.

Out with the old................ .........and in with the new. To be continued...1993 Mark VIII, 110k, failed smog, assumed still running at least OK. $180 for a complete engine at Pick n Pull. Sounds like the cheapest possible way to gain 70hp (Mark VIII 285 vs Mustang SOHC 215hp) AND drop 75#! The Teskid aluminum DOHC blocks are supposed to be crazy strong, and undeniably lighter. Internet specs for the two engines are 500# SOHC, 425# DOHC. WOW. (vin for my reference...) 1LNLM91V7PY761910

DOHC time. Blew a head gasket going to work on Thursday, and well, why not. Off to find a Mark VIII at the local yard....wish me luck.

Hmm....unique. Well, look around at everything other people have done, then don't do any of that! (I know, I'm a jerk...) Honestly though, I'm more of the opinion that projects should be planned from the end goals going backwards. Ie, if you have a limited budget, but want a *blank* car, you do a lot of wheelin/dealing and prioritize what items will get you closest to that goal. I wanted a V8 sleeper, totally stock looking, but clean and different. So, I installed an engine I've never seen anyone put in a Z (and on the cheap!) and bits and pieced the body/interior together over the years to achieve that goal. Just saying 'unique' could mean you build it into one of those burning man looking monstrosities, or you fit a fiberglass boat body to it so you can ford rivers with it! What are you trying to do with this car? Stripped out autocrosser, or amphibious swamp car?

Finally got rid of that stupid Wilwood pull cylinder. I actually broke down and bought a new one back around Christmas and it's given me nothing but problems. I actually had better luck with my old REALLY beat up one that I made a custom piston for. Went through about a half gallon of fluid in the last few months and a pile of o-rings... Ok, off my b*tchin' box. I got PN 12210 from Autozone $11.99, it's one of their common stocked items (I found it by digging around the back shelves of my local store.) You can't find the application at the store, but you actually can by searching their website. There's a tab for 'Vehicle Fitment' that I'm sure has been there for years, but I've never seen before. It fits: Mazda B2000 1986/1987 and Mazda B2200 1987-1993. It has a 3/4" bore, and over 1.3" of stroke before the piston starts to protrude from the bore. The weird thing that I'll have to check at the junkyard is I don't know what the inlet line fitting should be. It's M10x1 straight thread, but there's no seat at the bottom of the threads for an inverted flare, and even the 'long' tube nut bottoms before the line gets tight with a bubble flare. I ended up (I know, for shame) using a 1/8" NPT, and it went in about 3 or 4 threads, which is good enough for now, but I'm thinking maybe it's supposed to be a banjo fitting? Seems weird, but I sure saw some weird master/slave cylinders when I was digging through the Azone stock. I made up some brackets and mounted it to the side of the transmission, which worked ok, but I couldn't put it directly inline with the clutch arm, so I had to weld an extension bar offsetting the push rod about .75" to the side. I also had to make an extension to the pushrod that came with the slave, but I don't have any pictures. I basically just took an aluminum rod, threaded the end to take a button head screw and drilled the other end out to slide over the stock pushrod. (ie, the button head screw is the contact point on the clutch arm, and is adjustable.) Overall it works really well, it's still a pretty firm feel to the pedal, but the MC stroke required to get the transmission disengaged leaves the pedal a few inches from the floor. Not a big deal for me, but I think maybe now my wife can drive the car (she couldn't reach the floor with the clutch pedal before, which was required with the Wilwood pull cylinder). The bolts that have rusty rod welded to them may seem like overkill, but they're really hard to reach in the trans tunnel, and they acted like studs for the bracket to bolt to the trans to. Drop the assy in from the top, slide the blue bracket up onto the studs, put the nuts on, Done. For a one time installation, it's not a huge deal to hold the bolts on top, but when it's gotta come on and off 10 times in an hour the first time you're making it...it really is a time saver. Oh, and the big 'notch' cut out of the bracket is to clear the reverse switch and plug. Including finding the parts at Azone, this took from 6:30pm to 11:45pm. No dinner.... but it works

Old school cool with the Clevor. I thought about it on my Mustang, but figured they'd hurt my tight engine bay worse than the stock heads do already. I didn't realize Edelbrock was making a manifold for the old Cleveland heads. What's the advantage of the Cleveland heads over say the GT40's?

Yeah, the whole 'no replacement for displacement' is the first kick in the shins for a 302 vs 351. Similar mods to either engine will get you similar gains %wise. I do however believe it's a better swap in engine if for no other reason besides you can tuck it right against the firewall without having to dink around with hood latch relocation work etc. That and when you say you have a V8 Z EVERYONE assumes it's a Chevy, so it's nice to be able to surprise them.