Monday was nasty here in Houston, so work was cancelled. I scurried into the garage in the 20 degree weather to work on the engine. I was able to install 8 rockers before I ran out of shims, but didn’t want to quit there, so I bolted the trans up and dropped the whole thing into the car. Not fun by myself, but only managed one paint chip.

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Trying to get to the parts house in Houston today that has the shim kit. Then I’ll be as far as I can get until parts come back from powder coating.

 

I found the factory piece this week and am going to try and make it work.

What I can't find is my timing pointer! I also realized I cannibalized my starter for my F150. So there's another piece I have to buy.

 

Ok - important question here, but the background first.

I bought the thinnest head gaskets I could afford, which are 1011-2 @ .039" compressed. This in turn caused my push rods to be "longer" now. So much so that I ran out of shims and had to buy another set. So now, each rocker is shimmed up .090" based on what my dial indicator tells me. I still have 5/8" of bolt threaded into the head, which from what I can tell by searching online is well over the minimum of 1/2". I also installed the shims under the tray that holds the fulcrum/cradle thingy.

Any reasons this won't work? New push rods are going to be >$100 and I'd prefer not to go that route. Several posts on Corral seem to confirm this, just looking for a pat on the back here.




...Which brings me to my next phuck up - but luckily was on the previous motor(s).

Story time!

I do things how I think they should be done and every so often, I am VERY wrong.

In high school, I installed a set of 1.7 rockers on my GT and cracked a few of the cheap pot metal fulcrums, because I tightened the dog snot out of them, instead of reading the instructions. That car never ran right, but for a multitude of other self-inflicted reasons, but I can't help but wonder now how over tightened rockers didn't do me any favors. (If only I knew about forums then, but I had nobody to help me then but MM&FF magazine)

Fast forward to last summer - I had another set of roller rockers to install on my turbo 351. I look up the torque spec, roll the motor around for each cylinder and tighten them to 18 lb/ft, completely oblivious to the fact that YOU MIGHT HAVE TO SHIM THE DAMN THINGS. The heads I bought came with the rockers on them, so I loosened them enough to slip the push rod under and ran them down to spec. I can't help but wonder now how improperly tightened rockers didn't do me any favors.

So here I am, third attempt at installing rockers. I've read and re-read the instructions this time, and even referenced them as I went. I had someone assemble my short block for me. I feel like the long block has a fighting shot at a long, happy life this time, so long as the tune is right. Luckily, I know a guy for that as well. I feel good.

 

Have you at least checked to see how the tip of the rocker interfaces with the valve stem to make sure it's aligning correctly? That would be my big concern. You may need a different length push rod anyways to get the valve train correct.

 

I need to do that still, ran out of time last night.

 

Car looks great. If you don’t mind can you tell about the wheels you have? Size and backspacing.

 

hey man! good to see you are back at it!

been quite sometime since ive been on here..finally getting back to normal, and getting back into the shop..its been filled with friends/family stuff since the flooding! where did you end up getting a shortblock from?

 

They’re the 17x9 and 17x10 SC replicas that you see on LMR and AM websites. Not sure on the backspacing, but I think it’s normal 6.5” in the rear

 

Yooooo! Been a while man, hope all is well. I got the block from a machine shop near me and then had Owens assemble it for me in Pearland

 

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that's good news! glad you found one..i did find a cpl in Beaumont at a local pull place..and thought I had emailed you about them,but maybe it didn't go thru? glad to see you got one,and are getting it close to running again! I've been working on mine steadily, getting closer,but still a ways..got the cage and chassis done..here is a pic,excuse all the mess from moving stuff back out of the shop

 

Oh, I need to PM you my new email address. Yahoo shut the old one down, for reasons I'll never know. Looking good on yours though!

 

hey, ok I be that's what happened right there..i didn't get a kick back saying anything from yahoo though, but i'll watch for your email..or just shoot me one sometime..mines still the same

thanks on the compliment,its nothing as nice as your ride though!

 

Finally got my hood painted yesterday. It was an excellent reminder that it's a job best left to professionals. No runs, but a hell of a lot of trash in the paint.

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I also managed to hack together a mount for the VR sensor. It's hideous, so luckily it will be hidden from plain view. My TIG skillz are rusty, to say the least.

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Also, I got some parts back from powder coating. Scott @ Coatings by Coates is doing amazing work as usual and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the engine looks like!

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I see you found your timing pointer!

 

Yep, haha. Probably the prettiest pointer out there now too.

 

I can't argue that. Whole engine looks great.

 

I took another box of parts to get coated yesterday, would have looked funny otherwise. So now, he's got the accessory brakcets, all the pulleys, the alternator case, and the A/C clutch. It's going to look tits.
I also stripped all the nasty ass paint off the A/C compressor yesterday so it's raw aluminum now and it looks good too.

I reaaaally need to touch up the engine bay now. It's a little rough compared to all the coating.

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Im also having a difficult time figuring out where to mount my LS coils. Ideally, I want them on the frame rails out of sight for a cleaner look. I bent a crude bracket last night just to test it out and the passenger side would be OK. The driver side would be fine, but really difficult to install the bracket. Any ideas? They will absolutely not be going on the valve covers. I did consider the firewall too... Anyone have another suggestion?

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I bought a set of these, and then welded on an extra piece of metal on the sides, so I could mount them where I wanted. I don't recommend routing the wires under the header though, unless you have plenty of clearance. I made the mistake of doing it like that, just to try to keep it looking as clean as possible, but it ended up burning through a wire.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LS2-LS7-bo...ash=item238a077956:g:9WEAAOSwpkFY47Y2&vxp=mtr

See if the pictures show up in my build thread. I can still see them, but I don't know if others can.

https://www.theturboforums.com/threads/the-inconspicuous-91-mustang-turbo-build.356643/page-21