My 1968 Mustang Rustang

[Tiggie]

Drug the lopo with 26k on it out of storage.




It’s not pretty. But maybe it will be soon. Had it not gotten dropped by the forklift operator in the junkyard, it would look much better. It shattered the exhaust manifold on the other side. It came from an 88 wagon that sat near my dads house forever, literally the state inspection ran out in ‘92 I think. Then it disappeared and reappeared in the junkyard circa 2015. Cream puff wagon death. It’s heart will live on. I saved the trans too.

The plan is to clean it, HO cam it for the sound, reseal everything but head gaskets, install correct oil pan and timing cover for the Mustang. And paint. I don’t really care about high performance, so it’s keeping those E6 boat anchor heads for now. They work good from idle to 2500 rpm at part throttle. That’s kinda where I drive 99% of the time. This car weighs about 2500lbs I think. So 200hp will give me a power to weight of a 300 horse panther. Marauder style. I’m so bad I’m even ditching the aluminum intake the tired old 302 came with and going factory cast iron. At least it’s a 4-bbl. I was going to run a 2-bbl if I used an AOD.

Gotta refigure the accessory drives. The car came with a mixed up set of unaligned belts and pulleys. Part Mustang, part F100, and who knows what else. I planned to use a 74 Torino (wagon!!) donor setup that I have handy, but the depth is wrong and puts the fan too close to the radiator. Aftermarket stuff looks cheap. Will seek out factory style. Technically any pre-70 stuff with work.

Trans is ready. Ready to try at least. Put the shorter fox style input shaft and steel bearing retainer in. Not sure if the guts are good but going to take a small gamble. It looked nice inside. Worse case I pull it out again and rebuild.

Ordered adaptors for the bellhousing to mount the T5 and some other stuff to make this actually run around Christmas. Vroom vroom.


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[Tiggie]

Lopo is undressed. It’s clean inside as expected but not known until now.







New expansion plugs installed. Ordered a Dorman brass kit but wasn’t satisfied with the depth (too thin). Got deep ones at Napa this week, almost too deep at a full 1/2”. I put them in the block, leaving maybe a 1/16 out from flush. They installed straight but took some force.

I put the thin brass ones in the heads due to concerns about the deep ones interfering with water flow, kinda tight behind there. They wanted to go cockeyed but went in easy in terms of force.

Somewhere in America, I suppose there is a proper freeze plug that is the correct depth but I haven’t found it.

Put a thin layer of Ultra Gray RTV. Wanted #1 Form A Gasket but Napa had none. My Napa is kind of sad.

Next up is cam swap time.

This thing nickel and dimes me. Forgot I didn’t have a fuel pump eccentric, so I had to order one. Also the lopo oil pan bolts are too long since the older style oil pan doesn’t use those coil rails. Seriously considering just cutting the bolts.


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[Tiggie]

Oh yeah, I forgot this.

I’m not sure if I won the lottery or what. But I think this is a good sign.




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[87gtVIC]

Hah. Wonder if it stands for something...really wonder the reason for anything being written there.

[sly]

probably Windsor.

[jaywish]

Naw. Rotate it left 90 degrees and you will see it says "2/3"

[Tiggie]

Naw. Rotate it left 90 degrees and you will see it says "2/3"

Indeed. At least it doesn’t say lose, so there is that.

This is a Friday the 13th engine. November 13, 1987. It has the steel timing gear for reference.

Kids played with neighbors tonight which gave me some garage time. Got the lopo stick out and supposedly HO stick in. Reinstalled the timing set. It was good so no need to replace. Got rid of the oil slinger thing and put the new fuel pump eccentric on.

I think I can see the difference in firing order. The HO is from a 12/87 car. Maybe it was a 11/87 engine also. Perfect match.

It’s nice to use parts you’ve had for six years.



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[Tiggie]

Had a little discouraging garage session tonight. Went to put valve seals in using the compressed air method of holding the valves up. Two cylinders hold air pretty well. The others leak bad. Some out the intake, some the exhaust.

I guess a compression test is in order? What would you do next?

The engine only has 26k on it but sat untouched for a very long period of time. Since the early 1990’s.

[tjc78]

Well that sucks. I guess better to find out now than in the car.

[Tiggie]

Thought about doing a leak down test but I don't think it would tell me anything I don't already know.

I had some improvement on the worst two cylinders by tapping on the valves.

Going to stuff a rope in the cylinders tonight and pull the springs. Then I can manipulate the valves a little by hand, and with some penetrating oil on the guides, spin them in the seat a little.

[87gtVIC]

Take the heads off and lap the valves?

You are replacing the valve guides so you believe the valves are not fully seating correct?

[Tiggie]

Take the heads off and lap the valves?

You are replacing the valve guides so you believe the valves are not fully seating correct?

If I have to take the heads off, I think I will find some better flowing ones! So that’s the glass half full mentality. Otherwise, yes sir I think lapping them would do it. The wife isn’t so happy about the purse strings right now.

Not taking the guides out. Just putting the seals in was the plan. But now... not sure.

Hopefully they’ll play nice tonight and seal a little better after some movement. I feel like it’s one of those things that might get better once it’s fired up. I am nearly certain they aren’t burnt. Just some rust on the seats I hope.

[Tiggie]

Success and a big sigh of relief.

Valves are seating well now. They were very free to move up and down. They just needed spun in the seats. Used some tape on the valve stem and a little spin work from a drill back and forth. Not much since I knew there was no lube actually in the seat or valve head. HUGE improvement.

I have done valve seals in a older 302 (the truck engine that came in this car), an FE, and a 2.9. Two things surprised me on this Lopo. It had plastic shields on the exhaust valves for a seal. A little too short IMO compared to the ones in the other 302 umbrella seals. The intake seal had a plastic washer above each seal, which were the tap on type. I put the washer back. No idea what it does.





Up next: timing cover and water pump.

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[massacre]

Nice progress!
Did you end up using the rope trick? How did that go if you don’t mind me asking.
I have to do valve seals with engine in car. My compressor is not that great so I was considering using rope.
Thanks

[Tiggie]

Nice progress!
Did you end up using the rope trick? How did that go if you don’t mind me asking.
I have to do valve seals with engine in car. My compressor is not that great so I was considering using rope.
Thanks

I did use the rope this time. Had no choice really since they wouldn’t hold air before. It was a little more tedious because the valve fell a little bit, but very doable. Those black plastic shields/seal got in the way of a couple of times and prevented me from lowering the valve spring enough. Not a huge deal but required repositioning of the rope. I’d consider using a set of the intake seals on the exhaust to get a positive seal on all of the valves. Might help with the lopo oil consumption. I bet they can take the heat fine.