What to do what to do what to do?

[Swede958]

Alright... finals are finally over and I actually have a little time to work on the stang. Unfortunately, I'm now stuck as to how I want to proceed. Couple months back I got a storage shed and parked it in there to start working on it. I already went through the EFI harness I have a just need to extend a couple wires and I will be done with the setting up part of that... beyond that...
Basic goals first:
EFI 331.. preferably will get to Kenne Bell later
Already have 12" Baers on front, will prob use 4cyl fox booster
Painless 18circuit kit semi-mapped out to go into it
Currently stock type rebuilt suspension- KYB, 4.5 leafs, shelby drop
As far as how I'd like the car to drive-- I guess looking for all around performance, probably will not do a whole lot of open track stuff (not many places locally) but I'd still like it to corner fairly well.
Now dillemas
Body:
I was first just going to strip down the engine bay and repaint it before rewiring the car. Now I'm beginning to think that it may be worth it to get the car media blasted as I'm encountering a fair amount of rust in the real hard to reach places, and I'm unsure as of right now as to the quality of the metal directly under the windshield and on the tail light panel. I would like to get the car running soon- but also want to do things "right" and not have to deal with things later. I also know that one of the strut mounts in the front needs to be either replaced or beaten back into shape as it has a nice little kink in it from the PO, though the car does track straight. Would it be worth stripping down the entire car and blasting it? Or should I just douse the whole thing in gobs of paint remover? (joke)
Tranny:
I currently have an AOD with just about everything but a flywheel and the mount... though I'm starting to wonder if it might be worth to just go with a 5/6 speed instead. My biggest problem with that is finding the pedal sets for a decent price whereas with the auto I don't have to find hardly anything. Either transmission will of course be built up, though with the engine plan I think the AOD might live longer... thoughts?
Engine:
I've got a 5.0 block I plan on stroking out to 331. I plan on copying a buildup from Super Rod a while back that used a stock 5.0 bottom end and a Kenne Bell for 508hp... only mine would be a little larger displacement. AFR185 heads, XE274 cam, Comp valvetrain.... but I'm not sure when I'd add the blower. Would this combo, with 8.5-9.0 compression, be usable on the street until I put the blower on, or just not even worth it? I'd of course being using a girdle on the mains and maybe that newer intake girdle.
Rear end:
This is one of my bigger questions... I'm not sure if I'd like to stay simple with a 9" and some cal tracs or maybe try and go with something a little more exotic. I was looking into designing my own 3/4 link, either that or using one of currie's new housings and modifying a f-body torque arm set up. Although, the only torque arm I seem to be able to find comes from either Griggs or RRS and are hugely expensive. Any thoughts?

I know these are pretty broad questions... just looking for some oppinions as I appear to be stumped now that I actually have time to work on it. Any help is appreciated.

 

[bnickel]

swede, i can only answer a couple of questions for you since most of the stuff asked is really just personal preference.

on the rear suspension, you might consider going with the three link from www.evolutionmsport.com once they have it in production. it is currently still in the design phase, however, butshould be out sometime in the spring. if you decide to build it yourself, get a good book on suspension design. there is a ton of info you'll need to know if you do build your own. presonally i would stay away from the RRS torque arm setup, that thing looks like it would be bind city from several different points. i had considered trying to build my own as well using custom built lower arms and possibly a torque arm from TCP that connects to their subframe x-connector, but so far i haven't really given it any more thought and probably won't for a while.

as for the body, if you have the time and money to have it blasted an dthen have the paint/bodywork done i'd say go for it. if you don't have the money to do the entire car, just doing the engine bay so it will be clean when you install the new engine would be weel worth it. if you can do the entire car including paint/bodywork that would be the time to have the strut towers replaced, i asume you are talking about the strut rod mounts when you say strut towers.

as for the engine, i think you can run 9:1 compression with the kenne bell charger and the 9:1 would work well on the street with out the charger as well. 8.5:1 would probably run pretty crappy in the application you'll be using, the cam is going to bleed off some cylinder pressure and that will drop your dynamic conpression considerably, so yeah i wouldn't go any lower than 9.0:1 and i think you could easily get away with 9.5:1 with efi.

the tranny is personal choice completely so that's really all up to you and what kind of driving you're planning on. i know some roads in and around the austin area that would be absolutely awesome with a 5 speed but an automatic also works well them too. if you are planning to drag race the car at all i would say go with a built aod.

 

[57fairlane]

IMO kenne bells suck for 5.0s. They make good blowers for mud motors but every car I have come across with a kenne bell had good low end but felt like a dog after 4000. Just by switching to an s-trim on a 306 in a 92 coupe, it picked up 3 mph in the 1/8 at the same boost level. So if you don't already have the blower go with the tried and true S-trim. There is a reason everyone that has a centrifual blower has it.

Another question: Is the AOD already in the car?
If you are really thinking about going the T-56 route, it will be pretty hard to get a crossmember and after that just fitting it. Not to mention a new driveshaft.

 

[SoCalCruising]

This month, Cicle Track has a nice article on leaf spring rearends. They are not dead. I use Global West de-arched 5-leafs with Del-Alum bushings and heavy-duty shackles. No complaints here and it was tons cheaper than a 3/4 link, etc.

Like above, this is s good time to media blast and do complete body work - assuming the motor/tranny are out. That process is messy and it's best to do it with a stripped car.

I just finished my engine compartment. I used
a. 2 cans degreaser
b. liberal soaping
c. a couple kinds of wire brushes on the end of a die grinder (air)
d. mineral spirits
e. sand paper
f. final wipe-down with lacquer thinner
g. two coats of semi-flat black (after careful masking)
h. replaced undercoating removed during cleaning process in lower-rear of engine compartment and frame rail area

Turned out fine. Lacquer thinner removes some of the old paint and leaves a nice surface for the new paint to adhere to. BTW, Lowes sells rolls of plastic with masking tape already applied to one side. It's for masking interior walls, floors, etc., but worked fine for masking off the car prior to painting the engine bay.

9.0:1 compression with EFI should be fine for a blower later and provide adequate compression NA. Kenne Bell blowers have always been strong down low, providing a flat torque curve. They don't make high RPM power like a centrifugal blower will. So, it depends on what you want the blower to do. If you ant a long-lived motor and don't plan to rev much over 5K, it should be fine. If you want something more rev-happy, you might reconsider.

Good luck.