I call it the Monolith. I have plans for it.

[ootdega]

It's been a long time since I've written here. Lots of personal crap, problems and obstacles and everything inbetween. I'll get right to the point.

The water pump was fine, just to get that out of the way. The radiator hose needed tightened. It's fine now.

Since the last post, the following has been done:

-Air conditioning leak fixed
-Replaced the gas tank and everything attached to it but the sending unit and hanger assembly. Turbine fuel pump, new fuel filter. New fuel pump works well and does not sound like it wants to explode.
-Brakes cleaned, brake fluid flushed and replaced with DOT4; brake fluid was 4% water, which was the problem. Have a bunch of new brake parts I didn't need. Oh well.
-Hardened stainless lug nuts. Turns out only the nut is stainless, the cap is not. They're already rusted. But at least I will be able to get them off. Two of the caps actually came off, so I had to replace those nuts.
-Changed the oil with Royal Purple HMX 5W30 and used Liqui-Moly engine flush. Wix XP oil filter. This finally UNLEASHED THE BEAST WITHIN.
-Replaced the battery cables with SGX 2-gauge high density weave copper cables and Allstar gold-plated brass terminals. New terminal covers as well. Had to use the old chassis ground. Cleaning that off fixed the flickering lights.
-Tied down the battery with a ratchet strap. Now it will stay put. The KUNG sound I would hear on large bumps was the battery hitting the hood. Were it not for the insulation, that would have been very bad.
-Got the windshield leak filled. Turned out to be a rust problem, but since I addressed it quickly I shouldn't have to deal with it for a while.
-Replaced the MAP sensor. Found a NOS Motorcraft unit for $37. Solved some of the hesitation and vastly improved fuel economy as well as smoothed out the powerband.

Next up is the motor mounts, the throttle position sensor, and the vacuum hose that goes to the MAP sensor. If the TPS doesn't solve the problem, I'll have to move on to the fuel pressure regulator. I'm also pretty sure I should address the ball joints soon, maybe the idler arm. After all of that's taken care of, I'll put in a 3G alternator, and then start saving up for a Silverfox AOD-450. I'll flush the engine again in about 3000 miles.

I've also learned a huge amount of stuff. Because of this, I've massively amended the stuff I want to do.

-I don't think I need bigger brakes. These ones work great, so it wouldn't be worth it to me to do the big brake conversion, solely because of the cost of new tires.
-I also don't think I need 31-spline axles. I won't be making more than low-300 horsepower, maybe 400 torque tops. I don't think the cost and added weight of new axles and matching diff are worth it. I will instead get better 28-spline axles.
-I've abandoned the idea of a supercharger. My goal is to break 300 to the wheels, and that is very doable with this engine naturally aspirated, for not a whole lot of money. I've seen an article with ported GT40Ps and a Performer intake with a Voodoo cam making 367, and that was carbureted with a stock ignition, no underdrive pulleys or anything. A supercharger would be a massive waste of money.
-Instead, I'm going for high-compression naturally aspirated. Maybe 10.5/1. That should still run on 91 anywhere. I'll use an Anderson PMS and dyno tune it.
-Speaking of ignition, I'm keeping the Duraspark and will instead use a Pertronix Second Strike ignition box with a plain Motorcraft coil. I'll use a FAST Crank trigger ignition with it.
-I have changed my mind about a brush guard. It's enough of a tank as it is, the weight of a push bar would be superfluous, heavy, and just make it that much harder to park.
-I no longer want LS fenders and cornering lights. These would just make my front blinkers harder to see. The front headlights are more than enough as-is, especially once I put in a relay.
-On that note, I will be keeping the sealed beams and just using a relay. More than that will just be obnoxious.

Other than that...I just really want someone to re-mount and restore this dash. The rattle is starting to wear on me. That and the seats need tightened.

I no longer have any way of taking photos myself, so instead, here is a spoon.

