Mikey's new four-door

[1987cp]

Got 'em all adjusted. Pics coming later. One stud came out, so I printed out the CRN-36655-16 installation instructions, which turned out to be a good idea since the installation procedure is pretty precise. More on that later.

One thing I noticed is that while most of the rockers had some squish to the pushrod end with the valve closed, but three did not (intake on cylinder 2, both on cylinder 5). Setting 1/2-turn lash on those valves incidentally required more effort than on the others, so I'm thinking this may be a symptom of the dreaded "collapsed lifter". Anyone able to verify that?

[1987cp]

Update after a chat with Ivan: it appears I do have three or four malfunctioning lifters. He suggested the idea of taking them out and trying to free up the pistons, but I guess replacement is the more usual necessity. What I probably need to look up now is, what break-in procedure is necessary if replacing individual lifters in a flat-tappet system but retaining everything else?

[torquelover]

Do you still have the NIB lifters I gave you? I wonder why 3 lifters would fail at the same time. Any change in oil or coolant temperature?

I imagine the same break-in procedure with a new cam/lifter set would be the same as what you are going to need to do. Keep the revs up, oil pressure up, and vary the RPMs. Do you still have the NIB cam I gave you? I would use the new cam/lifters as a set, and replace the valvesprings if I were you.

[1987cp]

Yeah, that's probably a sound notion. I'd really been hoping not to open it up till I could swing one of these, but that's going to run a few hundred $$$ and there would be only minimal up-front parts cost to using what I've got!

Springs would have to wait a little, but I'm sure I could break in the cam with the old springs. Would you just use replacement Edelbrock 5822 springs with that Enginemaster cam?

I haven't noticed any changes in the engine's vitals recently, though I wouldn't think an oil blockage to the lifter area would . I'm thinking that maybe with luck I can guess why the lifters failed once I have them out ... and if I have the cam out too, I should be able to immediately identify any worn lobes as well. In any event, we now know what was causing the funky ticking noise!!!

[1987cp]

Starting to think about this car again .... getting tired of driving the wagon and this nicer car just sitting. I'm thinking it might be somewhat more convenient to swap in my roller 306, at least temporarily, and thus buy an indefinite period of time in which to decide for sure what to do with this 351. Come to think of it, it'd also make it lots easier to swap this wagon out for something else ........... http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

[P72Ford]

Put the wagon engine in the tudor, and get rid of the wagon. Park the 'POS Ford' in the garage, and fix it. Drive the tudor in the meantime.

[Lincolnmania]

put some marvel mystery oil in it and run the bitch at 3,000 rpm for a few minutes

[1987cp]

Put the wagon engine in the tudor, and get rid of the wagon. Park the 'POS Ford' in the garage, and fix it. Drive the tudor in the meantime.

Already got the wagon's original engine in the two-door, but otherwise not at all a bad line of thought.

put some marvel mystery oil in it and run the bitch at 3,000 rpm for a few minutes

What'll that do? (aside from calling the car names)

[1987cp]

Temporary engine swappage

Today Nathan in MN and I dropped the Explorer 5.0 out of the wagon into the Vic. This marks the second time I've pulled a 351 out of a car and replaced it with a roller 5.0 ... seems kind of sissifying in a way. I'm just hoping (really, really hoping!) that this will pay off in a big way once I get the 351 freshened a bit and reassembled with about 100 more horsepower.

I did notice while installing the new motor mounts, however, that the front suspension is badly in need of rebuilding. Doing so wasn't an option at this point in time (the $70 to Summit For Energy Suspension swaybar bushings and Prothane transmission mount was all the "project creep" I could handle this time around), but with luck I'll manage to get an appropriate mix of new, good used, and reconditioned parts under there in the foreseeable future. It'll do its part to help delay other projects, possibly even absorbing some money that might spent on 351 parts, but safety is good!

[torquelover]

Very interesting. I'm wondering if the new motor will feel familiar to you, or completely foreign in it's new home?

+1 for an IFS rebuild

[1987cp]

It'll be interesting for sure, since this motor really did OK in the heavier wagon even though it felt slow compared to the Vic with 351 power. Desktop Drag '03 projects it being probably 2-3 tenths slower if I were to give it a dragstrip run with its exact conditions. Don't remember if that took into account losing about 100 pounds, though. Theoretical horsepower is apparently about the same as (or maybe a touch higher than) the 4400-cammed 351, though it happens about 500-700rpm higher up (bigger cam and better heads in smaller engine). Torque will be down maybe 50 lb-ft or more, but until I get around to screwing with the rear that just means fewer involuntary pegleg burnouts that I could possibly find myself having to explain to the local constabulary.

You know what's annoying? The "Performer 351" EDL-2181 has all those half-dozen or so throttle bracket bosses, and the "Performer 289" EDL-2121 has like two, and they're in the wrong orientation. ANNOYING!!!!

Also annoying, the early-style A/C brackets interchange between the 351 and 302. The '87 versions do not. However, this would be a lot more annoying than it is if I didn't just happen to have all the necessary '87 302 brackets squirreled away. :p

[torquelover]

Actually going to have A/C this summer? Very cool, indeed.

I bet the 302 will feel great in the P72, especially considering the trans settings.

[Lincolnmania]

mikey
energysuspensionparts.com has the es bushings for 65.49 + 8.99 s&h.....you cannot get just the lower control arm bushings in rubber for less than that

[1987cp]

mikey
energysuspensionparts.com has the es bushings for 65.49 + 8.99 s&h.....you cannot get just the lower control arm bushings in rubber for less than that

I know, you nut, but I didn't have the extra $75 this time around, or the time, or patience, or the bucks for balljoints (say $35 each for a total of $140 more in project creep). And that's not taking alignments into account - last alignment I got was $50 (for a new total cost of around $265), but prices on services of all sorts seem to be sky-high in this area, and a good alignment shop is hard to find at any price without a solid recommendation.

It occurred to me that I could swipe the control arms off the wagon and replace the bushings - the balljoints are just a few years old. On the other hand, if I do end up driving the wagon again, it does have a rather nice alignment at present, so I might be better off with those upper arms you took/will take off Gabe's car ....

OR I might strongly consider the big-brake upgrade!!! I'll have to compile me a list the exact costs involved, including buying a set of 16" snow tires.

[torquelover]

The lower ball joint is a heavily stressed part. How about just swapping those, just to be safe? Any luck trying to tighten the upper control arms as Blaze suggested in the past?