[sly]

[knucklehead0202]

Sounds like you're moving along just fine there buddy. Far as power numbers go, are you looking for 300 flywheel HP or to the wheels, because that's 2 very different approaches. In my opinion, if you're gonna go to the trouble to pull heads, put some good ones on there. If you own a junkyard, or get P heads for free, go for it, but if you're going to spend money, save a little longer and get something at least like X heads, but better yet edelbrock, afr, tfs, something quality. I recently scored on a set of used RHS 200's for cheap. It's way more head than I'm likely going to need, but more is better than less. May lose a bit on the low end but I plan to make up for that with a stroker and gears. If you don't have to worry about smog bullshit, there are many cheap turbo kits out there that would easily adapt to this platform and work very well. Turbos operate on load, and what would load something up like a giant, heavyass car like these with an auto? Anyhow, pile up all your parts, look and see if anything's missing, and fill in the gaps.

Sidenote: Glad to hear you have a k31 Schmidt-rubin, do you own any other neat old rifles? I collect that sort of stuff and have several(many) old things I shoot/restore/reload, etc...including a k31. Lots of fun with the old warhorses.

[pantera77]

Far as power numbers go, are you looking for 300 flywheel HP or to the wheels, because that's 2 very different approaches. In my opinion, if you're gonna go to the trouble to pull heads, put some good ones on there. If you own a junkyard, or get P heads for free, go for it, but if you're going to spend money, save a little longer and get something at least like X heads, but better yet edelbrock, afr, tfs, something quality.

Yep, if your goal is 300 at the wheels, don't waste your time with factory iron heads. Yes, it can be done, but you'd be much better off going aftermarket. There's no shortage of fairly cheap decent heads on corral and ebay.

Also, bare minimum, throw a girdle on the rear axle. I was making around that to the tires, and the second I threw a sticky set on, out popped the ring gear.

[ootdega]

Sounds like you're moving along just fine there buddy. Far as power numbers go, are you looking for 300 flywheel HP or to the wheels, because that's 2 very different approaches. In my opinion, if you're gonna go to the trouble to pull heads, put some good ones on there. If you own a junkyard, or get P heads for free, go for it, but if you're going to spend money, save a little longer and get something at least like X heads, but better yet edelbrock, afr, tfs, something quality. I recently scored on a set of used RHS 200's for cheap. It's way more head than I'm likely going to need, but more is better than less. May lose a bit on the low end but I plan to make up for that with a stroker and gears. If you don't have to worry about smog bullshit, there are many cheap turbo kits out there that would easily adapt to this platform and work very well. Turbos operate on load, and what would load something up like a giant, heavyass car like these with an auto? Anyhow, pile up all your parts, look and see if anything's missing, and fill in the gaps.

Sidenote: Glad to hear you have a k31 Schmidt-rubin, do you own any other neat old rifles? I collect that sort of stuff and have several(many) old things I shoot/restore/reload, etc...including a k31. Lots of fun with the old warhorses.

Well, the thing is, I can get a whole Explorer engine for less than $500, which would give me pistons, intakes, AND heads. That's less than the cost of a single aftermarket cylinder head. I do what I can to port those and the intakes, stick in new springs and such, piston rings, and I'm set. MAYBE a grand, tops, for all of that total. Still less than a single Twisted Wedge.

Couple that with 1.7 rockers, a Lunati camshaft, headers, injectors, a good ignition system, underdrive pulleys, Fluidampr, aluminum driveshaft, and we have liftoff. All of those put together would be about $1500, not counting the other minor things. The build I mentioned made 367 at the crank, carbureted, with only the cam, intakes, rockers, and heads dealt with.

I want to stay naturally aspirated for simplicity and reliability. A turbo opens up a whole other can of worms to deal with. Working out lag, compression vs boost, intercooler, tune, octane, even just installing it is an escapade in itself. And with that, I would almost certainly be making far more power than I intended to, which would mean I have to deal with the rest of the drivetrain again after that. Axles, diff, gears, converter, and I'd be pushing my luck with the block and crank as well. Replacing those means starting ALL over again. At that point I might as well just buy a Blueprint 306 and be done with it.

I've thought about this a LOT. Like, A LOT a lot. Summit-Racing-catalog-in-the-bathroom a lot.

I don't actually have any parts yet, I'm still trying to get it back to square 1 first. Well, I do have SOME parts, just not any that are useful to me.



I don't have any other interesting rifles, but I do have an old beat up do-you-have-anything-cheaper Rough Rider .22 revolver. Still works fine, just doesn't look pretty. The rest are a Mossberg 802, Maverick 88, and FNX-9, which is the third most expensive thing I own. The others are the car and this computer, which another long, arduous tale in itself.

Yep, if your goal is 300 at the wheels, don't waste your time with factory iron heads. Yes, it can be done, but you'd be much better off going aftermarket. There's no shortage of fairly cheap decent heads on corral and ebay.

Also, bare minimum, throw a girdle on the rear axle. I was making around that to the tires, and the second I threw a sticky set on, out popped the ring gear.

"Fairly cheap" is out of my league. I need "dirt cheap" if I'm going to make this a reality before my hair starts falling out. It's going to take me at least a year to afford the Silverfox transmission.

I was going to go with USA Standard Gear axles (those are misfit Yukons) and better seals and stuff. I haven't heard of a girdle. Everything I've read has had people just talking about the axles and diff. What does a girdle do? It just looks like a differential cover to me.

[Tiggie]

A girdle supports your bearing caps holding your differential in place. With the weight of a box, it could use the help but 8.8's are fairly solid at 300 horse levels if you aren't running sticky tires and on the drag strip.

300 horses is easier with more displacement if you want stock heads.

[knucklehead0202]

Blueprint motors are nothing special your local engine shop couldn't build. Anyhow, my hangup with an explorer motor is that I don't know what kind of miles it has on it. Low miles means dick if it wasn't maintained well, beat on, ran out of oil or coolant at some point, etc. I dunno. I'll be rebuilding the engine out of my brother's mustang and maybe going to a stroker. Without an aftermarket block, I can't spin it hard or boost it much, but I'm looking for modest power really, around 300rwhp, with plenty of torque, because this is my daily and also has to be "smog" legal, maybe. If it doesn't pass I may just have to find an end-around, but the plan is for it to be legit. Elsewhere, I'd stick a power adder on this hen's-nest in a hot hurry. Far as turbo lag goes, I'd hardly worry about it unless you have a GIANT turbo. With a heavy, automatic beast like these, you'll spool that fucker in a hot second. These are almost the perfect vehicle for turbocharging, much as I'd prefer a supercharger myself. Different kind of power buildup completely.

Haven't reloaded for the K31 yet, although I've shot it a bit. I also own several carcanos, a few mausers of various countries and calibers, French rifles, Russian rifles, Swedish rifles, and then there's the weird shit, lol. Suffice it to say, I reload about a dozen different chamberings and am headed toward more. Only thing I need is more time, powder, and projos...

[Brown_Muscle]

Question, are you planning on fuel injection, or carb'd?

[ootdega]

Blueprint motors are nothing special your local engine shop couldn't build. Anyhow, my hangup with an explorer motor is that I don't know what kind of miles it has on it. Low miles means dick if it wasn't maintained well, beat on, ran out of oil or coolant at some point, etc. I dunno. I'll be rebuilding the engine out of my brother's mustang and maybe going to a stroker. Without an aftermarket block, I can't spin it hard or boost it much, but I'm looking for modest power really, around 300rwhp, with plenty of torque, because this is my daily and also has to be "smog" legal, maybe. If it doesn't pass I may just have to find an end-around, but the plan is for it to be legit. Elsewhere, I'd stick a power adder on this hen's-nest in a hot hurry. Far as turbo lag goes, I'd hardly worry about it unless you have a GIANT turbo. With a heavy, automatic beast like these, you'll spool that fucker in a hot second. These are almost the perfect vehicle for turbocharging, much as I'd prefer a supercharger myself. Different kind of power buildup completely.

Haven't reloaded for the K31 yet, although I've shot it a bit. I also own several carcanos, a few mausers of various countries and calibers, French rifles, Russian rifles, Swedish rifles, and then there's the weird shit, lol. Suffice it to say, I reload about a dozen different chamberings and am headed toward more. Only thing I need is more time, powder, and projos...

That was my apprehension with swapping in a block as well. SUVs generally aren't taken care of well, so it's not a safe bet that it'll work well. That was why I was thinking to swap the parts into this block instead. It's had its moments with one cold seize and bad oil and carbon buildup and generally running like garbage, but it wasn't driven like that for tens of thousands of miles like an average SUV owner is likely to do. It just sat for a long time.

As for the turbo, I'd really have to be convinced. You're probably right about the application, but all the other stuff turns me off to the idea.

Also, you're making me jealous. From what I understand, the surplus GP90 ammunition is difficult to reload because of the Berdan primers. I've been told they use regular .308 diameter bullets though.

Question, are you planning on fuel injection, or carb'd?

Keeping it fuel injected, with a mass air conversion. No idea what size injectors I'll need.

A girdle supports your bearing caps holding your differential in place. With the weight of a box, it could use the help but 8.8's are fairly solid at 300 horse levels if you aren't running sticky tires and on the drag strip.

300 horses is easier with more displacement if you want stock heads.

Oh, okay. One of those and alloy axles should be just fine then.

[ootdega]

From what I understand, the surplus GP90 ammunition is difficult to reload because of the Berdan primers. I've been told they use regular .308 diameter bullets though.

It just occurred to me that the ammo in question is GP11, not GP90. It's been a long time since I've been to a range. I saw the unopened packs in the drawer with "Gewehrpatrone 11" on them and realized I had the wrong name here.

[knucklehead0202]

Yeah gp11 has pretty much dried up. I usually get Prvi Partizan, which is always available, reasonably-priced(under a buck a round), and is also boxer-primed and reloadable. They make ammo and brass for all the weird old crap I have so it's a match made in heaven.

I know what you mean about the turbo, I really like things that just bolt on too, but it's hard to argue with the power they make. Shopping around and grabbing stuff when you can is the best way to put together a good batch of parts on a budget. I snagged a Typhoon EFI intake off craigslist for $140, traded a throttle body I had for a 70mm fox TB, snagged a set of RHS 200 heads for $900. It can be done, although not as cheaply as just a $500 motor. If in good shape, that'd be a kickass deal.

[ootdega]

Yeah gp11 has pretty much dried up. I usually get Prvi Partizan, which is always available, reasonably-priced(under a buck a round), and is also boxer-primed and reloadable. They make ammo and brass for all the weird old crap I have so it's a match made in heaven.

I know what you mean about the turbo, I really like things that just bolt on too, but it's hard to argue with the power they make. Shopping around and grabbing stuff when you can is the best way to put together a good batch of parts on a budget. I snagged a Typhoon EFI intake off craigslist for $140, traded a throttle body I had for a 70mm fox TB, snagged a set of RHS 200 heads for $900. It can be done, although not as cheaply as just a $500 motor. If in good shape, that'd be a kickass deal.

Wow, you weren't joking, that stuff is gone. That actually makes me sad. I have about 250 rounds left, but it's been upwards of 3 years since I've gone shooting at all. I haven't had the money to pursue that hobby for ages. I guess it's time to get a Mosin...



I don't really plan on doing simple bolt-ons, I'll be doing a complete thorough rebuild, I'm just looking to get the most out of the money I put into it. The turbo itself would probably double the total cost unless I want to take a chance going cheapo, which I can't afford to risk. A used Explorer engine will have pistons, both heads, both intakes, and a potential EGR spacer and throttle body, should I decide to use them. For 500 bucks (shipped, from Ebay) that means I'd be paying $100 each for the piston set, heads, and intakes. With that kind of cost, I could afford to fully port both cylinder heads and intakes and still be at less than half the cost of an aftermarket set, while having more than enough to meet my goals. An aftermarket lower intake would probably be more cost-effective than porting the original, though. Maybe a Victor Jr. or something.

I'm not really going for power here, I'm going for durability, capability, and efficiency. I mean, yes, I have a power goal, but that's more or less a benchmark to measure how well the system as a whole functions. Not to mention, it's a bit too easy for these engines to make enough power to blow themselves up. It's kind of funny, really.



Anyway, looking into the axle situation, the cost of 31 spline axles and diff is about the same as better 28 splines and a girdle, maybe less. So I might as well do it right the first time. Maybe get a little better diff cover too.

[ootdega]

I'm having some trouble prioritizing what problems to take care of. I know the motor mounts are next, they're causing just about everything to act funny. Have the parts, Ford NOS, just need to have them put in. But after that, I'm not really sure.

I found out yesterday that the windshield leak was a very temporary fix. It's leaking again and now it's actually retaining water. To really fix that, the windshield shop will have to send it to a body shop to have that paint re-done because of the rust. But if that's going to need done, I should have them touch up the rest of the rust spots as well, and roll out the fender that had an unexpected meeting with my grandma's taillight. (There is a special place in hell for residents who indefinitely take up visitor parking spaces because they don't feel like walking another 10 fucking feet to their front door. Bonus points if it's a rolling brick that's just sitting there taking up space.)

I don't know how much it'll cost, but that's the first problem.

Second is the compressor. It's putting a very noticable drag on the engine while I'm driving, and that's just with the heater on. I don't think the compressor is even supposed to be on with just the heater running, let alone causing this much drag on low. At idle it's fine, but once I'm driving it becomes an issue. I don't even know what's going on here.

Then there's the driver window, the window motors, the brake rotors, possibly the ball joints or idler arm, the blower motor... And the last time I was out, one of the times I stopped there was some creak in the rear frame (maybe a subframe is in order), and the front end bounced unevenly over railroad tracks, which has never happened before. Nothing wrong with the shocks or anything that I can see, seems to behave just fine, but that shouldn't have happened. I've driven over all of those tracks hundreds of times. One of the front tires was at a different pressure, but only by like 4psi, and it didn't do that on the way there, just on the way back. I have no idea what the deal is.

With all of this contrasted with the size of my budget, I'm really overwhelmed right now.

[Tiggie]

Ah the budget vs needs Dilemma. Been there. Still doing that.

If money is tight, focus on functional rather than nice looking or fast. Don't worry about the rest if the body work. That can wait until later. I think my windshield has leaked for decades. I drilled a hole in the floor to let the water drain!

Check out the front end first. Get under the car while it's off and have someone turn the wheel back and forth. Look for problems in every joint. Jack up the front wheels and rock the wheels top to bottom. Shouldn't move at all. These cars have very grease gun friendly front ends, but not all prior owners kept up with that.

The A/c compressor runs when the HVAC is on anything but off, vent, or floor on a non ATC car. ATC I can't remember because mine never worked! I think they are the same except they don't have the floor setting, so it will run on anything but off or vent. The compressor takes some horsepower to drive, it's not uncommon to notice some difference. But if it's getting worse, you may have a problem. Smog pump sound the same still?

[pantera77]

A/C comes on when the defrost is on too don't forget, helps pull moisture out of the air. If your compressor is locking up it's probably failing internally coating the insides of your a/c system with little pieces of metal and derbis. If that's the case it's time for a complete A/C rebuild. New compressor, accumulator, orifice tube, o-ring set, thoroughly flush the condenser and evap core, a complete evac and recharge it all ads up to $$$.

Spin the compressor by hand and feel if it's gritty and hard to turn. Unplug the clutch for the time being or pull the belt.

A subframe huh? Must have one of those rare unibody panthers.

Yes, the whole suspension is probably in need of a complete refresh, you are driving a 30 year old car.